Mt Emily bears

msolocam · May 12, 2012

Hey guys, we've been hunting bears near Mt Emily for the last 3 days and are having some major problems finding them! More specifically we're hunting near thimbleberry and huckleberry mountains just north of La Grande. Been glassing south facing slope with Swaro 15's and 30 power Docters. Been driving and hiking logging roads middle of the day trying to cut a track or some turds. Don't have a clue what we're doing wrong. Have not seen one, not a track and not a fresh turd in 3 long hard days of hunting.

Any help, tips and advice is greatly appreciated!
Msolocam

Snuffy · May 13, 2012

Don't live in Oregon but I always start at a water source and check for sign before I dedicate myself to an area.
Just an idea, good luck.
Rick

BlueMountainAdventures · May 13, 2012

Find onion patches and rocky hillsides that are away from hunting pressure. Bears WILL show up. A bear will grub in one lil 60 foot area sometimes for 2-3 hours. So stay glassing from one spot for at least that long before moving on. Good luck

muleyman · May 14, 2012

+1 bluemountain

muleyman

elkslam · May 14, 2012

They are not up that high yet, the majority of the bears we are seeing are all down low in the canyons and down country from both places you mention. There a few here an there up high but not in mass quanities. Plus that country has alot of people hunting it. They should work there way up as it gets a bit greener there are plenty of onions but they don't seem to be really digging yet. Good luck

finnman · May 21, 2012

Just got back last night, was hunting with a friend out of Pilot Rock, hunting was great, bears were grubbing and the wind was predictable. We hunted 3 days spotted 10 bears, I missed a nice cinnamon bear and after my friend missed a big chocolate bear not 30 minutes later, I ended up taking a small black sow. We saw 5 bears just that one evening. My first time down there hunting in the spring, I look forward to my wife hunting it next year with her 6 points, too bad it takes so many points, it was a blast.
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msolocam · May 23, 2012

Hey guys, thanks for the help. We ended up moving around and finding an area that held a ton of bears. Had a big rain storm come in and soak everything we had; clothes, tent, gear, cots, everything! We gave it one last morning hunt, spotted our 3rd bear by 7:30am and ended up smoking him, a nice big mature chocolate boar that will square right at 7'. Hunted a total of 13 days looking for a good boar and finally found one that would cooperate with us on our last morning. Murphy's law was definitely a big part of this hint, had a million things go wrong, truck issues, camp issues, bears not working with us, everything. Put in your dues and hard work and things will pan out. Persistence pays off!!!!

bonepicker · May 24, 2012

Nice! Congratulations! Do you have any pictures? Post them up if you do, I'd love to see them.

Ryry · May 24, 2012

>Hey guys, thanks for the help.
> We ended up moving
>around and finding an area
>that held a ton of
>bears. Had a big
>rain storm come in and
>soak everything we had; clothes,
>tent, gear, cots, everything!
>We gave it one last
>morning hunt, spotted our 3rd
>bear by 7:30am and ended
>up smoking him, a nice
>big mature chocolate boar that
>will square right at 7'.
> Hunted a total of
>13 days looking for a
>good boar and finally found
>one that would cooperate with
>us on our last morning.
> Murphy's law was definitely
>a big part of this
>hint, had a million things
>go wrong, truck issues, camp
>issues, bears not working with
>us, everything. Put in
>your dues and hard work
>and things will pan out.
> Persistence pays off!!!!

Nice. Did you guys go lower elevation or just different spot? I have two buddies over there hunting bears but i had to work and am going to fish the Columbia all weekend. Any pictures? They should be out in the food source spots. What was the snow situation like by Huckleberry?
Ryan

msolocam · May 25, 2012

ill try and get some picture up shortly. we ended up moving to a totally different location that was also just a little bit lower in elevation. as of a week ago you shouldn't make it to ruckel junction on the mt emily road, couldnt tell ya what its like right now. we saw bears up on top of the ridges eating wild onion, saw them on the steep sides eating the yellow flowers and even saw bears chasing deer around. what a super fun hunt!!!!

bmack · May 25, 2012

The snow is the lowest I've seen it in years. That being said, you'll need ATV's to get back in to the better spots. We made it about 15 miles beyond Ruckle which never happens in the spring.

The bears are not active until the evenings. After 6:00 pm is your best bet from what we saw and what others saw.

Onions, clover, etc is where we saw them. I got lucky...only hunted 5 hours, saw 2 shooters and killed a real nice mature cinnamon color phase boar.