That's damn Impressive! He'll be hunting circles around most grown men by the time he's 12.Got back from a trip a few days ago, seemed slower than most years. In 8 days saw one nice boar (shooter couldn’t get on him in time) and a young sow, usually see around 5-7 bears. You are welcome Montanans for not shooting your sow, not all NRs are out there targeting boo-boo!I can’t complain too much, got a real nice bear last year.
Brought my oldest (6) along, he had a blast. Averaged about 5 miles a day with lots of glassing, slept 8 nights on the mountain in grizzly country, he’s harder than a lot of grown men I know! Lots of naps and snacks though…
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2025 spring bear thread
- Thread starter Sask hunter
- Start date
It’s Bucky
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 15, 2025
- Messages
- 255
What caliber rifle Pat?
psinclair
Well-known member
6.5 PRC, 139gr scenar
Turkeygetpwnd38
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2024
- Messages
- 120
That’s the plan, hope there is still opportunity and animals to hunt by then!
Coop
Well-known member
9 bears so far this year, but none worth pulling the trigger on. This small boar had a beautiful coat and was fun to watch. The sow and her three cubs was great to see as well. I know them from hunting the same area last year, and it's great to see that she was able to keep all three alive!
Point Creep
Well-known member
Quitters - it the bear rut, FYI.
cgasner1
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2016
- Messages
- 5,567
Wish I was a quitter. Next weekend is my boys birthday party and Sunday is father days. This spring ripped by I never even got to start
Point Creep
Well-known member
Put a Fathers Day bear hunt on the agenda sometime. That’s what I do.
@Frequently Banned Troll I saw a guy skinning a bear in town a couple weeks ago that would have made you proud. Didn't even come close to taking up the whole tailgate...
Point Creep
Well-known member
We had 2 in rifle range last night. One looked like a sow, and the other a boar but we couldn't get a real good feel for it being big. So instead of shooting a bear, there was some long range rock crushing practice that didn't even bother the bears. We do have a Fathers Day hunt planned to see if we can do a triple on big MT bears.
Pucky Freak
Well-known member
Recap of my remaining trip - had less cell battery than I thought, so saved it for essentials only.
Day 3: Glassed a jet black bear, small ears! Joined by a tiny black fur ball
Fun watching them though.
Day 4: New drainage 3 miles away. Glassed another jet black sow and tiny cub. This sow appeared to have a darker muzzle than the first one. They came out several times between 3 PM and dark. The last 30 mins of light the sow was out feeding alone. Makes me nervous thinking how easy it is to kill a bear, thinking it is a loner.
Day 5: High country glassing. No bears, but about 8 PM 2 cow elk are in an open park staring back to a cut and chirping away. They are acting like one of their own had just been killed. They did this for almost an hour, then ran off. At one point I contemplated checking out the scene of the likely kill 400 yards away, but thought better of it in case it was a GB.
A few mins after the cows took off I spotted a cougar sauntering across the park! I have always wanted to see one in the wild. Appeared like a big tom with a very full belly. Watched him for 5 mins until he dropped off a ledge. Twice he turned around lazily to look back at the kill site. Very cool!
Day 6: Located a string of wallows. Tons of elk and moose sign.
Set up camp in a new spot and hiked about 1500’ vertical to be in position to kill a bear if one showed in a N aspect pocket park w/ fresh sign. Sat until last light. No dice. Hiked back down in the dark and missed camp by about 50 yards. Phone died. I fumbled around in the pitch black until finally relocating camp at 1:30 AM, very tired.
Around midnight I was walking up a creek bottom and bumped into a set of glowing eyes reflecting my headlamp 40 feet ahead on the game trail. Deer? It dipped its head lower, still staring intently. Something seemed off… I advanced and the animal silently turned and bounded off. Long thick tail - another lion!
It knew I was there a long way off, but was reluctant to abandon its fresh kill, a porcupine. I am very thankful it did not defend itself, it would have been on me before I had any clue what was happening.
Overall, very fun trip. Saw 1 deer, 2 moose, many elk including a nice bull, pronghorn, weasel, marmot, and countless spring flowers. I was even treated to a spectacular double rainbow following a brief storm.
