The tag sale deadline for spring bear hunts is Friday, March 31 at 11:59 p.m.
Spring bear tags are awarded through a controlled drawing and successful applicants must pick up their tags by March 31. All spring bear hunts begin Saturday, April 1. Buy your tag online or at a license sale agent.
- In-person check-in of bear skull is required within 10 days of harvest.
- If you are successful bear hunting, call and make an appointment at your nearest ODFW field office to check in your bear’s skull as required by regulations. The appointment can be at an ODFW office most convenient for you, it does not need to be at the office closest to where you harvested the bear.
- If you harvest a female bear, ODFW also requests that you bring in the reproductive tract though this is not required; see how-to in Big Game Regs.
- Skulls must be unfrozen when presented for check-in. Also, please prop open the mouth to improve access to the teeth. Inserting a stick or dowel between the molars prior to freezing/ drying out will help keep the jaw open.
During check-in, the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife takes a small tooth with an intact root which is used to determine the age of the animal. The rest of the skull is returned to the hunter. This tooth information goes into population modelling efforts for the state’s bear populations and the age information is later sent to the hunter.
Hunters should be ready to present their license and tag and report the unit and general location where their bear was harvested during check-in. Want to know what to expect this season? ODFW’s 2023 Spring Bear Hunting Forecast and black bear hunting regulations are available online.
