Oregon spring bear

[Valumpessa]

Anyone been out looking for bear? I have been working at the far opposite end of the state, so it’s been tough to find some time… as well as some very winter like weather this spring, but my wife and I have seen 11 in the 5 evenings we have hunted, been decent

The past 2 nights we saw 3 each night, trying to get my wife on a decent bear, Friday we passed 2 small bear and tried to make a play on a nice color phase but the wind was blowing pretty hard and swirling… started good and switched 180 on us

Yesterday I glassed up a smallish bear about 900yds away bedded on the edge of the timber, finally got up and we decided to get a closer look after watching it for 45 minutes

Got over there, and it turned into 3 bear, a sow, yearling and a pretty good boar… when we snuck around to set up, we bumped 2 deer and they spooked the bear… after a bit the bear came back but the boar and sow stayed in the trees and I couldn’t ever be positive what bear was what most of the time through the brush

The yearling was in the cut the whole time, but could never get a clear shot on the boar for my wife… next weekend

I glassed up this back side of a cut from way off Friday, that turned out to be an awesome spot, pretty sure we’ll kill a bear in there on Friday… also saw a giant track in there that was bigger than the boar we were watching… wish I didn’t have to drive 10hrs today, I believe we could get a bear killed tonight

Wow, sounds like you have some productive spots dialed in! About what time in the afternoon/evenings are you spotting them? I have a solid vantage point overlooking an area that I know holds them. Spent a couple mornings glassing this season but no bear yet. Need to pick and evening this next week and glass til dark.

 

[roosiebull]

Wow, sounds like you have some productive spots dialed in! About what time in the afternoon/evenings are you spotting them? I have a solid vantage point overlooking an area that I know holds them. Spent a couple mornings glassing this season but no bear yet. Need to pick and evening this next week and glass til dark.

We have been heading out around 3, so everything has been 4-dark… I am actually not dialed in at all, totally new country trying to figure it out, but we seem to have quite a few bear around… the hardest part is big country and limited good habitat that is tougher access… too many roads, same story for deer

Slowly learning the country, where we were Saturday is going to lead us to a dead bear this weekend, 2 boars in the area, and best feed we have seen anywhere and nobody in there, little too difficult access for most, but that’s only because there is so much driving to do, and that’s what everyone does

 

[OregonSteeler]

Spent 5 days in NE OR and only had about 2 days of hunt-able weather. Super windy, rain, snow, and very cold for most of my trip. Though when we did get out to glass we were successful in finding bears. We learned that steep, deep drainages that MUST have water in the bottom and quick access to very green grass and sunflowers were the ticket. This was our first year bear hunting but feel the cold, wet spring has the bears at lower elevations than usual and very hard to get to; especially the country we were hunting.

Driving around hitting these drainages are definitely the popular way to hunt them but we also had success hiking into roadless areas, getting up to a higher vantage points and just glassing all day.

 

[roosiebull]

Spent 5 days in NE OR and only had about 2 days of hunt-able weather. Super windy, rain, snow, and very cold for most of my trip. Though when we did get out to glass we were successful in finding bears. We learned that steep, deep drainages that MUST have water in the bottom and quick access to very green grass and sunflowers were the ticket. This was our first year bear hunting but feel the cold, wet spring has the bears at lower elevations than usual and very hard to get to; especially the country we were hunting.

Driving around hitting these drainages are definitely the popular way to hunt them but we also had success hiking into roadless areas, getting up to a higher vantage points and just glassing all day.

