SW MT spring bear help

[Randy11]

I'm planning on taking a week to hunt bear in the Gravelly/Snowcrest area the first part of June this year. I've only recently started to learn this area and have never been down there that early in the year.
I was hoping someone here possibly lives in the area or spends time there in the spring and can help me plan out a little bit.

How bad are the drifts typically that time of year? I realize this changes greatly from year to year but was hoping I could get some idea of what I'd be up against.

Should I expect to see good numbers of bears? It looked really great this fall, lots of south facing, high elevation chutes to glass, but I really don't know how many bears there are in the area.

Are some of the roads still closed? I know a lot of the areas are blocked off in spring for calving but for the life of me can't remember what the dates were.

How bad of a run off does the Ruby River get? I'd be up there for the better part of a week and would love to get some fly fishing in if the hunting's slow. I know the Bighole stays pretty good throughout the spring and was hoping the Ruby is similar?

Any advice would be great and I'd gladly help anyone out wanting info for my neck of the woods.

 

[Bambistew]

I think almost every road in those mountains is closed until July 1, that includes ATV travel. The main road up the Ruby is open year round, I'm not sure if they plow it or not once you get above the last ranch house. By the end of June, you should be able to get into the Centenial.

The Ruby will blow out, but usually starts to clear up around the 10-15th of June.

 

[Randy11]

Thats what I was afraid of. I guess I can just go as late in the season as possible and hope.
The roads that are closed to vehicles are still open for foot travel right?

 

[Zigga]

The lower elevations is where you will find bears anyway. You can foot travel anywhere you want on public land.

 

[Randy11]

The bears will be down in the foothills more than up in the chutes?
That'd be awesome, where I hunt bear in the spring (in the NW part of the state) they're way up above the drifts on top of the ridgelines. I guess it makes a big difference when you're starting out at 6000 feet instead of 3000.