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Out on a Limb for Black Bear
Out of work for the winter, Donnie Wygle decided to spring for a spring bear tag and a change in his luck. A bear might be hard to find, but it couldn’t be any harder than locating a job in a tough economy. In April, the 55-year-old hunter headed south along the Oregon coast in…
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A Bear Hunter’s Guide to Geo-Caching
I stayed out late the night before, eating fish fry and too much blackberry cobbler, so Little Sassy got to the morning paper before I did. This time, instead of flipping straight to the funny pages, an item in the Sports section caught her eye. “Pops,” she said, “what is geo-caching?” Now I know that…
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Face-to-Face with a Black Bear
Sometimes a boy wants to do his own laundry. There is probably a good explanation for coming home with bear excrement all over one’s clothes. But it probably wouldn’t explain the presence of certain other kinds of – ahem – evidence inside of one’s garments.
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Follow the Feed for Fall Black Bear
“If I’d hesitated another moment I could have had a bear AND T-bone steaks,” joked OHA member Dan Turpin. It was opening day of deer season and he was hunting in the Ochocos. He followed a trail up the canyon on an old logging road. Tall timber kept the trail in shadow and groundwater helped…
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Dateline: Snake River Country, Oregon
When the berries ripen in Northeast Oregon, hunters have a chance to see high concentrations of black bear as they move down out of the mountains to put on their winter fat. Oregon has a controlled spring season which is growing in popularity with resident and non-resident hunters, but one of the best times of…
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Spring Bear – Meet ‘em in the Middle
Spring is supposed to arrive on the 20th of the month named for the Greek god of war. As the days march on, snows melt, rivers rise and hillsides turn green, black bear find their way to the sun. When a bear emerges from its den, it seeks available forage that will include grass, forbs…
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For Spring Bear – Follow the Feed
Sometime in March or April, when the sun pushes back the clouds, when the grasses green and the buttercups bloom, Oregon’s black bears emerge from their long winter sleep. Hungry bruins head straight for the river valleys early in the spring, taking advantage of succulent forage below the snowline. Grasses, grubs, flowers, and the tender…
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Black Bear in the Breaks of the Snake
One of the best times of year to hunt bear is in the late summer. And one of the best places to find them is in Northeast Oregon’s Snake River, Imnaha and Chesnimnus Units. When berries ripen in Northeast Oregon, hunters have a chance to see high concentrations of black bear as they move down…
Field Guide
Bear
Read about Gary’s Oregon hunting tips and trips in his book, Hunting Oregon (pictured to the right), or read one of his many articles on bear hunting in Oregon, which we share below.
Oregon bear hunting is a fun and exciting experience, but you’ll need all the bear hunting tips you can get in order to have a successful bear hunting trip.