Sounds like you have a good strategy, it’s been pretty nasty over there… I have been working in NE Oregon the past month and there has not been a lot of nice weather… it was snowing sideways on us Thursday above wallowa, and snowed on us earlier in the week by tollgate… still a good amount of snow around too… I think higher elevation units should start and end 2 weeks later than the rest so people can access the better bear country that’s inaccessible most of the season

I may start saving points though, because it’s sure awesome country to hunt spring bear in… I need to look at draw odds over there and see if it’s worth it, and have my wife draw the local tag and I can wait for a tag

 

[Pdzoller]

Sounds like you have a good strategy, it’s been pretty nasty over there… I have been working in NE Oregon the past month and there has not been a lot of nice weather… it was snowing sideways on us Thursday above wallowa, and snowed on us earlier in the week by tollgate… still a good amount of snow around too… I think higher elevation units should start and end 2 weeks later than the rest so people can access the better bear country that’s inaccessible most of the season

I may start saving points though, because it’s sure awesome country to hunt spring bear in… I need to look at draw odds over there and see if it’s worth it, and have my wife draw the local tag and I can wait for a tag

Wouldn’t mind seeing a high cascade bear tag of the same dates. Lots of big bear up there but very hard to hunt on years like this.

 

[Heavy_Hiker]

I have had luck after you get to the area, then pin down what elevation they are feeding at. Focus on new green up less than 6 inches tall.

 

[OregonSteeler]

Sounds like you have a good strategy, it’s been pretty nasty over there… I have been working in NE Oregon the past month and there has not been a lot of nice weather… it was snowing sideways on us Thursday above wallowa, and snowed on us earlier in the week by tollgate… still a good amount of snow around too… I think higher elevation units should start and end 2 weeks later than the rest so people can access the better bear country that’s inaccessible most of the season

I may start saving points though, because it’s sure awesome country to hunt spring bear in… I need to look at draw odds over there and see if it’s worth it, and have my wife draw the local tag and I can wait for a tag

For the 5 days we were out there, we only had 1 hunt day that was above 50 degrees. I talked to a rancher fixing fence for a bit. He said it's been a very cold and wet spring and they should really push back the bear season in that area by at least 2 weeks.

I will say though, for the times we did get out and it was good enough to hunt, we didn't have much trouble finding bears. There's sure a lot of them in those draws, you just got to put the time in behind your glass and have a little bit of luck on your side. Now getting to them...that's a different story!!

Rancher said that last year, most of May was dry and you wouldn't need anything more than a light jacket for in the mornings. Would've of loved to have had my tag last year!

Good luck on the rest of your hunt! With the effort and time you're putting in, I'm looking forward to seeing the bear you get.

 

[Valumpessa]

Finally spotted one this afternoon around 4:30. Looked like a solid bear. Pic is 48x on the Razor at 1 mile. Put the creep on but wind was shifty and as I got within a few hundred yards it turned to my back. Not good. Stopped, and immediately backed out but too late. Got back up to the high point where I spotted him originally and nothing. Got my heart pounding anyway. Great day. Glassed up several elk and nearly hit a cougar crossing the road.

 

[TripleJ]

I got back on Tuesday from 3 days over in NE Oregon. 1st time hunting them over there. It was an awesome experience in new country, and it is an amazingly beautiful time of year over there. I didn't have trouble finding bears, I just had trouble finding bears at less than 1,000 yards and in the same canyon system I was in. I just wasn't able to physically get to any of the bears I spotted, but I know if I had had more time, I would have eventually had one pop out in range. I got to see some bears in color phases you just don't really see here on the west side. I gained some more knowledge and am looking forward to drawing a tag over there again in a few years. My bear hunt did turn into a turkey hunt on day #3 for a little bit in the morning, it was cool to kill my 1st eastern Oregon bird.

 

[roosiebull]

We had a good weekend, should have had 2 solid boars killed, but had some technical difficulties

Fun, good action and 2 solid boars, easy shots, and ended up not filling either tag… fun season even though our time was very limited this spring

I think we ended up hunting 7 evenings and seeing 16 bear going into it pretty blind but dialed in quite a few spots that had bear

Boars were certainly rutty this weekend , on a mission nose to the ground cruising with purpose

 

[roosiebull]

I got back on Tuesday from 3 days over in NE Oregon. 1st time hunting them over there. It was an awesome experience in new country, and it is an amazingly beautiful time of year over there. I didn't have trouble finding bears, I just had trouble finding bears at less than 1,000 yards and in the same canyon system I was in. I just wasn't able to physically get to any of the bears I spotted, but I know if I had had more time, I would have eventually had one pop out in range. I got to see some bears in color phases you just don't really see here on the west side. I gained some more knowledge and am looking forward to drawing a tag over there again in a few years. My bear hunt did turn into a turkey hunt on day #3 for a little bit in the morning, it was cool to kill my 1st eastern Oregon bird.

