spring bear hunt season dates

[Rufous]

I sure wish Oregon and Washington would do the sensible thing and delay the start of the season and extend it into June. Having it start April 1st is pretty silly as not many bears are out then and many areas are still snowed in. Then cutting it off at the end of May just when the hunting is really getting good is quite frustrating, especially considering many areas are still inaccessible due to snow drifts blocking the roads. Supposedly the idea of the spring bear hunt is that it is a special draw hunt and as such I think the Fish and Game should make it more favorable for the hunter. The success rates overall at least in Washington during the spring hunts have been really lousy. To me that indicates that many more bears could be taken so why not extend the hunt into June? Should we gang up on Fish and Game and let them know what we think about this? Brian.

[LongTatLaw]

yeah well I agree but Im thinking Idaho... I ate a 350$ spring bear tag

[bucklucky]

Maybee the harvest numbers are right where they want them

[hogsniper]

I think the dates are pretty reasonable. Most bears are out by then and given the month and a half you get alot of time to hunt them...I know all the bears arent out at the start of the season but a few are. By the end of the season they were all out, so it seemed over here on the wetside...It also seems the success rate for the people that were out putting in the time was very good...Just my        Justin

[billythekidrock]

I can only speak for the westside as I have never hunted the eastside for bears, but I think the WA dates are ok. Now a couple weeks could make a big difference on the eastside and maybe the harvest numbers are where they want them as mentioned above. As for Oregon, they are a couple weeks earlier then WA and I notice that there are few posts online in those early weeks.

[Machias]

You really can't base it on this spring, the snow pack is way above normal this year.  Most springs, by mid April your into most areas where the bears are and they are out and about.  You get much later and the brush really hides them little cubs as well.

[Timberstalker]

Rufous-  I could not agree with you more.  I cant tell you how many times I have talked to guys that draw an eastside permit and they tell me that 1)  They saw no sign and couldnt find the bears or 2)  They saw one bear and it was the last weekend.  If the state would run the season from May 15 to June 30 we would have more dead bears, more happy hunters and way more elk calves.  This all adds up to me.

[ThePascoKid]

Amen on the elk calve comment.  I can't believe that the harvest numbers for the spring bear permits in WA would be where the WDFW wants them, they are way over populated in some areas, my hunting buddies and I kill at least 1 every year in Blue Creek.  Their numbers are almost to the point of being a nuisance, they play hell on my game cameras, I guess I should know better and bear proof them.  Bottom line, 3 times as many bears could get shot in the Blues and it still wouldn't put a dent in the population.

[Rufous]

Machias, I am not basing my thoughts on just this year. I live in Walla Walla and have hunted bears in the Blue Mountain in the spring of 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2008. I get out during the spring to just hike and look for bears each year and often I am unable to access some prime spots due to snow until June. I do not know where you hunt but here in the Blues anyway it makes a lot of sense to me to start the hunt later and end it later. Brian.

[Snowman]

It would make sense to start some later than others. They could just off set some of the units. Kinda like they do for east side fall bear starts what sept 15, where here on the west side is august 1. If they truly want to get to their qoutas that would make sense. But to me the game dept. is about taking our money and giving us some good hunts but some crummy ones to. 

[cohoho]

Extending the season probably wouldn't help you out.  I am not experienced here in Washington, but up north after June 15 the hides are pretty well become useless in most areas, unless you are strictly after meat it wasn't worth hunting then until fall time.  Even in early June quite a few bears are pretty rubbed out and they are one heck of alot higher parallel.  My experience is that seasonal snow pack really isn't a a huge factor, except for our end of not being able to access them like we would like.  We have had excessive amounts of snow in certain areas and the bears were always coming out about the same time each year after year, give or take a few days on either side.  Most will den on the north side not the south side as believed, reason being the south, snow can melt throughout year and distrub them too early and having them come out when food isn't available i.e. slides, early melt offs, etc....  I honestly believe it is about daylight and exact time of year and how that triggers them coming out.  No matter what, if the bears are coming out in central AK, they are out here for sure.  Now it is when they start eating grasses to get the digestive tract moving that is important.  We always baited and you would know when they were off grasses by the color and condition of the scat, when it resembled what is the typical bear scat then it was time to get ready on the bait stations, before that they would never visit the station other than to lick up some grease, but never ate anything till second week of may and their scat resembled green and black creamy mixture, must be heck on their bodies during this time.  But once that plug breaks free look out.  We never shot a Black Bear earlier than middle may up there (off bait) but earlier when we did spot and stalk for sure.... and continued till middle June when season closed for baiting.   Over eight years doing the bait stations the first bear shot was around May 16th and got better every day after that till season end.. Nomally peaking around the first week of June.  We have taking over 20 some bears off two stations and it was like clock work each year.  This might not be relative to WA but extending the season probably won't contribute to taking better bears and or hides here in WA...  If I am way off track let me know, for those here, always willing to learn new things...   

[bucklucky]

They could extend the season and put a quota on the units too, but that might also make more people shoot the first thing they saw. That was a  by me.

