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Old 09-29-2021, 06:38 PM
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Default Bear hunt

I have never hunted bears in my life other than carrying a tag back in the 80s just because.

So to all you seasoned bear hunters out there ,which is the better bear ?
Spring or fall? Keep in mind I don’t really care about the bear hide, other than I know it is illegal to discard it or at least it used to be .

I am most interested in the meat , whatever I hunt.

Spring, pro / con. Fall pro / con
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Old 09-29-2021, 06:44 PM
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I don’t hunt bear but I would think fall bear. Spring bear is skinny from coming out of hibernation. The down side to fall bear is if they’ve been garbage bears you can tell. A very distinct difference between the garbage bears and truest wild bears from the ones I’ve tagged for hunters. I would say fur is better as well since in the spring they’re shedding out etc.. but again I don’t hunt them it’s only observation from taggin others hunters bears and talking with them.
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Old 09-29-2021, 06:58 PM
Grizzly Adams1 Grizzly Adams1 is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fordtruckin View Post
I don’t hunt bear but I would think fall bear. Spring bear is skinny from coming out of hibernation. The down side to fall bear is if they’ve been garbage bears you can tell. A very distinct difference between the garbage bears and truest wild bears from the ones I’ve tagged for hunters. I would say fur is better as well since in the spring they’re shedding out etc.. but again I don’t hunt them it’s only observation from taggin others hunters bears and talking with them.
With the change in waste disposal policies I don't think we have many garbage bears left, especially in more remote areas.

Grizz
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Old 09-29-2021, 07:02 PM
patrol1957 patrol1957 is offline
 
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Quote:
A very distinct difference between the garbage bears and truest wild bears from the ones I’ve tagged for hunters
what dose that mean you tagged !!!!!

never shot a bear in the fall not that we never seen any but we saved it for spring also some would cry about worms in the meat I never seen it
Fall was for moose and deer in our group back in the day.
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Old 09-29-2021, 07:44 PM
pikeslayer22 pikeslayer22 is offline
 
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Fall by far...spring bears eat some nasty things at the bait sites
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Old 09-29-2021, 08:09 PM
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Do guys bait bears in the fall or is this just a spring thing. I have come across bear bait stations while deer hunting but there was never any baiting going on.

Is it even legal in the fall?
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Old 09-29-2021, 08:39 PM
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A bear feeding on oats in the fall is hard to beat.
And such bears can be hunted without bait. And if hunted on farm land, with permission, you wouldn't have to savage the hide. Plus there are no limits and no tags are needed.

The last bear I saw shot, two days ago, was fat like a hog, and oat fed, would have been good eating had we been able to find it when it was shot, but alas we ran out of light and by the time we found it the next day it was already starting to sour.

It's a bit late now but a week ago I could have guaranteed you a shot at a fat oat fed bear.
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Old 09-29-2021, 08:41 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams1 View Post
With the change in waste disposal policies I don't think we have many garbage bears left, especially in more remote areas.

Grizz
I don’t mean garbage bear as in garbage dump, I mean garbage bear in the sense of it’s just eating unnatural foods found close to humans. Bird feed, livestock feed, yes garbage from garbage cans, human food from campsites or unsecured coolers etc… Vs eating natural foods in the wild such as vegetation, ants, meat, white bark pine etc…Generally the farther you find a bear from humans the less likely it’s a “garbage” bear.

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what dose that mean you tagged !!!!!
I mean the State of Montana requires all bear hunters to present the hide and skull of harvested bears to an employee of Fish Wildlife and Parks where after inspection will receive a hide tag. Thus I tagged the bear indicating the animal is of legal harvest. Biological data in the form of a tooth is pulled as well as it is checked that it indeed is a black bear and is not a lactating sow which would make it an illegal harvest as your not legal to shoot a sow with Cubs.
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Old 09-29-2021, 08:46 PM
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We shoot bears every year

We give the meat away

The people tell us fall bears taste best.

Shot one last week. That bear will feed them for a while....
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Old 09-29-2021, 08:49 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KegRiver View Post

It's a bit late now but a week ago I could have guaranteed you a shot at a fat oat fed bear.
Same here Keg.

