Idaho Spring Bear

[lowpressure]

Finally got out last weekend after the season had been open nearly a month. Found a decent cinnamon bear and two smaller chocolates. The 6.5 PRC did great work. Recovery/packout were serious work, but all rewarding in the end. Bears were all at 4400. Green up had begun, but not extensive. Deer and elk EVERYWHERE.

fine work man

 

[lowpressure]

4 of us went down the last week of April. Hunted around 4000-4400ft elevation. I shot a young one and my dad got a decent boar. My first bear so I wasn’t being too picky. 6.5prc with the 153.5 Berger. My shot was 390yds, my dads was 110yds.

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so jealous lol. ill be on the mountain in a week or so

 

[David Gough]

so jealous lol. ill be on the mountain in a week or so

Heading up on the 19th/20th. Chomping at the bit.

 

[lowpressure]

Heading up on the 19th/20th. Chomping at the bit.

yeah, me too.

 

[Rob5589]

4 of us went down the last week of April. Hunted around 4000-4400ft elevation. I shot a young one and my dad got a decent boar. My first bear so I wasn’t being too picky. 6.5prc with the 153.5 Berger. My shot was 390yds, my dads was 110yds.

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Heck yeah! Heading out on Monday so this is stoking the fire!

 

[Clark33]

Heck yeah! Heading out on Monday so this is stoking the fire!

Good luck!

 

[Fuenstock]

6200ft in Pioneer. Lots of snow drifts to contend with so vehicle access is limited, but it’s easy hiking in.
Hills are surprisingly clear of snow and plenty of green on the hillsides.
Seen several deer and moose but no bears.

 

[ohiodope16]

Driving over from Ohio next week, got 10 days carved out for a diy hunt in unit 16 and might hit 17. Planning on backpacking/spot and stalk. Never been to the area but we have a bunch of different plans based off escouting and what I've read on here. Going to drive around for a day or two to decide where to hunt from. Definitely have a plan A and B. Does anyone have any current intel on unit 16? Or what elevation bears might be hanging out at?

 

[.204smokechaser]

Black Canyon in unit 10. Looking towards the Junction Lookout tower. I’m kinda selfish and hope hoodoo doesn’t open up until late June to keep a lot of people out of here.

 

[MHWASH]

Last week in we we're finding bears from 2500-3500. Now that we've had two weeks of 80+ weather i'm guessing the bears will be between 4000-6000.

 

[Rob5589]

5/15-19, saw one boar (pretty sure) and a sow with two cubs. Boar was on a snow chute on the opposite side of the river, 317 yds broadside. Unfortunately the river was raging with no safe way to cross and no bridge access for miles in either direction. It was 75+ every day at 4800-5800 feet. There was still some snow blocking roads and the rivers and creeks were extremely high and fast. There was a ton of green up everywhere. Was practically tripping over deer with a bunch of elk as well.

 

[23cobowhunter]

That sounds like a fun hunt.

 

[gtriple]

How early is too early?

I'm trying to plan my hunt for next year and considering going right at season opening for 10 days. I've got a commitment at the beginning of May and won't be able to travel after that, so really the first 2 weeks is my only option.

The area I hunt is very steep and has lower elevations available, so I'm thinking we'll still have good hunting.

 

[Andrew12gauge]

How early is too early?

I'm trying to plan my hunt for next year and considering going right at season opening for 10 days. I've got a commitment at the beginning of May and won't be able to travel after that, so really the first 2 weeks is my only option.

The area I hunt is very steep and has lower elevations available, so I'm thinking we'll still have good hunting.

I missed a bear on April 22nd this year, it was one of 2 we saw that day. It was fairly low elevation. The one I missed was in and out of his den multiple times but there were about 12 scat piles I could see behind his den so he had been coming out for a few days. The other bear we saw that day was up feeding and moving between multiple avalanche chutes.


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[gtriple]

I missed a bear on April 22nd this year, it was one of 2 we saw that day. It was fairly low elevation. The one I missed was in and out of his den multiple times but there were about 12 scat piles I could see behind his den so he had been coming out for a few days. The other bear we saw that day was up feeding and moving between multiple avalanche chutes.


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Hmmm. And that's with the crazy winter this year. What elevation was the snow line at when yall started?

 

[Andrew12gauge]

Hmmm. And that's with the crazy winter this year. What elevation was the snow line at when yall started?

We were able to drive to and hunt in patchy snow around 4500 feet of elevation.


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[OregonSteeler]

We were able to drive to and hunt in patchy snow around 4500 feet of elevation.


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A lot has changed weatherwise since late April. We head out next weekend and have no idea how high in elevation we will be able to get. I'm thinking around 5500-6500. Snowtel sites around 6200 are saying 6-8in currently.

 

[Andrew12gauge]

A lot has changed weatherwise since late April. We head out next weekend and have no idea how high in elevation we will be able to get. I'm thinking around 5500-6500. Snowtel sites around 6200 are saying 6-8in currently.

Definitely depends on what part of the state you are in. I shot a bear at about 4200’ last week, snow line was way up around 6000’ or so.


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[IdahoAngler85]

Did a 3 day hunt in the Sawtooth National Forest last week. Didn't see a bear. Didn't see any game, kinda weird. Saw lots of deer and elk scat and tracks. Every creek was raging, would have been hard/impossible to cross them. Hunting at 6,000 glassing up to 8,000. No other people out. Spot and stalk, will do bait next year.

 

[ohiodope16]

Drove over from Ohio last week to unit 16 with a buddy. We're in our early twenties and have never been to Idaho. Our plan A was quickly thrown to the wayside when a road we planned on taking to the top of a mountain was closed. We anticipated going up the mountain because a local hotel manager said it'd be open by the end of May. Tried to call local fish and game to confirm and with multiple questions and they never answered or responded to messages. We decided to hike in north of the selway. Country was thick. Lots of scat. Wolf and huge piles that we believe were grizz. Got to top, visibility for glassing was poor and everything seemed like and eternity away. Thunder stormed all night till noon when we decided to pack up and try a different unit. We hiked out and drove to units 14/15. We arrived at night and camped at fish creek. We were the only ones there. Found a whitetail carcass right next to our tent. Next morning a pair of wardens rolled into check roads and ended up checking our licenses. Nice guys, we asked for advice since we had already been majorly humbled. They gave us half a dozen spots to try in 14. We immediately started spotting elk/deer/turkey/moose. Second evening in 14 we spotted a small medium black bear across a canyon. Next morning tried to get eyes on him and saw a medium chocolate bear. Tried to drive around canyon and make a move but got cut off by snow and it turned into a long walk and a steep stalk with no luck. Humbled once again we setup to glass the next morning to hear a half dozen hounds running a bear out of our canyon. Honestly we thought it was neat. A storm was rolling in so we headed home a day early. Currently riding home we drove through Wisconsin and saw a huge reddish/brown bear dead on the highway every bit of 500lbs. Fun trip for a couple ohio boys who've never even seen a bear. We will definitely be back next year.