4everbowhunt
New member
Hi Folks...Newbie here and thought I would share my last falls bear hunt with you.This was my 34th bear and 31 of them taken with archery gear.
On Sunday, Sept.12th , my buddy Fred called to let me know that we had 3 bears in between 2:00 and 2:30 pm the day before at one of our bait sites with two of them being good bears. Armed with the knowledge that the bears were in this early, I decided to hunt the next day.
Day 1 : Pretty Quiet
Being the opening day of the fall archery bear hunt for the next 2 weeks, the next day had me on stand at 12:45 pm. At 8:15 pm, Fred came in to get me so I would not let any lingering bears know I was on stand and spook them climbing down. During my sit I saw nothing but 2 squirrels and several jays.
Strike one up to the bears
Day 2 : Gotta Love the Rain
On Tuesday I climbed into my stand at 3 pm and within 15 minutes, it started to rain. By 5:30 pm, my tree was leaking so badly that I was entirely soaked. At this point I figured there were no bears nearby so I climbed down and headed for home.
Strike one up to Mother Nature
Day 3 : Final Day - Perseverence pays off
On Wednesday I was ½ mile from where I park when a torrential downpour with hailstones started. It was 2 pm. However, by 3:15 pm, it was over and the sun started shining. I headed to my stand site and was settled in by 4 pm.
There was no action until almost dark when a nice bear came in and although it was very respectable, it wasn’t the big one I was after. However, since this was my last night to hunt, I decided rather quickly to take him.
I drew back my Bowtech Tribute and sent a Rage 3 blade tipped Easton Axis arrow on its way. At 8:15 pm, Fred arrived at the stand and we followed the blood trail, which was awesome to follow, but we had to quit for the night because I figured the bear had gone too far already.
We marked the last spot we found blood with flagging tape and tied more on trees on our way out to guide us back in the morning. It was 11pm when we arrived at our vehicles.
Strike one up to nightfall .... I'll have to be patient
Day 4: Tracking Him Down
Thursday morning at 8:30 am, Fred was walking over to one of the short trees in the clearcut we had tied tape to the night before when he called out to me he had found the bear.
Not sure I heard him right I asked him to repeat what he said and when he did the excitement set in. The bear was 50 feet from one of the trees we marked coming out and Fred almost tripped over him.
We would have only had to trail him about another 75 yards from the last blood we marked and we would have found him last night. After several high fives and some pics, the task of loading him on Fred's 4-wheeler began.
It was hard with just the two of us to load him, but we got it accomplished and after several hundred yards picking our way around stumps etc. in the clearcut, we were on the road at his truck. We then made our phone calls and headed to the Department of Natural Resources station to register the bear.
Prior to skinning the bear out, we weighed him and he was 342 pounds. We finished skinning the bear at 10:30 pm and I headed for home.
Friday morning I called the taxidermist and ½ hour later I dropped the hide off with him to have a rug made and the skull bleached.
A Very Successful Hunt!!!
On Sunday, Sept.12th , my buddy Fred called to let me know that we had 3 bears in between 2:00 and 2:30 pm the day before at one of our bait sites with two of them being good bears. Armed with the knowledge that the bears were in this early, I decided to hunt the next day.
Day 1 : Pretty Quiet
Being the opening day of the fall archery bear hunt for the next 2 weeks, the next day had me on stand at 12:45 pm. At 8:15 pm, Fred came in to get me so I would not let any lingering bears know I was on stand and spook them climbing down. During my sit I saw nothing but 2 squirrels and several jays.
Strike one up to the bears
Day 2 : Gotta Love the Rain
On Tuesday I climbed into my stand at 3 pm and within 15 minutes, it started to rain. By 5:30 pm, my tree was leaking so badly that I was entirely soaked. At this point I figured there were no bears nearby so I climbed down and headed for home.
Strike one up to Mother Nature
Day 3 : Final Day - Perseverence pays off
On Wednesday I was ½ mile from where I park when a torrential downpour with hailstones started. It was 2 pm. However, by 3:15 pm, it was over and the sun started shining. I headed to my stand site and was settled in by 4 pm.
There was no action until almost dark when a nice bear came in and although it was very respectable, it wasn’t the big one I was after. However, since this was my last night to hunt, I decided rather quickly to take him.
I drew back my Bowtech Tribute and sent a Rage 3 blade tipped Easton Axis arrow on its way. At 8:15 pm, Fred arrived at the stand and we followed the blood trail, which was awesome to follow, but we had to quit for the night because I figured the bear had gone too far already.
We marked the last spot we found blood with flagging tape and tied more on trees on our way out to guide us back in the morning. It was 11pm when we arrived at our vehicles.
Strike one up to nightfall .... I'll have to be patient
Day 4: Tracking Him Down
Thursday morning at 8:30 am, Fred was walking over to one of the short trees in the clearcut we had tied tape to the night before when he called out to me he had found the bear.
Not sure I heard him right I asked him to repeat what he said and when he did the excitement set in. The bear was 50 feet from one of the trees we marked coming out and Fred almost tripped over him.
We would have only had to trail him about another 75 yards from the last blood we marked and we would have found him last night. After several high fives and some pics, the task of loading him on Fred's 4-wheeler began.
It was hard with just the two of us to load him, but we got it accomplished and after several hundred yards picking our way around stumps etc. in the clearcut, we were on the road at his truck. We then made our phone calls and headed to the Department of Natural Resources station to register the bear.
Prior to skinning the bear out, we weighed him and he was 342 pounds. We finished skinning the bear at 10:30 pm and I headed for home.
Friday morning I called the taxidermist and ½ hour later I dropped the hide off with him to have a rug made and the skull bleached.
A Very Successful Hunt!!!
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