Northern Idaho Spring Bear 2021

[CodyE]

I am planning a spring bear hunt to Northern Idaho this upcoming May/June following my college graduation. I’m new to hunting western big game but have chased white tails my whole life in the southeast. I know it is a whole different ball game out west but I’ve always had a passion for hunting and want to venture outside of what I’ve became accustomed to. That being said, I’m in the early stages of planning this trip and wanted to seek some advice from you old timers. I’ve had my eye on unit 1 in Idaho because of there being no baiting/hounds and wanted to do a spot and stalk. Seems like there won’t be much hunting pressure. Everything I’ve read seems like priest lake is a good starting point but I do not know how late in the season I will need to go to be able to access due to snow? And will I be able to get to areas where I can glass or is everything pretty much forested.

I’ll happily accept any advice! I just want to be prepared and do my research so I can set myself up for success and a safe trip. Thank you.

 

[Kmarkwardt]

It’ll depend a lot on how much snow we get, but I usually don’t start seeing bears until the latter part of may into mid June.

 

[CodyE]

It’ll depend a lot on how much snow we get, but I usually don’t start seeing bears until the latter part of may into mid June.

I’ve got about two weeks to play with so I was thinking maybe the last week of may and first week of June. Could you speak on how accessible glassing locations are?

 

[Longranginidaho]

They’re not. This is thick country. You will shoot your bear at a close range more than likely.

 

[ttucci16]

I've hunted just west of where you are talking in the Washington side of the Salmo Priest Wilderness. It's very thick and doesn't start to clear up until you get up towards the alpine. Tons of opportunity, and a brutal place to try out Western Spring bear hunting. Best of luck.

 

[280Ackley]

Head south into hell’s canyon if you want to spot and stalk.

 

[CodyE]

Head south into hell’s canyon if you want to spot and stalk.

Thank you! I’m still not too familiar with all these areas. Which hunt units would this be in?

 

[CodyE]

I've hunted just west of where you are talking in the Washington side of the Salmo Priest Wilderness. It's very thick and doesn't start to clear up until you get up towards the alpine. Tons of opportunity, and a brutal place to try out Western Spring bear hunting. Best of luck.

Thanks for the insight! I definitely want a challenging hunt! Seems like it might be much thicker than I was anticipating. Sounds like the area also holds a lot of bears. So, I’m hoping putting the miles in and being very thorough will let us punch a tag this spring

 

[chaosonezero]

OP - These guys are spot on. I hunted the Panhandle in 2019 as my first western black bear hunt, and echo their comments. You can find spots to glass, but, for the most part, you're going to find that finding bears by glassing is easy, but getting to where you can kill them is a real challenge even if you have a really nice long distance rifle, as most of the canyons, draws, etc, in the Panhandle are fairly wide. If I were to hunt Unit 1 again, I'd do it completely differently. I'd probably still do some glassing, but I'd spent a lot more time just walking old logging roads and clear cuts. Once you find good, fresh sign, you'll start finding the bears. Also, be prepared for long days. When we were out there - third week of May - it was light at 0430-0500 and didn't get dark until 9-10pm. We glassed up 4-5 different bears in 4 days. Also - bear spray and a pistol won't hurt. We didn't run into any grizz, but we ran into a guy from Texas who saw a sow and two adolescent cubs NE of Upper Priest Lake (or so he told us).

 

[Big_wals]

I'd probably still do some glassing, but I'd spent a lot more time just walking old logging roads and clear cuts. Once you find good, fresh sign, you'll start finding the bears. Also, be prepared for long days.

This. Grew up in unit one, and your best bet is walking the roads. There's a ton of old roads that the FS gated off and closed to motorized travel, the bears seem to love em in the spring. Get a forest service topo map for 10 bucks and all the gated roads are marked. Find some on south facing hillsides, park at the gate, and wear your boots out! Lol. Never hunted on the priest lake side, but I've came sneaking around a switchback and had a sow griz with three cubs about 70 yards up the road. Definitely something to keep in mind

 

[Big_wals]

Also, as some have said a lot of places wont be accessible unti first of June, but it all depends on the year. If your schedule is flexible enough, I'd recommend calling fish and game in April and asking what the snows like, then making a plan from there

 

[dancingcoyote]

Sounds like the best time to hunt northern ID black bear is early June? Do two-tag units in ID typically have more bears than others?

I'm in a similar situation with OP, but have a fairly flexible time schedule looking at two tag units in ID.

 

[Big_wals]

Yeah, it just depends a lot on the year, but if I was traveling to hunt it'd be safer to plan a june hunt. Ive hunted in our favorite spot in mid may before, last spring I was working out of state but my brother said they never could get in there even.

 

[Big_wals]

As far as different units, cant help ya much there. Never hunted anywhere but unit 1, it had everything thing I needed! Lol. We moved to the lost river area a couple months ago tho, ask me next winter and I'll hopefully know about some other units!

 

[chaosonezero]

Also, as some have said a lot of places wont be accessible unti first of June, but it all depends on the year. If your schedule is flexible enough, I'd recommend calling fish and game in April and asking what the snows like, then making a plan from there

Yeah. Fish and Game and USFS were super helpful for me. Matter of fact, the forester up there even gave me specific drainages, by name, and when we hunted those drainages, we saw bears....Just couldn’t seal the deal; learning curve is steep for non-residents, for sure!


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[atx_bowhunter]

Like others have mentioned, Unit 1 is pretty dense county, so you can pretty well eliminate the ability to spot and stalk. If I ever took another trip out that way I’d plan on putting in some serious mileage on foot along the gated logging roads.

 

[lhbackcountry]

I am in same boat - looking at few different zones for end of may early june. have you decided anything recently ?

 

[dancingcoyote]

In the other thread people are saying this year's woods will be packed with people whose 1) hunting trip in 2020 postponed to 2021 2) have no other place to go for, esp Canada 3) have stimulus money to spend. Any thoughts?

 

[CodyE]

Think I have decided to head towards the area between the snake and 95 and and focus my hunt there. Just going to do a little e-scouting and find a main drainage that looks promising and work it over. I know i am going to to be passing a whole lot of good bear country being that I am driving from Eastern Kentucky. Was looking for an adventure and I have a few college buddies that let me talk them into a cross-country hunting trip. Looking forward to a great learning experience

 

[mtnbiker208]

Sundance lookout on a light snow year, beg of may last year.