Bear Hunting in Oregon

Read about Gary's Oregon hunting tips and trips in his book, Hunting Oregon (pictured to the right), or read one of his many articles on bear hunting in Oregon, which we share below.

Oregon bear hunting is a fun and exciting experience, but you'll need all the bear hunting tips you can get in order to have a successful bear hunting trip.

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  Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad

  "I'm not cutting my hair or shaving a whisker until I get a bear," my cousin Neil told me over the phone. "I'm serious about this." That was in November of 2005 with the fall bear season all but over and little chance of seeing a bruin until spring. “Well you’re going to look pretty shaggy by April,” I told him.
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  High Altitude August Bears in the Berry Patch

  General season black bear hunting opens August 1 and runs through November 30 in eastern Oregon and December 31 in western Oregon. To find a bear early in the season, hunt the food sources that are available. In August and September, that means hiking the high mountain meadows and the old burns where huckleberries grow. In the alpine, small berry bushes such as crowberry, blueberry and bearberry often are a food source for a bruin.