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Dreaming of Spring Bears

That is cool big Finn I was just thinking of that today. I may be in Mt come spring What do ta think CUSHMAN ? Our WV season still has until the end of the year. Still have a tag and one lurking around. I may have to show him how to do a Howa handshake

I can neither confirm nor deny that allegation....but I do need more pike to pickle
 
I can draw any Bear tag we have up here but not sure i want to. The wife isn't thrilled about bear meat and if we don't eat it I won't kill it.
Guys have told me "leave the meat, keep the fat" and others say it's great. Pretty much the same as Antelope and I know my Antelope is darn good. Anything special need to be dome other than get it taken care of and cooled quick like all our other game meat?

Nothing special in the processing other than cut right away but it has to be cooked with a method appropriate for tough meat. We can it, crock pot it or grind it.
 
The feeling when a bear finds it's way in to your scanning spotter on a spot and stalk hunt is one I hope every hunter gets to experience at some point. Not sure why, but it always feels like an incredible accomplishment to me when I finally put glass on a bear, especially the first one of the spring. It's an empty five months when they're buried in the ground and I know the stumps are just stumps, and don't need to glass every single one. Can't wait for spring.

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Hunting Spring bears for the first time last year, has definately got me hooked. Missing it this spring is going to be hard. I just hope I will be able to access HT where I will be working, so I can live vicariously through you guys.
 
Back in 2002 my brother and I did our first bear hunt in SE Alaska. We flew into Juneau, found a guy at the marina that would rent his boat to us and went out across the bay to hunt the Tongass NF. We found a beach that looked promising and setup camp. After getting things setup we were going to cruise the shoreline but saw a small tidal flat just past the tree line. We checked it out and sure enough we found our first bear. This was only the second bear I had ever seen. The place looked like a field of lettuce. We watched him for a while to make sure it was not a sow with cubs. It wasn't so I decided to take him. One shot from my fathers 7mm Rem Mag and he was down. This is proof that even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every once in a while.

I look back at hunts like this and think I was foolish for taking such a small boat across such a big bay and for being so unprepared. Note the Levis and hiking boots as useable waders. As foolish as it was, those hunts seem to be some of the most memorable. We spent the next two days fishing for Dolly's. At low tide you could not keep them off the fly as they schooled up at the inlet waiting for the salmon fry to enter the bay.
 

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Randy11, your spot on. Theres nothing like spotting the first bear of the season. With this incredibly warm december the itch is even worse for me.
 
Guess I need to change my handle to 'cohort'... ;)

Did extra chores around the house and pretended to be in the Christmas spirit as I plan on telling my wife of my plans right after she opens her gifts, but before the liquor gets poured. :D
 
Guess I need to change my handle to 'cohort'... ;)

Did extra chores around the house and pretended to be in the Christmas spirit as I plan on telling my wife of my plans right after she opens her gifts, but before the liquor gets poured. :D

Ha! That's a good plan. I also told mine we could get a new refrigerator with our tax refund this year, so I should have my trips negotiated through this fall.
 
Randy11, I know this is a way worse pic than yours but I think its remarkable how similar of a place that these 2 photos look like they were taken
 

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I have a 14 yr old son begging me to take him this spring,,,,its a long way to bear country from the north Dakota border,,,,,,we will see
 
The most fun I can have is hunting spring bears in NW MT. I doubt my daughter will let me keep passing on them this year. An absolute giant showed up in my go-to spot a week after season this year, I hope he comes back around again a little sooner this year.
 
Spring bear is my 2nd favorite hunt to do. Here in Eastern Oregon Bears are very abundant so finding them is not to hard. Getting a tag depending on the unit can take a couple years. I look forward to just helping people out each year. I ate the tag last year missed a big one then never saw a big one the rest of the season. If any of you want to come to Oregon it is a quality bear hunt in the spring. 2016 nonresident tag prices will be the same as residents. Most bears we have spotted in a day was 27 no joke.
 
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