Oregon fall bear info

[glennjones]

Guys I am thinking about taking my wife to Oregon this fall to get her a bear. Oregon is the choice because I have some friends out that way that hunt and have some private land and good knowledge of public land but they don't hunt bears. Any advice on the best time of year? I know it opens in August but I was thinking more like September or October would be better for me. How big are the bears out that way? I have been around bears in South Florida and East Tennessee so I have a very limited knowledge of them as we have very few in Alabama. Any gun restrictions I should know about? I read where some new laws were being passed. Thanks for any help in advance.

 

[Taudisio]

Guys I am thinking about taking my wife to Oregon this fall to get her a bear. Oregon is the choice because I have some friends out that way that hunt and have some private land and good knowledge of public land but they don't hunt bears. Any advice on the best time of year? I know it opens in August but I was thinking more like September or October would be better for me. How big are the bears out that way? I have been around bears in South Florida and East Tennessee so I have a very limited knowledge of them as we have very few in Alabama. Any gun restrictions I should know about? I read where some new laws were being passed. Thanks for any help in advance.

Where in Oregon are you planning on going?

 

[glennjones]

Where in Oregon are you planning on going?

South around Medford, Applegate but if there's another place I should be looking nothing is in stone yet.

 

[Taudisio]

South around Medford, Applegate but if there's another place I should be looking nothing is in stone yet.

There will be bears around. Probably starting on acorns right around that time of year. I was seeing bears in November while out deer hunting. And I had bears on my elk carcass the next day after a successful archery hunt. Good luck! Hope you kill all the bears you can!

 

[ORJoe]

If you're considering October or early November, you should know that to hunt for bears (or mountain lion) with a rifle during rifle deer or elk season, you need to have a rifle deer or elk tag. It's in the rule book, but it's a small paragraph and could be easy to miss.
Not a huge obstacle for residents as most of them on the west side are general tags, but the non-resident price could be a deal breaker.
No such issue in September even though there are archery seasons.

Edit: There used to be an exception that this rule didn't apply in the Applegate area, probably because there were a shitload of bears there. But now it looks like the rule doesn't apply to the entire Western Cascades deer season, probably because there are a shitload of bears everywhere. Still gotta watch out for the elk seasons though.

 

[glennjones]

If you're considering October or early November, you should know that to hunt for bears (or mountain lion) with a rifle during rifle deer or elk season, you need to have a rifle deer or elk tag. It's in the rule book, but it's a small paragraph and could be easy to miss.
Not a huge obstacle for residents as most of them on the west side are general tags, but the non-resident price could be a deal breaker.
No such issue in September even though there are archery seasons.

Edit: There used to be an exception that this rule didn't apply in the Applegate area, probably because there were a shitload of bears there. But now it looks like the rule doesn't apply to the entire Western Cascades deer season, probably because there are a shitload of bears everywhere. Still gotta watch out for the elk seasons though.

Thanks man this is the kind of info I needed as it seems like wildlife departments make the rules as convoluted as possible so that if you don't read the book cover to cover twice you are bound to break some law