Any Opinions on a Spring Black Bear Hunt?

EastonHarber

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Feb 18, 2020
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Iowa
Hey Everyone,
First post to this Hunt Talk, but after watching Randy Newberg and his shows I figured I’d get on here. My father and I have been thinking of a spring black bear hunt and we have an idea of where we want to go but we can’t find the best way to decide. We are living in Iowa and are not worried about a drive but we have been planning on heading out west to Wyoming, Idaho, Montana; basically the states in that area. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas of where to go. We also don’t want to necessarily worry about grizzlies. Any information would be helpful.
Thanks
 
If you are just starting out, I would first at an area or state with over the counter tags. Lets stay you pick Idaho, go on the game and fish web site and looks at hunt planner. there you can see the areas that have had bears taken in the past and when plus if it was bait or spot and stock. As far as grizzlies when bear hunting I am not as worried as you are looking for bears and you will tend to see them if they are around. just know how to tell between the two.

Good luck, do a little more home work and planning, once you start digging into it you will be able to find most of the answers to the questions that you have. I find it helps to write down the questions and then it helps you know what to look for.
 
Well if you haven't applied for tags yet and don't have points in a state you are gonna have to look at over the counter tags for sure. It is possible you could still get an application in somewhere. Washington applications are still open until the 28th I believe?????? Don't quote me on that. The blue mountains in the south east corner of the state have the best opportunities but are very difficult to draw even for residents. Average once every 4-6 years and that is for consistent resident applicants.
 
If you re read your thread your looking at the 3 states that have a established Grizzly population. Anyone of them will present you with a lot of opportunity for black bear, the reality is that unless your hunting some Island mountain ranges within the states your chances of griz sightings are pretty dismal....if you focus in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem or glacier area the opportunity is there to run into grizz not saying it's gonna happen but it's definitely there. Farmers are running into the pricks when they harvest for crying out loud.

Are you looking to pack in and back pack hunts bears or get a hotel room or outfitter........ what about B/C or something? Put in for P.O.W.
 
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Pretty good bird's eye view of the quality black bear opportunities in Idaho with 1/10th the griz population than Montana.


Only about 1,500 grizzlies are left in the lower 48 states of the US.[32] Of these, about 800 live in Montana.[33] About 600 more live in Wyoming, in the Yellowstone-Teton area.[34] There are an estimated 70–100 grizzly bears living in northern and eastern Idaho.

Seems Idaho would be a good start to begin dialing in your first black bear hunt, fitting your criteria.
 
I agree it is rare to see them in a lot of those places. I've cut grizz tracks in the Big Belts and the Elk Horns, though. My buddy was charged hunting birds in a farmers field near Choteau! Still have yet to see one, even when I hunted the GYE a lot.
 
Disregard my post. I misread the header on your map and thought we were talking about bears.

To your point though, there are G-bears present in the circle I drew, and probably some localized areas with high density. Generally speaking though, if you were to pick a random trail head in that general outline you would probably be fine.

Would you agree?
 
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