whos killed a

[bnsafe]

bear, as yall know I have a top 5 list an have a bear an mulie left on it. just wondering how many of the western elk hunters here have killed an elk an mulie. im kinda wondering if a guide wouldn't be better for a bear but hate to drop the money.

[FemoralArchery]

I've killd a few bears. Quite a few mulies and one bull elk.

If you draw a tag here in Idaho, they are thicker than ticks. I've had several days where I've seen 5 or more bears, one day where I saw 13 in one morning. I posted a pic last fall here of my bear. We saw a bear the day I killed mine that was a real monster, but he was smarter than the average bear, no pun intended.

All spot and stalk. We use to run dogs and killed a couple but all mine have been on the ground.

[bnsafe]

sounds like I need to apply for Idaho. never been there so sounds like a thot

[pointysticks]

i'd love to spot and stalk a bear with a bow.

here in California, they are also everywhere. i see them all the time when i am doing the early deer hunts. of ALL the animals on this green planet, my wife has decided they are too "cute" (or whatever is going around in her pretty little head) to kill...as a smart man, i gave up on it. i'll hunt everything else in peace. no bear for me.

i go on hunts and see my buds arrow them all the time. i help pack, and get a few roast in the process. great stews..

[Swede]

It is interesting that I have purchases the Oregon Sports Pac and may have individually purchased a bear tag. I have had bears on numerous occasions, come into the water hole, where I had my tree stand, but I have never shot, or shot at a bear. I have thought about shooting and giving away a bear, but I do not want to gut a bear, skin a bear, pack out a bear or eat a bear. Ultimately, there is just not much purpose for me to shoot a bear.

[FemoralArchery]

I shoot bears because they are predators, because its legal, and because they are fun. Just the same as I would shoot wolves, bobcats or mountain lions. Or the same way I shoot coyotes. I don't intend on eating any of them.

[FemoralArchery]

sounds like I need to apply for Idaho. never been there so sounds like a thot

If you want to spend the money and apply, go ahead. If you draw, I'll take you bear hunting. Spring or fall, bows and rifles are both allowed, bait is not.

[flystrait]

I also had a goal of taking several different species with my bow. I have killed bear, rocky mountain elk, roosevelt elk, mule deer, blacktail deer, whitetail, and turkey. You can DIY pretty easy if your willing to travel. Places such as Idaho offer some great over the counter opportunities for all especially bear hunting. Good luck in your endeavors feel free to PM me with any questions.

[stringunner]

Have not shot a bear....but its on the list. I have spent the last 4 years hunting spring bear in the area we elk hunt, though if I had to admit, my goal was less about shooting a bear and more about finding more time to be in our elk hunting spots to gain further knowledge of the area. If a bear ever gives me the right shot I will take it though.

[cnelk]

Using rifle & bow, Ive shot moose, caribou, elk, deer [WT & Mulie], bear, turkey
No desire to hunt sheep or mtn goat.
Mtn Lion hopefully, if I call one in someday

[Buglemaster]

My archery harvests include whitetail, mule deer, elk, antelope, bear , turkey's & tx wild pigs. Would like to add moose & caribou to that list sometime, but I'm getting a little long in the tooth...

[bnsafe]

love my list an cant wait to complete it, then maybe go on one dream hunt in my lifetime.
I think bear will be the hardest for me.

[Huntrgathr]

I got a bear this year. Could've shot lots of them over the years but always heard they tasted bad. Boy was that some misinformation ! That bear is better than any elk or deer I've eaten. My whole family loves it. My only regret is that I shot a small one early. I saw bears regularly in both Spring and Fall and much bigger ones than the one I shot. If any of you get a bear down and don't want the meat I will gladly pack it out. Call me. My cel# is 208-440-5966. Bnsafe, if you want to do a spot and stalk bear hunt don't get a guide. I'll hunt swap with ya !

image.jpg (228.9 KiB) Viewed 10511 times

[WapitiTalk1]

More power to to ya but bear better eating than elk or even deer? I like bear summer sausage and such but no comparison with normal cuts of meat between elk/venison and bear by my taste buds. Do you know what bear eat .... Congrats on your bear.

[Huntrgathr]

More power to to ya but bear better eating than elk or even deer? I like bear summer sausage and such but no comparison with normal cuts of meat between elk/venison and bear by my taste buds. Do you know what bear eat .... Congrats on your bear.

Well, maybe I should have said , as good as elk or deer in the proper application. If you're talking just a salt and pepper steak then sure, mule deer is probably better. But I seasoned a bunch of bear, browned it off and then pressure cooked it. It's amazing. My 18 month old ate it as fast as I could put it in front of him. Did another pressure cooked batch with BBQ sauce. That was just as good. Also made some breakfast sausage with it - blended with deer, elk and pork fat. We'll go through the 30# before Spring.

The fat is also REALLY good. If you render it down it can be used to make some of the best pie crusts and baked goods. Don't believe me ? Google it. Bear fat is highly sought after for this purpose. As far as what they eat - I see them eating mainly grass and berries where I hunt. I know there's good bear and bad bear. Most guys that I talked to that have had bad tasting bears attributed to fish eating bears...

[elkmtngear]

I've killed quite a few elk and muleys over the years. Bowkilled one great big black bear (~400#) when I was in my early 20s. Was a real pain to pack out,
and I was not thrilled with the meat, so I swore I'd never shoot another (passed up a lot of them over the Years).

