Spring bear 24

[wawhitey]

Here i sit, all downtrodden
Want to hunt but weathers rotten.
Bears are hiding in the trees
They wont come out and play with me's
Snowin blowin All aroun'
I should just head into town.
Get a hotel nice and warm
To wait out this screwy storm.
But ill camp here in my truck
Man i must be one dumb...

[7mmfan]

You're a true wordsmith Dean.

[Lefty]

Shmuck!!!

[wawhitey]

Shmuck!!!

Close enough. Lefty wins the runner up prize

[Tigger]

Well that made me chuckle. If it makes you feel any better, I was out in a rain storm watching my sons' track meet the other day. Nasty weather, but my 1 son set a PR in the triple jump of 38 feet as a 9th grader.

[wawhitey]

Went out poking around in a new area today but couldnt call cause the wind was all kindsa screwy. Still no bears seen or bear turds found, but i did get like 8 or 9 ticks today, so thats sonething i guess. Maybe not the best consolation prize but hey. Anyway i think tomorrow morning ill respray my clothes and pack with permethrin and just sit and glass while it dries. Not interested in getting any more ticks

[wawhitey]

Spring bear season summed up in a single pic. But just assume there are ticks in the frame that you cant see. Cause there probably are.

[Lefty]

Ticks scare me more than snakes,,, nasty things carrying nasty stuff



If my wife drank, add a lounge chair and she would bear hunt

[wawhitey]

Went home saturday morning after a few hours of glassing. Avoiding some bad weather. Got back this afternoon, still quite a bit of rain today but supposedly its over now and will just keep getting better and better weather. Tomorrow overcast, no rain (supposedly) and after that sunny and getting progressively warmer, into the 70s. I expect to start seeing some bears moving this week. Just been watching whitetail, mule deer, moose and elk so far. And ticks. Got my evening campfire and bottle of wine going. Life aint too bad. I expect my cell cams at home to start taunting me with bear pics any time now.

[wawhitey]

Bear spotted.... watching a huge grizz eat a deer!

[Tigger]

Sneak up closer.

[wawhitey]

No thanks. I watched him for about an hour and decided it was time to gp hunt somewhere else. Man what a crazy thing to wake up to.

[7mmfan]

Never know what you're going to see in the woods. That would be a cool experience to witness, from a distance. Any sign of the black ones yet?

[wawhitey]

Never know what you're going to see in the woods. That would be a cool experience to witness, from a distance. Any sign of the black ones yet?

No sign of the blacks yet. Maybe that big boss grizz in there has something to do with the lack of black bears up there lately. Spent today checkin places out, setting camp now. 15 miles from that big ugly. Of course im camped 50 yards from a usfs grizzly warning sign, but hey. I intend to do some cold calling tomorrow. I figure the odds of seeing two grizz in 2 days are pretty low.

[wawhitey]

Moved to a different drainage this afternoon. Whole mess of grizz tracks. May as well go hunt montana at this rate. This spot, its wherei killed a dinky 22yr old blonde sow 4 years ago. And i was cold calling and napping in those woods. Not doing that now! No more sleeping out here. I knew before, academically, that there were grizz here, but in my mind it was kind of an abstract concept. But its full on reality now.

[wawhitey]

Starting to wish id brought my 444 lever gun. The bolt action pea shooter isnt very comforting at this point. I just cant stop thinking about that monster yesterday. After he feasted he did a kind of perimiter prowl, and i watched him intentionally running over a few larch trees that were probably 10-12ft tall. Walking right over them, bending them down to the ground. I assume to leavea scent perimiter, warning all scavengers interested in taking what was his. Then he went back to the carcass. Maybe ate more, maybe buried it. Couldnt tell from my vantage point. But he was clearly staking his claim on the kill.

[Lefty]

I knew before, academically, that there were grizz here, but in my mind it was kind of an abstract concept. But its full on reality now.

Yep knowing they are there,( academically !) ,, and knowing they are there are totally separate deals.

Daugher and I came across where the grizz in our area killed a big black bear over a elk carcass

Years back my wife and I walked up on a grizzly track showing all the skin lines,, I realized we had just jun him off The feds killed him a few weeks later, 27 years old and toothless.

Ive been up trees and in caves with lions, ran off wolves on bear baits ,, absolutely no comparison to a grizzly skinning an elk in 3 seconds, or charging through 4 foot sage brush or hanging out at the ATV when coming off the elk stand
Or seeing a pile of poo the thickness of a baseball bat, or smelling one,,,,,,,,,

Ran into a DEA agent and Immigration and Customs Enforcement hunting the first day of Montana rifle season,,, Real Fed studs They came across a fresh gris sign,,, and they were done hunting that part of Montana, as fast as they could get out of there

[wawhitey]

Small caliber bolt gun just wasnt workin for me sneaking through those woods. Came home. Heading back tomorrow night with the 444 lever gun. Will have monday and tuesday to hunt. If i dont get it dobe ill be back at it in early june

[wawhitey]

Got back up to notellum creek today at 1pm, where all the grizz tracks are, 444 in hand. Felt a lot more comfortable with the situation, but nothing showed but 2 bucks and 5 does, all whitetail. Did find a couple very large lion tracks on my way out. Came back to where i saw the big grizz with just enough light left to glass the kill site. Couple elk were walking not far away, so i think big ugly has left the vicinity. Hopefully tomorrow brings some black bear activity.

[wawhitey]

Glassed for 5 hours this morning, just saw a vulture pecking at the remains of the grizz kill, and a couple elk scattered about. Decided to head home to get a couple things done before heading to alaska. Hopefullty this is a quick smooth trip and i can get another week or two in idaho in early june when the black bears are more active than theyve been lately.

