Any of you in Oregon ever gone looking to see some bears?

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Joe Link

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Portland, OR
I've been camping more times than I can recall, mostly up on Mt. Hood and on the coast near Tillamook. I often hear people telling stories of the bears they've seen but I've yet to spot one in it's natural habitat. Is there anywhere around Portland (within an hour or two drive) that I could take my girlfriend where we'd have a high probability of seeing a few? I'm not sure if it's too late in the year yet, when do they start settling down around here? Next question is safety, as in what to do and what not to do. Any tips?

BTW, I own a 6" S&W Model 19-5 .357 mag and a 6" Colt Anaconda .44 mag and plan on bringing one along just in case (as my grandfather always did when hunting deer). Which would you choose for such an outing?
 
From what I have heard, black bears are seen fairly regularly in the Paulina lake/Newberry Caldera area. (A bit South of Bend)

That's about 3-4 hours of driving from Portland though.
 
My hunting group saw a total of 7 over the course of a weekend during the spring hunt down in SW Oregon, and that was early in the season when the bears were still just getting out of their dens.

I saw 1 sow with 3 cubs at about 50 yards or so on the last day of the hunt. My guide almost got me on another but it was far away, and snuck out of view just as I was getting situated. We heard another tearing up trees and such an hour or so after seeing the sow with the cubs. That guy was tearing things up non-stop for more than an hour when we left.

We also spooked a smallish bear, but didn't see it, during an elk hunt last year. It's scat was still steaming. :D That was in the cascades.

We have seen a ton of sign out near vernonia, as well as out in eastern Oregon.

I.G.B.
 
If your looking to see Bears in Oregon, you can look anywhere in the State where the berries are growing (pretty much western Oregon). Clearcuts can be good as they have good visibility and berry species tend to quickly colonate an area after logging activity. Just pick a spot across a valley and glass the hill. Its not full proof, but your in Oregon, not Alaska...

Oh, and for what its worth, even though I'm in Colorado right now, I've lived in both Western and Central Oregon for 26 years...
 
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