Solo Spring Bear Montana

[scotty_c]

I'm new to NW Montana and am planning my first spring bear hunt this year. I'm in the Kalispell area, so of course there are a lot of places near me that I can go for a day hunt or in the evening if I duck out of work early. But, I'd like to do a pack hunt for a few days sometime this next month and get up into the mountains somewhere. If I do, it looks like I'd have to be going solo.

Being alone, I'm a little concerned about grizzlies. I don't mind being somewhere where there's a chance of bumping into one, but racing sundown (and potentially losing) to process an animal by myself in the middle of the Bob sounds like a sticky situation I'd rather avoid. It's creepy enough quartering an animal alone in the dark without predators four times my size around.

I'll follow all the standard precautions: hang my food, golden triangle, keep an immaculate camp, carry spray/sidearm/both, and have a SAT COM. I also plan on trying to not shoot too long before sundown (but from what I read about spring bears that sounds hard to do). But, I'd also like to focus on areas that have a little less grizzly density than if I went east/southeast. I don't mind driving a little while if I'll be out there for a few days.

Right now I'm looking at three general areas:
1. Coeur d'Alene Mountains. The MT side only.
2. Cabinet Mountains. I know, this is a Grizzly Recovery Zone. Their estimated numbers seem paltry compared to the NCDE. If you know the area and they are actually dense here, please let me know.
3. The Snowy Mountains. This is a long drive for me, but I was planning on putting in for an elk B here so I thought it wouldn't hurt to get to know it.

I'm not looking for any specific locations for any of these, finding spots is half the fun. I'm just looking for insight into how these areas actually are in terms of grizzlies. Does anyone else solo hunt any of these? Does anyone know any of these and think it's a bad idea?

I should add, I'm open to finding a partner if anyone else is in the same boat as me.

 

[mustelid_master]

Lots of grizzlies in the snowys/gravellys. Avoid 140/41 if you don't wanna see a grizz. Consistently see 3x more grizz than black in these units.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Lots of grizzlies in the snowys/gravellys. Avoid 140/41 if you don't wanna see a grizz. Consistently see 3x more grizz than black in these units.

Big Snowies, not Snowcrest.

 

[mustelid_master]

Snowcrest has tons of grizz.

Edit: If only I could read, no experience with the snowys.

 

[InkedElkSlayer]

I’m a fellow NW MT guy and grew up in the Cabinets. We don’t really refer to them as the “Couer d’ Alene Mtns”… but that’s been home for over a dozen years now.

To answer your questions. I have hunted alone in 2 of the mentioned locations spring and fall. Do I think spring bear hunting in griz country is a bad idea? Not if you’re smart and follow some SOPs.

Now here are some thoughts outside of your questions… The Cabinets have far more griz than you are assuming. I would almost guarantee I could show you one this weekend if we hunted a morning and an evening hunt. That said, there’s plenty of black bears as well. If you’re just worried about griz, there are obviously significantly less to the south.

What I would be more concerned about is what are you looking for? A “backpack hunt”, or to have the highest chance at killing a bear this spring? If you want to backpack hunt, spike out, try out your gear… do it. If you want to have the highest probability of killing a bear, then cover the most country as you can that actually holds bear this time of year. Our river canyons have been green for a while now and green up will explode over the next week and a half. Keep in mind the golden rule of bear hunting… bears are where bears want to be, not where hunters want bears to be.

Good luck, it’s a great time to be in the woods.

 

[Wildatheart]

I'm new to NW Montana and am planning my first spring bear hunt this year. I'm in the Kalispell area, so of course there are a lot of places near me that I can go for a day hunt or in the evening if I duck out of work early. But, I'd like to do a pack hunt for a few days sometime this next month and get up into the mountains somewhere. If I do, it looks like I'd have to be going solo.

Being alone, I'm a little concerned about grizzlies. I don't mind being somewhere where there's a chance of bumping into one, but racing sundown (and potentially losing) to process an animal by myself in the middle of the Bob sounds like a sticky situation I'd rather avoid. It's creepy enough quartering an animal alone in the dark without predators four times my size around.

I'll follow all the standard precautions: hang my food, golden triangle, keep an immaculate camp, carry spray/sidearm/both, and have a SAT COM. I also plan on trying to not shoot too long before sundown (but from what I read about spring bears that sounds hard to do). But, I'd also like to focus on areas that have a little less grizzly density than if I went east/southeast. I don't mind driving a little while if I'll be out there for a few days.

Right now I'm looking at three general areas:
1. Coeur d'Alene Mountains. The MT side only.
2. Cabinet Mountains. I know, this is a Grizzly Recovery Zone. Their estimated numbers seem paltry compared to the NCDE. If you know the area and they are actually dense here, please let me know.
3. The Snowy Mountains. This is a long drive for me, but I was planning on putting in for an elk B here so I thought it wouldn't hurt to get to know it.

I'm not looking for any specific locations for any of these, finding spots is half the fun. I'm just looking for insight into how these areas actually are in terms of grizzlies. Does anyone else solo hunt any of these? Does anyone know any of these and think it's a bad idea?

I should add, I'm open to finding a partner if anyone else is in the same boat as me.

Meet me down in St Regis and come tag along !! I’ll be hunting May 11-17th ish