Bear hunting conditions - Chewelah

[TrygveVandal2001]

Hello Everyone, I've been a long time big & small game hunter in western WA, up and down the coast for last decade and a half. As a result I've gotten used to heavy cover and dense foliage even if it's simply getting to clear cuts or up in elevation. A while back I switched my main hunting rifle to a 18.5 inch .308 on a custom action and barrel simply for maneuvering, since the vast majority of my shots were at max a few 100 yards. However, I'm moving to a friend's homestead in Chewelah and plan to hunt the area. Now I'm slightly familiar with the terrain having been out in NE WA a few times over the years but if I'm remembering right there was far more spot and stalk and plenty of longer range situations, although that was mainly for deer hunting. Can anyone give me some tips on what to expect in the new area and any advice on if I should consider moving up in caliber to .300 win mag if I'm not going to be hunting rainforest conditions? I'm primarily concerned about bear since I'm comfortable stretching my .308 on deer far longer than I am with bear.

Finally, from what I've read and looked up regarding weather conditions it seems that snow and berry times are going to be a fair bit different in that area than I'm used to. I've a fair bit of professional experience and training in shooting and handling colder conditions but any advice on just how much it impacts bear hunting in the area, scouting and tactics would be sincerely appreciated.

Thanks everyone

[hunter399]

308 should work just fine. That's completely up to you.
What distances your comfortable shooting and all that.
I can say that most areas that have the most bear are thicker than dog snot. Comparable to the thick stuff your used to.
That's not to say ,you may find a bear at longer distances.
You may want a different rifle,kinda depends on what hunting you want to do and all that.

Berry crop
Really depends on how much rain we get in May - June.
Some years have more Berry's than you could ever pick.
Other years you'll be lucky to pick a handful.
There is no guaranteed Berry crop. Spotting, glassing, closing the distance is pretty much key.
Seen you said your ok with the cold,half the bear season,will be dry and very hot,lots of bee. Very well certain parcels of land can also be closed to hunting during early bear season,while it's fire season.

That's all I really can say on the open forum.
Good luck out there 👍

[dreadi]

Shot a bear two years ago with a 300 WinMag. Bang spin flop.

Shot a bear last year with a .308
Bang spin flop.

Both took a Nosler Accubond to the heart.


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[pickardjw]

Keep the .308, spend that money on ammo for practice

[Boss .300 winmag]

I’ve hunted with .308, .300 WINMAG, and .300WSM killed deer with all three non of them went far. Now bears are a different story, shot placement is key to them. From my experience not breaking the shoulders they tend to have the stamina to keep going.

I shot on bear at point blank in a tree with a .300 WM in the vitals and it survived falling off a  80 foot waterfall went down stream and crawled under a log jam.🤯

My son shot one with his .300WSM in the vitals and it went quite a distance before expiring.

I shot another one at 300 yards from above him thru both lungs with a .300WM and it was dead on the spot only rolling due to it being on a side hill.

Been trying to get one with the .308 just hasn’t happened yet, but I’m sure it’ll work fine with the proper shot placement.

[huntnnw]

August and the first half of September are the best months to spot bears, lotta the berries are on your more open faces on the south and west sides which then makes bears more visible and to be able to successfully stalk or glass them up. As those berries dry up the bears leave those open areas and get into the timber or the fruit trees and they begin to be significantly harder to hunt come October. Do not shoot the shoulders on a bear or see you later there is nothing vital there. Bears lungs and heart are further back than on a deer and elk. I urge people to shoot broadside only as a 1 lung hit bear you might as well not even look as it could wonder days. I have either killed or been apart of close to 40 bear kills and Ill tell you right now not a single bear that was shot broadside thru the lungs went further than 100 yards even archery kills are piled up in under 100. The bears I saw lost were shot to far forward or angled shots where a lung was hit and the other wasn't. Don't shoot an bear in the evening with the thought of recovering in the morning, need to find it that night and that time of year most likely the meat is ruined by the time you find them in the am