Need some tips on hunting black bear in Idaho!!

butchtango

butchtango

New member
I will be moving to Idaho for 4 months in April. I am interested in doing some black bear hunting with my bow while I am there. I will be living in Meridian, ID it is just west of Boise. The sections that I am close to are 32,38,39 and 40. I have looked in the regulation books but only see one section (section 39) with a season for black bear. I am more than likely looking at this wrong so feel free to correct me. I did see a controlled hunt in section 32 and 32a that I think I will apply for but not sure how likely it is for me to draw a tag.

What is the best way to hunt these bears with a bow? Over bait? calling at them with a distress call...etc??? I have never hunted bear and being from Missouri I have no prior knowledge of what to expect or how to effectively go about hunting black bear. Any help on this subject would be greatly appreciated.
 
I've successfully harvested black bear in Idaho using hand calls. One method I like to do is call over bait? Get a bait set up or locate carrion by watching for circling buzzards above the trees. Hike in to the location and try to get within 300 yards of the carrion or bait. Then make a stand. Use fawn bawls mixed in with some growls on an open reed. Just like coyotes, make sure to play the wind. Bears respond slow like a cat so 30-60 minutes on stand is common. I've never hunted any of the regions your inquiring about so I'm no help there. Sorry. Good luck and good hunting!

Tom Austin
 
Baiting will probably be your best bet unless you want to hire someone with dogs to run one for you.

I haven't hunted them in Idaho but from what I understand you can bait them anywhere you find a good spot (In Wyoming we have to sign up for areas).

I bait them with table scraps and pastries in a plastic 55 gallon drum strapped to a tree. I try to find a spot that has a view from two hundred yards away and hunt with my rifle but most set up a tree stand 15 yards from bait.

I also start early with some carp or suckers in a bucket and leave them out in the sun to rot. Once they get good and ripe I hang them in a tree above my bait station and that will bring them in from a distance.

I also do a honey burn and spray liquid smoke in the trees around. Once I get one coming in I dump fryer grease on the ground for the bear to track around. This will bring in other bears.

When you have the bears coming in try to get them on a pattern with your feeding.

It all sounds easy but to get them to come in when you are there can be frustrating. Some people do a honey burn while they are on stand, or spray vanilla from a squirt bottle. I have even heard of someone using cheap kids perfume that is cotton candy flavored.

I like the idea of calling over bait but I have only tried it a couple of times and have had no success at it yet.

Sorry I can't help with the regulations or the area.

Good luck and enjoy the experience
 
Thanks for the info guys. I had no idea there were so many different things you could use to bait bears. They apparently have a sweet tooth. What exactly is a honey burn? what do you use as a heat source?

Calling over bait would seems to give you the biggest chance of opportunity...it gives you the combination of sound and smell. When hunting with a bow are you allowed a rifle backup or maybe a pistol?
 
A honey burn is just that... heating honey til it is burned. I take a coffee can and a little backpacking propane burner and heat the honey at a boil till it is cooked down to a black char. Do this under a tree with a lot of surface area for the honey smoke to stick to. You could use a sterno can for heat.

They really do have a sweet tooth. Try to get a connection at a bakery for day old stuff but start early and store it, when the season opens it is hard to find stuff.

You can also find other sources for bait, I have a friend who buys licorice from a manufacturer in the Boise area. Anything that falls on the floor gets boxed up and sold for bait.

A certain percentage of my kids haloween/christmas candy goes in the bear bait bucket too.

As a side note if you get an older bear hitting, give them plenty of soft sweets it is easier on older teeth. And use the best stuff to get them competing a little so you can control the time they come in. The biggest bear on a bait will sometimes only come in after dark but can be lured out during shooting light if they really like what you are giving them.

Fryer grease is a lot easier to come by and stores well, a lot of restaurants are glad to have you take it away.

You will want to get a trail camera cause it will give you a lot of information like color, size, time of day, conditions etc. plus it's lots of fun checking the pictures every time.

I don't think there is a special bow season but as long as it is open for rifles you can carry both.
 
I have never hunted bears but my grandma owns an orchard and we gave a guy our fruit we had to get rid of like peaches, prunes, berries... He also told me that he went to the day old bakeries around and bought tons of old doughnuts for a few dollars. He packed up 2 5 gallon buckets every few weeks to his 2 stands several times a week. He was bow hunting to.
 
Butchtango

Here is the IDF&G web site. Idaho has some relatively complicated regulations IMHO. Already mentioned is the baiting permit. Also you will need a "Archery Tag" which will require either proof of previous archery hunting experience (like an archery tag from your home state) or will require taking a class on bowhunting. Also you will need non-resident hunt license and bear tag.

Youve gotten good advice on baiting which is probably the highest percentage hunting option. I have called in bears, but have never harvested one that I called. I like to spot and stalk. In the spring that requires basically heading to the snowline and glassing.

About a brazillion years ago I lived in Boise for a few years. You didn't have to travel all that far to the north to get into black bears. Check out the high country around the S.Fk Boise River, Anderson Ranch Reservoir and the Lucky Peak Country.

Also, black bears in Idaho are known as being very predatory on elk calves in the spring. Find a calving area and black bears shouldn't be far away.

Good luck on your hunting.

Silvertp
 
My buddy and I have been baiting bears in Idaho for about 4 years now. It is alot of fun and very addictive. Here's the story about my first bear harvest last spring.
http://www.predatormastersforums.com/for...510#Post1306510
Baiting is the way to go. Start getting bait now. I have a 23 cubic foot chest freezer full of bait. Find a spot, read the regs, get a permit, and bait. Beware, if you do it once, you will be hooked.
If you have any questions, don't be affraid to ask. I'm always willing to help and there are also a few other guys on this site that hunt bears in Idaho
 
Yes they do have some odd regulation from just looking over them very quickly. The tag and permit prices aren't too outrageous. $154.75 for the non-resident hunting permit. $186.00 for the bear tag. $20.00 for the archery permit. and $31.75 for the bait permit.

So looking at $392.50 total, that's not to bad I don't guess. I am not sure how I am going to store large amounts of pasteries and fryer grease and get it out to Idaho and get it back into storage. I have an 1800 mile drive to get there. So I am looking at a few days of driving, it would be hard to keep all that stuff frozen for a few days. I wonder how hard it would be to find some stuff once I get out there?? I am sure I could find the grease no problem and the honey I could just get it at the store. And maybe even get the old fruit at the store that they are throwing out...might get it for free??
 
Last edited:
Butch,
Have you considered going with an outfitter. There are a bunch that outfit for bears and their success rates are pretty good. Trying to find a spot, acquire and store bait, and maintain a bait site might be more trouble than its worth.
If you go to the IDF&G website you can find out the draw odds for controlled hunts. The controlled hunts are all spot and stalk.
Good luck with wahtever you decide to do.
 
Back
Top