Idaho/Montana Black Bear - Are tags Spring->Fall or Fall->Spring?

[gtriple]

What two seasons are the black bear tags good for? Spring first and then fall second or vice versa for each state?

 

[Blind Squirrel]

Pretty sure bear is for the calendar year. So all of 2024. But I’ve been wrong before.
ETA, lots of states don’t have a spring bear season.

 

[gtriple]

Pretty sure bear is for the calendar year. So all of 2024. But I’ve been wrong before.
ETA, lots of states don’t have a spring bear season.

That's what I thought, but Idaho lists the seasons as "Fall 2024, and Spring 2025". Montana lists it as "2024 Season", so it looks like Spring and then Fall.

 

[InkedElkSlayer]

MT- The bear tag you bought this spring is good for spring and fall. You can only shoot 1 bear. Your 2024 general hunting license is actually valid through their “tag year” which will be 2/28/25. All that means is that you’re covered for late season hunts… cow permits, cats, wolf, etc through Feb.

ID- Pretty much the same except you can shoot 2 bears in certain units (1 spring, 1 fall). So if you bought an Idaho bear this spring and didn’t kill one, you can go back this fall, kill one, and you have a valid tag.

 

[sneaky]

I don't believe the Idaho 2 bear zones are one spring and one fall. It's two tags total, once you fill them both you're done for the year. License is good from 1/1-12/31. That covers you for the calendar year. They just include spring hunts in the proclamation because it lets people know what the spring seasons are going to be because they'll start up before the new regs hit the stores.

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[JRDK2000]

Any tips for hunting in the early fall? Planning on going around the end of September to beginning of October doing spot and stalk

 

[gtriple]

Any tips for hunting in the early fall? Planning on going around the end of September to beginning of October doing spot and stalk

I'm not an expert, but here's the little I know... Find berries in low, cool areas. Search until you find fresh scat. Bears don't want to move a lot during the hot months.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Any tips for hunting in the early fall? Planning on going around the end of September to beginning of October doing spot and stalk

It all depends on the local food sources. In some areas they will be low elevation, out even in the heat, gorging on hathorne berries.

Other areas they will migrate up into the huckleberry fields in August and September before dropping to hit the chokecherry and apple thickets in late September and through October.

By mid to late October most of the fruit sources are gone and they are digging on open hillsides and feeding on gutpiles/carcasses.