Montana Spring Bear Hunt (Semi-Live)

[mr_steve]

Well in a little over 24 hours we will be westbound out of North Dakota headed for the Kootnei National Forest in NW Montana. It seems like this trip has taken forever to arrive with all the awesome bear hunts this year that have been posted. My friend Shayne (yotkilr) and I will take off around 10pm tomorrow night for a 12 hour drive across the state. We hope to arrive around noon with a few food and fuel stops added in there.

On our first bear hunting trip in the spring of 2012, we hunted hard for 5 days and saw a grizzly as well as a sow with a cub. Frustrating but it was my favorite hunting trip where we came home empty handed. We actually watched that grizzly bear chase a cow moose which was intense but did not see how that ended up as they went into the thick forest. The scenery, food, and memories were awesome but we are back to redeem ourselves! We will be hunting Saturday evening to the next Saturday morning. Shayne has the bear tag and I will be following with the video camera.

Depending on cell service, we will post photos and updates of our trip. Can't promise any crazy shenanigans like the Hunt Talk Bear Hunt but hope you enjoy!

Trailer is packed!

 

[Gerald Martin]

Good luck! I was out tonight and saw a medium sized black about a mile away.

 

[thecrittergitter]

I'll keep an eye out for your rig I'm pointed that direction tomorrow. My son is trying to talk me into a medium size bear before we even leave the houseLOL

 

[Yotkilr]

Gunna be a long day at work, come on clock move faster.

 

[mr_steve]

Good luck! I was out tonight and saw a medium sized black about a mile away.

Gerald do you have space for a trailer in your yard?

Weather looks good for the week. Here is my song for the bears!!

http://youtu.be/s2mefSW4bYw

 

[Festus]

Best of luck!

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

Good luck boys! Hopefully W. MT will be giving up some more bear meat and another big rug this spring

 

[mr_steve]

And the journey begins...

 

[mr_steve]

Good morning from Havre, MT! 300 miles to go.

 

[mr_steve]

Just got through Glacier. One of my favorite places. If you haven't been, it is a must see. Now we are stopped in Kalispell to get groceries for the week.

 

[kansasdad]

Thanks for making the effort for the play by play. Enjoy your adventure.

 

[----]

I wasn't aware Havre was on the way to anywhere.

Good luck on the bears, hopefully the weather cools down a bit and they start moving more.

 

[mr_steve]

Well turns out our camp and hunting area is a black hole for cell service. Which is good and bad, just not as many updates as planned. A little update below. More details and pics after the trip.

We have seen two bears so far. One we were 300 yards from and decided to get closer but he wandered into thick trees. Possibly should have shot when we had the chance. Below is a pic from our camp. Having a great time so far. Eating lots of elk steak and burgers, corn, beans, and oatmeal cream pies. Also bacon every morning.

Just two days left to get it done!!

 

[LCH]

Good luck! I've only been home 2 weeks, and am ready to go back already...

 

[Elkoholic]

Keep at it, we had 2 bears killed on the last evening of the HT Hunt 2014, make it happen!

 

[SFC B]

Hoping to see some black on the ground!!

 

[BlakeA]

Good Luck!!

 

[mr_steve]

Well we couldn't seal the deal but enjoyed another awesome trip to NW Montana. Definitely added fuel to the fire to get back there too!

I do apologize for the lack of updates. We had to drive to town in order to get service which took a half hour. Here's a quick recap of the hunt.

Day 1-

We had driven through the night and were pumped as all get up. We quickly dropped our trailer at camp and got out to scout some areas we had marked when researching online. We hadn't decided whether to hunt the steep country near the fresh snow melt or logging roads. Sure enough while cruising our 2nd area we spotted a medium sized bear on a logging road way across the valley.

Well we hustled over as we were running out of sunlight. Well looking back we were a couple hundred yards below him but had no way of knowing without a spotter to tell us which way to go. We were still excited to see a bear on the first night.

Day 2-

We hiked into the same area the next afternoon. We ended up spotting another bear wandering around the hillside. We were able to get up to 300 yards from him when we got this shot.

At the moment we didn't have a range finder so decided we would try get a little closer. Well he shifted into the brush and we left kicking ourselves. That would end up being the best opportunity of the trip. A bird in the hand right? Didn't want to put a bad shot on it though with not knowing the yardage.

Day 3 through 5-

The next 3 days we struck out but enjoyed the nice weather. Ate like kings with elk steak and burgers from last fall's hunt. I tried my hand at some night time time-lapse too.

Day 6-

Gerald Martin was kind enough to join us for the day. Besides some wet weather we enjoyed our the hike up some beautiful country. Gerald is a standout guy and mushroom guide too.

On this hike we saw, deer, elk, sheep, goats, and 2 bears! We decided to make a sneak on one of the bears knowing our odds were low with the bear on the move. At one point I thought I was going to hack chunks. Felt like I was chasing a goat. Well the bear moved into some timber when we arrived to where it was last seen. Again we are super thankful for Gerald taking some time to show us some new country and just enjoy God's country. We ended up hiking 8 miles that day which our body reminded us the next day.

Day 7-

We saw lots of bear sign on this draw that we had scouted. Went for the same approach as the night before. Spot and stalk on the steep country. Perfect evening but nothing developed. While sitting around I decided to capture the flowers that covered the mountains. Say what you want guys.

We had a great trip and learned a lot. Saw 4 legal bears which was 4 more than our trip 2 years ago. I have a lot of respect for the guys who get it done spot and stalk style.

You can say this has added to the fire to get back there and settle unfinished business next year!

 

[mr_steve]

Some more photos from the trip…

 

[kansasdad]

A great time and wondrous country to visiti. Beautiful photos