Idaho Spring Bear

[87TT]

Wasn't bear hunting but while turkey hunting and getting schooled by a big ol' mountain gobbler., I was making my way down a drainage and ran into this guy. There was a fresh snow in the ground and it was cold. low 20's at daylight. He was up a tree scratching his ass on a branch. I was uphill and 15 yards away when I heard him scratching then spotted him. We were eye level. He could care less about me . I talked to him and he just looked at me I either had to go back up the way I came through the thick crap or sidehill around his tree. I just side hilled within 10 yards or so of his tree and left him there enjoying his branch that he was backed into. This was Tuesday 4/30/24.

 

[Jason Snyder]

We’re almost to Idaho for a 5 day hunt and it looks like we’re going to have some cold, crappy weather. Do the bears tend to go back to their dens to sit out the cold, or do they just not move as much? Has anyone had any luck calling bears when hunting conditions are less than ideal?

I hunted bears for five days in central Idaho one year, about this time or slightly later. It was kind of cold and rainy. Like 40s, low cloud cover. Wet.



I glassed for almost four days without seeing a bear. The last afternoon it kind of broke off and the sun came out. We saw two bears that afternoon, and three on the way out the next day.



Another trip, last week in April. It was cold and rain/snow early in the trip. No bears. Middle of the trip we had a nice day, saw two bears. Next day and a half it was rainy and low clouds. Nothing. The morning I left it broke off again and my hunting buddy glassed two.

They don’t go back to their dens but they absolutely hang right around their day beds, which are usually in the timber and/or cliffs.

Do what you can with what you got. Have fun. Enjoy the trip.

 

[North Idaho Stickbow]

He’s no bruiser, but they’re finally coming in. My buddy has them on his baits too. It all jumped off last night.

 

[MHWASH]

We arrived home Thursday from our 5 day trip in Idaho. Weather conditions were less than ideal, but huntable. We saw a total of one bear. The last few years we have left on the last Friday of April and have had lots of success. Last year we got three bears in 4 days. The green up was way advanced compared to other years. I believe this caused the bears to spread out and go high earlier than normal.

 

[Andrew12gauge]

10x binos and 25x spotter. I spotted my bear from about a mile and a half. This gal and kiddos was about 1000 yards. View attachment 704764

I’ve now ditched spotting scopes and tripods and I’m simply using sig kilo6 16x image stabilizing binos


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[Oregonhuntrboi]

I’ve now ditched spotting scopes and tripods and I’m simply using sig kilo6 16x image stabilizing binos


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Samsies. Now if sig or another company can combine the ballistic rangefinder in the image stabilizer binos I would be

 

[Jason Snyder]

I’ve now ditched spotting scopes and tripods and I’m simply using sig kilo6 16x image stabilizing binos


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Never tried them. I have a pair of Zeiss Classics that are going on 30 years old.

 

[.204smokechaser]

Finally found time to get out for a bit for some glassing and scouting. Most of heavy bear crap and tracks I saw today was in the 3k-4K range. 10A

 

[Schoolhousegrizz]

Did you have a cold snap where you were? The area I was in had seen 70 degree temps for a couple of weeks. A day before I got there, it dipped down to highs in the mid 40s and got windy, and remained that way through our trip. I’m guessing that slowed everything down and made the bears much less visible.

Same experience I had

 

[Runolfson]

Just got back from North ID, Wed-Sunday. Took 3 days to turn up a bear at 1600 yards across the drainage. Almost no snow below 4800 feet. I saw every kind of critter but bears. Wolves, elk, moose, deer ,grouse, rabbits, turkeys, ...

 

[mtnbiker208]

Never tried them. I have a pair of Zeiss Classics that are going on 30 years old.

I used the classic for many decades, you would be suprised at how much better the modern binoculars are at first and last light. just fyi

 

[David Gough]

Hunted for three days in south central Idaho. Saw 1,000+ elk, some deer, one cow moose, zero ticks, and zero bears.

Hunted low and high. All looked good. Going to need a new spring bear spot.

 

[Minute_of_Antelope]

Random question: what are guys seeing for snowlines around the Salmon, ID area right now?

I know there’s satellite layers etc but I’m dubious of their accuracy sometimes…

 

[packgoatguy]

My son (14) took his first ever bear today. A spot-n-stalk Idaho,chocolate colored, boar. 400 yards, 1 shot with the uberlite 6Creed. White dot on the bear's shoulder in the second pic is actually the bullet a millisecond before impact, caught on the phoneskope. He has put on the miles. This was his 3rd season hunting bears. 7 or 8 days this season, 6 or 7 last year, and 5 or 6 the year before. Almost had a shot 2 weeks ago, but the clock ran out before the bear cleared the timber for a clean shot.

 

[MHWASH]

Congrats to the tough young man!

 

[IDVortex]

My son (14) took his first ever bear today. A spot-n-stalk Idaho,chocolate colored, boar. 400 yards, 1 shot with the uberlite 6Creed. White dot on the bear's shoulder in the second pic is actually the bullet a millisecond before impact, caught on the phoneskope. He has put on the miles. This was his 3rd season hunting bears. 7 or 8 days this season, 6 or 7 last year, and 5 or 6 the year before. Almost had a shot 2 weeks ago, but the clock ran out before the bear cleared the timber for a clean shot.

That's awesome! The smile says it all!

 

[LIWolverine]

My son (14) took his first ever bear today. A spot-n-stalk Idaho,chocolate colored, boar. 400 yards, 1 shot with the uberlite 6Creed. White dot on the bear's shoulder in the second pic is actually the bullet a millisecond before impact, caught on the phoneskope. He has put on the miles. This was his 3rd season hunting bears. 7 or 8 days this season, 6 or 7 last year, and 5 or 6 the year before. Almost had a shot 2 weeks ago, but the clock ran out before the bear cleared the timber for a clean shot.

Awesome!!


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[.204smokechaser]

I think this thread is doing real good. Talked to a group of Wisconsin boys out here yesterday and 2 from Ohio today. Unit 10.

 

[cowboybob01]

That’s awesome going to try to get my kids out in a week or so. Or so much fun getting the kids out and hunting.

 

[packgoatguy]

That’s awesome going to try to get my kids out in a week or so. Or so much fun getting the kids out and hunting.

Ya, it's a lot more work to get kids properly trained and into quality hunting scenarios that keeps their interest in check... but it's what we gotta do if we want the next generation to carry on our values and conservation ethos. Plus, I find the challenge of helping a kid be successful to be just as rewarding as pulling the trigger myself. For a hard to locate game animal like bears, it takes things to another level...