Oregon spring bear

[Buffalo]

I went out over the weekend in the SW corner of the SW zone. This area is new to me but I didn’t see bear or any sign. Veg seemed more green down around 1000 ft compared to 2000 plus. I found some roads with slides across them. Im tempted to go back and hike around the slides then hunt the road. Seems like odds are kinda low to run into a bear on the road. But it was proving difficult to find good glassing vantages where I was. I’m curious how other guys hunt national forest ground in this area?

 

[roosiebull]

I went out over the weekend in the SW corner of the SW zone. This area is new to me but I didn’t see bear or any sign. Veg seemed more green down around 1000 ft compared to 2000 plus. I found some roads with slides across them. Im tempted to go back and hike around the slides then hunt the road. Seems like odds are kinda low to run into a bear on the road. But it was proving difficult to find good glassing vantages where I was. I’m curious how other guys hunt national forest ground in this area?

swamps, roads, and calling.... regardless, wind is your enemy on NF land.... hunting cuts, you can get a lot more steady directional winds, NF is often tough, and bear will not tolerate your stink.... pay attention to wind, but running into a bear on a grassy road this time of year is a common occurrence, they use them a lot

 

[Buffalo]

swamps, roads, and calling.... regardless, wind is your enemy on NF land.... hunting cuts, you can get a lot more steady directional winds, NF is often tough, and bear will not tolerate your stink.... pay attention to wind, but running into a bear on a grassy road this time of year is a common occurrence, they use them a lot

Cool. Thanks. I’ll give it a try. Need to find some swamps too.

 

[Blacktailaddiction]

Hunted last 2 nights, finally into bears! My dad missed a wicked 400 yard shot at a solid boar 15 minutes after we split up. If I was there I probably would have hiked a mile around for a 100 yard shot downhill because 400 is a lot with wind. Then last night found a 80 pound ish bear that I still would have taken but he never presented a clear shot before he winded us at 300 yards and moved out of the cut. I think I’ll get my chance next weekend! Good luck it’s getting good everyone.

 

[7718Sallee]

Hunted last 2 nights, finally into bears! My dad missed a wicked 400 yard shot at a solid boar 15 minutes after we split up. If I was there I probably would have hiked a mile around for a 100 yard shot downhill because 400 is a lot with wind. Then last night found a 80 pound ish bear that I still would have taken but he never presented a clear shot before he winded us at 300 yards and moved out of the cut. I think I’ll get my chance next weekend! Good luck it’s getting good everyone.

Thanks for the update, glad to hear someone is seeing some bears. Good luck everyone.

 

[Blacktailaddiction]

Hunted last 2 nights with no bears fog was bad last night and tonight was cold and not idea conditions. Tomorrow is my last day to hunt on the coast, is it worth hunting from like noon to dark as a Hail Mary and hiking a lot of miles, or am I wasting my time and should just hunt the last 2 hours of light like I have been? Hope others are finding more luck than me right now.

 

[HODL]

I'm no expert but all the bears I've seen this year have been morning or mid-day bears. Granted that was 2 weeks ago now and they could have been cruising a little more looking for green up, but I think you'll be surprised at how often they'll pop out to feed in a clearing between 10 and 2.

 

[DawnPatrol]

My peeps went 2 for 4 in NE Oregon last week. Fantastic time with friends and family, beautiful scenery and weather, high percentage of color phase bears, and a couple grueling pack outs. Plus, my 2-year-old's first hunting camp. Doesn't get better than that!

I'd post a pic, but I didn't punch my tag so it's not my story to tell. Good luck to everyone still looking to seal the deal!

 

[IAMRAJ]

I've a small one in my cam once..about 2 weeks back...still venturing and putting some cams in new areas by the coast.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[roosiebull]

Hunted last 2 nights with no bears fog was bad last night and tonight was cold and not idea conditions. Tomorrow is my last day to hunt on the coast, is it worth hunting from like noon to dark as a Hail Mary and hiking a lot of miles, or am I wasting my time and should just hunt the last 2 hours of light like I have been? Hope others are finding more luck than me right now.

it's absolutely worth it as long as you aren't getting your wind into your primetime evening area in the process.... i see enough bear in that 10-2 timeframe to know it's not a bad time to be behind glass.... 10-2, and 5-dark are the 2 timeframes i'm confident in

 

[Oregonhuntrboi]

Hello.
Anyone from Oregon ready for spring bear season? I'm thinking of putting in for the South Blue Mountains. I love to be out in the woods that time of the year.

Definitely excited for Oregon spring bear as well! I did S. Blues last year and was super hard to time the snow. Was thinking they would be lower but they were actually staying high in the snow and haven’t come down yet. Success rate isn’t very good but always good to be out.

 

[DawnPatrol]

Just sent in my application!! Probably won’t draw, but hope springs eternal.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Lots of snow this year, might be hunting off snow machines.

 

[Pdzoller]

Lots of snow this year, might be hunting off snow machines.

Agreed and Oregon’s heaviest snow months haven’t even gotten here yet.

 

[Hoodie]

According to Ron Wold's draw odds page it looks like he's predicting steeper odds this year. Hood/White River was 86% with 0 points in 2021, this year he's predicting 20%. Wonder if the spring hunt is getting more popular. I did it for the first time least year, so I'm probably part of the problem.

 

[slick]

There was a 30% increase in applications last year..

 

[Hoodie]

I imagine some Washington guys may be applying this year as well given that their season just got cancelled (tentatively)

 

[Cameron.25]

I imagine some Washington guys may be applying this year as well given that their season just got cancelled (tentatively)

Luckily for us they only can get up to 5% of the tags. I really hope i draw my unit, i didn't draw it last year and neither did my buddy!

 

[ScottP]

Over the years I've put cameras in off the wall spots and always have bears on those cameras. They're everywhere.
Year long OTC with a regional or unit quota would work just fine.

Access can be more challenging in WW/MtEmily in spring. People would be piled on top of each other if they issued more tags. They could harvest more bears, but the hunt quality would decline. there are a lot of bears in that country though for sure.

 

[Salmonchaser]

There is so much snow already, I’m going with point saver this year.