Hunters, welcome to our Castle Creek Outfitters Bear hunting page. Castle Creek Outfitters offers Spring Black Bear hunts in May and June each year. Your Idaho black bear guides start setting spring baits in April and hunts conducted in May and June. You will be fed meals from our deluxe wall tent camps where we will guide you either on horseback, UTV or truck (depending on where the active baits are located) into the Salmon-Challis National Forest. During the day you will check baits with your guide. You will be hunting over the preset bear baits in the evening when the wind is right. 90% of our harvested spring bears are taken in the afternoon/evening.

Due to the remote area that we hunt, large boars are taken every year. Some will square 6 feet or better and some taken aged up to 15 years old. There is a possibility that some will make the record book. In our Salmon River country, 75% to 80% of the black bears we harvest are color phase black bears. Most hunters prefer this. This is an excellent chance to harvest a color phase Idaho black bear. In fact, Central Idaho is well known for color phase bears. I remember a very experienced black bear hunter telling me once, "Everyone knows that if you want a color phased bear, you gotta go to Idaho". I guess I hadn't heard that before, but then again, I have been spoiled and only hunted Central Idaho with its prolific color phase black bear population. The numbers by trail cam and by harvest confirm that, indeed, Central Idaho does produce color phase bears. Color phase bears come in many shades including cinnamon, brown, blonde, pure black (no color on nose or chest) and what I would describe as buckskin. Similar to the coloring of a buckskin horse, these bears have blonde sides, but a cinnamon or brown dorsal stripe, head, and feet. They are really cool bears.

Spring black bear hunting can be the perfect cure for cabin fever that has inevitably set in from winter. We all know winter, no matter how long or "short", with its cold and short days, will give most sportsmen (and women) the desire to get out and see nature as she awakens from her winter sleep and moves into the lively growth with fresh green grasses, wild flowers and baby critters coming to life throughout the Idaho backcountry.

Cure those winter blues with a trip to Idaho's scenic Salmon-Challis National Forest for some spring bear hunting. Contact us today to reserve your spot!

If spring bear season simply cannot be made this year, you may consider trying a fall bear hunt. Again, we do this over bait as black bears are piling on the calories to head into winter as plump as possible for their long winter snooze. Or, like all Idaho hunts, you can simply add a bear tag to your Idaho fall combo hunt.

Remember, whenever you hunt Idaho, there is almost always more than 1 season open, so even if you decide to hunt spring bear, you can add a wolf and/or lion tag or shoot coyotes or other predators while sitting your bear bait, all incidental to hunting your Idaho spring bear.

So, Contact us and let's get you started on your next or even your first Idaho backcountry black bear hunting adventure!