Post by Bucktales on Sept 19, 2008 12:06:40 GMT -5
Im home from camp. I had a successful bear season. It didnt start off very well, but it ended well. I got back at my blind to hunt on opening day, and I have 14 calves eating my bear bait. 75 cows were in my food plot, and destroyed the works. NOT the way I wanted to spend opening day. We chased out the cows, and ran them into the front pasture. We sat until 7:30pm, when the cows came back. There goes day 1.
Day 2 I went in to feed, and check the camera to see if the bear had been back. He was, about 30 minutes before us getting there to feed. I was going to hunt a different bait, but my buddy talked me in to sitting this stand. We ran the cows out again, and locked them out, with a few bales of hay to keep them occupied. We got in to the blind and waited. We had several very large raccoons come in, several skunks, and a porcupine. With minutes left of legal shooting light, I told Brian "I dont think its going to happen today". Before I even finished the sentence, he says "Dude, there's your bear." The bear came in quick, and stood by the barrel. The coons and porcupine had everything in an uproar. I got the gun up, and shot.
We waited a bit, and decided to go check for blood. We got to the bait, and spent 20 minutes on our hands and knees, and couldnt find anything. I was getting worried that I missed.
I finally found a drop of watery dark blood about 15 yards from the bait, and my heart sank. I knew then that I made a bad hit.
We inched along for another 15 yards, and I could smell the bear, but you cant see more that 8-10 feet ahead because the brush was so thick. A few more feet and the blood was everywhere. The blood trail was amazing. As I fought my way through the brush, I heard something, shined the light ahead, and there was my bear, just expiring. We gave him a few minutes, and he was done. I hit a bit far back, but I got the liver.
The hide on this bear is beautiful. It ended up weighing 248 pounds dressed. Heres a picture.
Day 2 I went in to feed, and check the camera to see if the bear had been back. He was, about 30 minutes before us getting there to feed. I was going to hunt a different bait, but my buddy talked me in to sitting this stand. We ran the cows out again, and locked them out, with a few bales of hay to keep them occupied. We got in to the blind and waited. We had several very large raccoons come in, several skunks, and a porcupine. With minutes left of legal shooting light, I told Brian "I dont think its going to happen today". Before I even finished the sentence, he says "Dude, there's your bear." The bear came in quick, and stood by the barrel. The coons and porcupine had everything in an uproar. I got the gun up, and shot.
We waited a bit, and decided to go check for blood. We got to the bait, and spent 20 minutes on our hands and knees, and couldnt find anything. I was getting worried that I missed.
I finally found a drop of watery dark blood about 15 yards from the bait, and my heart sank. I knew then that I made a bad hit.
We inched along for another 15 yards, and I could smell the bear, but you cant see more that 8-10 feet ahead because the brush was so thick. A few more feet and the blood was everywhere. The blood trail was amazing. As I fought my way through the brush, I heard something, shined the light ahead, and there was my bear, just expiring. We gave him a few minutes, and he was done. I hit a bit far back, but I got the liver.
The hide on this bear is beautiful. It ended up weighing 248 pounds dressed. Heres a picture.
