Idaho Black Bear Hunts Over Bait - Selway-Bitteroot Wilderness

Many hunters will have the opportunity to take two bears during their hunt; some have even taken 2 bears in the same evening.

These Idaho Wilderness Black Bear Hunts are in an area that is so vast and has such a high bear population that they have a very rare opportunity to be able to offer TWO bear tags in this Selway-Bitteroot Wilderness unit.

This is an Idaho spring black bear hunt over bait in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. This area is so vast and has such a high bear population that you have a very rare opportunity to be able to have 2 black bear tags in your pocket for this hunt. Many hunters have the opportunity to take two black bears during their hunt; some have even taken both bears in the same evening hunt. These hunts take place on the Lochsa River and run from mid May to the end of June. During this hunt you will stay either at the base camp lodge or you can do a pack-in wilderness tent camp.

Like most bear hunts over bait, they only hunt in the afternoon since this is when they see 90% of bear activity on the baits. They have tree stands and ground blinds set up weeks in advance so the bears have time to get used to the bait area, making them more likely to come in during the daylight hours. They establish each bait for well over a week before they have hunters show up to hunt over it, in order to ensure the best chance possible at a nice mature bear. To access the baits they use vehicles, on foot, horseback, and they also raft across the river to reach many never before baited spots. On occasion they will do a mid-day hillside spot-and-stalk hunt to watch some open canyons that bears may be using to do some grazing earlier in the day.

This is an any-weapon black bear hunt, so one bear can be taken with a rifle and next with a bow, or even a pistol.

They do very well on this hunt at around 95% success, with opportunity easily reaching 100% annually. Bears on this hunt average from 5’10” to 6’6” in length, they will take some each year getting up to 7 feet long, with the largest being 8 feet! The bears this time of year tend to weigh in around 200-300 pounds. They also average about 50% on color phase bears. This Idaho Spring bear hunt is five days and includes all lodging and meals.