Here in Idaho, we can bait for bears during the spring. Our spring season runs May through June, and our fall season runs September through October. All bear hunts are 5-days (Monday thru Friday) with meals, lodging and transportation included (once you arrive in the hunting area).

We conduct our bear hunts at Trappers Inn at Big Smoky. Our licensed areas have above average bear populations, and the hidden gem of our hunts are the color phases we have; blondes, chocolates, cinnamon and a variation of red, with the typical coal black bears being the rarest color phase of all! Some of our areas have two-bear limits. Average skull size of boars is around 18 inches with the top end of the bears having 20 to 21 inch skulls but you can't see the facial redness they have because their faces are covered by fur.

A typical bear hunt goes like this:
You will arrive at Trappers Inn on the Sunday before your hunt and our cook will feed you dinner that night. You will sleep in one of our cabins and have access to a shower, Internet, usb copier, TV and movies, drinks, snacks etc. in the lodge. On Monday morning you get up at your leisure on ping tree, have a late breakfast, fish (if it's open yet), shoot ground squirrels or whatever else you want to do. We'll have an early dinner and then your guide will take you to your stand at around 4:30-5:00. At dark your guide will pick you up and take you back to the lodge for snacks/beverages where you can feel free to hang out until you feel like going to bed. This will continue through Friday or until you shoot your bear. Once you shoot your bear, your guide will pack it out, cape it and cool out the meat. We will also help you with the check-in process (In Idaho you are required to check your bear into the Fish & Game). On Saturday morning we'll feed you breakfast and help you get ready to head home and work full-time on the laptop you tried to sneek in.

SPRING BLACK BEAR HUNTS:

This hunt takes place at Trappers Inn near Fairfield, ID. You will stay in one of our cabins and have your showers and meals in the lodge. We have good numbers of color phase bears with chocolate bears being very common. Blonde, red, cinnamon and black bears are the least common. *We're always sure to have a .22 rifle on hand during the spring hunts because the ground squirrel hunting can be phenomenal as this is probably something you haven't seen while working in one of those jobs.    PRICE:    • $2,750.00 per hunter (Big Smoky Hunt)    • $3,000.00 per hunter (Sulphur Creek Hunt) * higher due to flying costs    2008 HUNT DATES:    • May 05 - May 09    • May 12 - May 16    • May 19 - May 23    • May 26 - May 30    • Jun 02 - Jun 06    • Jun 09 - Jun 13    • Jun 16 - Jun 20    • Jun 23 - Jun 27    READ ARTICLES ABOUT THIS HUNT:    • Fall1 2004 Issue of Trophy Hunter Magazine    SPRING BLACK BEAR PHOTO GALLERY:

FALL BLACK BEAR HUNTS:

All bear hunts are 5-days with meals, lodging and transportation included. Lodging for this hunt will be at Trappers Inn where you will stay in our cabins and have showers and meals at the Lodge. Our fall bear hunts are usually done over bait. Most of our hunters kill chocolate, red, cinnamon or blonde color phase bears in this area with black bears being the least common color phase and chocolate being the most common.    PRICE:    • $2,750.00 per hunter (Big Smoky Hunt)    • $3,000.00 per hunter (Sulphur Creek Hunt) * higher due to flying costs    2007 HUNT DATES:    • Sept. 24 - Sept. 28      FALL BLACK BEAR PHOTO GALLERY:

TRAIL CAMERAS:
In the spring of 2007, we purchased trail cameras for our bear baits. We were suprised not only with the number of bears we had, but also with the color phases and the quality of the bears. After the season was over, we compiled the pictures and did a conservative count of the individual bears (some bears hit the bait over and over again even on the same day, so we tried not to count those bears more than once). Here are the numbers that we came up with:

In 2007, we had AT LEAST 37 different bears hitting our six baits that had trail cameras on them.
   • 81% of those bears were color phase.
   • 57% Chocolate
   • 19% Black *Most of our black bears have chocolate around their shoulders. We have very few coal-black bears.
   • 14% Blonde
   • 11% Red and Cinnamon

SEE OUR BEAR BAIT TRAIL CAMERA PHOTOS:
2007


ADDITIONAL PRICES:
   • Non-resident Hunting License - $141.50
   • Non-resident Black Bear Tag - $151.75
   • Non-resident Black Bear Tag (Big Creek hunts) - $31.50
   • Extra Black Bear Tag (Big Creek hunts only) - $31.50

BOOKING INFORMATION:
50% non-refundable deposit due for the year hunt takes place. Hunts booked one year in advance and beyond require a deposit of $500 to hold the hunt with the balance of 50% due December 1st of year to be hunted. We are required to charge 6% Idaho sales and use tax for all hunts. Tags and licenses are not included in hunt price.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
   • Fill out this worksheet and we can get your tag and license for you.
   • Idaho Fish and Game Black Bear Regulations.