Idaho – Black Bear Hunt

This preferred outfitter has had 100% shot opportunity for several years and usually has about 75% color phase bears on this phenomenal black bear hunt in Northwestern Idaho. The days start with waking up whenever you want and having either a hot breakfast or continental type breakfast, depending on the day’s hunt plans. Then it’s up to you – you can hunt all day or break it up with nearby trout fishing, local hot springs, and scenic drives. Lots of bears hit baits in late morning and early afternoon, even when it’s hot outside. This outfitter even attracts the big traveling bears with good strong scents, so they tend to harvest lots of bears they’ve never had on camera before. Movement on baits is cut down in the rain, and always best the last two hours, but in this outfitter’s 17 years experience of guiding black bear hunts, their clients have killed as many big bears on baits between 5-8 am and 2-6 pm as they have in the last two hours of daylight. Lots of 11am-2pm bears as well.

Just like any other hunting, you’ve got to spend time in the same general area as the bear to have an encounter; so they encourage hunters to sit as many hours of the day as they can. If you want to wake up early and sneak in at daylight and sit for a few hours and come out for lunch and a nap and go in in the evening, you can. There’s really no right or wrong way, but the more hours you spend at our baits the better the odds. This outfitter has trail cameras on every bait, so they will tell you what they think is best, but they also want you to have a good, relaxing time and sometimes 12 hours a day in a blind isn’t some guys’ idea of a good time. This outfitter uses almost all naturally built ground blinds, but they do have a few tree stands. Their setups always favor the normal wind patterns, always put the sun in your favor, and are very well built and placed from 20-120 yards, most being 30-50 yards. The steepness and thickness of the forest here usually prohibits they from seeing a bait much further away than that. We take you on side by side or truck to a location near your bait, then we walk you into blinds and dump fresh bait and scent each time. This outfitter has some easy-to-walk-to baits for disabled hunters and some hard, long walks to baits, to accommodate all types of hunters. They leave you with a radio so you can call them when you shoot a bear or are ready to be picked up.