Help me kill a back-country bear!

[nighthawkf-117]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice that hopefully will lead to a successful hunt next spring. For context I'm a Midwest bow hunter that has been trying to kill a western bear for two years now. Ive thus far been unsuccessful in even locating a bear. I'm pretty committed to a spot and stalk back country hunt. Ill outline my previous hunts and problems Ive run into.

2024 - Western Montana last week of April. This was my first western hunt. I backpacked in and spend 3 nights 4 days hunting. I certainly was humbled by the terrain I chose. I had plans to go much deeper than I was able to get. I found myself in steep, shale slopes that were impossible to navigate. I also over packed and definitional carried too much weight. This combined with some foot problems made traveling difficult for me. I did find a few good areas to glass but there was not much in terms of green up. Found lots of deer but I couldn't find any bears. Due to my poor planning I felt kinda "stuck" in the area I was in and wasn't able to relocate easily. Overall a good learning experience to associate some terrain with my digital scouting and iron out my gear.

2025 - North East Idaho early September. I went out for 4 night 5 days. I felt much more comfortable with my gear and hiking and was able to navigate to my desired areas without much problem. However I found myself in areas that were super thick with vegetation and made glassing very difficult. I tried to locate berries which I did but was unable to locate any bears. Again due to the terrain it was impossible to glass all but small pockets of open slope. I did have my gear dialed in and felt very comfortable, although the daytime temps were in the high 80s, which I think also contributed to the lack of bears. Overall this was another good learning experience but again I was humbled by the difference between digital scouting and the reality of the terrain.

Now I'm planning a trip to Western Montana for mid-May of 2026. I'm focusing on trying to e-scout south facing slopes which I can glass, and have options to continue moving and see more country. I would love to at least locate a bear. Anyone have any tips, tricks or advice for me?

Thank you all for the time!

 

[freezerfull]

May is a good time to be out. We have been pretty successful locating bears between early May and mid June. Staying mobile and covering ground has been beneficial. Following the spring green up above tree line, hunting slopes with fresh bears sign on stumps and logs, and once June rolls hanging near groups of elk have all been good strategies.

 

[Rogue Bay]

Do you have your heart set on a backpack hunt? I strongly believe being mobile is key to spring bear hunting, as conditions vary so much from year to year and week to week. Bear behavior changes throughout the spring season as well and a hunter needs to be able to adapt. I feel this is even more important if you’re going into an area for the first time because e-scouting only gives you so much.

My favorite tactic for spring bear in Montana was to hike closed roads. I’ve killed more bears still hunting old decommissioned or gated grassy roads that any other method. I know glassing avalanche chutes and grassy meadows on south facing slopes is the quintessential spring bear hunt, but the type of grass makes a big difference. Google imagery may show grassy meadows and glades, but in that country it is often composed of elk sedge and pine grass, neither of which are very palatable. The clovers and non-native grasses planted for bank stabilization along old roadways are much more attractive to bears.

Edit: That’s also been my most successful tactic for spring bear in Oregon. It may be a good way to get a bear or two under your belt, learn what you’re looking for and help prepare you for a successful backcountry hunt.

Fall is a bit of a different story. If you can find the food source, you’ll find bears. However, the habitat will dictate how you hunt them.

 

[ThunderJack49]

You don't need to go especially deep to find bears in Montana in the spring. Camping at your truck or even just within an hour hike of it can be very beneficial. I certainly agree with the above advice of being mobile.
This way, if you are not seeing sign you can move, even if it is up or down the same road system you are on.

 

[TaperPin]

Glassing for bears that aren’t there won’t help - where we see fresh tracks and poop we find bears. Where there are no tracks or other fresh sign on major game trails we’ve never randomly run across a bear. I’m impressed where guys find them out lolly gagging and all it took was looking at enough places with binoculars. It probably has to do with the drainages we hunt and anything alive in them is more likely than not to use established game trails.

I keep a tape measure handy and measure tracks, otherwise you don’t know if it’s one bear moving back and forth or multiple bears. Tracks from two weeks ago only tell you where a bear was, not where he is.

One spring hunt my buddies said there’s a single bear that hangs around a certain spot, but simply by measuring tracks turns out there were 5 bears on those trails during that week. Rather than one bear staying put, they were seeing multiple bears just passing through on the way up the mountain with one young bear who backtracked down at least once, unsure of where to go.

