HUNTING
Bear Season 2016
By Raf Viniard
Since bear season went out I have been in sort of a fog wondering how the season went by so fast . I keep wanting to go fill the cooler up with Mountain Dews / Red Bulls and grab some snacks and go glass for some bears .
If time permitted in the afternoons I looked forward to slipping out into the mountains and looking for a big old black bear and other mountain critters such as elk , deer , grouse and just soaking up the fresh air and the beauty of the mountains . Some days I tagged along with George and we would run from spot to spot glassing or walking old gated road beds . When Pam had time we would drive the roads looking for her a bear . She was not as picky as I was ... she would have been tickled with a bathroom rug size bear , any color and preferably within a few yards of the road . With her MS she is very limited as to how far she can walk but she can sure ride a long ways and makes some awesome curry chicken sandwiches
Overall I had a great year . I seen nine bears and passed on four of the nine . The bear pictured in this article was taken one afternoon when Brant Nass of Plains , MT and I went out . We got a late start but we wasn ’ t gone more than thirty minutes when we spotted this big boar about to cross a heavily traveled mountain road that hundreds of bear hunters before us had driven . I had several folks ask me why didn ’ t you shoot it since you have never killed a bear ? Well as you get older the thrill of watching someone else can be just as exciting as harvesting it yourself . I knew Brant really wanted that bear and he was like a kid in a candy store , I thought for sure I was going to need some Ritalin to calm him down . Through teamwork we pulled it off . Good Lord willing I would have other chances or the fall season to fill my tag . We had to call in the troops to find and get the bear out but it was another Montana Mountain Memory with friends . Ever tried to look for a bear in the mountains wearing Crocs ? That ’ s a story for another article . A big thank you goes out to Tate and Cade Stinnett for bringing a cart to haul this old boy out ( the bear that is ).
Since I am new to the Montana bear hunting thing and being its only my second year coupled with the fact I was pretty picky about the type of bear I wanted , it left a lot of room to learn and truly experience Montana spring bear hunting . I was under no pressure to just kill the first bear I saw . I wanted to learn all I could and if I shot early the learning opportunities would be greatly reduced . The last two spring seasons have been challenging with the early arrival of spring . Thanks to George Nass I was able to pick his brain and learn from someone with years of experience . I would also slip into Trophy Taker and pick Zach Butcher ’ s brain and anyone else I could find to learn as much as I could from seasoned bear hunters . So here is what I learned about spring bear hunting this year .
Bears are where they are , but if you can find that little green patch of grass with some bear poop you might just be in the money . Don ’ t think they are all deep in the mountains , they may be living within a few yards of a main road . Find the food source and bear activity and you might just fill that tag .
The odds of spotting a bear walking vs . riding is about the same from my experience . I get bored riding and love to get out and walk the old gated roads . I really like to be the first one on the road in the spring so I can also look for antler sheds . As I get older I know those roads are going to get harder to walk so I take advantage of it now while I can . Continued on next page .
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