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MT fall bear hunt

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Hoopermat

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Joined
Jun 8, 2016
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Hey guys I'm going to try and get a fall bear trip in this year.
I am super busy and very limited on time so I'm looking for some advise.
I will be able to go the first or second week of nov.
My questions are.
Due to time limits. Is there a guide or outfitter for fall bear you recommend
Due to being late in the season any special areas to avoid or look at.
This will be my first bear hunt and most likely be solo. So any help is greatly appreciated
I am open to any place in MT since I'll be driving up from Utah.
So far I have been looking around Dillion and around Enis areas

Thanks
 
You are pushing the limits of finding bears before they hibernate. I see very few past the first week of Nov. Finding bears is going to be pretty much of a random chance unless you can find an elk or carcass that is keeping them feeding instead of hibernating.
 
As others have said, but maybe more blunt, largely a waste of time, energy, and money unless you're just in it for the road trip.
 
The first day I could hunt would be oct 30. Do you guys feel this is to late.
Due to work I cannot get there any earlier.
Would i be wasting my time?
 
Hoopermat said:
The first day I could hunt would be oct 30. Do you guys feel this is to late.
Due to work I cannot get there any earlier.
Would i be wasting my time?
Click to expand...

Personally, I'd find a different hunt for that time period. Bear hunting in MT is best May 5-31 and Sept. 5- Oct. 15. Outside of that time period it can be very difficult to find bears. I think you would have a better bear hunt if you postponed it for a year or so until you could hunt during that time period. If you have the opportunity to hunt mid to late Sept. I would highly recommend hunting the NW corner to take advantage of the huckleberries. With all the moisture we've had this year it is going to be a slammer year for berries and the bears tend to congregate to get the last ones in Sept. The past two years we didn't get enough moisture and the berry crop was gone by mid August. This year it will probably be good till Oct.
 
I think you would be good to find a bear October 30th. As nice as the weather has been during that time of year they should be out looking for food before they den up. I shot a really nice sow a few years back and it was about November 8th if I recall. I've seen bear tracks in the snow when hunting the end of November but have not killed one that late. One year it was the last week of the season and we had a fresh track on the two-track we were driving on. There was about 16 inches of snow on the ground and it was 25 degrees below zero. I thought about trying to track him but he bailed off in the worst imaginable drainage ever. I did not see how I could catch up to him.

Do you have a deer or elk tag as well?? I think you would enjoy yourself and very well could find a bear. May be a bit harder but doable.
 
I don't have a MT tag.
I have elk and deer tags in Utah.
I would like to get up to MT earlier but cannot.
I don't want to wast the money of a tag but even if it's a 20% chance of seeing a bear
I am in I can stay a couple weeks if needed. I just don't want it tonbeba waste.
I know that it's largely weather dependent if it is warm late October I will be there if 3 feet of snow I'll try again next year.
 
A question about area.
Since I'll be very late season should I still look at high concentrations of huckleberry patches or will they have already moved on from them?

This will be my first bear hunt so I don't know anything about them except what I have been reading.
I could hunt them in Utah but that's a dog or bait game and I want to spot and stalk
 
Last edited:
Hoopermat said:
The first day I could hunt would be oct 30. Do you guys feel this is to late.
Due to work I cannot get there any earlier.
Would i be wasting my time?
Click to expand...

If I was putting money on it, I'd still be betting that starting Oct 30 means you don't come home with a bear. I really don't see many bear or bear sign that late, unless it's grizzly.

I'd rather hold off until spring if you can.
 
I agree with belly-deep, this really seems like an exercise in futility. I think I've seen a total of 2 or 3 bears ever during general rifle season, and they were all on opening day. Where as I often see that many in a day in May and September.

There's a ton of traffic in the woods during general deer/elk season, the bears are going to be really dispersed and holed up.

Buy a deer or an elk tag good for the same time period and you'll have a much better experience.
 
I hate to be a nay-sayer, but if it was me and my money, I'd think hard about doing it another year when you can come earlier. I always get a bear tag "just in case" I see one during general season while out deer & elk hunting, but I rarely if ever actually have seen one of them then. When I get serious about bear hunting or, like this year, I have an old Army buddy coming out to hunt, we hit it when season opens in September and glass the hell out of every berry patch we can find and do pretty good actually seeing enough bears to pick out a nice one.
 
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