[Lefty]

Glassed for 5 hours this morning, just saw a vulture pecking at the remains of the grizz kill, and a couple elk scattered about. Decided to head home to get a couple things done before heading to alaska. Hopefullty this is a quick smooth trip and i can get another week or two in idaho in early june when the black bears are more active than theyve been lately.

How old was the kill


Otherwise safe ventures back to work.

[wawhitey]

The kill was fresh when i saw the grizz eating it at 530 am thursday

[wawhitey]

After i watched the big ugly for a while i texted a local bio and told him. He said hed buy me a steak dinner if i go get him a biological sample. Hair, turds.. i said no thanks, heres an onx pin, go get it yourself, good luck

[Lefty]

The kill was fresh when i saw the grizz eating it at 530 am thursday

When the bear is on it,,, yep fresh

I think it is sad and funny how so many federally funded experts think they are the only ones who can ID animals

[wawhitey]

The kill was fresh when i saw the grizz eating it at 530 am thursday

When the bear is on it,,, yep fresh

I think it is sad and funny how so many federally funded experts think they are the only ones who can ID animals

Well ill tell ya, id been there glassing 2 days. If a kill wasthere before, the scavengers woulda told me. The kill happened between when i went to sleep wednesday night atdark, and when i woke up thursday morning and glassed it up at 530 am.

And yeah, a lot of the "experts" dont know squat. Some do. I know a few who do. But ive personally killed a dozen or so color phase black bears, and seen i dont know how many more, and couldnt guess the number of tcam pics ive had over the years. Now im no expert. No college degree. But i have a lot of first hand experience with bears, more color phase than not, and this beast was without question, a giant boar grizz. Its unmistakeable. Everybody who says they "think" they saw a grizz... imo they saw a big blackbear. Cause when you see a griz, there is no "think", there is only "know"

[Lefty]

there is no "think", there is only "know"

, I had never smelled a grizzly before, fresh out of hibernation, but "I knew"

[Elkhunttoo]

Growing up in the 90’s I spent multiple falls Chasing elk with my bow without even a side arm. We had a few grizzlies in the area but just wasn’t really a worry for me. Now I won’t even hunt there. Last season I did we followed grizzly tracks all over. It just took the fun out of it for me. Switch units to an area way closer to where I live with no grizzlies. They just change the way a guy thinks. We shared a camping area with a guy from Michigan that came back every year. A guy from there group ended up getting mauled the year after we stopped hunting the area. Luckily for him he made it out alive with very few injuries. They were tracking the bull and the bear had already found it. Just looked up the article and it looks like it was in 2012. It’s just got worse since then

[wawhitey]

Im on my way back from alaska, ill be heading back to idaho next tuesday. Had this visitor behind my house a couple days ago.

[Tigger]

Good luck on the bar Dean! I have officially gave up on my turkey tag. Fishing season now. But I want to see a good bear picture.

[WapitiTalk1]

Im on my way back from alaska, ill be heading back to idaho next tuesday. Had this visitor behind my house a couple days ago.

That bear can’t read . Yep, good luck mister.

[wawhitey]

Another back yard bear

[WapitiTalk1]

Maybe change the sign?

[wawhitey]

Got to my spot yesterday 3pm, just in time for some periodic torrential rains, and crazy winds. Hiding out in my truck waiting it out and a gust so hard it shotgunned my truck with flying sticks and bark and dirt, crazy. But i expected bad weather yesterday, just wanted to get here and be ready for this morning. Beautiful spring weather today. High expectations of seeing some black bear activity soon. So far ive only seen a handful of elk and some mule deer. Just spent some time watching a muley doe with a fawn in tow, hoping that tasty little morsel would cause a bear to appear. Winds kicked up a bit, but not enough to be a deal breaker if i find a bear soon. Just hope that big grizz i saw last month is long gone from here.

[wawhitey]

A bearless day. 1 elk, 1 moose, and several muleys and whitetail seen. No sign of bear. Nor wolf nor lion, which are also on the menu.

[wawhitey]

Right now, in my back yard. sonofa......

[wawhitey]

[Tigger]

The caption to that photo could be:

"Sometimes I wonder, does Dean ever think of me?"

[wawhitey]

Well, im about to leave thursday for 90-100 days, so i figured id better get home and take care of business. Im going to need a recipe for bear tag soup. Guess ive lost my mojo. Had another back yard bear pic on my drive home. Theyre just screwing with me.

[wawhitey]

You know, it just occurred to me, maybe im a fool, but every year while im glassing for spring bear on south facing slopes, i get numerous pictures of bears walking down my north facing slope to the creek bottom. Theyre not taunting me, theyre trying to teach me! Just had a major epiphany. Ive been doing spring bear all wrong. My fall bear game is solid, but my spring bear game is clearly weak. The answer has been right in front of me all this time.

[Lefty]

So a date in the early am checking the north slope before you're headed back to work!

[wawhitey]

So a date in the early am checking the north slope before you're headed back to work!

Nope. Too busy at home. Done spring bear hunting. But next year ill be revising my methods, 180° shift

[Tigger]

You better put a camera on a south facing slope next spring....for our entertainment!

[7mmfan]

I have never hunted bear in the spring. Of all the videos i've watched of guys hunting in the spring, the vast majority are guys glassing large areas of south facing slopes. But in hindsight, most of those hunts are early season, April and early May hunts. My guess would be that once you've broken into late May and June, everything is growing pretty much everywhere, it wouldn't surprise me at all if the bears move into the timber and are seeking out the newest lushest growth that is likely happening on a north slope. You're on the right track I think.

[Lefty]

Well WW is gone. I have 2 boars on the same bait
Beem following blonde for 4 years

I think this id\s cubby he walked by me at 90 yards while I was srtting up for elk,,

[Lefty]

Im the future ,,maybe