Spring Bear In The NE About To Get Good

[bearpaw]

We've had several warm days 60-70 degrees in a row and yesterday we saw our first bear in Huckleberry Unit. We also caught a different brown color-phase bear on a trail cam yesterday in Huckleberry. I have been all over the mountains in several units and the snow has receded enough and green grass is starting to grow, bear will be out everywhere soon.

There is rain in the forecast for a few days but the temps are supposed to be 40-50 so I don't think that will hinder too badly.

We offer guided or unguided hunts, and we sell maps to my favorite hunting spots throughout the NE Corner of Washington. We also rent cabins if you need a place to stay close to Colville.

[bearpaw]

Bear are definitely out now over here, we saw two more bear yesterday. 

[Titan-1]

   Mmmmmm,, Bears.

[Michelle_Nelson]

Did you get one tied to a tree for me yet?

[Ballance1]

Saw a monster cinnamon on peterson swamp

[BuckHunter23]

SWEET!!!!!  My brother and I are heading over to Huckleberry tonight for his spring bear hunt.  Hope to have some pics by the weekend!!

[bearpaw]

I have been saving fuel until hunting would be good. I finally went bear hunting for 5 hours yesterday evening. Game was really moving, it was a good evening. We saw a small light brown bear, I passed a 200ish blackie at 100 yards or so, we also saw a longbearded tom, a bull moose, a bull elk, nine cow elk, and several good bucks. Horns are starting to grow on everything pretty well now.

No doubt, the bear are out good now.

[Cleve]

Dale, I think you are in the wrong spots. Just go down to the softball fields Nice picture of one in the paper.

[bearpaw]

Dale, I think you are in the wrong spots. Just go down to the softball fields Nice picture of one in the paper.

I heard about that. 

[bearpaw]

Went out for three hours again this evening, right at dusk saw a good bear I thought I might shoot, roughly 250ish and probably a boar, he was a little too quick for me and disappeared before I could get a shot. 

But, I know where he likes to feed now... 

[carpsniperg2]

Hope you can smack him

[bearpaw]

Went out again for 3 hours this evening, just before dark we spotted the best bear yet, yes definitely the best yet. He was a large brown, probably pushing 300, we hiked up a hill after him and I was breathing pretty good, I had enough gun but was afraid to shoot 300-400 yards breating heavy, so we tried to work up to the next rise and cut it down to 250 yards, which I figured would be no problem.

He was moving along at a pretty good pace and disappeared over the top of the rise while we were moving on him so we went back to the truck and drove around the hill to get ahead of him. I stopped a couple hundred yards short back in heavy cover and hiked out to where I figured I would be able see him, but he was gone.   

We checked a few other areas where he might have gone, but finally had to face the fact that he had given us the slip. I don't think he ever knew we were around, he was just moving, and when bear are on the move, they cover ground faster than it appears. Oh well, at least it was a little more footage for the cameras and great fun to boot. But I have to admit, my trigger finger is getting a little more anxious with every bear. 

[carpsniperg2]

  Hope you can catch up with a nice one! We need to see some more bears hit the dust.Not very many bears hitting the dirt this spring.

[bearpaw]

Just hope I don't get stung trying to be greedy for a big one. I will be busy for a few days and won't get to hunt too much more. 

[bearpaw]

I made it out bear hunting a few more times for a few hours each day and passed on numerous bear, I also saw three real good bear that I couldn't get within range before they disappeared. Then Michelle came and we hunted her bear, as you have probably read in her thread she killed a beautiful blonde/cinammon on the first day.

Michelle hung around a few more days while I hunted on my tag. The first day we saw 4 bear, 2 smaller ones which I passed, (I snuck in to within 50 yards of one), and two larger bear including one that I thought was pushing 400, neither of which gave me a shot, dang I was dissapointed that I didn't get a shot at that big bruiser.

We hunted the next morning but it was raining so hard we gave up after a couple hours, nothing at all was moving. The next day was perfect, warm and clear, at first light we found a big boar feeding in a swamp, he was probably 300-350 pounds, I had a hard time trying to find a rest and he was about 265 yards. Finally I got setup, settled down for the shot and squeezed, just as the shot went off I noticed movement in my scope and knew I missed the big boar. Anthony and I spent about 20 to 30 minutes looking, we found where he was standing and where he ran, but no sign of a hit. I was prtetty disgusted in myself, I had passed numerous bear and finally had a good shot opportunity on a big bear and screwed it up.   

We left that area and headed over to a different location, we had only been hunting a few minutes when I spotted another bear, the instant I saw him, he saw me, I knew he was a mature boar and decided even though he wasn't as big as some of the others I was going to take him. Just then he moved into thicker brush but stopped to look back again, I had trouble seeing just where to shoot, but just as he turned to run I pulled the trigger, he dropped, but managed to get up and made it about 10 yards, then he sounded like a dieing cow. I hate it when a bear does that, I feel bad for them.

Anthony got the whole thing on video so I will try to put that together when I get time. Here's a picture of my bear and the pretty bear that Michelle shot.