You need to plan an early season turkey trip over there one of these days, I like hunting those birds a bunch, even though they make me look dumb non stop, it’s fun being humbled by those pea brain birds, haha… good excuse to go hang out over there too

Do any morel picking? I was just starting to see them a couple weeks ago when we were wrapping up the work we had up there… meant to go back, working in Pendleton now, but it’s hard to get motivated to drive an hour after working 10 to go pick mushrooms!

I still haven’t hunted any west side birds… will next year, but any window I get to go chase turkey I want to go hunt them in the blues…. Even though there are tons of birds much closer. I did see a few merriams in grants pass when I was working there in March/April (and a couple Jack rabbits which surprised me)

I keep thinking I will save bear points for over in the blues, crazy color bear and lots of them and epic country… wish those tags started later and went later to make access more reasonable with snow

 

[Pdzoller]

I’ll be having some tag soup with a side of mushrooms. Thankfully those expensive game bags are multi purpose.

 

[TripleJ]

You need to plan an early season turkey trip over there one of these days, I like hunting those birds a bunch, even though they make me look dumb non stop, it’s fun being humbled by those pea brain birds, haha… good excuse to go hang out over there too

Do any morel picking? I was just starting to see them a couple weeks ago when we were wrapping up the work we had up there… meant to go back, working in Pendleton now, but it’s hard to get motivated to drive an hour after working 10 to go pick mushrooms!

I still haven’t hunted any west side birds… will next year, but any window I get to go chase turkey I want to go hunt them in the blues…. Even though there are tons of birds much closer. I did see a few merriams in grants pass when I was working there in March/April (and a couple Jack rabbits which surprised me)

I keep thinking I will save bear points for over in the blues, crazy color bear and lots of them and epic country… wish those tags started later and went later to make access more reasonable with snow

It's fun hunting those mountain birds, they actually live out away from the ranch houses and farm fields unlike the western Oregon birds. If I can make time next year, I'd love to get back over there and turkey hunt again. It would be cool to get into some Merriams, the bird I killed was a Rio just like the ones we have around here. I didn't see any morels, though I was looking. We may have been too low in elevation for morels where we were bear hunting, I don't know much about them.

I am definitely going to build up points and hunt the east side again, I have unfinished business on a color phase spring bear over there. I've killed enough spring bears over here that I am confident I can be successful every year if I want to put in the time. If I really want to kill a west side bear I can go out in August/September and find them pretty easily.

That's crazy that a coastal native like you is working out of Pendleton. That's a long ways from the south coast. How are you holding up? At least you're used to the wind ha ha.

 

[HuntWyld]

I guide for spring bear in southern Oregon feel free to PM me if you wanna come out next season. We have a lot of bears in this region and a high density of color phased.

 

[Mauka Rush]

Late to this thread. Finally got the balls to post here. First hunt. Solo. 90-100 miles total all season. A lot of tracking and grinding. Hunted in the snow, multiple hail storms and down pours yet I put in as much hours as I could to learn the game trails and terrain.

Constantly in contact with my buddy (mentor) over Facebook messenger and what a blessing that was. He gave in and sent me his honey hole and I am forever grateful to him for letting me experience that special place. His patience and selflessness he offered replying to every message I sent just proves that hunters have some of the biggest hearts out there.

Last week of May finally got a shot at 75 yds and I missed. He was quartered away and walking behind this timber and I was not ready. Shaking. It’s ver zoomed. Heavy breathing. Just all around a rookie not ready for the moment. No matter how many times I’ve ran the scenario in my head I folded and nerves got the best me. Followed his trail for about 100 yds through the brush and didn’t see any blood. Decided to call it a day. When I contacted my buddy he told me sometimes you won’t get a blood trail on bears and to go out there the next day and spend the day ensuring I missed.

