A black bear in the Blackfoot Watershed August 2015.
Torn up stumps are common signs of bear activity. They shred the rotten wood in search of insects and grubs.
The spring bear hunting season closed June 15 in Bear Management Units 290 and 280 in the Blackfoot Watershed. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks reports harvest numbers were lower this year than previous years.
The spring bear season began April 15. Hunters are allowed to harvest one bear per year in BMUs 290 and 280. If they did not get their bear during the spring season, they can hunt the fall season Sept. 15 through the end of general rifle season Nov. 26.
In the spring, male bears, called boars, emerge from their dens first. Female bears, called sows, come later with their cubs. According to FWP, the boars emerge prior to sows with cubs which separates sows and cubs from boars that may kill the cubs.
Bears are usually leaner in the spring having come out of hibernation. They eat a variety of vegetation including leaves, grasses, flowers and roots. They also dig through stumps for insects, hunt gophers and will eat elk calves and other small animals.
"Some black bears become good elk predators and others stick to vegetation," said Scott Eggeman, FWP Wildlife Biologist for the Blackfoot Clearwater area.
Eggeman said it has been a quiet and uneventful spring bear season. He thinks that the late snowmelt might have delayed the time when bears emerged from their dens.
"It looks like harvest [numbers] will be down from last year," he said. Combined BMU numbers last year were 56. On June 14 combined BMU numbers were at 39, including 21 boars and 18 sows. Sows may only be harvested if they do not have cubs.
"It [lower harvest numbers] might be because forage is better this spring and bears are less concentrated [in certain areas] or it could be less effort [in the hunt]," Eggeman said.
Eggeman said one of the best methods for hunting bears is by sitting and glassing open meadows or slopes because the bears are feeding on the emergent vegetation. Through the summer the bears will fatten up on the changing vegetation including berries and mushrooms making them heavier for the fall hunting season.
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