DIY spot and stalk black bear ideas??

[Scott/IL]

So after my learning experience of my first western hunt last year for Coues in Arizona, I'm ready to give it another go!

I had originally planned an elk/ mule deer trip this fall, but taking a new job squashes that plan for this year, and we'll be under a heavy workload next September as well. Spring black bear seems to be the only hunt that would line up for me next year.

I'm an archery hunter, and my friend that is interested in going wants to go at it with a rifle. Spot and stalk is the preferred method. Prince of Wales has always been a bucket list hunt for me, but I'm not sure on draw odds. Idaho seems to be the logical plan B, but how conducive is it for a newbie black bear archery hunter?

With how our schedules line out, we would have 9 or 10 days to allocate to travel and hunting. I'm not sure how feasible all of this is at this point, but I want to start compiling a little research anyways.

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[Maverick940]

You don't necessarily need to hunt Prince of Wales Island to have a great DIY black bear hunt in Alaska. Yes, there are some abnormally large black bears on Prince of Wales and if a hunter just has to have an Alaskan black bear that qualifies for Boone & Crockett, that would be the odds-on favorite destination. But, there's large-bodied black bears in other areas and other regions of Alaska, even though the average skull measurement is possibly smaller.

 

[david_227]

I guess like the post above says it depends on the size of bear you're looking for, if you just want to experience a black bear hunt Montana is another good option. Statewide OTC tag, and the whole state is fair chase so you're not competing with dogs or baiters. Idaho and Wyoming are good choice as well in the lower 48.

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[Scott/IL]

The size of the bear isn't really too concerning, mainly just trying to find somewhere with decent bear numbers, and where putting a stalk on within bow range is a feasible feat.

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[Scott/IL]

Right now, we are leaning towards finding another area in Alaska.......or possibly Montana as a back up.

Will still have to get the vacation days approved in a few months, being as I'm still towards the bottom with seniority.



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[wawhitey]

If youre thinking about idaho, consider unit 1. It doesnt allow baiting, hounds or electronic callers, so probably a better, less pressured bear population. I went over there couple years ago with the intention of spring bear hunting, but last minute decided to leave my gun at home, not buy a license, and call it a scluting trip. First morning in the woods could have killed a 300+ lb color phase. Beautiful bear. I was in the far ne corner, still lots of snow in mid may that year. Found lots of bear sign though.

 

[Scott/IL]

We have decided on doing a trip to SE Alaska in late May and backpacking in. It may not be the easiest or cheapest way to hunt black bears, but it should be an adventure and experience we won't ever forget. Worst case is we are taking our bows on an epic week long camping trip.

Naturally, the work being done at our plant that prevented an elk hunt from happening has been pushed back into 2018, so I'm hoping to be able to pull that off in September also!

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[engineered2hunt]

I did an Alaska Black Bear hunt in the fall near Coopers Landing. The scenery alone makes the trip worth it.

You missed the boat on the licenses though. They doubled this year. If you purchased before Jan. 1 you could have got the old price.

We base camped out of a U.S. Forest Service cabin on Upper Russian Lake. For $35/night you can't beat it.

 

[Scott/IL]

I did an Alaska Black Bear hunt in the fall near Coopers Landing. The scenery alone makes the trip worth it.

You missed the boat on the licenses though. They doubled this year. If you purchased before Jan. 1 you could have got the old price.

We base camped out of a U.S. Forest Service cabin on Upper Russian Lake. For $35/night you can't beat it.

How was your hunt? We'll be there for about 9 days in late May.

We've been looking at hiking into that area. The area looks absolutely breathtaking. We actually were fortunate enough to grab the tags before January 1st too. Coubting down the days!

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[engineered2hunt]

It was awesome. I talked to a biologist with Alaska Fish and Game while I was planning the trip. He gave me a couple areas with more bears but said that the scenery in that area is unparalleled.

One word of warning, there are a lot of grizzlies in that area. Everywhere we went in the valley there were large tracks, trees clawed up, piles of crap right on the trail and partially eaten salmon along the river. We only saw a sow and cub but we would find tracks on top of our boot prints from the day before.

We took a couple days to sight see too. I have some great pics of a couple of goats on the rocks right above the highway. There is a road out of Hope, I believe, that is great for glassing the hillsides.

From my experience, there is really two ways to go about the hunt. You can drive around, glass, hit some trails for shorter hikes and cover a lot of area. The other advantage here is that you see a lot more of Alaska. We saw more than one group of hunters stopping on the side of the highway and breaking out a spotting scope.

Or you can hike into an area, camp, glass hillsides and put some miles on your boots. You cover less area but you can do it more methodically. It all depends on what type of experience you are going for. We didn't harvest anything but this is one time that I can truthfully say that it didn't put a damper on things one bit.