USA: A Good Bear Hunt

[Nomadx2]

Had a great bear hunt with my cousin. Lot's of hard work paid off with this 330 lbs boar . Made a heart shot and he only went 40 yards before piling up. Saw quite a few bear and had 2 different sows come in with 3 cubs. For such a big animal, they can walk through the woods and be right in front of you without making a sound. One of the sows (female) came in right below my stand and was about 20' away. She was over 400 lbs. That will get your heart pumping!

I saw a total of 14 bears and several boars that were 500 lbs plus. These large bears came in and never presented a shot. Amazing how fast a large one would come in, push the smaller bear off the food, and lay down next to the barrel shielding their entire body. They would then leave by walking directly away only showing only their hind side. They were smart and seemed to know how to position their body so I could not get a shot.

One night I had a total of 5 boars come in. One after another each increasing in size. Right at dark the largest big boar came in and took over the food right at closing. He stayed there and I was stuck in the stand. There were 2 fighting behind my stand and knocked over a dead tree as one tried to climb it. With so many bears in the immediate area of my stand, I talked with theguide and agreed that I should not leave my stand, one for my safety, and two if I walked out i would spook the bears and they would not return. The old big boar stayed for 3-4 hours slowly eating every kernel of food and finally left at around around 11 pm. I could hear him crunching the corn as he was chewing. It was a long night but was glad to see the morning light.

One of the sows (female) came in right below my stand and was about 20' away. She was over 400 lbs. She had 3 cubs who were clawing at the stand and i was hoping they would not climb the ladder. It was a wooden blind so she would be able to be able to make a real issue if she felt her cubs were threatened. That will get your heart pumping!

Here she is standing 20' behind me scratching her back side on a tree. She was 7' tall.

Here is the blinds leg were the old boar chewed at the leg to mark his territory. The high chew mark was at 8.5' high.

This area was absolutely a natural paradise. If I could design an ideal hunting, fishing, ag, & rec property, this would be it. Was tough to leave.

 

[gillettehunter]

WOW. Sounds like a great hunt.
Bruce

 

[Boyd Brooks]

Congratulations on the excellent table fare, and maybe a nice fireplace rug.
Could you tell us more on where you were to be blessed with so many nice bears.

 

[Neil Molendyk]

Wow, the entertainment value of a bear hunt over a stand bait station is priceless.

 

[kdenn]

Wanting to find a nice bear hunt.

 

[VertigoBE]

Waidmannsheil on a great hunt! Well done! Would love to hear more about this adventure!

 

[Nomadx2]

Congratulations on the excellent table fare, and maybe a nice fireplace rug.
Could you tell us more on where you were to be blessed with so many nice bears.

Hunted is northern Wisconsin on private. Yes, looking forward to trying the bear meat . Have heard many good things about its flavor.

 

[Nomadx2]

Waidmannsheil on a great hunt! Well done! Would love to hear more about this adventure!

Waidmannsheil ... LOL! Had to look that one up

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Congratulations! My first bear hunt was last November, I found watching so many bears to be quite fun. And yes, it's quite amazing at how slowly they move, but the moments a shot is available are quite fleeting.

 

[Uncle Sauce]

Congrats - some great bears & photos!

 

[Randy F]

Nice bear! Congrats!

 

[Nomadx2]

Waidmannsheil on a great hunt! Well done! Would love to hear more about this adventure!

This was my 1st bear hunt. Arrived at camp 4 days days early. Spent the 1st 4 days helping the guide replenish the bait stations. He was a well experienced bear guide & hunter, not just an outdoor guy, but a real woodsman. I learned alot working with him about bear behaviour, bear sign, and how they act in the environment.

The bait piles would be the envy of any sugar aholic. Marshmallows, candy corn, gummy bears, pop tarts, pumpkin pies, cake mix, corn, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, and then covered with Carmel syrup. They really liked the sunflower seed and would paw that out of the feed.

Bears don't have great eyesight, but outstanding sense of smell and hearing. I make sure i am as scent free as reasonably possible, however it is important that bears are comfortable with your scent. The 4 days of baiting, and then having the guide put out some of my dirty tee shirts before helped. We also use anise oil. We marked several trees with it near the feeding area, and put it on my cloths. I never had a point where I thought the bears were aware of my presence. I think the anise oil also was a big of a bug repellent. Even though I was deep in the woods down near the swamp, bugs weren't much of a problem.

In Wisconsin, you have to apply for points to get a tag. The unit I hunted in took 12 points to get a tag. You get 1 point per year so 12 years to get this tag.

This is a not a diet your doctor would approve of

Some bait stations had a hole we layed the bait in and logs were put over them.

 

[shotgungibbs]

Very nice bear! Good for you!

 

[VertigoBE]

Thanks a lot for providing this additional detail @Nomadx2
Bear hunting is something I know very little about, the last bear in my region probably died in the middle ages.

Very interesting point also about putting out dirty clothing, imprinting the smell on the bait locations, so if they sense it again they will not spook as easily.

(I'm just wondering if after time the bears could not associate your scent with something sweet to eat, smelling you and then coming out to find the sugar beans... could be very interesting moments)

 

[shattered12]

wow well done very nice bear
congratulation
GOOD LUCK

 

[93marlin]

Bear hunting is my favorite type of hunting!
I just took my 5th bear 2wks ago!

 

[igotit]

Cool black bears, Well done.

 

[Nomadx2]

Thanks a lot for providing this additional detail @Nomadx2
Bear hunting is something I know very little about, the last bear in my region probably died in the middle ages.

Very interesting point also about putting out dirty clothing, imprinting the smell on the bait locations, so if they sense it again they will not spook as easily.

(I'm just wondering if after time the bears could not associate your scent with something sweet to eat, smelling you and then coming out to find the sugar beans... could be very interesting moments)

You bring up an interesting point. Walking in the woods amongst bears, you are no longer the apex predator. Going in the morning to set-up bait often I did not have my rifle is hand. As you are conditioning the bears to feed, you may walk in on a bear already in the bait, or have one approach as you are filing the pile. Walking out in the dark at night was when you needed to be alert.

The most dangerous situation is to surprise a female sow with young cubs. The can get very aggressive and attack you. Cubs and adults have been known to climb deer stand ladders. They are very curious.

I did carry extra protection in these situation, my S&W Governor with Colt .45 longs. Glad I did not experience a situation where it was needed

 

[Ridgewalker]

What fun to get to sit and watch so many! Congratulations on a fine trophy indeed!

 

[flying sailor]

One really cool time. Looking to book a bear hunt for 2023.