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2020 Spring Bears Thread

View attachment 137523Harvested this guy on the 16th here in Idaho...I hunted hard for 4 days and then the sun caught his hair shimmering about 800 yards out as he was feeding. I checked the wind and scrambled within range and harvested him with one shot with my .308

Great color on that bruin. Hope your in a 2 bear unit. Go get another
 
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Each year @MT.PERCHMAN has begun the spring season with a bear hunt thread which I have thoroughly enjoyed, and have participated in as well. I havent seen or heard from him lately on the forums so I wanted to get one going. It's a fun way to see what's going on around in different states or Montana, we even have some of Canada's finest chiming in which is awesome
First off wherever Perch is I hope he is well I know he's battled some things over the years medically so I hope he is doing OK and he chimes in as well.....
Second good luck to all and be safe out there share your experiences good bad and ugly. Even if a bear day turns into a Morrell fest let's see some pics.... I personally haven't been yet had a great buddy connect on a solid Beartooth Blackie last night to kick off 2020. Looking forward to seeing your adventures!
I was wondering when this post would show up. I hope to be adding to it but it's not looking good. Alrhough I do have Perchmans number maybe I should check in and see how he is.
 
Great color. Jealous


Great color on that bruin. Hope your in a 2 bear unit. Go get another
I hunted the Salmon area units 28,20a, and 21 and I wasn’t seeing any bears for the first 3 days of my hunt. Then I decided to try a unit close to home on the 16th closer to home and found him in a really hot bear spot. Now for the 2nd bear tag I am going to have to travel and get back out to the 2 bear units.
 
I am still holding out hope that MT opens up spring bear for nonresidents. I have never hunted bears, and this was going to be the year I was going to give it a shot! I had three bears come through in one afternoon while sitting on a wallow last fall archery elk hunting. I woke up from a little afternoon snooze to this fur ball standing 50 yards away. Needless to say, going forward I will always have a bear tag in my pack in the fall.

Good luck to all of you who are able to get out and go!

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I was great full to harvest this fella with my 86 year old grandfather on the 20th. Big bear, small bear or no bears... a trip to the hills with your mentor, is always a great time! Good luck everyone!!
 

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Marshian... ☹

That really is a sad image. A head shot cub with a .22 caliber wound sure does eliminate any margins for human error and broadens the likelihood of bad intent. The likelihood that the shooter was within close proximity is really high. I wonder if the cub was accompanied by a sow and perhaps the shooter placed the tag on the protected mother. I hope the Fish and Game is able to somehow identify the sow at a check station and identify the shooter. In Idaho the cub is legal for harvest but the sow is protected. I came across a sow and a single cub last year in a 2 bear unit with both tags in my pocket, but I opted to pass. Alternatively I came across a horseback rider packing a cinnamon cub out of the back country and did not pass judgement on his legal harvest. In your case the cub left to rot is heart breaking. Do you mind sharing what State you are in?
 
Marshian... ☹

That really is a sad image. A head shot cub with a .22 caliber wound sure does eliminate any margins for human error and broadens the likelihood of bad intent. The likelihood that the shooter was within close proximity is really high. I wonder if the cub was accompanied by a sow and perhaps the shooter placed the tag on the protected mother. I hope the Fish and Game is able to somehow identify the sow at a check station and identify the shooter. In Idaho the cub is legal for harvest but the sow is protected. I came across a sow and a single cub last year in a 2 bear unit with both tags in my pocket, but I opted to pass. Alternatively I came across a horseback rider packing a cinnamon cub out of the back country and did not pass judgement on his legal harvest. In your case the cub left to rot is heart breaking. Do you mind sharing what State you are in?

I’m in northwest Montana near Kalispell.
 
A456E345-7128-4C83-AAB2-2CEDD1137B74.jpegA9941D8C-6F7E-4929-889B-D45B9CD1716C.jpeg18BE5074-F9D3-4DA4-8898-4235281A923F.jpegHeaded out after work this past Wednesday with the plan to just check snow/road conditions at a few spots and not really expecting to see anything in the way of bears. I was able to get to a good glassing spot and, to my surprise, saw this guy within a few minutes of glassing. He was 650 yards away and headed for the thick trees in the bottom. I could get a glimpse every now and then, but obviously needed to close some distance. I stalked close on an old logging road but wasn’t quite able to see where I thought he was. The wind was right, so I decided to just keep creeping along the road and hope I’d see him. Ended up right above him about 40-50 yards away. I took a quartering away shot with my Grandpas handed down Ruger Model 77 in .300 Win Mag. He rolled to the bottom, but after a few seconds he was on his feet and stumbling away. Remembering what Randy always says, I shot again and this time he stayed down.

It’s not the biggest bear, but it’s my first solo bear, and my first color phase bear, so I’m pretty happy. Best of luck to everyone with open tags still!
 
Two baits went In today. Fair amount of snow still. Bears are probably just waking up. Will check Friday or Saturday and see if there was any action. If not I’m sure the following week the baits will be rocking
 
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