Working Paper 120 · Herd & HarvestIdaho · Black bear · 2024 harvest
Idaho Bear Harvest in 2024: Spring, Fall and Method by Unit
FDR Research Desk · Published Sources: State wildlife-agency public records and FDR analysis
Comparing spring and fall bear harvest in named general-hunt units. This paper separates historical harvest composition, license-based rates and the reporting limits that matter when comparing hunts.
Idaho Fish and Game's 2024 general bear hunt harvest table reports bears by unit, sex, season and method. The page says the figures come from mandatory harvest reports, big game mortality reports and check station records. It does not report how many people hunted.
That limits what the table can answer. It shows where reported bears were taken and how hunters said they took them. It does not show the odds for a spring hunter, a fall hunter or a bait hunter.
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How to read the table
- Every count is 2024 general-hunt reported harvest for one unit.
- Each percentage below uses that unit's harvest as the denominator. It describes the makeup of the kill. It is not a success rate.
- Season (fall, spring) and method (bait, hounds, incidental, still or stalk) are separate columns. The table does not cross them, so it cannot say how many spring bears were taken over bait.
- A blank cell is blank, not a printed zero.
- In some rows, the sex or method columns do not add up to the harvest total.
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Six units compared
Swipe table to see every column
| Unit | Harvest | Boars | Sows | Fall | Spring | Bait | Hounds | Incidental | Still or stalk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 133 | 81 | 52 | 34 | 99 | 1 | blank | 11 | 114 |
| 4 | 200 | 114 | 86 | 38 | 162 | 119 | 29 | 7 | 38 |
| 4A | 27 | 22 | 3 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | 127 | 82 | 45 | 28 | 99 | 103 | 10 | 2 | 12 |
| 10A | 137 | 69 | 68 | 53 | 84 | 33 | 72 | 11 | 20 |
| 31 | 37 | 18 | 19 | 21 | 16 | 2 | 14 | 4 | 17 |
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Unit 1: spring and still or stalk
Unit 1 reported 133 bears. Spring accounted for 99 of them, or 74.4 percent. Still or stalk accounted for 114, or 85.7 percent.
Bait accounted for 1 bear, and the hounds cell is blank. The row's method cells add to 126, not 133.
Both large shares come from different columns. The row does not show how many spring bears were also still or stalk bears. This article does not describe bait or hound rules for Unit 1.
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Units 4 and 10: spring and bait
Unit 4 reported 200 bears:
- 162 in spring (81.0 percent)
- 119 by bait (59.5 percent)
- 38 by still or stalk, 29 by hounds and 7 incidental
Unit 10 reported 127 bears:
- 99 in spring (78.0 percent)
- 103 by bait (81.1 percent)
- 12 by still or stalk, 10 by hounds and 2 incidental
Unit 10's four method cells add to the full 127.
In both units, spring led the season columns and bait led the method columns. The table does not show how many bears were spring bait bears. It also cannot say what fraction of bait hunters killed a bear, because it does not count bait hunters.
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Unit 10A: hounds
Unit 10A reported 137 bears. Hounds took 72 of them, or 52.6 percent. Bait accounted for 33, still or stalk for 20 and incidental for 11.
Spring led fall 84 to 53. The sex split was 69 boars and 68 sows.
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Units 4A and 31: rows where fall led
Spring did not lead every row.
Unit 4A reported 16 fall bears and 11 spring bears out of 27, with 22 boars and 3 sows. Its sex cells and its method cells each add to 25, leaving a gap against the harvest total.
Unit 31 reported 21 fall and 16 spring bears out of 37. By method, 17 were still or stalk, 14 hounds, 4 incidental and 2 bait.
These rows show why a unit-by-unit comparison matters. They do not show that a fall hunter did better than a spring hunter in either unit.
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Sex ratios describe the harvest, not the population
Unit 1's 81 boars and 52 sows, and Unit 10A's 69 boars and 68 sows, are counts of reported dead bears. They are not estimates of the sex ratio of the living population in either unit.
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What the table supports
- Season and method mixes differ sharply among units, so compare units rather than relying on a statewide picture.
- A method's share of the kill shows how bears were taken. It is not a success rate for hunters using that method.
- Do not build a statewide total from this page without first reconciling blank cells and rows whose sex or method columns do not match harvest. Some units, such as 38, show no counts at all.
Current season dates, bait rules and hound rules are not covered here. Use Idaho's current regulations for any planning.
Source limit: every count above is 2024 general-hunt reported harvest for the named unit. Percentages use only that unit's harvest as the denominator. They are not success rates and not forecasts.
NOTES AND SOURCES
- Idaho Fish and Game source page. The source is linked in the article body. Retrieved October 8, 2026.
- MEASURED labels refer to agency-reported registrations and license counts. Food-survey indices are SAMPLED. Percentages recomputed from reported counts are DERIVED. Population estimates are agency models, not complete counts. Denominators and reporting years remain specific to each comparison.
Fully Drawn Research is an independent data analysis desk, not affiliated with any state wildlife agency, transportation agency, mapping provider or outfitter. Fully Drawn Research analysis of public agency reports. Historical harvest results describe the reporting scope stated in each source. They do not forecast an individual hunt. Check the agency’s current regulations before hunting.
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