Fall Bear Idaho - Unit 17

[Timber Haint]

Greetings sliders,

I've been looking over the forum for a while and see a lot about spring bear hunting - some even in unit 17 in Idaho.

We'll be headed up to unit 17 this fall (late September) for a backpack hunt the wilderness for 7 days. Yes, I'm completely aware of how rugged the country is. My hunting partner and I are in great shape and both backpackers.

I have some questions and thoughts maybe some can help with.

Locating Bears
- We're primarily looking at getting to higher elevations and glassing. Probably sunrise - midday in one spot and move to another to finish the day. Hopefully a half day at each spot gives us enough time to see things coming and going. Rinse and repeat.

- I'm guessing berries and water sources will be where it's at. Any ideas on slope face, etc. for berry growth? Not too sure and information is scarce.

Weather:
- I know we should expect anything from 75 degrees to snow. Week long rains, etc? Any thoughts on this besides what I just said?

Crowds:
- What kind of crowds should we expect? I'm sure we'll see our fair share of guides and horses. Given this is an any weapon hunt that happens during elk/mulie season we're expecting it to be packed. I saw in another post 5 miles should get us out of the thick - that was for spring bear of course, and I'm guessing that won't be a good rule of thumb during this part of the year.

- While it's completely possible harvest an animal roadside, we're also betting that any sort of hunting within a mile of a road will be packed and used up.

Any other advice would be greatly welcomed.

Timber

 

[BAKPAKR]

How are you planning on accessing Unit 17 - from the lower end of the Selway off of US 12 or from Darby or other? I don’t think you will find “crowds” anywhere although there may be lots of vehicles at trailheads. There just is not much road access to that unit.

 

[Timber Haint]

Yeah, we're thinking of dropping down off US 12 and entering via one of those trailheads. Open to all suggestions though.

Coming from the Darby side puts us in MT, which is at minimum... and ungodly hike just to get to ID through what I can only assume is the most beautiful hell on earth.

 

[Selway]

Glassing won't do you much good in the fall. For the most part the bears are going to be in the overgrown creek bottoms eating sarvisberry, chokecherries, elderberries and hawthorne berries.

You need to get down in that thick nasty and either post up where there's sign, or still hunt. Chances are much more likely for an under 50 yard shot than an over 100 yard shot.

Be very careful of sows with cubs. It's hard to judge bears when they're crawling around berry bushes. You'll see an ear, leg, or fur patch way more often than you'll see a full bear.

 

[Timber Haint]

@Selway, thanks. So we can probably find those types of berries growing near the creek bottoms rather than higher up the hill/mountain sides?

 

[Selway]

@Selway, thanks. So we can probably find those types of berries growing near the creek bottoms rather than higher up the hill/mountain sides?

Yes. Those berries grow along the streams in the canyon bottoms. Bears create an incredible amount of shit when they're in hyperphagia. If you're not stepping on bear shit every third step, you need to find a better spot.

The last bear I killed in there in the fall was at a little under 10 yards with a revolver.

 

[Timber Haint]

@Selway, thanks for the info. We've got one of those mule/bear/lion tags & a wolf tag so hopefully we can put a tag on something. If not, the adventure and beauty will be well worth it.

 

[BAKPAKR]

Yeah, we're thinking of dropping down off US 12 and entering via one of those trailheads. Open to all suggestions though.

Coming from the Darby side puts us in MT, which is at minimum... and ungodly hike just to get to ID through what I can only assume is the most beautiful hell on earth.

Sorry, when I said “from the Darby side,” I actually meant Rd 468 which cuts off Highway 93 right below Darby and goes through the lower end of Unit 17. On the north end, I can only think of two roads off Highway 12 that get you to the Unit 17 boundary (Elk Summit Rd and Selway River Rd). Several of the trails that start from the highway will eventually get you there, but you will work for it.

I have hunted in the southern part of 17 and in unit 12 at the edge of the north end of unit 17. In the northern part, I think you could still find huckleberry patches in some of the higher basins and if you find those, you will probably find bears. There might be huckleberries in the southern part of the unit, too, but I don’t recall seeing them when I was there.

It is beautiful country and I am sure you will have a great time. Good luck.

 

[crossone]

Yes. Those berries grow along the streams in the canyon bottoms. Bears create an incredible amount of shit when they're in hyperphagia. If you're not stepping on bear shit every third step, you need to find a better spot.

The last bear I killed in there in the fall was at a little under 10 yards with a revolver.

