Idaho Spring Bear

[SoNV]

This is my first post here, but I've been a lurker for years.

I hunted the western side of Gospel Hump last year for deer with no success, and am heading up first week of June to try to get my first bear... my plan was to pick up a reduced tag and hunt off a trailhead on the Magruder Corridor, but I have been freaking out reading about all of the areas in the reduced units with elevation are going to be impassible even with a 4x4 in June.

I really want to have a good time and not have my hunt ruined by snow again, especially as I haven't been up there that time of year yet. But, I also want to have a decent shot at filling the freezer too.

Like I said, I found some good looking spots in unit 20, but the trails are at about 8,000 feet. It seems like anything too much lower is going to be way too dense to have an enjoyable hunt in, which was my experience in the Hump.

Has anyone hunted the 17/20 area in June before? Specifically off of the Magruder?

In retrospect I should have planned my trip for earlier and picked up a general tag in a better location. I don't know if I'm overthinking this, but it's a 16 hour trip for me and I want to make the most of it.

 

[SoNV]

Not for bears, only elk. You may very well be able to gain access, or some access to the areas you'd like to hunt but it would be best to contact the local USFS office, and ask them how much of the corridor might be accessible. In any case, there are other options. "PM" me, and I'll give you some other possible options where you can gain access. By the way, I couldn't agree more with the comment you made about purchasing a regular nonresident bear tag. It would be a much better option.

As a rookie here looks like I'm going to have to wait a week to PM you but will do so! Thank you.

It's stressful, I want to see that country and also have an opportunity for a good hunt but the weather can really leave you SOL pretty much overnight in any of these units, seems like.

 

[Sandstrom22]

Thanks for the help on here guys. Ended up harvesting a good Boar last week on the hunt. We ended up with two bears, both very close to the creek bottoms 2500-3500 feet in elevation on the creek drainages. Saw a total of 7 bears in 4 days. Appreciate the help form you guys who sent me a PM.

 

[Big_wals]

Thanks for the help on here guys. Ended up harvesting a good Boar last week on the hunt. We ended up with two bears, both very close to the creek bottoms 2500-3500 feet in elevation on the creek drainages. Saw a total of 7 bears in 4 days. Appreciate the help form you guys who sent me a PM.

Awesome man!

 

[yellowbeard]

Thanks for the help on here guys. Ended up harvesting a good Boar last week on the hunt. We ended up with two bears, both very close to the creek bottoms 2500-3500 feet in elevation on the creek drainages. Saw a total of 7 bears in 4 days. Appreciate the help form you guys who sent me a PM.

Congratulations! Looks like a monster pack out. Did you manage it in one load?

 

[jcav]

Congrats!! We are headed up on the 21st.

Thanks for the help on here guys. Ended up harvesting a good Boar last week on the hunt. We ended up with two bears, both very close to the creek bottoms 2500-3500 feet in elevation on the creek drainages. Saw a total of 7 bears in 4 days. Appreciate the help form you guys who sent me a PM.View attachment 290568View attachment 290569View attachment 290570

 

[Sandstrom22]

Ya me and two good friends got him out in one shot along with camp. Heavy packs and sore backs

 

[Miflatlander91]

That's awesome trying to talk a buddy into this next year

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[Drenalin]

Bumping this for updates from anyone who's been out. How's access now that we're into mid/late May? Are there particular elevations you're running into the most bears, or still at this point simply following the snow line? Bear sightings pretty spread out, or are guys getting into places where you might have multiple sightings in the same general vicinity? How close are we to rut activity starting? If close, does it make sense for a NR to come just a little later when boars are covering more ground, or get out about this time when there's less green up and bears/food would somewhat more concentrated?

I don't want to bomb guys who have contributed with PMs, but I'm planning my first bear hunt for spring of 2022 and have some questions about 4A if anyone with some experience in that area could PM me. Basically, I've got some ideas and some pins dropped but would like to run them by somebody who knows what the heck they're doing as a sanity check.

 

[Sandstrom22]

Sounds like at least on the Oregon side they just got hammered with snow again. The timeline you have picked should be perfect besides these random weather episodes.

 

[sneaky]

It's snowing pretty much everywhere in central Idaho up high right now, and raining down low. Typical springtime in Idaho.

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[Elkster12]

Heading up to 12 in another week to chase bear and wolf in the backcountry. Going to be packing my super down pro clothes and four season tent to handle any inclement weather. Just hoping to not be socked in for a week.

 

[MHWASH]

Heading up to 12 in another week to chase bear and wolf in the backcountry. Going to be packing my super down pro clothes and four season tent to handle any inclement weather. Just hoping to not be socked in for a week.

12 can get pretty warm this time of year. Be careful not to ever dress.

 

[G8ters]

Going to 10 tomorrow. First bear hunt. Hope for some good luck over bait.

 

[Elkster12]

12 can get pretty warm this time of year. Be careful not to ever dress.

Well, hunting naked is not my thing. And it's not very practical with all the tics up there!

I won't overdress though. I always layer when hunting. The cold gear comes out when glassing from knobs and ridgelines.

 

[cubharleman]

A hunt residents should be happy to help with. Come have a great time and kill a bear. Montana and Wyoming also have good spring bear hunting. Spot and stalk is lots of fun and totally doable for hunting. On multiple trips I've spotted bears on day one.