So that’s what I did. Walking in I wasn’t even planning on hunting. I Crossed over the creek where I took the shot and followed it up towards the thick brush where I lost him. No blood found but i was positive the trail I was following was where I saw him run. I dropped back and decided to loop a few hundred yards before the creek, hike up and loop back around the creek then back in. It was about a mile in total. When I got back to where I started I was positive that I missed! Completely ashamed and embarrassed I saw a little trail that cut through this timber slightly up hill that had some brush but timber pretty spread out and decided I’d walk out that way back to where I took the shot and sit and watch the creek from up that ridge. As I push through the brush and enter where the timber starts 20 yds in front of me is him standing there broad side on the trail. I raised up my rifle already loaded and clicking the safety in one motion. Scope on 4x and I just remember it being completely blacked out other then a slight tree line light over his back helping me see the line in his shoulder. No hesitation I pulled that trigger. He spun turned around ran about 10 yds and let out his death roar in a swamp.

As much as I thought I was ready for taking the life of an animal, just being that close and hearing his scream really hurt. A deep sense of sadness immediately hit me. Quickly that sadness turned into relief. Relief that I got another shot at him and all that work paid off. Mahalos to Chris “Books”. He left a fishing trip he had with his pops and spent 7 hrs breaking down the bear and telling me all his experiences in the woods. The most amazing day I’ve had.

 

[fisherman983]

Late to this thread. Finally got the balls to post here. First hunt. Solo. 90-100 miles total all season. A lot of tracking and grinding. Hunted in the snow, multiple hail storms and down pours yet I put in as much hours as I could to learn the game trails and terrain.

Constantly in contact with my buddy (mentor) over Facebook messenger and what a blessing that was. He gave in and sent me his honey hole and I am forever grateful to him for letting me experience that special place. His patience and selflessness he offered replying to every message I sent just proves that hunters have some of the biggest hearts out there.

Last week of May finally got a shot at 75 yds and I missed. He was quartered away and walking behind this timber and I was not ready. Shaking. It’s ver zoomed. Heavy breathing. Just all around a rookie not ready for the moment. No matter how many times I’ve ran the scenario in my head I folded and nerves got the best me. Followed his trail for about 100 yds through the brush and didn’t see any blood. Decided to call it a day. When I contacted my buddy he told me sometimes you won’t get a blood trail on bears and to go out there the next day and spend the day ensuring I missed.

So that’s what I did. Walking in I wasn’t even planning on hunting. I Crossed over the creek where I took the shot and followed it up towards the thick brush where I lost him. No blood found but i was positive the trail I was following was where I saw him run. I dropped back and decided to loop a few hundred yards before the creek, hike up and loop back around the creek then back in. It was about a mile in total. When I got back to where I started I was positive that I missed! Completely ashamed and embarrassed I saw a little trail that cut through this timber slightly up hill that had some brush but timber pretty spread out and decided I’d walk out that way back to where I took the shot and sit and watch the creek from up that ridge. As I push through the brush and enter where the timber starts 20 yds in front of me is him standing there broad side on the trail. I raised up my rifle already loaded and clicking the safety in one motion. Scope on 4x and I just remember it being completely blacked out other then a slight tree line light over his back helping me see the line in his shoulder. No hesitation I pulled that trigger. He spun turned around ran about 10 yds and let out his death roar in a swamp.

As much as I thought I was ready for taking the life of an animal, just being that close and hearing his scream really hurt. A deep sense of sadness immediately hit me. Quickly that sadness turned into relief. Relief that I got another shot at him and all that work paid off. Mahalos to Chris “Books”. He left a fishing trip he had with his pops and spent 7 hrs breaking down the bear and telling me all his experiences in the woods. The most amazing day I’ve had.

I've killed a bunch of bears and been with a bunch of friends for a kill and I've never enjoyed the death moan.


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