[Rufous]

Cohoho, thanks for your input. Your experience is interesting. I am mostly a meat and adventure hunter, not necessarily a trophy hunter. I have a really nice black bear rug and a big skull already so mostly now I hunt for the meat and the experience/adventure. Sure I would much rather take a big boar with a nice hide and have had good success doing so but I know that the hunting would likely be better later into June. Maybe the hides would not be as good but I am pretty sure the opportunities to fill the tag would increase. Brian.

[hogsniper]

You would have to have ur running shoes on to get the meat out in time if you killed one in mid June....Wouldnt take long to spoil some meat out in that sun!

[Rufous]

Hogsniper, yes that could be a challenge so it can also be quite hot in the early fall season. I shot my first bear on August 1st of 1997 and it got up to 100 that day. I shot the bear at about 8am and we hustled to pack the meat out and get it cooled off. The meat was just fine. Rufous.

[RubblesPH]

I agree Rufous - another week would be nice.  A buddy was up there Friday evening and Saturday for the last day of the hunt and found a very nice boar, but wasn't able to get to him in time.  They are still feeding in the open on the grass, chasing the sows and showing themselves at relatively all hours of the day.  Personally haven't seen any rubs on em' yet. 

[boneaddict]

I think the season is fine.  Remember we are managing for quality here and not quantity again.  If they wanted more bears killed, just issue another 100 permits.   Most springs I see bear the first of April end of March.  This year is one of the lastest springs we have had and in the last two weeks guys have been reporting 5-10 bear days.  I'm sorry, but thats a pretty good day in the woods.  June you get into heavier brush, and as mentioned harder to see cubs, the hides are usually rubbing really bad now, and really how much do you need to kill a big bear.

[RubblesPH]

and really how much do you need to kill a big bear

I need a big boar really bad!  Must be a sickness!

No, I get what you mean, how much time do you really need...right?  We'll that all depends on what you are seeing.  Could be the first trip up or the fourth trip about five minutes after arrriving for the evening hunt.  Mine was the fourth trip up when I arrived after work.  That was the first real big bear that I had seen.  Luckily I was able to score.  All the others were sows with cubs, lone sows, siblings that had just been kicked out by momma or small boars. 

I was seeing 5-10 bears (ten being a one day compilation of my hunting partner and myself) but when you count cubs, the number is somewhat deceiving.  One day I seen a sow with three cubs and a lone sow....that's 5 bears, but nothing I wanted to go after.  Personal preference I guess. 

Baseball practice on the weekdays and games on Saturdays was killing me.  Vacation time is always at a premium also.  But that's not something that the WDF&G needs to take into consideration, it's just my situation and a fortunate one in my eyes.

I would vote for them to start it a week late and give us that week on the back end.  Maybe it's just the Blue units that I and possibly Rufous are referring to, so maybe it could be a little more unit specific.  Neither Todd nor I have seen any rubs as of yesterday and their still coming out in the open to eat grass where you can field judge and look for cubs.  Either way works for me, but it would be nice to flip that week to the end of the season. 

Rubbles

[boneaddict]

The only hole in your arguement is that very nice big bear you shot with lots of time still to go.

Yes, that was what I meant about time.

Call me a freak, but I think if you make it too easy, you start denting into the quality of the bears you will be hunting.  I think a serious sportsman can get it done and done well with what there is in the season now.  Obviously there are lots of things like work, vacation time, etc that digs into that, but those are my first thoughts.  For th erecord, I am eastside only.
No big deal, I haven't even been drawn yet.  Just to be clear these are my honest thoughts, and thats all they are.  No one else has to agree.  Just an opinion.     

[WDFW-SUX]

doesn't the season start again in August? No need for extra time IMHO.

[bucklucky]

I'm sticken with my answer

[Rufous]

Boneaddict, you said: "Remember we are managing for quality here and not quantity again.  If they wanted more bears killed, just issue another 100 permits."

To my thinking issuing another 100 permits would reduce the quality of the hunt. One of the great things about these spring bear hunts is that those doing the hunting are not terribly crowded by other hunters. It is not every square inch of each unit that is prime bear habitat. Those in the know focus on certain spots. Increasing the number of hunters would likely increase the odds of crowding issues.

I too am asking for a quality hunt. For me that means access to the prime areas where the big boars are hanging out. My understanding of bear habits is that the big boys dominate the best areas, not the marginal areas. Additionally the older boars have figured out to hang in the more remote spots which tends to mean higher country. I just know from experience that I tend to start seeing the bigger boars later in the spring, especially once their breeding season starts. Rufous.

[Rufous]

http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/game/seasonsetting/index.htm

Hey guys and gals, you can complete a survey for WA Fish and Game to let them know what you think about various issues. I am going to let them know that I would like to see the spring bear season start May 1 and go until June 15 over here in eastern WA. Rufous.

[RubblesPH]

Good idea! Unfortunately I already filled mine out and spaced it off.