Elevation is key in the spring. As springtime hiking/snow shoe trips will show, it’s not that hard to travel above all the bear activity, so access doesn’t mean food. You’re at a huge disadvantage committing to backpacking into an area without knowing here’s any activity. Scout on foot for at least some fresh sign if there’s any doubt.

Many people who are successful year after year have local knowledge of the better drainages and where to look - it’s not as random as it might sound. Two big drainages 5 miles apart where I grew up look identical, but I’ve never seen a single bear in one, ever, while the other has bears walking down the two track dirt road at night without even looking for them. One probably has slightly more moisture, but not by much.

 

[nighthawkf-117]

While I'm maybe not completely set on a Backcountry hunt I definitely want to be camping off trail. I'm not opposed to hiking closed roads or logging trails but I think driving around would take all the fun out of the experience for me. I don't need to be deep just somewhere quiet and wild.
I could definitely see hiking in a mile or two and being able to relocate if I don't find any bears.

 

[WeiserBucks]

I could definitely see hiking in a mile or two and being able to relocate if I don't find any bears.

Do this^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Can't hunt bears that simply aren't there.

 

[Pilsner]

Go find the OLD Bear Hunting Magazine podcast episodes by Clay Newcomb - this is different than the new, Kolby Morehead owned Bear Hunting Magazine podcast which is also worthwhile but not as good as Clay's original content. Once you learn about bear biology, habits, and habitat the rest of the story of how to find em and kill em will make much more sense. These critters aren't deer and can't be hunted like deer.

 

[Pilsner]

While I'm maybe not completely set on a Backcountry hunt I definitely want to be camping off trail. I'm not opposed to hiking closed roads or logging trails but I think driving around would take all the fun out of the experience for me. I don't need to be deep just somewhere quiet and wild.
I could definitely see hiking in a mile or two and being able to relocate if I don't find any bears.

Do ya want a beautiful backpacking trip, or do you want a successful bear hunt?
Those goals might be at cross purposes - that depends on the bears.
As mentioned above, it does no good to hunt bears where they ain't at. (Jesus, I just realized that I've now lived in the Ozarks long enough to even begin typing like my neighbors talk... *shakes head sadly*)
Drive and glass. Repeat until you find bears. THEN find a place to camp that allows you to glass and hopefully spot and stalk the bears that you see. The rub is that bears move around a LOT, like on one food source for a day and then be all over another food source one, five, or twelve miles away the next day.
If you are serious about putting your tag on a bear, then you need to be as flexible about your expectations as the bears are about their food.

As additional info on what TaperPin wrote above - there is a rule for estimating the size of a bear based on its tracks. The oversimplification is this: measure the width of the front track in inches and add 1. So a bear with a 6" wide front track will be around a 7' bear, which is a very large black bear!
This article is also pretty good for judging black bears.
Best of luck

How to Field Judge Black Bears on the Paw - Petersen's Hunting

These tips and indicators will help you decide if the bear you are observing is the one for you.

www.petersenshunting.com

Edit to add the following thoughts:
Where I mentioned bears being different than deer here is one example of what I mean:
When I am chasing deer if I find sign and maybe a feed source that is 3 days or 5 days old it is meaningful to me. Bear sign that is 3 days old is basically useless to me because of the speed at which they find, exploit, and leave a food source.
You're first/best step behind glassing bears is to find bear sh!t. Fresh, steaming, bear sh!t. Now you know where bears were at within the last 12 to 24 hours AND what they are targeting as a food source. That is the kind of fresh intel upon which you can make a plan - either hunt the bear that you saw, find that same food source being "active" somewhere else (berries being ripe, grass being fresh sprouted from just melted snow fields, etc.) or just knowing what elevation band and what direction-facing slope is growing the food source in question (say 7k to 7500 feet in elevation and south facing slopes just under the snow melt line for instance).
Now if the above things happen in the same place that you wanna camp is up to the God or the universe or the bears. They often happen near roads because that is where the logging creates edge habitat, or the nearest fresh grass is in a camp ground, or one of a hundred different reasons that have nothing to do with "being backcountry".
-Doc

 

[nighthawkf-117]

Thank you all for the responses. This is very helpful