Nonresidents wondering where to go have lots of options. The units with the most bears killed, say top three, are well known. They're good and have a lot of bears killed to some extent because of their popularity. Not crazy busy in those units from my experience but also kind of nice to get off the beaten track a bit more.

Salmon, McCall, Sawtooth, Beaverhead, Lemhi all have at least decent bear numbers. The Middle Fork and Selway Zones are not very accessible due to high country access points until Mid June or later when the bear hunting starts to drop off or get closed. You could target a mid June backcountry hunt in there and make it work but access will be a challenge and the bear hunting won’t be easy that late and in huge country. You could also do a fly-in hunt earlier in the season when the greenup is closer to the river and animals are closer to winter range. That would likely be a better hunt. You could have a wolf, lion, bear combo hunt and just an amazing time in deep backcountry. The other main access point to the Selway and Salmon Zones is along the river roads. Steep hiking but a good number of bears if you hike away from access points.

In general, for the average guy not messing with the lower priced tags which are more difficult to access and rugged to get around will make for a more successful hunt. Buy full price and go for it.

Throughout the state, you'll want to do your research to see if the road you're planning on taking will be open. Anything above 5,000 feet is a red flag. Call the forest service office and post on here if you want about the roads. Look at Snotel and information available online about snowpack. Many will be closed or impassable. You might be good for a while and then hit a snowbank. A common good approach is to find a lower elevation road and hike up from there. 4 wheelers are very helpful for getting around when access might be hit or miss.

Northern Idaho has more bears generally speaking than south and central Idaho. Panhandle, Clearwater, and Lolo areas can be productive. You will have to plan for how you hunt with all the dense timber but there are bears around and more wolves up there too.

Pioneer and more desert units south of I-84 don't have a lot of bears.

Normally the later part of April through early June the hunting can be good. May is a nice middle ground. You might want to hunt a little lower or higher depending on the timing.

Feel free to PM. Depending on volume and where you're looking, I might be able to help. I don't know that much about the areas north of the Salmon River Breaks. Anything south of that I've probably ventured through and hunted at least a little for some critter.

Really appreciate you posting this information to help point some of us nonresidents in the right direction. Heading on my first hunt mid June (couldn't find time to go any earlier). I'm too new here to PM but wondered if you had any thoughts for location/that time of year. Been focusing most e-scouting on unit 39, NE into the Boise mountains. Got a lot of great info off this thread but appreciate any other notes. Thanks, man!

 

[Rob5589]

Really appreciate you posting this information to help point some of us nonresidents in the right direction. Heading on my first hunt mid June (couldn't find time to go any earlier). I'm too new here to PM but wondered if you had any thoughts for location/that time of year. Been focusing most e-scouting on unit 39, NE into the Boise mountains. Got a lot of great info off this thread but appreciate any other notes. Thanks, man!

Welcome to the forum! I'm heading out tomorrow night actually. The way I researched it was by harvest rates via spot and stalk. I'm not baiting or hounding so those numbers mean little to me, other than bears are there. 1 is no bait/hounds, 39, 4, 10, 12, all have good to decent numbers for spot and stalk. Good luck!

 

[cubharleman]

Welcome to the forum! I'm heading out tomorrow night actually. The way I researched it was by harvest rates via spot and stalk. I'm not baiting or hounding so those numbers mean little to me, other than bears are there. 1 is no bait/hounds, 39, 4, 10, 12, all have good to decent numbers for spot and stalk. Good luck!

Thanks, @Rob5589 There sure is a ton of information on the forum. Great to be here and get in on some of the discussion. I appreciate the insight. I used goHunt to do some research and look for harvest rates/terrain/etc. Definitely focusing more on spot and stalk and looking for areas not so densely timbered.
Stoked you're getting out tomorrow. Best of luck-let me know how it goes!

 

[bangarang]

Thanks, @Rob5589 There sure is a ton of information on the forum. Great to be here and get in on some of the discussion. I appreciate the insight. I used goHunt to do some research and look for harvest rates/terrain/etc. Definitely focusing more on spot and stalk and looking for areas not so densely timbered.
Stoked you're getting out tomorrow. Best of luck-let me know how it goes

My wife and I spent last weekend between 7500-8500' in 39. There was a lot of snow, so we decided to go home to Boise early. We are going to try again this weekend, but going lower in elevation. The last couple days have been pretty hot, so maybe some of that snow melted off. I haven't seen sign in some of the other areas I've hunted in 39, but I've talked to people who have them on camera at their bait sites, which are in drainages/creek bottoms. The problem is that they usually come around 2 am. Of note, I am still new to hunting, so I really only know what I've read in this forum, but I have been spending every weekend out there.

 

[cubharleman]

My wife and I spent last weekend between 7500-8500' in 39. There was a lot of snow, so we decided to go home to Boise early. We are going to try again this weekend, but going lower in elevation. The last couple days have been pretty hot, so maybe some of that snow melted off. I haven't seen sign in some of the other areas I've hunted in 39, but I've talked to people who have them on camera at their bait sites, which are in drainages/creek bottoms. The problem is that they usually come around 2 am. Of note, I am still new to hunting, so I really only know what I've read in this forum, but I have been spending every weekend out there.

That's good to know. I appreciate the info. There's only so much e-scouting you can do without actually getting there on the ground and seeing where the snowline is at. I'm coming from western WA so it's a bit of a hike. Hoping you can get on some bears in the coming weekends. I'm new to western hunting myself, but absorbing what I can wherever I can. Let me know how it goes!