# long awaited idaho bear hunt



## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

Im heading out Monday on my long anticipated Idaho bear hunt. I have a few destinations planned out but I have never been to any of them and have done all my scouting via google earth, topo maps, and harassing people for advice. so Monday I leave at 2 am for unit 10 and depending on whether or not the Lolo motorway is driveable, I may continue on to unit 4. i'll take lots of pics and share my misadventures when/if I return. 
I've done the most preparation I could with time and resources I have. im realistic in my expectations, and I am looking forward to the time outdoors. after drive time i will have about 3 1/2 days to hunt so, not really enough time to get to know the areas too well. it will be a learning experience though. 
wish me luck. i will post again when my pre trip prep is ready. feel free to point out my blunders as i go so all may learn from them.


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## weaversamuel76 (Feb 16, 2017)

Good luck sounds like you have a solid plan. Unfortunately I've heard still plenty of snow. Can't wait to read all about it

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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

More later


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## weaversamuel76 (Feb 16, 2017)

I'm heading out Tuesday how's the snow level?

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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

There are still roads blocked off with drifts. I stayed low because the grass hadn’t sprung too high. I ended up hunting unit 12 because I couldn’t get into 10 from highway 12


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

Congrats on the bear! Can't wait to hear the story!


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## 3arabians (Dec 9, 2014)

Congrats! Way to go!! Looks like a perfect shot. 


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

I went up Monday and found I couldn’t get into unit 10 from the south so I decided to hunt twelve. It wasn’t far from where I was planning to go. I had till Friday at noon. Monday I hiked 7 miles trying to find sign or a place to glass. Didn’t find much of either. I wen high and low and decided low was better. Tuesday I hiked 9 miles and found fresh scar up high and a few closed roads to hike. One closed road had a bait barrel so I left. The next one has a lot of sign so I tried calling with no luck. Wednesday I went up high again to glass across the canyon toward the ridge I found the scat on. It was cold and windy so I headed low. Again. Glassing was pretty much impossible. If I found an open space on a hill it was small And I wouldn’t be able to see it through the pines on the hill I was glassing from. I went back up the closed road and tried calling again. I called dozens of ravens and a small falcon in. After an hour of calling I headed further up the road slowly. Looking up hill and down hill to my sides as I went. It was about 645 pm and then twenty yards down the road where it started to wrap around the hill, a bear casually walked around the corner. I was standing in a patch of chest high pines that were taking over the road and he wasn’t even looking in my direction. My rifle scope was set on 2x and I shouldered n shot. He growled n ran across the road and go the hill and rolled back down n bellowed and lay still. Whole thing took about 5 seconds. I should’ve been expecting a bear at any moment but I’d already given up hope. I couldn’t believe it. There was no ground shrinkage. He seemed to get bigger. He had a good hide, without rubbing. His stomach was full of grass, so he hadn’t been feeding on baits. I shot him with my lil .338 federal with 210 gr partition handloads. Anything woulda worked at 20 yards though. I skinned n quartered him till after dark. Then carried the hide n skull out through the mini pines down the road in the dark. Woke up at 4 am n made two more trips for the meat. I had a great time out in the mountains, and going to sleep exhausted every night. My girls were so excited I got some “bear meats”, and I still can’t believe it. I would’ve been less surprised if it had been the “knights who say neep” walking around the bend.


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## AF CYN (Mar 19, 2009)

Congrats! Looks like a nice bear!


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## turkinator (May 25, 2008)

Awsome! Hunting can definitely take you from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs in very short order. Thank you for sharing your adventure!


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

Anybody know a taxidermist to recommend ?


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## brisket (Mar 3, 2015)

35whelen said:


> Anybody know a taxidermist to recommend ?


Packout is awesome. Not sure if he does bears though...but send him a PM to see.


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

im just glad I got one. I sold my Benelli sbe3 to fund the trip. within a week of selling it I discovered waterfowl hunting and how much fun it is. my wife told me she didn't expect me to get one when I got back. all the years I spent trying to fill an objective harvest tag here in Utah had her thinking bears were as mythical as I thought they were.


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

Cooking bear steaks. I got 60 lbs back from processor. I wish I woulda stripped the carcass more, I missed out on some meat there. It was dark and I had to get back to work.


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## ISHY (Dec 4, 2015)

Great job 35!


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

35whelen said:


> Cooking bear steaks. I got 60 lbs back from processor. I wish I woulda stripped the carcass more, I missed out on some meat there. It was dark and I had to get back to work.


How'd those steaks end up?


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

they were pretty good. surprisingly similar to beef. the fat caramelized nice. a little tough, because I had to cook em well done. the kids loved it too. been eating the Italian sausage quite a bit too. ive been brining a ham for the last week that im popping in the smoker tomorrow.


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

One week in brine. Going in smoker at 200 till internal temp is 170


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

Pretty dang good. I think I’ll make some reubens


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## olibooger (Feb 13, 2019)

😋😋🤤🤤🤤🤤😋😋


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

So, I have a question - by no means am I a meat expert, but I've always heard that bear fat will go rancid really quickly. Did you experience that?


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

Didn’t seem to. I shot mine at before dark and it got in the 30s that night. Had it in a cooler next morning. It’s good fat for sure. I have a bag full of trimmings to render still.


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

I just focused on getting hide off and getting it to the freezer with in 24 hours. It’s definitely greasier and more liquid when warm, but solidified as it gets cooler.


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