Selway is right on with this. The bears will practically pave the trails near creek bottoms with crap in the fall. Very seldom see a bear while out glassing for elk and deer. They’re in the berry patches late (probably early too). I’ve seen most bears in the fall in berry patches in the evening and dark timber most of the day. Also look for crushed berry bushes and trees, they like to tear them down to get at the berries.

 

[mtnbiker208]

timber
I understand you are a backpacker, but get in shape. This is big country and when you get an animal down, it will be mulitiple trips in big country. Consider two camps. One you can leave at your truck just in case you get something down and it is easier to go to the truck than to your camp. the truck camp can be real spartan. 2 bags, 2 stoves. And if you think you are in shape, get in better shape for the selway in this area.

 

[alaskabound]

I'm not sure where you are from or what kind of pressure you are used to but even during the first week of elk season we didn't see more than a handful of people. There is no way around it, it's a tough area to access and that turns a lot of people away. The best word of advice I can give you is don't be over ambitious while planning. You are going to run into things you didn't plan for. It's going to take longer to get to spots than what you thought. When you are exhausted and sore it's easy for bad thoughts to set in. You start putting together reasons to be negative.

 

[Timber Haint]

Thanks everyone.

@BAKPAKR - I see what you mean. My lack of understanding of the surrounding areas had me confused. We're definitely open to checking out the southern part of 17 if those that have been in there think it'll be better for bear.

@crossone - Thanks for the information. From all the information everyone is giving it sounds like we'll be altering our original plans. I'm really hoping this doesn't turn into a "jump shoot" situation for bear in the timber. Still hunting could be an option, but for us that would be blinding walking through as much timber as possible. Always an option. Maybe still hunting inside the timberline on the edge of creek beds?

@mtnbiker208 I appreciated the heads up on being in shape and that'll probably be the only constant in the entire trip. This is our first time in this particular wilderness, so I'm not sure what "in shape" is for it, but we're working on it. We both run 3-5 mi/day, 3 times a week and a lot of stairs with 40lb packs the other days. We lift weights everyday and are both ex-military. I'm not sure what the Selway holds but I know Afghanistan could be rough as hell. Good idea on the truck camp, and you're right... the real work begins once an animal is down.

@alaskabound - Thanks. We're going to just take it all as it comes. Anything we get is just icing on the cake. No real expectations of what's to come.

 

[crossone]

Timber,

You’re picking a very good area to find bears and there shouldn’t be many people around. If it were me, I would plan on finding creeks, preferably intersections of creeks, and finding vantage points up high to glass along the stream beds in the late afternoons and evenings. Any other berry rich areas, such as seeps and springs or huckleberry patches would also be likely locations. Still hunting the timber is more likely going to disturb bears than produce bears. Glass those berry rich areas for bears, bears moving into them from dark timber areas and berry bushes/trees shaking violently from an unseen bear tearing it down.

Best of luck to you. Please try to find time to let us know how this all shakes out.

Thanks

Crossone

 

[Timber Haint]

Thanks to everyone who's pitched in here to give us advice.

@crossone I agree about the still hunting. It's about last on my list of methods for hunting bears. Given we have other tags also, I like the idea of getting high and glassing the river beds. It also allows us to see what else is out there in case we stumble upon another tag opportunity. Regardless of what happens, I'll definitely come back and share our experiences. At least the pictures will be great and maybe it'll help someone else out down the road.

 

[.204smokechaser]

That country kicks anyone's ass including those I know who have been working in and hunting the Selway for decades.

I'll shoot you a pm in the next couple weeks with areas I've heard about. I plan on hunting up there this fall as well. Mainly in the northern part of the unit.

 

[Timber Haint]

@NachesHunter94 Yeah, we've definitely heard it's some rough country. Definitely drop me pm - that'd be great. We're looking at the northern part of the unit also, but open to anyone's thoughts on any other parts. We just haven't looked over anywhere else yet.

We'll take every bit of information people are willing to help us with. Otherwise we're going to keep tabs of how far we're in, and hopefully let blind luck do the rest.

 

[NorthernHunter]

@NachesHunter94 Yeah, we've definitely heard it's some rough country. Definitely drop me pm - that'd be great. We're looking at the northern part of the unit also, but open to anyone's thoughts on any other parts. We just haven't looked over anywhere else yet.

We'll take every bit of information people are willing to help us with. Otherwise we're going to keep tabs of how far we're in, and hopefully let blind luck do the rest.
[/QUOT

How did you end up doing? Was it what you expected? I am doing a very similar trip on the southern end this coming fall for bear. I'm just curious if there is anything that you learned that you wish you knew before hand. Thanks