I tried distress calling 5 different set-ups w/ rabbit and fawn calls. Weather was hot, so did these midday when I was less likely to be successful glassing. Each time I was perched on a large boulder or up a tree. No responses.
I appreciate all the helpful PM’s with generous tips. Trip #2 the learning curve advanced a lot, and another spring bear attempt is definitely in the works for a future season.
Day 3: Glassed a jet black bear, small ears! Joined by a tiny black fur ball
Fun watching them though.Day 4: New drainage 3 miles away. Glassed another jet black sow and tiny cub. This sow appeared to have a darker muzzle than the first one. They came out several times between 3 PM and dark. The last 30 mins of light the sow was out feeding alone. Makes me nervous thinking how easy it is to kill a bear, thinking it is a loner.
Day 5: High country glassing. No bears, but about 8 PM 2 cow elk are in an open park staring back to a cut and chirping away. They are acting like one of their own had just been killed. They did this for almost an hour, then ran off. At one point I contemplated checking out the scene of the likely kill 400 yards away, but thought better of it in case it was a GB.
A few mins after the cows took off I spotted a cougar sauntering across the park! I have always wanted to see one in the wild. Appeared like a big tom with a very full belly. Watched him for 5 mins until he dropped off a ledge. Twice he turned around lazily to look back at the kill site. Very cool!
Day 6: Located a string of wallows. Tons of elk and moose sign.
Set up camp in a new spot and hiked about 1500’ vertical to be in position to kill a bear if one showed in a N aspect pocket park w/ fresh sign. Sat until last light. No dice. Hiked back down in the dark and missed camp by about 50 yards. Phone died. I fumbled around in the pitch black until finally relocating camp at 1:30 AM, very tired.
Around midnight I was walking up a creek bottom and bumped into a set of glowing eyes reflecting my headlamp 40 feet ahead on the game trail. Deer? It dipped its head lower, still staring intently. Something seemed off… I advanced and the animal silently turned and bounded off. Long thick tail - another lion!
It knew I was there a long way off, but was reluctant to abandon its fresh kill, a porcupine. I am very thankful it did not defend itself, it would have been on me before I had any clue what was happening.
Overall, very fun trip. Saw 1 deer, 2 moose, many elk including a nice bull, pronghorn, weasel, marmot, and countless spring flowers. I was even treated to a spectacular double rainbow following a brief storm.
I tried distress calling 5 different set-ups w/ rabbit and fawn calls. Weather was hot, so did these midday when I was less likely to be successful glassing. Each time I was perched on a large boulder or up a tree. No responses.
I appreciate all the helpful PM’s with generous tips. Trip #2 the learning curve advanced a lot, and another spring bear attempt is definitely in the works for a future season.
ashersdad
Well-known member
The boys and I made a quick trip to Idaho looking for bears. Saw bears every day including 3 grizzlies. We only saw one bear that was big enough to shoot and as we were closing the distance, a grizzly came out and chased it off. We did see a mountain lion at 30 yards which was cool. Walked down where it came from and found a dead whitetail. Set up a trail camera overnight and got a nice picture. It was a nice trip and we had a great time!
Wes Mantooth
Well-known member
Mata
Active member
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2025
- Messages
- 33
That’s a really nice Bear congrats
ashersdad
Well-known member
Lost Aggie
Member
I got back a few weeks ago from Vancouver Island chasing black bears. This was my second time going after the island bears and it was just as fun the second time around. The scenery was amazing but the bear population is huge! Total spot and stalk hunting scenario, so put a lot of miles on the truck and feet to find the best boar we could this time around in shooting distance. I was lucky enough to find this boar feeding in the road and he was bold enough not to run but to square up on me to act dominate. A clean shot and short recovery I was able to bring a good bear back to Texas! I am so grateful for him and this will be a hunt that I will remember forever.
Also got a cool photo of a sow and cub on a tree stump.
Also got a cool photo of a sow and cub on a tree stump.
Point Creep
Well-known member
Looks to be a monster- congrats!
Bowhunt_406
Active member
Congrats on a stomper! Beautiful hide also!
Lost Aggie
Member
Thank you!
Lost Aggie
Member
Thanks!