We stalked them just to see how close we could get. It became a game..

We saw 50-60 in different areas over 6 days
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Old 09-29-2021, 08:52 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KegRiver View Post
A bear feeding on oats in the fall is hard to beat.
And such bears can be hunted without bait. And if hunted on farm land, with permission, you wouldn't have to savage the hide. Plus there are no limits and no tags are needed.

The last bear I saw shot, two days ago, was fat like a hog, and oat fed, would have been good eating had we been able to find it when it was shot, but alas we ran out of light and by the time we found it the next day it was already starting to sour.

It's a bit late now but a week ago I could have guaranteed you a shot at a fat oat fed bear.
That sounds pretty interesting, expect a grain fed bear like a farm buck would be pretty tasty.

I don’t expect to hunt any bears this year anyway ,but hoping a bit of a return to normal next year .
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Old 09-29-2021, 11:32 PM
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Originally Posted by jungleboy View Post
That sounds pretty interesting, expect a grain fed bear like a farm buck would be pretty tasty.

I don’t expect to hunt any bears this year anyway ,but hoping a bit of a return to normal next year .
If you want to try hunting an oat fed bear, I believe I could get you onto a few around the middle of September, providing of course that I'm still alive this time next year.
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Old 09-30-2021, 08:45 AM
Grizzly Adams1 Grizzly Adams1 is offline
 
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I mean the State of Montana requires all bear hunters to present the hide and skull of harvested bears to an employee of Fish Wildlife and Parks where after inspection will receive a hide tag. Thus I tagged the bear indicating the animal is of legal harvest. Biological data in the form of a tooth is pulled as well as it is checked that it indeed is a black bear and is not a lactating sow which would make it an illegal harvest as your not legal to shoot a sow with Cubs.

Think Montana also has a test on bear species identification you're required to pass before you can get a license. Not a bad idea.

Grizz
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Old 09-30-2021, 10:05 AM
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JB


Fall bear are fat and if they have not been into garbage many prefer them. Spring bear is very lean, the muscle has not been used for 6 months so they are also very tender. We only ever used grain, donuts etc for bait in the spring, never rotting meat. I am not fond of bear but personally I find spring bear better eating than fall because it is so lean.

It is still lots warn enough that there are lots of bears out wandering around yet. If you can find unharvested oats or Barley, piles of harvested grain or other feed sources, bears won't be far away.
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Old 09-30-2021, 10:48 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams1 View Post
I mean the State of Montana requires all bear hunters to present the hide and skull of harvested bears to an employee of Fish Wildlife and Parks where after inspection will receive a hide tag. Thus I tagged the bear indicating the animal is of legal harvest. Biological data in the form of a tooth is pulled as well as it is checked that it indeed is a black bear and is not a lactating sow which would make it an illegal harvest as your not legal to shoot a sow with Cubs.

Think Montana also has a test on bear species identification you're required to pass before you can get a license. Not a bad idea.

Grizz
Yes there is a mandatory bear ID test in MT. Yet some how every year people screw up and wack a grizzly thinking it was a black bear. Sometimes you just need to take a step back and wait before pulling the trigger. Kinda goes for all species.
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Old 09-30-2021, 02:34 PM
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Early spring the still have their winter coat

Meat I prefer the lean spring bears and I am not a fan of fatty fall bears
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Old 09-30-2021, 07:21 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KegRiver View Post
If you want to try hunting an oat fed bear, I believe I could get you onto a few around the middle of September, providing of course that I'm still alive this time next year.
Haha remember Keg only the good die young. You probably got a Kieth Richards thing going for you I think 😜
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Old 09-30-2021, 10:18 PM
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Quote:
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Haha remember Keg only the good die young. You probably got a Kieth Richards thing going for you I think 😜
LOL I should be around another 20 years at that rate. I'm good with that so long as I can fish.

After all, mom is still alive and well at 100 1/2 and dad lived to 82 even though he had smoked his while life. So my chances are pretty good.
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  #19  
Old 10-01-2021, 07:08 AM
cosmog cosmog is offline
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Fall bear for sure. it taste great
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