selway bitteroot wilderness spring bear

[gigandet642016]

hey guys,

got an elk tag for 2022 so was wanting to spend a week this spring bear hunting the area. seems to be a solid place to tag a mature bear. was wondering if anyone had tips or information on the area. we are a bunch of 23 year olds and don't mind hiking in 10-12 miles to get to good country and away from pressure. never been bear hunting, is it worth bringing a sidearm or bear mace? are their certain practices for camping we should follow? looking to go the first week of june are we going to run into road access issues possibly wash outs or anything. also is june too late in the year to go? i know there will be more snow melted so are the bears going to be more spread out? planning on bringing my 6.5 creedmoor and am comfortable slinging lead out to 400 yards. do i need to be practicing further with the terrain or is getting within 400 yards fairly obtainable? also was planning on doing some fishing and was wondering if i were to hit the selway or some feeder creeks if there were any suggestions for flys to use or any other methods.

thanks in advance!

 

[Trap]

June is best for timing. I would bring a bigger gun for hunting. I have no idea if you’re rifle bear hunting why you would bring a sidearm or bear mace? Selway is cool country but you normally have to cover lots of ground to find game like elk but bear should be plentiful. My experience is 5 or 6 Miles in the selway equivalent to 10-12 Miles elsewhere but it’s a big area so some of its not very rugged

 

[MHWASH]

If your hunting from the river, June is way too late. The elevation around the river is 2000’ give or take. At that time of year the temps are often in the 90s already.

We killed 4 bears this year with 270s. Not in the Selway. The 6.5 CM is not far behind.

 

[Trap]

I would still recommend June that is when we see most of our bear activity by far where I hunt in Idaho. Big boars are way more active cruising for hot sows in early to mid June. I rode horses 26 miles into selway and following river for at least ten in July it was not too hot even in July. My son shot his bear, deer and bull elk with a 270 wby this year. From 400 to 659 yards. I watched his buddy shoot a whitetail with 6.5 creed 5 times before it finally went down at 100-200 yard range. I don’t want to get into caliber discussion if you love your 6.5 bring it I would bring a bigger gun but just me. First 2,weeks of June are best for bear hunting I have been taking multiple bears in Idaho for 30 years. I would definitely not go before mid may but just my experience. I hope you come back and post up your success

 

[MHWASH]

Trap, I cannot argue with your results. I agree, expect longer shots in the Selway.

 

[gigandet642016]

June is best for timing. I would bring a bigger gun for hunting. I have no idea if you’re rifle bear hunting why you would bring a sidearm or bear mace? Selway is cool country but you normally have to cover lots of ground to find game like elk but bear should be plentiful. My experience is 5 or 6 Miles in the selway equivalent to 10-12 Miles elsewhere but it’s a big area so some of its not very rugged

thanks for the reply! we plan on going that first week in june. we have elk tags too for the fall so we are kind of using this hunt to scout the land. looked at a few locations and will be hiking around 6-7 miles in. plan on just glassing some south facing chutes. we will be hunting around 5-7k in elevation. (getting up to 7k to glass mostly assuming snow lets us). i have dropped mule deer and white tail from 300+. i use 140 grain bullets. i would like to take a bigger gun but i do not have one and i am pretty comfortable shooting my 6.5. i do really appreciate the reply and information and sounds like you have had some awesome hunts!! that horseback ride had to be neat! we will have 4 guys hunting so hopefully i will have something to post to this thread after the hunt!

 

[Trap]

If you’re really comfortable with that gun ignore my advice definitely better to shoot a gun that you are comfortable and confident with than go bigger. I look forward to some follow up photos it’s super cool country

 

[bird_nerd_60]

Straight line distance in the state of Idaho is a completely meaningless measure. Especially true in the Selway and the Frank. It's good you're going on this bear trip so you can get a realistic idea of what you'll be dealing with for your elk hunt. 6-7 miles in that country is something that very few people are going to haul an elk out of on their back.

As far as the bears go, early June is probably the earliest you want to try to go. It's tough to predict road conditions, snow melt, etc. and the roads you'll be taking to access the Selway can be treacherous. Good luck!

 

[MHWASH]

Just an example of the Selway.

 

[gigandet642016]

Straight line distance in the state of Idaho is a completely meaningless measure. Especially true in the Selway and the Frank. It's good you're going on this bear trip so you can get a realistic idea of what you'll be dealing with for your elk hunt. 6-7 miles in that country is something that very few people are going to haul an elk out of on their back.

As far as the bears go, early June is probably the earliest you want to try to go. It's tough to predict road conditions, snow melt, etc. and the roads you'll be taking to access the Selway can be treacherous. Good luck!

thanks for the info! i will be sure to post pictures!!

 

[gigandet642016]

Just an example of the Selway.View attachment 363297View attachment 363298

god that looks like so much fun! been spending a lot of time on the stair machine getting ready

 

[PNWGATOR]

Fun...yeah. lol

You can’t spend enough time on the stair machine to get ready...trust me.

 

[MHWASH]

god that looks like so much fun! been spending a lot of time on the stair machine getting ready

It helps, but it doesn't help enough when your 19 year old son is pushing you.

 

[hooker]

This spring is looking like nothing we've seen in prolly 20yrs... At this rate I doubt for one you'll get to 5000ft by july. Nothing wrong with a 6.5. load it up with a TTSX. hammer both front shoulders. STEEP and THICK

 

[hooker]

Damn near every 6.5CM guy is stuck thinking the Eldx is the way to go. Seem 5 ELDx kills now and yes stuff died but if your really looking to anchor something in STEEP and DEEP country the 120Gr TTSX at near 3000fps is your huckleberry. Id run an Accubond also over the ELDX in the 6.5..

 

[sneaky]

god that looks like so much fun! been spending a lot of time on the stair machine getting ready

Turn that stair machine sideways and side hill at about a 45 degree angle. Nothing in there is like a stepper

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Brandon.miller.4]

Good luck on your hunt. Post up some success pictures when done!

 

[Buglebrush]

Kudos to you guys for going after predators! Spring bear backpack hunts are an awesome hunt, and so important for elk calf survival. Also a terrific way to scout, and prep for the fall. Take a predator call and wolf tags too. Every hunter owes it to the future of Western Hunting to become a more dedicated predator hunter. It's the single biggest thing we can do to help, and almost nobody does.

 

[Buglebrush]

This spring is looking like nothing we've seen in prolly 20yrs... At this rate I doubt for one you'll get to 5000ft by july. Nothing wrong with a 6.5. load it up with a TTSX. hammer both front shoulders. STEEP and THICK

Great advice here. Have all sorts of backup access plans as the snow will be bad this year.

 

[jdmaxwell]

Make sure you have wolf tags