Went to Alaska and had some black bear that a guy had canned, and made into stroganoff. Made me re-think my decision (it was truly awesome)!

[bnsafe]

seems people either love or hate it, not much in between. great thing about being from mo is if my family doesn't like it there are a ton of folks who would love to try it. I could give the whole bear away on one trip easy. im not really after the meat tho.

[cnelk]

I have eaten my share of bear.
There is good tasting bear and bad tasting bear.

Once you eat bad tasting bear, bear meat will always taste bad.

[pointysticks]

I have eaten my share of bear.
There is good tasting bear and bad tasting bear.

Once you eat bad tasting bear, bear meat will always taste bad.

^^gospel!

last bear i ate was shot off of a dumpster..it was awful. i almost tossed the entire $200 cast iron pot..on principle.

shiver!

[ishy]

We get after bears pretty good. Way too many in Idaho. One study prewolf reintroduction said that of 52 elk calves collared in spring 37 were killed by bears before winter. That was somewhere in the lolo/Clearwater zones area. So we try to do our part, and we love the meat. All our bears live off huckleberries, yum.

[Huntrgathr]

I have eaten my share of bear.
There is good tasting bear and bad tasting bear.

Once you eat bad tasting bear, bear meat will always taste bad.

What would you say makes a bear taste bad ? Location, season, individual animals just being different , handling, processing ...?

I've had some pretty nasty deer also...

[Swede]

If you were dining on bear meat and offered me some, I would probably sit down and have dinner with you. If you offered me a package of bear meat, I would politely decline. My advice to anyone being offer bear meat is to decline it. Bears that have been feeding out of a garbage dump, or off of dead fish are terrible. A fruit, berry or grass fed bed bear is fine. I can't tell the difference between good and awful bear when they are in a frozen package, but when they are thawed out and frying in a pan anyone can tell a bad one.
The bears in the area I hunt are fine. They may have fed on a gut pile or two, but they have ingested enough grass to still be good. I have no objection to shooting a bear. I just don't want to deal with one. I always like good deer meat (venison), but have passed on them too. When I am elk hunting, that is what I am after. I will shoot a cougar if I get an opportunity, but they are the only thing that I would always make allowance for during my elk hunt.

[ishy]

Cougar tastes great too, I highly recommend it. I interupted an elk hunt once for one, well it kind of interupted my hunt at 20 yards and not acting nervous about us at all. It was sizing my brother up who wasn't carrying anything, he was just along to be in the woods (he now carrys something even if he's not hunting). I had a tag and didn't have to think about giving it a chance to decide what it was going to do.

[Lefty]

My daughters and I tried for 3 years,.. just never happened.

I have friends in Mn that are really into it, even more bears than Idaho
One buddy got into baiting so much he became a guide,.. He buys a truck load of fruitloops and packs it all in

[FemoralArchery]

We get after bears pretty good. Way too many in Idaho. One study prewolf reintroduction said that of 52 elk calves collared in spring 37 were killed by bears before winter. That was somewhere in the lolo/Clearwater zones area. So we try to do our part, and we love the meat. All our bears live off huckleberries, yum.

This right here is part of the reason I have no problem shooting bears with no intent to eat them. I do it legally, waiting for tags and seasons, getting the hides checked and tagged, but as far as I'm concerned they are just a predator and should be managed as such.

bnsafe, by my count, you got 3 offers on this thread alone to take you bear hunting. I think the "hardest" hunt on your list just got a little easier...

[bnsafe]

very true, I just hate to impose on anybody. I do appreciate the offers though

[Wapiti]

Luck me !! In Alberta you get to shoot two bears if you want to. We spring bear hunt as well. I haven't hunted them for about 5 though as I seem to be to busy now. The older I get the faster the days go !!

[ishy]

Here's some of our old footage that I've collected over the years. It's not elk hunting, but tons of fun to get after it in the spring.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlVEbgqFGPg‎

[bnsafe]

very cool, that didn't help my cabin fever, lol.

[ishy]

Im dreaming of elk 365, but bears get a little of each day once we get to the middle of april.

[bnsafe]

yea ishy, cant get it out of my mind either. femoral I looked up Idaho regs. looks like 10 percent draw chance. is that about right.

[FemoralArchery]

One hunt is right at 10% the other is a little less...

Of course the one I'm most familiar with is the harder one to draw. That's the bad part.

The good part is that the rest of the state is OTC for bears.

Once you decide to come to Idaho and hunt bears, the application is only $14 extra. If you don't draw, you can still hunt the rest of the state, maybe with ishy or Huntrgathr, or both as a general tag is good in any general unit statewide. The two draw hunts are definitely not the only good places to hunt bears.

Check out this link. You can click the heading of each column to sort in ascending or descending order. Sort by unit number, number of bears taken, boar or sow, spring or fall. And if bait was used.

http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/ifwis/hunt ... =2011#bear

And remember that you can use a bow even though most people will be using rifles.

P.S. Spring bear application is January 15th-February 15th.

[wawhitey]

I have eaten my share of bear.
There is good tasting bear and bad tasting bear.

Once you eat bad tasting bear, bear meat will always taste bad.

^^gospel!

last bear i ate was shot off of a dumpster..it was awful. i almost tossed the entire $200 cast iron pot..on principle.

shiver!

you actually shot a bear off a dumpster and tried to eat it? man this is why bear gets such a bad rep. ill take a good clean mountain bear steak over deer or elk. and i love deer and elk

[bnsafe]

thanks femoral. I will check it out an prob put in. cant hurt.