2025 spring bear thread

[Frequently Banned Troll]

You shot it - you butcher it. She’s genuinely excited to eat it and share with her pals.

 

[gonhunting247]

Filled my OR spring bear tag a couple nights ago. Young boar, but I'm just fine with him !

 

[Frequently Banned Troll]

Harvested my first black bear last week. Warden estimated the sow to be 6-8 yr old when a tooth was pulled for precise aging. No signs of lactation this year. Probably an average 5 ft. bear from what my brother-in-laws told me.

Hunting with your brother in laws would be like fishing with dynamite.

 

[Frequently Banned Troll]

530 sow killers, ready set go!

 

[Sask hunter]

Been the slowest spring ever for big bears but a little glimmer of hope. Probably here one day and gone the next. Now’s the time to grind as you never know what will show up

 

[Joe Hulburt]

Oregon Coast Range Bear.

I was slinking along this evening through a meadowy area and along came this guy grazing along about 50 yards away. I immediately thought he was a big boar but only got to see him for a short while before he went behind some brush. He was out of sight before I was 100% sure I wanted to shoot so I just waited. About a minute later he came back out and was quartering towards me on the same trail I was on. When he got to about 35 yards I decided I better get busy! I hit him solid on the point of his shoulder and he spun around once and piled up 29 yards from me. Big old greasy bear!

I’ve been super busy and didn’t get to hunt nearly as much as I wanted but feel very fortunate I saw good bears both times I got out.

 

[Pucky Freak]

On the drive down I listened to every podcast I could find related to my hunt: spot and stalk bear, spring bear, hibernation, the “green wave”, spring forbs, MT spring bear, even SW MT spring bear. The amount of easily accessible information out there is just wild, some of which is even good information

More tactical adjustments to be made. I think I need to account more for security cover. Where I am hunting there is plenty of fresh green-up in sparse timber and small openings at this time of year. Last time I was concentrating probably too much on edges of parks and meadows in the second week of June. I suspect there were quite a few bears right where I was hunting, but I spent little time looking at the best terrain features of the area, and I overlooked the animals.

Higher vantage points for glassing, and glass the best landscape features that have everything a bear needs this time of year. I am confident that in six days I can pick up a sow, and with a little luck and patience, a cruising boar who visits with her long enough for me to put a stalk on.

I also brought a couple of distress calls. Mostly to stop a bear, or get it to move back in the open. I’ve debated blind calling, but I’d need to first scramble up a boulder or a tree where I am confident a GB cannot reach me.

The biggest wildcard is other hunters. A busy trailhead and I will want to move to ensure I am not hunting on top of anyone.

 

[gonhunting247]

Oregon Coast Range Bear.

I was slinking along this evening through a meadowy area and along came this guy grazing along about 50 yards away. I immediately thought he was a big boar but only got to see him for a short while before he went behind some brush. He was out of sight before I was 100% sure I wanted to shoot so I just waited. About a minute later he came back out and was quartering towards me on the same trail I was on. When he got to about 35 yards I decided I better get busy! I hit him solid on the point of his shoulder and he spun around once and piled up 29 yards from me. Big old greasy bear!

I’ve been super busy and didn’t get to hunt nearly as much as I wanted but feel very fortunate I saw good bears both times I got out.

View attachment 372778

Congrats Joe, That's a good looking bear

 

[Joe Hulburt]

Congrats Joe, That's a good looking bear

Thanks! Now the wife and I are off to pack it out. Going to be sore tomorrow!

 

[Badknees104]

you got a great bear but a better WIFE !!

 

[Joe Hulburt]

you got a great bear but a better WIFE !!

Lucky for me the trail down goes by one of her favorite trees so she was excited to go. She made two trips with a front shoulder each time.

 

[Frequently Banned Troll]

I see making a boar/sow call is basically a damn coin toss for these Wyoming hunters. I spent about $400 for the bear tag/conservation license and it looks like I’m not going get a day in before the sow killers shut it down for the spring. I predict Memorial Day is a great day to kill sows for the cowboys.

 

[Frequently Banned Troll]

Can some g&F agencies consider a 5 year wait on bear license if a hunter kills a sow?

 

[Pucky Freak]

 

[samuel_284Win]

Hunting with your brother in laws would be like fishing with dynamite.

Three of the four were there for this bear kill. Used Ryans 7PRC too.

 

[Frequently Banned Troll]

Three of the four were there for this bear kill. Used Ryans 7PRC too.

That’s more like enriched plutonium than dynamite

 

[BAKPAKR]

Can some g&F agencies consider a 5 year wait on bear license if a hunter kills a sow?

I think the majority of my bears have been boars but I have always been an equal opportunity bear killer. Of course, I have always hunted in areas without a sow quota, and mostly in areas where the wildlife managers have wanted to reduce the bear population (liberal seasons/two bear limit/reduced price NR tags/etc).

And, as far as telling a boar from a sow, I do well telling a bigger bear from a little bear.

 

[MTTW]

Bigger bear on the left.

 

[Sask hunter]

Nothing big but a busy place tonight. Hopefully action keeps up for later this week

 

[El Jason]

My contribution to this thread will be pictures. Glassed up one sow with twins on this trip.