Wyoming spring bear 2026

[samualh]

planning on going on my first spring bear trip to Wyoming. I am coming in with very low expectations but just had some questions. I was planning on staying and hunting the whole first week of may but have been reading about the abnormally high snowfall in the past couple weeks following the abnormally dry winter. Any thoughts on how it will affect the bears? I plan to come and register a couple of bait sites and possibly hunt over them but am not expecting much. I am planning on this being more of a “scouting with a rifle” trip in preparation for next year bringing a few more guys and registering a few more bait sites. Any tips and pointers are appreciated thank you!

 

[Wyco307]

Hey man, it is really the complete opposite of abnormally high snowfall for this time of year. Realistically, we are about a month ahead of schedule with snow. I have been running baits for years and have to snowshoe or snowmobile bait in during April. This year I was able to drive my truck into my bait sites. There is generally waist deep snow still but in a lot of country 9k and below there are grass patches in the timber and little snow. Most snow at this point will be burned off within a day or two. I have pictures of bears in 3' snow on baits in April during heavy snow years as well so really cold temps will shut them down before warm weather and snow. If you're planning to spot and stalk find canyons with green ups, burns, etc that have water nearby. Baits for a short trip are going to be pretty tough. It is doable but it usually takes a little bit for them to find the bait and be consistent.

 

[wytx]

Don't think you'll be setting any baits, they have to be registered and most sites are spoken for. The state restricts how many can be in each public section.
Snow pack is low but we've had some cold weather lately and our baits has not been hit yet. Set it 2 weeks ago, earlier than last year, and no activity as of yet.
Last year early May we had multiple bears hitting it. It is on private land though.

Weather could be iffy so be prepared. It could be cold and snowy.
Good luck if you come down.

 

[samualh]

Headed there now as we speak, came prepared for just about any weather cause the forecast says everything from in the teens and snow all the way up to mid 50s

 

[Pilsner]

I am part of a group of veterans who are bringing our pack goats to the Medicine Bow NF starting the week of the 14th.
If anyone has any info for a group of first timers it would be greatly appreciated.
We send a couple of guys ahead last month to scout camp sites and what not but everything else is up in the air - we are hoping to just figure it out as we go.
We all are fairly experienced with baiting bears here in the Ozarks but this is gonna be our first spot-n-stalk trip for us as a group (I've done a little of it in WA and OR in the past but not enough to consider myself experienced at it).
Thanks
-Doc

 

[wyosteve]

Not sure why you'd bring pack goats unless you just are wanting to give them experience. MB is very accessible by road this year due to low snowfall.