Bonaparte/republic bears?

[GEARHEAD]

anybody have any info on bear in this area. while having taken maybe 14 deer and two elk, i have never given bear a try. kinda got roped into it. will be there in September, most likely the hills east of Bonaparte lake. i guess i need to know what they are eating, and find me couple spots. i really have no clue where to start, other than just ambling down a road with a gun, but thats not hunting. Help???

[PolarBear]

The closer to the rez on the San Poil, the better.

[snohohunter]

Check out the Swan Lake area and Sherman Pass.

[GEARHEAD]

Thanks Guys', appreciate the help.

[Blacktail killer]

Bear hunting is easy over there my dad lives 1 mile up from bonaparte turn off on forest service road 31.I can walk out behind his house on national forest land and kill a bear any time you can normaly see 2-6 bears in a weakend no joke.Turn off on fs rd 31 go over two cattle guards and stay two the left.hike in any where on the right hand side there is 2 ponds back there lots of water and a skunk cabage they like that.

[GEARHEAD]

thanks for the info killer, i got your pm. i sent ya one back, but it did not show in my sent listings, so in the event ya didn't get it, Thanks again!

[snohohunter]

Gearhead - I'd wait for the weather to cool over there.  It's so hot right now, it'd be tough for a bear not to spoil and probably wouldn't make that good of a rug right now.  Of course, just my opinion. 

[TeacherMan]

I shot a dandy above bonaparte last year, and the year before, and missed one a couple years prior to that. ortherwords THERE ARE ALOT OF BEAR IN THE AREA. I have one of them posted in my pictures that was shot in August, thats an easy time to get them because all you have to do is find the berries, and I dont me the huckleberries, I just mean berries, usually chokecherries along streams or the Kettle River. Look for  trees that have been trashed on, if there are any berries left in it the bear will be back to work it over again just before dark. For the last three years I taugth in Curlew and I saw more bears in that time than all my years of hunting combined. We usually see 2-4 bears in a good weekend of hunting. I saw about 15-20 bears during the school year just driving to work in the morning, all around chokecherries. I will miss living up there...

[GEARHEAD]

will be hunting in mid Sept snoho, i agree too hot, got kings to chase first.
Thanks for the tip Teach. will have to find berries. i hunted that area east of the lake, last year, up high, for deer, but didn't see any berries will have to do some scouting for them. i guess i'm not hunting bear, i'm hunting berries, lol

[tlbradford]

Smokepole should be having an article coming out on hunting chokecherrie bears pretty soon in F&H.

[TeacherMan]

Sounds crazy but if you want to find a bear you will find the berries, most of which are going to be in a shaded drainages, down lower. Choke cherries are one of the first bushes to come back into an area after it has been burned, clearcut, or just had a new road put in, those are also areas that you want to key on.