Black bear

[Outdoor_Myers]

How difficult is it to fill a black bear tag in the Northwest zone next to willamette? I was thinking Trask zone?

 

[TTFishon]

How difficult is it to fill a black bear tag in the Northwest zone next to willamette? I was thinking Trask zone?

I don't know about the Trask Zone, but I was told by a game officer that Oregon has the largest population of black bear in the country and most of them are in Coos County.

 

[fishtales]

Use pre-bait with a bag of dog food then pretty easy, but I do not think that is legal in Oregon. The Trask is a big area starting around Forest Grove or were you thinking of hunting closer to the coast?

 

[beaverfan]

Not sure what unit it's in but if you really want to shoot a bear go up to Olallie Lake. They are everywhere up there. I've heard the best time (at least up there) is when the berries are ripe at the end of summer.

 

[Outdoor_Myers]

Use pre-bait with a bag of dog food then pretty easy, but I do not think that is legal in Oregon. The Trask is a big area starting around Forest Grove or were you thinking of hunting closer to the coast?

Well I live in Mac and new to oregon so I dont know anyone who owns land, and I seen that 45% of trask zone was public land and the willamette zone was only like 2% public.

 

[Thuggin4Life]

I haven't hunted yet but you can hunt on places like forest service land and i know weyrehauser leaves some of the gates open during hunting season on the weekends.

 

[fishtales]

The willamete areas is signifigantly smaller which would make it easier to not get lost. Hunting can be a lot of fun but if you are knew to it I suggest going with someone who has hunted before.

 

[Mike123]

On the way to the Alsea the other day I came around a corner and was about to my fishing hole when out of the fog stood a HUGE black bear! This sucker took up a whole lane of the road. I barely missed it... Whats weird is the same time and place last year I almost hit a HUGE cougar... The cougar was walking across the road from the hole I was going to fish.. And people wonder why SOME fisherman carry GUNS.

I'd say black bears though I pretty smart.. they know when your coming and can smell you pretty damn good. I've yet to walk up on a bear unknowingly.

 

[Outdoor_Myers]

Well if I get the sports pack in April (that will be my 6th month) I will be trying to fill all the tags that fall. So if anyone is up for it and willing to work to together to fill two tags theirs and mine whichever occurs first and train me in field dressing and that whole lot of fun I'll be up for it. I'll be willing to share my harvest with anyone who helps out. I never ate bear, but heard fall bear is the best tasting!

 

[GDBrown]

If you share or have a BBQ just be sure to warn people that it is Bear meat. There is a reason they are called sows and boars. The meat can harbor Trichinosisjust like pork. I had some friends who didn'y get the warning and suffered greatly from it. They like their meat rare!

GD

 

[Outdoor_Myers]

If you share or have a BBQ just be sure to warn people that it is Bear meat. There is a reason they are called sows and boars. The meat can harbor Trichinosisjust like pork. I had some friends who didn'y get the warning and suffered greatly from it. They like their meat rare!

GD

Oh wow! thats too bad sorry to hear that, I would make sure to let that be known! Thank you for that information.

 

[fishtales]

Several years ago while on vacation our neighbor's house boat attracted two big bears who would not leave until all the food in the garbage was eaten.

My relatives have had several encounters with bears. One bear completly knocked in their front door to their home. Another bear tried to knock down the wall to their house.

I walked out to my car to find a bear at least 25 feet away just looking at me. I was at my car by the time I noticed her otherwise I would have headed back inside.

I took pictures of two baby bears in the wild. They where taken a few years back while hiking.

Years ago I spent three weeks hiking and fishing Yellow Stone National Park with friends. We saw bears and all sorts of wild life including a large buffalo standing in the middle of our path as we hiked over a hill. We slowly backed away then detoured around it.

 

[halibuthitman]

How difficult is it to fill a black bear tag in the Northwest zone next to willamette? I was thinking Trask zone?

O.M most first bears are like first steelhead... they are shot or caught while looking for something else. Small bears are one of the easiest animals to get, while a trophy bear is one of the hardest. I have sat in treestands over bait and watched bears spook and run from a doe coming... or even the wind..... making them pretty hard to stalk. But black bears die very easy if you zap em before they know you are there. I never start hunting bears in the fall before 9;00 a.m, I have shot 7 bears... never a single one before 10 am , my brother has shot 6, none before noon. Buy a spotting scope and do your first hunting in clearcut country.... spot and stalk. Practice a lot with your rifle, a bears size is half hair, and a bear is the most frequently shot and lost big game animal in north america, a larger caliber will not make up for poor marksmanship. any 150 gr bullet will do the work and a belted magnum cannot double lung a bear any better than a 308 or 30.06, I have killed 2 bear with a 30.30 one with a 243 and one with a 20 gauge and slug..... I would not recommend the 243, and would,nt do it again.. I was deer hunting and poof out walked a bear. The 20 gauge bear was on an island in se ak and would not get out of our skiff, then got aggressive so I dusted him... I would recommend the 20 gauge again:shock: the 30.30 was all I had so thats what I used and the rest of my bears have been with a hoyt or a 45/70 govt. 5 of my brothers have been with a bow, and none of them went over 50 yrds after being hit. I would hunt the south west area of oregon on the california border.

