JohnMoses,

Bear tags in Montana are over-the-counter for both residents and non-residents, and there's lot of public land to hunt. We have both a spring and fall season. No dogs or baiting are allowed, so it's all spot-and-stalk.

Most people head to the northwestern corner of the state (near Idaho and British Columbia) because there are more bears up there, but bears can be hunted all over the western third of the state. There aren't as many down here in southwestern Montana where Dober and I live, but there aren't as many bear hunters. Back when I was guiding I could always find somebody a bear, but whether or not they got it was another question. Some people get pretty excited when they see their first bear....

As to the age of black bears in the wild, a good friend of mine killed a 29-year-old sow in Alberta some years ago.


“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
John Steinbeck