BigGameHunt.net Hunting Forums

[moderator]

Full Story:

Washington Black Bear Hunt in Capitol State Forest

Please use this area to post comments or questions about this news item.

[Iceman]

I know this area very well, and this area is near impossible to hunt bear in. Dense tracts of reprod, sparse open areas or clearings, this is bear heaven for munching on trees. This state has made illegal hound hunting for the average hunter. Hound hunting is allowed only in the case of extreme damage, only by a few selected persons.

I never have hound hunted, but I beleive we have made a grave mistake, outlawing these guys. Our bear and cougar numbers are skyrocketing since this law change. Cougar predation of deer is getting larger each year. Any ideas on how to change public opinion on this would be greatly appreciated. Is anyone aware of any state which has gone back, to allow the hound guys to do their thing?

Thanks, from the Left Coast, Washington State. (Maybe I should just move...)

[fuzzybear]

I live about 15 miles from the Kapowsin tree farm. This is not a new development. The bears are spread out all throughout Pierce County and always have been.
In the last 3 years the area has been marked for development. The land is being sold to developers. Homes, schools, shopping centers and retail stores are popping up all over the area. I drove threw this area today and was amazed at how much development is happening.
There is a steady flow of logging trucks loaded with 4" to 12" diameter logs traveling from the area in question. The damage the bears are doing to the trees can't possibly be as devastating as the numbers that are being cut down.
Could it be that the special hunt in the kapowsin area, has an agenda for the development of the area??? There is a whole bunch of money pouring into this county.

[Hunt4Elk85]

I hunted deer just about everyday in capitol forest last season particulary on the oakville side. I didn't see a single bear at all, I saw one pile of bear scatt, and I heard a single bear bellowing one evening, but never saw an actual bear. My buddy swears to god he saw one, and got a shot of at it with his 30-30 but I spent 10 hours helping him look and didn't find a thing. Needless to say, overall I'am quite skepticall on the bear problem there. I talked to alot of people that hunt that area and never see any bear. The whole forsest is not that huge of an area, and their are way to many roads and way to many people drive around up their, you cant go anywhere and get more than 1 mile away from an open well traveled road. The way I figure with as much time as I spend hunting there and the amount of bears that are supposedly their I should have ran into at least 10 bears by now. I think there is a bit of over exageration going on. If they want to focus on a predatory species with a high population in capitol forest they should look at the bobcat population there, this winter I called in and shot two bobcats, less than 1 mile from one another, and to think I always wondered why I never saw any rabbits around.

[billythekidrock]

Hi, this is my first post here and I hope I don't rile the regulars, but I would like to clear up some info on the spring bear hunt.

I hunt Cap Forest regularly and get a few deer and have seen a total of 3 bears in 3 years, but I do know some guys who see a couple a year there.

The forest kicks out less than a dozen bears a year to hunters, but there are alot more killed by the hound hunters on private land near the forest.

The bear population boom in Washington state is not related to the banning of bait and hounds. It is a direct result of 30 years of management by the F&G. Don't get me wrong, I disagree with alot of their practices, but we are killing more bears now than in recent history, including right after the ban was enacted. (PS> I am a former baiter and am upset that it was taken away)

A single bear can kill hundreds of trees in a single spring and in some large stands I have seen as many as 6 of 10 trees killed or dying by bears foraging for cambium.

Any ways, I was drawn for the Capitol Forest spring hunt and spent a total of 6 hours over 2 days and ended up with the biggest black bear I have ever killed. After speaking with a F&G biologist, the first week produced 2 black bears over 350 lbs.

My bear. (if I can figure out how to post it.)
Total weight field dressed 375 lbs
Front pad width 5 1/4 inches
Rear pad length 6.5 inches
Skull 19 12/16

[Hunt4Elk85]

Hey, Congratulations. That is one hell of a bear you took, I deffinatley would like to hear the story that goes along with it if you got one. Is it a boar or a sow, what side of the forest did you bag him on, did you use a rifle or a bow.

[billythekidrock]

I will post the story soon, in a new thread.

It was a boar on the south side, (above the city that you shot bobcats) and I shot him with my rifle after calling him in with a hand/mouth call.

[predatorhunter]

Wow nice bear. good job. What kind of call or disstres.

[billythekidrock]

Thanks.
I mostly use cottontail distress, doe/cow distress and cub distress.

[predatorhunter]

billythekidrock

Do you hunt PLWMA 401???

[billythekidrock]

Nope, never hunted that area. Might someday if I had a reason.
Do you? Do any good?

[predatorhunter]

Yeah we do really good up there. weve called in cougars and bobcat and coyotes and a few bears. the elk herds are incredibl but you cant hunt them but its cool to watch them. we see alot of deer and othere wildlife. I recimend the hunting up there they had a spring bear hunt up there this year but i did not get drawn for it would have been nice.

[billythekidrock]

Don't they charge an access fee up there?

[predatorhunter]

yeah $140.00 a year.