2017 Montana Spring Bear Hunt

[uster19]

Like many others I am planning a bear hunt in MT next spring. I am trying to do some research and narrow down some areas. I have a few areas selected but I am noticing some units close down early from hunters shooting too many sows. I was hoping to head out there in May but I am afraid that some of the units will be closing up. Does anyone know where I could find the dates that the units have been closing for the past few years?

Thanks is advance.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Quota units close when the quotas are full. You could call the regional biologist for trends and his/her take but I'd develop several potential areas if you are hoping to hunt in a quota area.

 

[uster19]

Kind of what I figured. I was just hoping to find some history on it to help narrow down some areas. Looks like I will just need to give them a call. Thanks for the reply.

 

[bigozzie]

spring bear can be a tough one, snowpack makes a huge difference, and some years they are out early (no snow) and some years they are out late (lots of snow). So booking a date and etc could be tough. If a person could wait until late winter and know the snowpack then compare that to previous years and bear activity, then you could determine an approximate date to choose your hunts. Last year was early, several years ago season ended before I saw a bear, way too much sow.

 

[uster19]

spring bear can be a tough one, snowpack makes a huge difference, and some years they are out early (no snow) and some years they are out late (lots of snow). So booking a date and etc could be tough. If a person could wait until late winter and know the snowpack then compare that to previous years and bear activity, then you could determine an approximate date to choose your hunts. Last year was early, several years ago season ended before I saw a bear, way too much sow.

Well that is good to know, didn't even think about that. I must be too used to midwest whitetails. Looks like I need to do some more research. Luckily research and data are one of my favorite things to do.

 

[whiskeydog]

510 is almost always closed by the end of the 2nd weekend. 520 varies from year to year...some years it stays open for most of the season, however this past year, due to the earlier melt and limited snow the quota was met earlier than usual (3-4 weeks if I remember correctly). I'm not sure about 700.

 

[ron-ream]

I live in the Swan Valley, we are on 83 between Kalispell and Missoula, 60 mi from Kalispell and 90 from Missoula, is where I live. supposedly we have about 4 bears per sq mi. We see a lot of black bears, color phased bears, and lots of Grizzlies. Only about 2% of hunters get bears in MT. We have the bears and they can be out anytime in Spring and the season stays open till it ends, no quota. I have seen out of staters come here and get bears, but they do their homework and put in the time. good luck. Fall is a little harder to find em, but they are here.

 

[belly-deep]

510 is almost always closed by the end of the 2nd weekend. 520 varies from year to year...some years it stays open for most of the season, however this past year, due to the earlier melt and limited snow the quota was met earlier than usual (3-4 weeks if I remember correctly). I'm not sure about 700.

Does anybody know why there is a quota in those units? It would seem to me that if it closes by the second weekend, there must be a lot of bears and could withstand a little more harvest.

 

[Blueniner9]

I spend a lot of time in the quota units... mostly because I lived in Billings for the last four years before moving this year to Bozeman. The quota units are within 2 hours of so of the major cities in MT. Not dogging Billings hunters at all, but when you hunt the quotas, you see a LOT of people because they can easily do a day hunt and get back to town that night. The quota units have some of the toughest terrain in the state, and can provide an EPIC hunt if you get out and hike/camp, but with the amount of pressure it gets from road hunting as well as guys who shoot the first bear they see, it has to be protected. For as much rugged terrain as the quotas have, they also have prime areas where a guy can spot a bear from the road, and not have to travel far to seal the deal. Combine that with the pressure, and you have a recipe for a lot of the wrong bears getting killed. Last year is a great example, I think something like 11sows were shot within the first two weeks of the season in 520 (more sows than boars)... It doesn't take too many years of aggressive harvests of female bears to put a big dent on the population. I'll be the first guy to tell you that there are a ton of bears in the units, but IMO FWP is trying to protect the resource from overhunting due to the proximity of the major population centers to the areas being hunted. Again, all my opinion, not based on any studies or scientific facts, just based on 4 years of spending a lot of time in those areas.

If I was coming from out of state, I would focus on the NW corner of the state, as others have mentioned, and spend time walking logging roads and glassing clear cuts/avalanche chutes. There are a lot of guys on this site that kill bears every year. I'm not one of them- I've killed two, one in the spring and one in the fall, in 5 seasons of hunting, but using the advice I've gotten on this site has dramatically increased the bear sightings that I've had during the season. Good luck!!

 

[Hannibal]

Quotas? Closures? Research? Why fool with it? Idaho is the perfect solution for your next bear hunt.. Do yourself a big favor and cross over into Idaho Territory.

 

[uster19]

Thanks for the info everyone. My buddy who was going to go with me bailed so now I need to find a new hunting partner. I have backpacked in grizzly country before but not too comfortable being by myself out there.

 

[midwesterncrosshair]

Did you ever go on your bear trip? My wife is showing interest in black bear hunting because she is a teacher and can go once teaching is done the last week in May. So a 2019 trip might be going down for me.