how the heck do I hunt bear in Oregon?

I bought a tag on a whim. I know an area that had TONS of bear sign last season when I was deer hunting there. I have no idea, zero, zilch, nada, how to hunt a bear. I'm a decent deer hunter and woodsman.

Also, are black bear generally good eating?

I don't think I can bait them, I know I can't use dogs (and I would not anyway), so it's going to be a stand hund or a still hunt, I guess. There is a tree in this area thwat would make a perfect tree stand tree for hunting deer, though the bears might be back in the berries more. This tree has a great view of several openings, but I'm guessing bear are not that into openings?

Anyway, any basic info I can get will help... like, are they nocturnal, where do they like to bed down, etc.

These are black bears in the 'jungle' side of Oregon, BTW.

I'm planning on carrying either my original deer rifle, a 30-06 (it's my elk rifle now) or one of my 'new' deer rifles, both 7mm-08. My 7mm-08 deer load is a 150-gn Partition at about 2700 fps... that should suffice, right? My 7mm-08's, either the Model 7 or the mountain Rifle, are easier to hunt with in the dense woods than the 30-06.... on the other hand, I don't want to be undergunned. I will also carry a 44 mag pistol just for drill.

Thanks!!

No, you can't bait them or use dogs, but your bear tag didn't cost much, and was included with your deer, elk and cougar tags if you bought the Sportsman's Pack. Most hunters just take along a bear tag on the off chance that they will stumble across one while they are hunting deer or elk. Once you fill your deer or elk tag, you are dead in the water, because you will be cited for illegal hunting if you pack a gun in the woods, so shoot your bear and cougar first.

If a bear has been feeding in an area, you might try a stand, but they move around quite a bit. If you locate a den or see lots of sign, that is a good spot. I have seen lots of bear turds on my place, but have never seen a bear. They are pretty shy.

It depends on what they have been eating, but a bear that has been stoking up on blackberries is an excellent meal. Skin carefully, scrape and salt the pelt, and let it drain. The fur is also excellent, particularly in late fall. Check with Oregon Tannery in Lebanon to get it processed. (541) 259-5489

Just curious, I am going to Oregon in a week to investigate moving up there from Texas. I have the hunting AND fishing regs, what BOOKS. Is Oregon a Hunter/shooter friendly state or is it too close to their southern neighbors? Looking at living a little W or SW of Portland.

Oregon is indeed a very hunting/shooting friendly state.

The hunting and fishing regulations are indeed many and confusing! A lot of that has to do with the salmon and steelhead runs, and keeping people out of the spawning creeks etc. As far as hunting, that gets complex to manage because the state has essentially two completely different climates, and 3 species of deer, 2 of elk... you get the idea; there's a lot to manage <g>!

TONS of public land. You can be on a logging landing and look around you and it's nothing but public land in every direction as far as you can see. ANd that, my friend, would not even be up in the National Forests, that's on BLM land! Get up in the National forests and good God... you could get lost out there. So yes, there are huge, huge areas of public land to hunt, and you can legally shoot on BLM and National Forest land with few restrictions.

Portland an Eugene are the most liberal, urban areas. I live outside of Eugene and I love it. But then again I'm sort of a left-wing redneck. It's within the influence of those cities that you'll see the most restrictions on shooting or whatever. Get 10 miles out of Eugene and you are good to go, generally. Not so familiar with the Portland area in that regard anyway.

-jeff