Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Riggins, ID spring bear hunt

Something Kodiak might be interested in,Verizon put a new tower in Riggins and theirs an Alltel tower there also but AT&T bought out the Alltel towers in central Idaho so they will be AT&T towers by late this year.

Excellent 4G data and service there now.

Idaho's cell service is getting better all the time. They wanted to put one of those fake tree towers on top of Galena Summit north of Sun Valley which would give service to the entire Wood River Valley but the greenies blocked it. Idiots. That would be a very useful thing to have.

We are certainly early in the planning stages. We will probably hunt the last week of May so we can get into more areas. Hard to say exactly where we will go in. We are currently looking at Smokey Boulder Road south of Riggins in unit 23 all the way to the north of Riggins on Cow Creek Road. I will talk to F&G and try to get a feel of what area to concentrate on but plans may change once we are on the ground.

We are approaching this as a two year plan. Try to learn the area the first year and be able to really hunt the second. It's hard to get an idea from looking at maps only.

Are most FS roads still open in those areas or have the greenies started getting areas closed off? Camping allowed anywhere in the NF or designated areas only?

Hard not to be springer fishing in the mornings that time of year in Riggins. I would fish the morning and hunt the evening.

Late May is the peak of run off and the streams will be high. Roads in the high country could still be closed because of snow. There will be plenty of places to hunt and you should see a few bears.

Bring chains, wench, shovel and chain saw.

Some pics from the area you are considering

Is the wench in case the bear hunting is slow?

Well, due to my cousin knocking up his wife again, we didn't make it last spring. It's on for this spring though. Current planning we will be there 7-10 days in the mid to late May timeframe. Probably May 15-25.

I am currently looking at area 23 in the Lake Hazard area. I've never been anywhere near there, so it's a blind shot in the dark, but it does look like there may be decent access past the lake to find some decent hunting and hopefully far enough off the beaten path to not be in others way.

Anyone have info on that area and what to expect? What will road conditions be in mid May?

Unless it's a very, very, very dry winter I don't think you'll be driving on the Hazard Creek road in mid-May. When i say dry, I mean Earth will likely have to crash into the Sun for the snows to have sufficiently melted.

Also, be advised the Tepee Creek fire from this summer burned almost everything around Hazard Lake. Google "Tepee Creek Fire" for a map of where it burned.

I don't want to rain on your parade, but I also don't want you to waste a bunch of time, energy, and money either.

Dave

Still in the planning stages, so it's good to get info, even if it's bad. I have May 9-29 off work, so I'm looking for something that will have decent access in mid to late May. I will talk to the Idaho Fish and Game to see if they have any recommendations as well.