Salmon River Bear

leereddish · Apr 20, 2008

This is the first bear that I have ever taken. We hunted about 25 miles down river from Corn Creek. I shot it with a 7mm STW at 505 yrds. I know this is a small bear, but I was surprised how difficult it was to judge the size of these things. We saw 3 other bears all of them small. I think the big ones are still asleep?

one_dryboot · Apr 20, 2008

at least im not the only one!!! i shot a bear last year and thought it was as big as a moose! but by the time i got to it that thing shrank like a mother! big or small its still fun, congrats!!!!

Randy11 · Apr 21, 2008

LAST EDITED ON Apr-21-08 AT 02:11PM (MST)[p]Bears are easily the hardest animal to judge, especially at a distance. nevertheless congratulations, and at that distance im assuming you werent using bait or hounds, which makes it all the more special. get the hide tanned and youll have a neat wall hanger.

and i think the bigger higher elevations guys are still denned up, but should be working their way out.

Havoc · Apr 21, 2008

Bears are easily the hardest animal to judge, especially at a distance. nevertheless congratulations, and at that distance im assuming you werent using bait or hounds, which makes it all the more special.

What do you mean by "which makes it all the more special"?

For a fact, bears are very easy to judge size. When you look at a bear and think, those are big ears, don't shoot. When you look at a bear and and think, that thing is as big as a truck, drop the hammer. The problem with shooting small bears is you don't know if it is a female or male. I know it is legal to kill females, but if you want to kill many more you can't kill the bear factory!

Randy11 · Apr 22, 2008

im just saying that personally id be prouder of a five and a half foot bear i killed spot and stalk than a 6 foot bear over bait. i have no problems with hunting over bait and would do so, its just cooler when you do it the hard way.
and maybe i just need to see more bears to be a good judge, just in most of my situations i dont have time to think about ear size and whatnot.
sorry we hijacked your thread lee, and again congrats

leereddish · Apr 22, 2008

Here are a few of the other pictures from this same bear trip. Regardless of the size of this bear, it was a fun time. As you can see from the snow-line, we didn't have a lot of country to hunt.

Outdoordan · Apr 23, 2008

Love those pictures, makes me miss that country. The salmon river country is so nice. Great pics of the rams, were they on the road before corn creek?

leereddish · Apr 23, 2008

We saw more sheep than elk. They were all over on the road. That bunch of rams were rooting around in a fire pit in a campground. You are right, that country is awesome. Wish I could spend more time in it.

Smiley · Apr 23, 2008

Congradulations Leereddish . Looks pretty and probably a great coat.
Kinda funny how some think one way of hunting is easy and another difficult. well to all you out there that think bait hunting spot and stalk hunting and running dogs is easy you are all right and all wrong there are times when all the ways are both easy and difficult . Little short minded if you ask me to put one form down and raise another up. Especially if you have nor done much of any of the other types of hunting.

Randy11 · Apr 23, 2008

look at the success rates on bears in a state that doesnt allow bait or dogs like montana, than compare it to a state that does like idaho, i dont think im short minded in saying spot and stalk is harder. i wasnt trying to put that form of hunting down or start anything, simply complimenting him for doing it a way i find harder.
no one on here would get mad if someone told a successful bowhunter he did it the hard way.

Smiley · Apr 24, 2008

What is hard about hiking around and shooting a bear 100-200-600- yards away when the bear does not know you are there ( I am sure there are times it is hard ).
What is hard about sitting a bait with educated bears that only come in at night or walk around to wind you .
What is hard about hiking 5-10 miles and every time you get close the bear jumps tree and you have to sneak in so he does not know you are there just to get your dogs .
Yup .
Then you have the spot and stalk that you have no shot till you are withing 20-50 yards
You have your bait bears that come in without a care in the world
and you have your popup bears that climb when they hear the dogs bark.
Point being all have ultra easy hunts and all have the ultra hard hunts.
Whether you tried to or not you belittled other forms of hunting . Showing you have not had much experience with those forms of hunting .

ForkWest · Apr 25, 2008

Beautiful pics, what a fun looking hunt.

Randy11 · Apr 26, 2008

all im doing is going off of fish and game records. it would be like comparing a muley rut hunt to an early season hunt, different forms of hunting do have different success rates.
and once again, i never said there was anything wrong with hunting over bait, id love to do it and would in a second if it were legal here or if i had the extra buck to go to idaho to do it.
im sorry you misunderstood my first post, i never wanted or tried to offend anyone on here. good luck getting your bear this year.

supersider34 · Apr 29, 2008

Congrats on your first bear. They are my favorite animals to hunt.

Dakota_Cut_Em · May 1, 2008

LAST EDITED ON May-01-08 AT 05:24PM (MST)[p]Lee,

Congrats on the bear! Those are some awesome pics. Me and a couple buddies are headed to Idaho on the 10th, those pics sure get me excited! None of us have ever hunted bears or Idaho. We are hunting farther Northwest in Idaho but I just had a couple questions for you. What elevations were the bears at that you saw? Were they down close to the river or up by the snow line? Were they feeding on anything in particular? What times of day did you see bears? Thanks in advance for any help, snow and access is going to be a huge issue for us and I am just trying to get ideas for what we can expect. Hopefully I can post a few successful pics in a couple weeks as well!!

BreederBuck · May 3, 2008

Congrats, now you've set your bar. Looks like awesome country........

leereddish · May 4, 2008

I was told the elevation was around 2500 down by the river. I'm not sure if that is true or not, I didn't carry a gps. Most of the bears we saw were near the river, but that is where we hunted mostly. From what some people have told me, the bigger bears den up higher off the river. I don't really know, seems like they would sleep anywhere they found a good place to me. The bear I shot was digging something up. I don't know what it was, but he wouldn't leave it. We spotted him the evening before, and when we came back the next morning he wandered right back to it. So as far as times, all day long. We'd watch them eat awhile, then they'd lay on a rock and sleep a bit, then get up and eat again. I'm so new at this bear thing, I'm not sure if I'm the best one to give advice. I'm just hoping next year I'll have a wolf tag in my pocket as well. Good luck on your Idaho bear hunt.