Days Per Spring hunt location

[SunDontShine]

Hey everyone,
I'll be heading out on my first spring bear hunt next weekend for a few days. How many days would you spend in a location you've e-scouted before you move onto the next, in early spring (ie: late march/ early april) versus later in the season (june/july)? I've read they don't move around too much early on, but later in summer they cover a lot of area.... Any thoughts? thanks.

 

[Timberline001]

What state has a bear season in March? We can’t even get into our mountains here in East idaho yet.

 

[Timberline001]

Werr

When I drove through Blackfoot 2 days ago, it was 31 degrees, and snowing. One hour later in Arco it was 31 degrees, snowing, with fog too thick to view anything 1/2 mile from the highway. In the Challis area, it was 42 degrees. The snow covered about half of the upper elevations, and was rapidly disappearing. Gibbonsville had heavy accumulations of snow. Coeur d' Alene has very little if any snow at lower elevations, and the snow is rapidly declining at upper elevations. North Idaho from Sandpoint to the Canadian border is almost completely devoid of snow at low to mid elevations, and it's only present in significant amounts at much higher elevations. The temperature in Bonners Ferry is currently 53 degrees. The grass is out, and I'm fairly certain so are both grizzlies, and black bears ( but I'll confirm that from my personal observations very shortly ). Snowdrifts which may prevent access on upper elevation forest service roads are an entirely different matter....

We’re bare on the ground here in Rigby but still a month out from driving on any forest service road where we bear hunt and even then we’ll have to hit it at daylight while it’s frozen. Our little corner of Idaho is a cold ice box lol.

 

[Timberline001]

Found bear scat 2 hours ago, it was at least 1 week old. As I suspect, they (or at least some) have been out for several weeks, or more. It's too warm in North Idaho. I don't want rubbed pelts. May be "going south" to hunt the spring season...

That’s interesting. I suspect ours will be out at about the average time.

 

[MHWASH]

I wouldn’t be too concerned with bears being out early. Hibernation is based more on the time of year than temperatures. Some bears may wander out for a few days early in the year, but most will head back to hibernation until mid April.

 

[MHWASH]

Hannibal, I’m not discounting what your saying, my point is bears usually become active relatively the same time every year. Without giving specifics, what part of N. Idaho are you referring to?

 

[rclouse79]

It could be tough if you don’t know the area. I went into my “honey hole” a half dozen times without seeing squat. We were going to check out a new area over the weekend, but I had a free afternoon during the week. I hiked into my old spot one last time and shot my best bear. It seems like they move base on the green grass.