Bear season starts slow
SANDERS COUNTY – With bear season well underway, expectations are on par for a typical bear season in Sanders County.
According to Wildlife Biologist Bruce Sterling, approximately 60-75 bears are harvested in Sanders County during the spring season, with roughly the same amount harvested in the fall.
The cold and wet spring has led to a fairly slow start to the season, but with warmer weather hitting the area, success has started to show.
“The season has started to pick up this past week and I would expect the season to continue strong through the end of spring season on May 31st,” Sterling said. “Typically most bears are harvested the last three weeks in May so we are just now starting to see more bear hunting activity.”
Last year, 130 black bears were harvested in the county, which is a fairly typical number. Usually harvest numbers lie between 120-150 bears per year in Sanders County.
Even after two mild winters, the harsher winter the area experienced this year had little effect on the bears. Sterling said winter conditions were not a factor in bear survival.
“What is important is the amount of fat bears enter into their den with and that is directly related to the amount of berries and other food sources bears can find in the fall,” Sterling said.
Sterling stated last year was a “tremendous berry year” and so bears entered their dens in great condition before the impending weather hit.
“I would suspect that survival was very good and bear cub production will be extremely good this spring,” Sterling said.
Those hunting for bear need to use extreme caution before they take aim and shoot. Sterling noted a lot of bear cubs were most likely born during the winter months and so many female bears may be with cubs.
“Hunters need to take extra time observing bears to make sure there are no cubs present before they decide to take a shot,” Sterling said.
Shooting a sow with cubs is illegal, and many times young cubs will not survive the death of their mother.
At this time, the best location to find bears are on south or west facing slopes with an ample amount of green grass and forbs, which are flowering plants. Those greens are the main food sources for bears during the spring season as they begin to kick start their metabolism for the upcoming months.
Once a bear is shot, Fish Wildlife and Parks mandates the hunter to attach both a carcass and hide tag to the animal in a visible manner. Once the hide is removed, the carcass tag must be separated from the hide tag and attached to the carcass.
The spring bear season will continue until the last day of May. There were no changes to either the spring or fall bear seasons in Sanders County for 2014.
Black bear archery season will begin on Sept. 6 and run through Sept. 14, while fall rifle season for bears will span Sept. 15 to Nov. 30.