Spring Bear in Idaho for first western hunt.

[dbailey]

Planning a DIY spot and stalk spring bear hunt in Idaho for me and my oldest son. First of all, I am pretty OCD and so this forum, Go Hunt and Google Earth have become my new daily routine. We are from West Tennessee and hunt whitetails on public land in the local river bottoms, as well as some agricultural areas. So night and day difference in the topography. The amount of public land in the west is amazing and completely overwhelming.

Planning to set up a truck camp as a base and hike in, likely get set up with a tarp and/or bivies to spike out as able and the weather permits. Like the idea of having a base camp to come back to, dry out, warm up if need be.

I would list the areas I am considering but honestly it is embarrassingly long. Priorities are decent bear densities, reliable road to the edge of some public land and ability to set up a camp at the truck, would like the ability to get 2 or more miles in away from a road or ATV trail, and an area where we could potentially chase elk in the fall. Much more concerned with making some memories, and learning than finding the "Honey Hole" on our first trip out.

So, what do y'all think, are harvest numbers a good gauge of bear densities? Looks to me lot a lot of the heavily outfitted areas and units closest to major cities have the highest kill numbers, I assume that an area that is baited and hunted with hounds would have higher kill numbers than an area with no baiting or hounds of the same density.

Common mistakes y'all see newbies make on a routine basis in trying to execute their first western hunts?

Thanks to everyone for all the information shared here, pretty awesome resource.

 

[idahohikker]

Cool stuff. Higher kill numbers don't equate to higher densities. There's some correlation but kill numbers are based more on the number of hunters, which slants towards population centers because people don't want to drive far for bear. Road access is as serious of a concern. Anything over 5,000 feet is sketchy for a truck spring bear access. That will really limit your options. You want to hunt them in May normally. You're looking for the greenup that bears are chowing on. Biologists can help with many of your questions, including bear densities. Much of Idaho is decent at least. One other place to look is on the Fish and Game website under the different species reports.

Deer and elk won't be in the same places in May as hunting season so there's minimal scouting benefit there.

I'd post what elk zones you've narrowed to and you might get some people willing to share info via PMs.

 

[dbailey]

Been looking at the Palisades area, Pioneer Zone, and the Panhandle. Still researching and accumulating gear a little at a time.

 

[Mosby]

Make sure the primary roads are open. I went to the Pioneer Zone last spring for bear and a main road going to where I was going to camp and hunt was closed. Couldn't get back to the trailhead. Call a ranger station before finalizing plans. I adapted but I should have called ahead.

 

[idahohikker]

Panhandle has good bear numbers. Palisades I suspect is pretty good but you're right in grizz country. I think bear density is low in the Pioneer. You can confirm these things with your research. Pioneer will create driving issues as noted.

 

[Pwells10]

Dont come early. Ton of snow still. We usually head out opener but man, like I said ton of snow. We wont go until mid May

 

[crossone]

Yes to what the other posters have said. I don’t consider Pallisades to have a very high bear density, some but not a lot. The Pioneers are pretty open and dry and I wouldn’t go there for bears. The Panhandle is loaded with bears and access is good. If you’re interested, PM me and I’ll provide you with more specific info.

Cross