Montana Spring Bear: Part 1 Why, Research and Prep

Why a Montana Spring Bear Hunt?

I never really thought much about going on a black bear hunt. The eastern version of black bear hunting is predominately hunting over bait or hound hunting, neither of which really appeal to me and in Wisconsin it can take 7-10 years before you accumulate enough points for a bear tag. This year I was in need of an adventure and didn’t want to wait until fall. So I began researching and watching videos on black bear hunting in the West. Western hunting is largely “Spot and Stalk” style hunting in which you sit in a vantage point and look for your target and then proceed to hike/stalk to them, they can often be over a mile away when you initially see them. Its challenging, demanding and also very peaceful.

Season Timing

For me the timing was the most appealing part of Spring Bear. I’m generally very stir crazy coming off February and March which are the worst months of the year, unless you are passionate about ice fishing which I am not, there is not much to do in those months other than wait for them to be over. Spring bear season varies slightly by state but generally it is April thru June, as the bears are coming out of their dens in April and leads to their rut (breeding season) and calve predation when they are most active.

Scouting

Fall was another primary reason, my friend Andrew and I were in position to draw an Elk and Deer combo tag for Montana this year and could use a trip out west to double as a scouting trip. No true substitute for boots on the ground.

Balance

The more I have gotten into hunting and conversation, the importance of balance becomes a greater focus for me. Hunting predators can have a positive impact on the elk and deer population. A single black bear may kill 5-10 deer fawns annually and 1-3 elk calves annually. States Wildlife objectives are designed to protect and maintain a diverse population of species and the availability of hunting tags is a good indicator, when you see an OTC (Over-the-Counter) tag for a species that generally indicates that population is very healthy and potentially overpopulated.

Reward

Additionally, the meat! I’ve never had bear meat but an estimated 33% of a bears weight is boneless edible meat. Meaning a 300 lb bear could translate to 100 lbs in the freezer. Spring bear is generally held in higher regard than fall as a higher portion of their diet is vegetation as they emerge from the dens.

Research

First step in Western hunting is research. I begin by going through the rules

Hunting regulations can be found online. I like to contact the State for a physical copy as well to have on hand.

and regulations to understand the dates, requirements, cost and other miscellaneous details comparing different states. Montana has a general OTC (over-the-counter) tag, meaning that you can buy the tag at any time and use it statewide (unless a unit specifically requires a permit or is not open to hunting) and a long season.

I go through state harvest reports from previous years to identify hunter

success (amount of harvest / by tags sold), harvest by unit to try and understand the animal density throughout the state. I printed off a unit map and began populating it with 2024’s harvest numbers and gave a strong visual that the further west you go the higher the harvest numbers. Caveat being that the further west you go in Montana the farther the drive and also the higher Grizzly density as well (mind the cougars and wolves as well). I do have a mild case of Bear-anoia, so the thought of hiking through and camping in Grizzly country for a week was intimidating and may have kept me up a couple nights leading up to the trip. I have spent some time in Alaska which has a higher Brown Bear (same species as Grizzly, slightly different appearance based on diet) and has helped reduced the symptoms of bear-anoia but still a factor.

Populating a unit map with harvest data, helped give me some clarity on density and also scale of each of the units. Unit 400 for example had a high harvest number but a huge unit. Compared to 216 which was slightly less in numbers but a quarter of the size.

The first thing you begin to pick up on from the YouTube videos and articles that hunters key in on is the elevation bands and the “Green-up”. They are targeting elevation areas below the snow-lines that have begun to bloom and are most green and have blooming yellow flowers from the melting snow. Additionally they are focused on south-facing slopes which receive the most sunlight and will be the first to become green. Once you have the general region (West) and geographical targets elevation bands/south facing slopes you can begin scanning On-X and Google Earth looking for areas of interest. Looking at public land, roads, access and looking for points that you think will be effecting glassing knobs (spots that you see a long way from, towards the areas of interest).

On-X has an awesome feature "Terrain-X" which allows you to filter to certain elevation bands and the viewshed feature gives you a perspective of what you may be able to see in a certain way-point based on elevation (*does not factor in tree coverage).

Living in a different state and never been to the area before you become hungry for local knowledge. You can scan hunting blogs and try to get individual perspectives that may be years old and often ambiguous. So I emailed the regional carnivore specialist James Jonkel from Montana’s FWP (Fish, Wildlife, Parks) and gave him some areas I was looking at. He responded in a timely manner and said give me a call would be happy to discuss. James was incredibly friendly and we talked through the timing of when I was coming out and areas. He started off with a friendly reminder "There is a fair amount of grizzlies in that area, if that bothers you." He mentioned that the first week of May in which we were heading out might be a little bit early, that bears had begun coming out of their den (in April) but there peak activity was likely to be about two weeks later in the end of May based on rut being active and also that is when Elk are laying their calves which become prime targets for bears. He talked about the green up was a little earlier than recent years and to key in on the yellow flowers as indicators. He recommended some other spots to check out that I was not originally looking at. My experiences with the Montana FWP has always been positive and insightful as they want you to have a successful and enjoyable hunt so you keep coming back. Definitely a great resource regardless of what you are after.

Prep

Two quick things to note if you do plan to hunt black bear in for the license

Simple but effective comparison chart

you will need to complete a quick bear identification test online showing that gives you a quick overview of the key characteristics of black bears vs. grizzlies. Note color is not the key factor as Montana is home to different color phased black bears (blonde, brown, cinnamon and traditional black). Additionally if you want to use your bow you will have to complete the National Bowhunter Educational Foundation (NBEF) certification which can be done online, this is required for some other states as well. Along with your general hunters safety.

Gear-wise I have begun to accumulate more and more gear after a couple of western hunts. To prepare for this hunt I added bipod and muzzle-break to my .300 Win Mag. I have Tikka T3  with a synthetic stock which is a relatively light gun so was getting a lot kick that was causing me to tense up before firing. The muzzle-break made a big difference in the kickback but makes it noticeably louder (do not fire a rifle with a break without hearing protection). To look at what clothes to pack I looked at a five year temperature history of the area we were going to which ranged from 30 to 70 degree during the week in which we were going to be there. Being Type-A, I also created a gear checklist in google docs to share with Andrew so we didn’t forget anything and didn’t bring gear (not sure if Andrew actually looked at it but that’s ok).

Example of a temp range chart

I think other considerations would be your fitness level, climbing elevation in altitude with 30 pounds on your back as a flat-lander will take the wind out of you pretty quickly. So don’t skip leg day or cardio. I don’t have any specific training plan I followed but remained active leading up to the trip between running, swimming and strength training. Even if you are in good shape your body will feel the elevation quickly if you are coming from the Midwest like myself.

Summary

The goal leading up to a western hunt is to prepare yourself with publicly available information on the area and species you are after, prepare your gear and body for the anticipated challenges and some you don’t anticipate and to get yourself excited! You are going on an adventure in the outdoors in a whole new environment, gotta love it! Once you control what you can from home be ok knowing there are things that you can’t prepare for that you just need to learn while you are there. There is no better teacher than experience!