DIY Fall Black Bear-Where to go?

[HuskerHunterFisher]

I've never hunted black bear but I am thinking a fall DIY hunt sounds awesome.
What are the best states for OTC or guaranteed draw for Fall black bear? I've got some family in CO that I might be able to get private access on but otherwise mostly a public land hunt. It seems a lot of tags are bought as incidentals for hunters with primary deer or elk, but what would be wrong with idea of focusing on just black bear? I do have access to goHunt so I can check out the numbers side of things but there frankly isn't a whole lot of info about black bears on there. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[1_pointer]

Though it's been a while, there used to be a bear biologist from CA that posted here. He had lots of good info on bears in CA for a fall hunt. It's on my list...

 

[longrunner]

Oregon has $16 bear tags, up to 3 for the season, even for a NR. You could be bear hunting less than an hour from Portland. The downside (for some) no dogs or bait, so this would be all spot and stalk.

 

[lpcoutdoors]

I did a DIY Colorado fall hunt last year. I put in to a unit with 58% draw odds with no points and drew. The season was concurrent with OTC archery elk and there were a lot of dudes out, but I never ran into any. I never ran into any bears either, at least that I saw. I think, emphasis on think, jumped one in the oak brush and I might, emphasis on might, have called one in but couldn't see him, due to the thick oak brush. Could have been wishful thinking on both parts. But I did see lots of fresh poop and signs of feeding. I talked to a few other bear hunters, none had any success.

BUT I really enjoyed the hunt and if I had unlimited time would definitely do it again and again.

 

[Dunning Kruger]

Washington has tons of bears, baiting and hound hunting have been illegal since 96. It would cost you $222 as a non resident. The season opens august 1st. The mountains in stevens, ferry and pend orielle counties are loaded with bears hitting berries at that time. If youre interested in spot and stalk or calling, its a great place to hunt bears. The only hunt in the state thats worth it for a non resident. And unlike other states, there is no sort of check in / hide sealing requirement for fall bears in washington. You just have to mail a premolar tooth in. It costs nothing to do, wdfw will mail a postage paid tooth envelope to you if you call and ask for one.

 

[JDH]

I did a DIY Colorado fall hunt last year. I put in to a unit with 58% draw odds with no points and drew. The season was concurrent with OTC archery elk and there were a lot of dudes out, but I never ran into any. I never ran into any bears either, at least that I saw. I think, emphasis on think, jumped one in the oak brush and I might, emphasis on might, have called one in but couldn't see him, due to the thick oak brush. Could have been wishful thinking on both parts. But I did see lots of fresh poop and signs of feeding. I talked to a few other bear hunters, none had any success.

BUT I really enjoyed the hunt and if I had unlimited time would definitely do it again and again.

I had the same experience but in a unit with tags available in the second draw. If I were to do it again, I would do a little more research and watch the leftover list to try to get a better unit.

 

[HuskerHunterFisher]

Washington has tons of bears, baiting and hound hunting have been illegal since 96. It would cost you $222 as a non resident. The season opens august 1st. The mountains in stevens, ferry and pend orielle counties are loaded with bears hitting berries at that time. If youre interested in spot and stalk or calling, its a great place to hunt bears. The only hunt in the state thats worth it for a non resident. And unlike other states, there is no sort of check in / hide sealing requirement for fall bears in washington. You just have to mail a premolar tooth in. It costs nothing to do, wdfw will mail a postage paid tooth envelope to you if you call and ask for one.

Spot and stalk is probably what I would want to do. Nothing against hounds or bait but spot and stalk sounds like the most fun for me. Also, would your name handle be a nod to the psychological theory of the Dunning-Kruger effect? If so, I like it...i see it demonstrated a lot in our world unfortunately.

 

[Dunning Kruger]

Yup, dunning kruger effect here.

But if you prefer spot and stalk, washington is a good bet, as you wont be competing with baiters or houndsmen. 24 years of that action banned has given us a pretty damn healthy bear population. Just last year they changed our start date from sept 1st to august 1st and doubled the bag limit in my part of the state.

 

[BobJohnson]

Yup, dunning kruger effect here.

But if you prefer spot and stalk, washington is a good bet, as you wont be competing with baiters or houndsmen. 24 years of that action banned has given us a pretty damn healthy bear population. Just last year they changed our start date from sept 1st to august 1st and doubled the bag limit in my part of the state.

its doubled in all parts of the state