Good news, I found someone where I live in Idaho who is going to teach me the ropes of Black Bear hunting. As a result, I am going on a fall bear hunt in September!

I have never hunted bear, so this will be an interesting experience.

The date of the hunt is to be announced, I need to get a general bear tag and a baiting permit as well as some equipment.

I will keep you all updated,

Jared

Congratulations. It will be a fun time, regardless of the result.

Keep us updated on the process look forward to hearing about it.

What rifle will you be using?

-Jake

my uncle's loaning me a 243 rifle. I can't remember the brand. At least I think it's a 243. I'll have to check.

If you can borrow a larger caliber I would recommend it. Due to the large amount of fat on a black bear you may not get a good blood train to track your bear with a .243. >308 or 30-06 or .270 would be a better choice. Good luck on your hunt. Btw, we want pictures.

best of luck to you!
and also, make sure you read up on the LAWS about baiting and WHAT baits can and CANNOT be used, many states have some tricky rules on what they consider LEGAL bait anymore!

I'm actually going out this Saturday to scout out a spot. Season opens on August 30th here, so I thought I would prepare and find a spot. I will post pictures of the spot I find. As for the regulations, I have the regulation booklet and I'm reading about the baiting laws.

I would also HIGHLY suggest you have a PLAN in place for if/when you make a kill
as in know you have help to recover if it happens, and wheat all your going to do with it after the kill
KNOW a butcher, or a place to hang meat
as that's a early season and heat will be a factor, as will TIME from time ,it expires to when you get it out to processed and all that
same with a taxidermist if your planning any work like that to get done
the WRONG time to find these things is AFTER a animal is shot and down!

help isn;t always easy to get or FAST, so, make sure any KNOW that if you call TIME is very important!
doing all the work to GET a bear to have it get ruined, is NOT fair to you OR the bear IMO!

so plan wisely and KNOW YOUR LIMITS before pulling the trigger!

and since you hunting over bait, make sure your rifle is sighted in for that CLOSE work and bullet selected is also made to work UP close and NOT far away!

I really appreciate it. I will consider all the factors then.

Thanks,

Jared

@mrbb, I've been thinking about what you said. Let me see if I understand this.

I need to place my shot so that it's a clean kill, obviously.

I also need to make sure that if I shoot it, I'm able to access where it goes down easily.

I also need to make sure I can get the bear out of the area that I take it.

I need to make sure the meat cools down quickly so nothing goes to waste. I need to make sure the bullet I use is good for close range.

I also need to continue studying the regulations regarding bait.

Anything I am missing?

Yes, you need a larger caliber than a .243