Is Yogi up from his nap yet?

[mountainman]

Single bears may be out for short walks. Sows with new cubs will stay in dens for another month or so. Not enough new green up in eastern washington yet. When you see them spending time in or near water, you'll know they are out for good!

[Houndhunter]

A grizz was spotted outside of Ennis MT last week, I'm new to MT but supposedly that is unheard of for February. If this warm trend continues, it should be an awesome spring bear season.

[-Trap_addicT-]

I lived in Ennis for two years. I remember seeing Grizzly tracks in the snow in February. I never saw a black bear the whole time I lived there. I think those grizzlies get up and move around at various times through winter. Winters a different story in Madison Valley though.

[Limhangerslayer]

A lot of bears hibernate in north slopes so they don't come out of hibernation early.  In a lot of areas like the blues their migration is opposite of deer and elk.  They go higher and then come down in the spring when they wake up.   Then follow food accordingly.

[JackOfAllTrades]

Jackelope, I have a love/hate with your recent photos.  It's about time we had an early blueberry season!  But we need that snow pack. 

Scroll down about mid page.  http://www.mtbaker.us/snow-report

We've had years that there were late winter/early spring snows that made up for lack of normal amounts through the early part of the year.

Hopefully winter isn't over yet.

-Steve

[huntnnw]

light or no light if there is a sustainable food source a bear will not hibernate. There was a bear out near plummer,ID 3 weeks ago!

[RadSav]

I sure hope the cold weather comes back soon.  These early warm spells can really hurt the cub populations.  Boars wake up hungry, no good source of food yet except tiny little cubs with no development to escape.  Also, in the NE the wolves will make short work of these cubs who are unable to climb well too.  The wolves will hammer the small sows rather easily if they try to protect the young cubs.  I'd much rather they were covered up by a few feet of snow for another couple months!  Of course I expect the timber companies are loving this...until the fires come early and stick around late.

[Gutpile]

My girlfriend is a ski instructor on Mt. Spokane for special needs kids and she said one of the other instructors or a park employee saw one a short while ago. Doesn't surprise me with the total lack of snow this year. They'll probably go back in though because there's still no green grass

[Southpole]

I sure hope the cold weather comes back soon.  These early warm spells can really hurt the cub populations.  Boars wake up hungry, no good source of food yet except tiny little cubs with no development to escape.  Also, in the NE the wolves will make short work of these cubs who are unable to climb well too.  The wolves will hammer the small sows rather easily if they try to protect the young cubs.  I'd much rather they were covered up by a few feet of snow for another couple months!  Of course I expect the timber companies are loving this...until the fires come early and stick around late.

The timber companies loved it too much. Off topic but, a friend of mine that runs processor is going to be laid off for awhile. The mills aren't taking anymore logs because they're getting flooded with wood and the lumber prices are going in the toilet.

[Jonathan_S]

I sure hope the cold weather comes back soon.  These early warm spells can really hurt the cub populations.  Boars wake up hungry, no good source of food yet except tiny little cubs with no development to escape.  Also, in the NE the wolves will make short work of these cubs who are unable to climb well too.  The wolves will hammer the small sows rather easily if they try to protect the young cubs.  I'd much rather they were covered up by a few feet of snow for another couple months!  Of course I expect the timber companies are loving this...until the fires come early and stick around late.

Wish we could have sensible bear management.  However, in some places, that is not necessarily a bad thing.  As long as a Saber Tooth could then come in and kill the wolves 

[Sumpnneedskillin]

Yellowstone National Park reported on 9 Feb they saw their first grizzly up and moving around.  Been a couple more seen since.

[buckcanyonlodge]

Lady that owns the property next to one of my leases had a bear in her drive way last week-end . Just off the Addy/Gifford Road. It was checking out her chickens...

[HoofsandWings]

The grass is starting to sprout and the trees are already showing signs of turning green too.. The snow is pretty much gone except in the mountains and some logging roads in the canyons.....I applied for my spring bear tag.

If you draw one, all you have to do is sit on your porch and wait for one to go by. Curlew is in the center of the unit.