If I do not get drawn for spring bear in Washington I will likely do a spring bear hunt with my brother in Idaho. We had a good hunt there in May of 2003 and have a hankering to go back. I am curious though if there is any consensus as to whether or not the hunting would be any better or easier during the rut or before the rut? By easier I mean easier to locate and hunt the boars by spot and stalk methods. My spring bear hunting thus far has occurred before the rut, though I have observed bears mating later in May. I tend to think that it probably does not matter much if I were to hunt in mid May to mid June but I kind of wonder if during the rut the boars might be harder to find because they are not just out feeding, they are on the move looking for receptive sows. Or maybe they would be easier to spot because they are on the move more? What do you all think? I am trying to determine when we would do our hunt in Idaho if we end up going there. Thanks, Bruin

Bruin-this is the way that I look at the rut here in Montana.

First off the big bruins will be cruising looking for companionship.

And this brings a couple of things to the table.

First off you may well see bruins that you've not seen b4. Big boars have a large home area (25-30 miles here) and I believe they roam this area during the rut.

So, while you're likely to see a bigger bruin. They are on the move so much that it has been my experience here that if you don't get them the first time you see them, that you'll likely not see them again.

And that is the challenge of the rut, in this country you may see them 3 to 4 miles away and usually you won't have the time to get to them.

But, if you do catch them out and close enough to get to them then good things can happen.

Personally I hunt for the top bruins in the state 19" or better is always my goal.

That said, if I only had a couple of days to hunt I would hunt the rut and take my chances.

Good luck to you

Mark D

It is my contention that you are worrying too much about rut and not enough about greening up in open huntable spaces.
Bear hunting in the spring is about finding fresh green food sources i e CLOVER. Forget rut you are not hunting whitetail deer. Concentrate on finding the groceries and all will take care of itself. If you F up completely let me know and I will help you out

At least in this country by the time the rut is going everywhere is like a pool table.

I really watch the areas as they green to begin with. But as the season goes at least around this country all is green.

Now as for forgetting the rut as you say, don't know how much time you've spent hunting around here but I big time disagree with it.

Now if you're just trying to kill a bruin then I say yeah forget the rut. But, if you're hunting for the top of the litter then I know from past experience that keeping an eye on and hunting the rut is a very good idea. At least in this country.

Now as for your area I have no idea and would never assume to know about it as I've never hunted it. So I would certainly not comment about the rut hunt for your area as that would be foolish of me to do so.

Mark D

As I would not comment on your area and situation. All I have to back what I am saying is consistent harvest of large boars in Northern Alberta,unbaited.I am seeing 30-40 BOARS per week at the peak week. Less before and less after and the key is when the food sources are available IN THE OPEN as opposed to kinnikinnuk before and absolutely everything after the peak week.If you are seeing boars in the volume and quantity I am and feel that RUT has something to do with it please advise as I would love to learn anything new on the topic. I enjoy the exchange and hope to learn from it.

Everything in this world is relative, point being no I do not see 30-40 boars a week. That is a population virtually unheard of with the exception of POW and Van Island. So you've certainly found an area that is heavily heavily populated.

I am not calling you a liar but I also honeslty would not believe it until I myself saw it. What part of Alberta are you hunting in that you can find this kind of concentrations of male bears?

While I've no interest in coming up and hunting I am a bruin lover and have never heard of something like you're talkling about. So am curious about this new world of bruin populas?

Lastly while I do not have those kind of populations down here I do see my share of bruins in a season. I usually look at between 45-60 bruins a year and this is all bruins that I am sure are different bears and not ones that I see over and over again.

I also enjoy honest exchanges and everything to do with bruins. As I look out the window it is starting to snow a bit and bruin season here is only about 6 weeks now from starting.

Oops, one other question how many sows and pups are you seeing per week? I would have to guess that if you're seeing 30-40 boars a week then if we count the sows/youth you're looking at close to 100 bruins a week in your area. This is truly a population of epic proportion.

Many thanks for your time.

Mark D

quote:

I would have to guess that if you're seeing 30-40 boars a week then if we count the sows/youth you're looking at close to 100 bruins a week in your area. This is truly a population of epic proportion.

That's being kind Mark... I'm calling BULL SHIT!