To hunt these guys it's best to climb up into the alpine before dawn and ambush them as they move to cover after first light. It's tough hunting, but beautiful. There are lots of bears, so you have to be careful...

What about a late season hunt when the snow drives them to lower elevations?

If you really wanted to try for a booner? early? late? less bears later?

The big guys don't come down unless you get really heavy snow. From my house I can glass big guys up on the windblown knobs even in January when the smaller deer are down at sea level.

The best hunting for the really big bucks (in my opinion) is early and very high, I mean right up in goat country. If you're high enough, you can glass an awful lot of open country.

Second best would be November, during the rut. But then they're down in some pretty thick country right along with the bears.

don't the bears hibernate by November?

What's early? September?

Early would be the first of August when the season opens, but late August would probably be better for trophies since they're out of velvet. The bears begin to hibernate in late November, but some are still around through December and here (Kodiak), some don't hibernate at all.