 

[Growbug]

There have been recent reports of bear up in the Table Rock Widerness area at the headwaters of the Molalla River. I would double check this, but, it seems as good an area as others. I have defiately seen bear scat on some on the trails up past the 10 mile marker (mile 0 is Glen Avon Bridge)
Most of the trails there are now "closed" due to non maintenance over winter, and can be bad.

 

[Chrome_Chaser]

Well if I get the sports pack in April (that will be my 6th month) I will be trying to fill all the tags that fall. So if anyone is up for it and willing to work to together to fill two tags theirs and mine whichever occurs first and train me in field dressing and that whole lot of fun I'll be up for it. I'll be willing to share my harvest with anyone who helps out. I never ate bear, but heard fall bear is the best tasting!

Best time to harvest a bear is in the spring. I'll let you know when that time comes. Mapleton area and southwest Oregon are some awesome units. You'll definitely see some bears out in the clear cuts feeding this time of the year. I only hunt with a bow, therefore its a little more of a challenge. You have the option of hunting bear with a bow or a rifle.

When you buy your sportspac, make sure you get your spring bear tag at the same time. If you don't, it'll be sold out quick. It happened this year to a few of my friends. If you don't fill this tag, you have the option of getting a fall bear tag.

 

[Outdoor_Myers]

Best time to harvest a bear is in the spring. I'll let you know when that time comes. Mapleton area and southwest Oregon are some awesome units. You'll definitely see some bears out in the clear cuts feeding this time of the year. I only hunt with a bow, therefore its a little more of a challenge. You have the option of hunting bear with a bow or a rifle.

When you buy your sportspac, make sure you get your spring bear tag at the same time. If you don't, it'll be sold out quick. It happened this year to a few of my friends. If you don't fill this tag, you have the option of getting a fall bear tag.

that is a 4 hour drive! lol. Are tags issued by units for general season? Also how do most people process their harvest? I live in an appartment complex so I would probably have to find someone who owns processing equipment and or a meat locker.

 

[Chrome_Chaser]

If you get the general season bear tag, you basically can hunt any where statewide. Check synopsis for certain areas that aren't open. You should call around to different meat lockers and see if they will process bear for you. Some will and some won't.

 

[Outdoor_Myers]

If you get the general season bear tag, you basically can hunt any where statewide. Check synopsis for certain areas that aren't open. You should call around to different meat lockers and see if they will process bear for you. Some will and some won't.

Thanks chrome I will have to look more into that once I am able to hunt, and have a general idea as to where I will be hunting.

 

[wormosa]

Well if I get the sports pack in April (that will be my 6th month) I will be trying to fill all the tags that fall. So if anyone is up for it and willing to work to together to fill two tags theirs and mine whichever occurs first and train me in field dressing and that whole lot of fun I'll be up for it. I'll be willing to share my harvest with anyone who helps out. I never ate bear, but heard fall bear is the best tasting!

bear meat is horrible and 15 yrs ago we went elk hunting and he had a bear tag, well he got a bear tag and to me it was the worst tasting me, so strong and gammey tasting... everything i tried did not work to get that taste out... good luck and update us on how it tasted to you...

 

[wormosa]

O.M most first bears are like first steelhead... they are shot or caught while looking for something else. Small bears are one of the easiest animals to get, while a trophy bear is one of the hardest. I have sat in treestands over bait and watched bears spook and run from a doe coming... or even the wind..... making them pretty hard to stalk. But black bears die very easy if you zap em before they know you are there. I never start hunting bears in the fall before 9;00 a.m, I have shot 7 bears... never a single one before 10 am , my brother has shot 6, none before noon. Buy a spotting scope and do your first hunting in clearcut country.... spot and stalk. Practice a lot with your rifle, a bears size is half hair, and a bear is the most frequently shot and lost big game animal in north america, a larger caliber will not make up for poor marksmanship. any 150 gr bullet will do the work and a belted magnum cannot double lung a bear any better than a 308 or 30.06, I have killed 2 bear with a 30.30 one with a 243 and one with a 20 gauge and slug..... I would not recommend the 243, and would,nt do it again.. I was deer hunting and poof out walked a bear. The 20 gauge bear was on an island in se ak and would not get out of our skiff, then got aggressive so I dusted him... I would recommend the 20 gauge again:shock: the 30.30 was all I had so thats what I used and the rest of my bears have been with a hoyt or a 45/70 govt. 5 of my brothers have been with a bow, and none of them went over 50 yrds after being hit. I would hunt the south west area of oregon on the california border.

there is a lot of bears definetly in southern oregon, my friend go one out here by lake of the woods outside of medford