Alpine Lakes Bear Hunt Thoughts

[chasethedevil]

Hi all, I'm wondering if anyone has general tips for bear hunting the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area. I'm starting to fantasize about this coming season and have it in my head that an ALW bear hunt would be a fun challenge. I've spent a few summer exploring the ALW now but haven't come across much sign. Are there too many other folks for the hunting to be productive? Is it better on the east side vs west side of ALW? I've read decade old posts in the forum about the ALW but welcome any recent beta guys have!

Also, I've been a lurker in the forum since moving to WA a few years ago and am blown away with how helpful this forum is - many thanks to the awesome community here.

[Kingofthemountain83]

It's been 20 something years since I've been in the ALW on a some hikes but did see a bear cross the traill ahead of us and one a few hundred yards up a ridge... I'm sure quite a few get taken out of there every year during bear and high buck... Check out last years harvest reports...

[chasethedevil]

Totally forgot about the harvest reports, I'll check them out!

[CarbonHunter]

I haven’t been in there recently but if you stay away from the popular trails you can find bears especially when the berries are ripe. Just be ready for a long pack out and a lot of dirty looks and comments from the seed eaters.

[ganghis]

I haven't had much success there, but there are definitely bears.  Timing is kind of crucial if you want to maximize your chances. You probably want to scout areas where you can glass a lot of terrain above tree line to spot and stalk.  At least that's how I've been successful...others may have other strategies.  Go too soon and a lot of bears will be down lower in cover where they still have lots of food.  Ideal time varies but best is usually the last week of August - third week of September but can vary quite a bit based on snowpack, rain, etc.   Luckily you can let hikers do some of the berry scouting for you... like searching the WTA website for trip reports in the area you want to go to and see how things are looking.  I've got burned doing that though... apparently a few underripe berries count as "berries everywhere!" 

[mountainman]

Huckleberries and ground covering blueberries, later in August! Have done good in the Ethel, Eileen, Donald lakes area

[chasethedevil]

Thanks all, this is excellent. Sounds like I will have to take some tupperware for my own berry needs.