Allen,

Noticed in another post you mentioned just getting back from a bear trip in Eastern Oreon with a friend. Sounded like he had a tag and you were along for the grunt work. How'd the hunt go?

I'm going to Idaho next Sunday for a bear. Can't wait.

-Steve

Steve, we had a great trip. I've hunted with this friend since 1980 or thereabouts, and he's just a great guy and and excellent hunter and rifleman. He drew a Wenaha unit black bear tag, plus he had a turkey tag and a cougar tag, so he could hunt all three species.

I had a cougar tag and I could legally carry a rifle, but not actually HUNT during the limited-entry bear season. This is another one of those weird, quirkey laws that only Oregon can come up with, so I didn't carry a rifle at all -- just binoculars, pack, S&W revolver, and spotting scope.

The hunting was good but the finding wasn't. We saw at least 200 deer (whitetails and mule deer), over 100 elk, four big horn sheep, rabbits, squirrels, horses, beef cattle, you name it, but we didn't spot a bear, nor did we spot a cougar. We'd hunted this area before many times for elk and black bear, but this is the first time I haven't seen a bear during the spring season. We talked to turkey hunters who had seen a bear and a cougar, but such was not our luck.

Speaking of turkeys, we saw at least a score of them, but chose to spend the time and energy on bear first. Turkeys are definately on the rise in NE Oregon!

Lots and LOTS of rain and mud. Visibility was often very poor as we attempted to glass many of the key draws and canyons we know hold bear. I suspect that most of them were in timber, not out on the open slopes.

We had fun, though!

AD

Allen,
S&W revolver??? Which one?

Allen,

After coming up dry (and wet), I'm glad that you had a good time. I've never hunted bear in Eastern Oregon other than having a tag in my pocket while deer/elk hunting.

Nice to hear that you saw so many deer. I've damn near given up on deer in Eastern Oregon. I'm going to have to give turkeys a try though.

I'll let you know how my Idaho bear hunt goes.

-Steve

Steve,
Where in Idaho are you hunting bear?
What gun are you using.

I just tucked a S&W 317, 8-shot, 3" bbl., adj.-sight, .22 LR into the pack. It's feather-light, accurate, and handy -- the near-perfect kit gun. But it wouldn't be much good in the event of a charge!

AD

NE,

I'm going to be hunting close to Atlanta (an old mining camp along the Boise river, at the Southern end of the Saw Tooths).

I'm bringing my trusty Ruger 30-06 (tang safety) and my transitional 300 H&H. Not sure which one I'll use. Leaning toward the 300 as it's a bit lighter.

Last time I hunted here, we ended up running for about four days, trying to get in front of the dogs. The bears simply wouldn't tree or bay. It was the most physically demanding hunt I've ever been on. That's why I'm leaning towards the lighter rifle.

Can't wait..!

-Steve

Steve, for that hunt there's no doubt that I'd take the lightest rifle possible!

A couple of years ago Kirk Kelso and I hunted black bear in Arizona's White Mts., near the New Mexico line. I took a pre-64 Model 94 .30-30 because we were in the saddle 8-10 hrs. a day with radio-collared dogs in front of us, and the mountains were extremely steep, pretty-much straight up and down.

I didn't get a bear on that trip, either, but I handed the Model 94 to one of Kirk's Mexican guides from Hermasillo and watched him drop a bear out of a tree just as neat as you please with it. You couldn't have killed that bear any deader with a .375 H&H. Really fun stuff!

Good luck on your Idaho hunt, and please give me a call when you get back. I'd like to hear about it!

AD

I'm glad you had a good time even without getting a bear. I look forward to PA bear season even though the odds are so low I can't get anybody else to go with me. My batting average is 1.5 bears for 39 seasons so enjoying the hunt is key!