New to spring bear MT

[Oklahomahunter1995]

Looking to get up to MT for spring black bear this year. New to bear hunting and Montana in general, I have done some searching around the Missoula Area, and some onX e scouting in the bob marshal as well as Lolo, i am looking for advise and maybe some generic style of locations. Any and all advice is appreciated. Also planning on hunting out of tents and not so much out of the truck.

 

[PablitoPescador]

That area has some good logging roads and clear cuts that green up good during spring season. You can walk those logging roads or get high and glass south facing slopes. Depending on what time of year and elevation you’re planning on hunting you might wanna throw in some snowshoes. Usually what ends up happening early season is you’ll glass up a bear in the bottom of a drainage or over on a south facer and you have to post hole through 4 feet of drifted snow on the north facing part of the slope to get to him. If you can swing it, 5/15-6/15 is usually the most productive time to kill one

 

[Oklahomahunter1995]

Thanks for the info, I was thinking of the last week of May and come out before Labor Day to hopefully avoid pressure and snow.

 

[PablitoPescador]

Just curious Bro, but I assume you live in the Missoula area, and hunt bears in western Montana on a fairly regular basis. Since you seem to be hunting during the latter part of the season, how often do you encounter bears with rubbed pelts or bears with mange? I hunt next door in Idaho's Units 10 and 10A and both are sometimes a problem which is why I avoid hunting later in the season.

Currently I live in the central part of the state but I grew up in the Bitteroot Valley. I didn’t really hunt much for bears growing up but we lived basically on the side of a mountain and had lots of bears that would come through our yard from time to time during the spring and summer months. I don’t recall any having mange or them being overly rubbed. That’s not to say that couldn’t be a problem, I’ve just never witnessed it. Someone else with more experience in that part of the state may want to chime in and share what their experience has been.

One problem I’ve had later in the season is the boars start getting way more nomadic as the rut picks up and it can be so frustrating trying to get to them before they move. Might be best if you only have a week or so to hunt the last week of May rather than June. Doing that also allows you to hunt other units that close May 31 and leaves you with more options

 

[Deadfall]

All you gonna find in bob is grizzly. Few blacks around, they few and far between.