Hunting Bears in Idaho Unit 43 or 39?

[HAP]

I'm going to be hunting bears in Idaho this coming weekend with my 8 and 10 year old. I've been doing a lot of e-scouting on both sides of 39 and 43 and I might have a few general areas picked out.

Which would you say is a better unit? I'm not opposed to taking ideas or tips on where I should go.

I also plan on using bait.

Thanks in advance.

 

[SG25]

Welcome to HT! Why not hunt both? Don't see bear at one, then go to the other.

 

[BackofBeyond]

Welcome to HT. You're not planning on using the 8 and 10 y/o as bait are you? That would be bad.

 

[HAP]

Thanks guys! This looks like a great forum.

I have teased my 8 yr old that I was going to tie her to a tree and put honey and molasses on her feet to help bring the bears in....haha. She didn't think that was too funny.

 

[SC Living Outdoors]

I hunted 39 a year ago this week. There was still a ton of snow and I couldn't get back into the area I wanted to hunt. I saw 1 bear but I couldn't get a shot. He was a small cinnamon. I ended up moving up into 33 and 35 based of some info I got from a biologist I met. I didn't end up seeing any more bears, but I believe
I was just there too early bc the biologist started sending me pictures of bears he was seeing everywhere the end of May beginning of June. 33 looked the best to me. Saw a crazy amount of wildlife in there. Animals were everywhere. I was planning on heading back this year but this virus thing messed up my plans. Good luck I hope you get one.

 

[Nambaster]

As far as the snow line this year goes the snow is pretty well melted off up to an elevation of about 7000’. Since unit 39 and 43 are touching and the habitat on the border is very bear dense I don’t think I have a recommendation between the 2 units.

 

[ida homer]

Either are good for bears.

5/1 - 5/15 are prime dates for seeing the most amount of bears. But if you want a nice rug or
mount I know the serious guys prefer earlier, in April. I am not one of those serious guys.

 

[HAP]

Thanks for tips and information so far guys. Some good info!

 

[Harold]

I'm going to be hunting bears in Idaho this coming weekend with my 8 and 10 year old. I've been doing a lot of e-scouting on both sides of 39 and 43 and I might have a few general areas picked out.

Which would you say is a better unit? I'm not opposed to taking ideas or tips on where I should go.

I also plan on using bait.

Thanks in advance.

Hap,
I’m planning on taking my 10 year old son to 39 for a bear hunt in a week or so. How did your hunt go? Any 39 tips? We are from Texas and are going to drive in on June 1. I’ve hunted bears in unit one with much success but this year wanted a place with more glassing opportunities. Would love to hear your thoughts on that area.

harold

 

[HAP]

Hey Harold, I actually ended up in unit 33. I’m heading up tomorrow to stay for a week and am going to use 39 as a backup plan. I’ll keep you posted if I head that way.

 

[Harold]

Sweet. We are going to be staying close to Idaho City, I’ll let you know if I find any good spots in 39. My son and I are going to hunt the Boise mountains and then a budy of mine is joining me in a week and we are going to try to hike deep into the sawtooth on the eastern side of 39. 33 was my first choice until I saw the stats for previous years on IDFG. Lots of bears are taken there but only a small amount with spot and stalk. I think it was under 20. Unit 39 had 50ish spot and stalk kills. Last year we hunted unit 1 and both tagged out but it’s really thick and the grizzly presence made us a little nervous. Best of luck! If you need anything my number is 817-688-8530

 

[Harold]

Hey Harold, I actually ended up in unit 33. I’m heading up tomorrow to stay for a week and am going to use 39 as a backup plan. I’ll keep you posted if I head that way.

Any luck yet?

 

[HAP]

Any luck yet?

Hey Harold, no luck yet. We had some bait set up and nothing came in for a week even though the week before we had 4 different bears hitting it daily so we're assuming some hounds came through the area before we got there, from what we heard and gathered anyway. We did go to 39 as well but didn't end up seeing anything. I'm going to go up in a week or two for 3-4 days and I'll keep you posted.

Let me know how it goes.

 

[Harold]

Hey Harold, no luck yet. We had some bait set up and nothing came in for a week even though the week before we had 4 different bears hitting it daily so we're assuming some hounds came through the area before we got there, from what we heard and gathered anyway. We did go to 39 as well but didn't end up seeing anything. I'm going to go up in a week or two for 3-4 days and I'll keep you posted.

Let me know how it goes.

HAP,
My son shot a bear on Friday night, it fell in a drainage at last light. We decided to back out for safety and returned the next day. We searched for 6 hours and found no blood and the drainage was super thick. We did not recover the bear. We’ve hunted the same area since then and have not seen anything except for elk and mule deer. We did come across an elk faun while searching for the bear though.

 

[Harold]

Picture of elk faun

 

[HAP]

I'm sorry to hear that, never fun losing an animal.

That's a nice pic of an elk calf, it's cool seeing those.

I also sent you a PM.