# Spot and Stalk Black Bear



## SwedishCowboy (Sep 25, 2017)

Is it worth using my 3 points for a spot and stalk hunt or should I just save up for a dog or bait hunt here in Utah? Sounds like success rates are horrible and thats why the State created more hunts.


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## BigT (Mar 11, 2011)

It really depends on how long you want to wait to hunt bear. What unit are you looking at? 

I burned a few more points on a spot and stalk on La Sal about three years ago and didn't regret it at all. But I know the unit very well. Still, I got lucky. I believe 5 out of 50 were successful was all and it's never really much higher or lower. I believe this is true no matter the unit you apply for. 

So if you really want to hunt a bear, this provides you the opportunity to do so. But you have to go in with low expectations. The nice thing, is there's a general season elk hunt going on at the same time. So in my case, I had a spike tag in my pocket and was chasing elk at the same time. 

One of the funnest hunts I've done to date.


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## Steve G (Nov 29, 2016)

You might want to consider CA for black bear. The license and tag will cost you a little North of $450, but three years of your life (necessary to build three points) is a lot more.

CA has a pile of bears and a long season. Its all spot and stalk and this in my experience is the one game animal that the field biologists are most helpful with as they know how destructive the bears are to the fawn survival rate.


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## ISHY (Dec 4, 2015)

Idaho has several $40 NR discounted units that you can take two bears.


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## weaversamuel76 (Feb 16, 2017)

ISHY said:


> Idaho has several $40 NR discounted units that you can take two bears.


I've hunted that tag before and those units are thick country. It can be very hard to find a place where you can see far enough to spot a bear. Sure it can be done but don't be like me and show up and you can't see across the canyon in any of your cyber scouted locations because of thick trees. If it was open on the opposite side I couldn't see though the trees on my side. If it was open on my side I couldn't hardly see into the dark timber on the other side. First time I had ever experienced anything like that.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

Even if you wait and draw a LE tag, your not guaranteed to kill a Bear. The last tag I drew was in 1996. Archery only. Back then you could hunt Spring and Fall. I chased with dogs, baited, spotted, you name it, I did it. I never killed a Bear, but that was because I was very picky. I had plenty of opportunities but elected to let them go waiting for the "Monster" of the mountain.


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