james.bailey87
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Has any one hunted the Beartooths BMU 520 for bears? I have spent a lot of time in the area fishing and hiking but have never seen any bears. Just looking for any little bits of information on this area.
Spring black bear in the Beartooths?
- Thread starter james.bailey87
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I have hunted it. If you find green grass that can't be seen from a road with cover nearby there will likely be a bear. The quota fills pretty quickly some years. A good snowpack that keeps forest service roads impassible helps keep the season open longer.
whiskeydog
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Plenty of bear...go to the end of the road, get elevation and glass rockslides. When you see one, hopefully you have 2 hours of daylight left to get to him. Season has a quota...some years it closes in ~3 weeks and others it might be open for ~6
mtnhntr99
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Is there any data on Montana FWP about when the quota seasons have ended in 520 over the last 5 years?
The Hedgehog
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It usually closes in late May, it really depends. If weather is nicer, it closes earlier.
EYJONAS!
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Could be April could be May 5 could be May 25th. Lots of dink road sows get pounded up there. Weather is a definite factor. Good luck.
One things for sure it always closes right when things get good.
520 needs 2 quotas. The Boulder should be a separate unit starting somewhere between the stilly and the Boulder.
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EYJONAS!
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If your looking at harvest reports they don't share those I've been told twice by them which seems odd because they don't keep other harvest reports classified.
Not sure if that answers your question....
You just need to throw a dart and roll and learn the country. I don't think general harvest reports work worth a shit. Unless you know the area. For some species they do but they can be very vague and misleading sometimes.
mtnhntr99
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I appreciate the input! Our dart has been thrown and we're going to give BMU 520 a shot. Fingers crossed it's still open come May 9th.
EYJONAS!
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If your hunting in griz country (which is pretty much all of 520) be aware. There's already been one very unfortunate event this year..... keep us posted. We run a spring bear thread on here which is fun to follow along.... good luck.
mtnhntr99
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Found it! Montana FWP on BMU 520: "There has been limited public input that the quota should be removed, and the spring season should run through June 15. On average females are harvested at a rate of one female/day after May 15. Over the last 10 years the average closing date has been May 26."
EYJONAS!
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There's always a magical sow weekend where it goes from 3 to 10 in a matter of 48hrs then the next thing you know bears start to hit the dirt like crazy because the panic button is hit.
I don't think they should remove the quota, Shawn draws his quotas up based upon the accessible areas to hunt. Most folks aren't backpacking in for a bear hunt everyone hunts roads or within a 2 mile radius of a road. Based on his data of bear harvest i.e. killsite locations and his flights over the years that's how he comes up with his quotas. So his quotas are very conservative but for good reasons to.
I do think some wildness and backcountry stuff should be separate and go till June 15 mainly because they're inaccessible still even mid to late may when the seasons close.
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