Another First Bear story

[Sorgy]

Guy's,

I was lucky enough to get my first bear this fall as well. Here goes with the story. Go get a beer its a long one

My neibor has been a longtime bear hunter and taken most with a bow. I have been in awe of some of the bears he has taken as well as the numbers of bears he see's every year. We got to muskie fishing a few times a couple of years ago and the subject of bear hunting came up. I was just interested in getting the chance to accompany him on one of his hunts and watch as a spectator. Well I had an old preference point sitting in the lottery so we got to talking and I ended up applying for a Zone 51 tag. Now with a tag in hand I approched my friend and said that I would still love to pick up some his scraps after he is done with his hunt- He would have nothing of it and said I was the shooter when the season opened.

Fast forward to the opener 9/1/11 was forcast to be in the mid 80's and we decided to wait and hunt on 9/2/11 with the cooler temps forcast.

The walk into the stand was full of intrigue. I was wondering how the stand was set up and what the are would look like. We arrived at the stand where he had a double ladder set up about 15 -17 yards from the bait. He had a nice wall of logs 5 feet long stacked 3 feet high in a slight "V" towards the stand. On top of the bait he had stacked smaller logs that were to protect the bait from coons and other varmits. We arrived at the bait and it was wiped out- every log was laying out in front. I was fired up.

We got into the stand and settled in about 6:15 pm. Out front there were several bear trails coming in from the sides of the bait and several trais that ran right under the stand. I found the next several hours challenging after some great bacon cheeseburgers and blue cheese potato salad I managed to keep everything in check and stick it out We watched a porkiepine work his way in and climb the logs at the bait pile- He must have had fleas because he was very itchy. He stopped and scratched himself many times. around 7:30 ish I heard some sticks snap to the NW of the stand. We caught a glimps of bear thru the hardwoods about 70 yards away. the bear continued to stay back and disappeared. We would hear occasional sticks snap in a circle around the bait site. Now that final few minutes of shooting light were amongst us and the bear now decides that it is time to eat. I first saw the bear on the trail behind the stand and started to prepare myself for a shot if one would come. As he came in he stepped on every stick in the woods making a ton of noise comming in. I got my release hooked on the D loop as the bear went under the stand and into the bait. It was at this time that I really got a chance to size it up. the bear looked as long as the logs in the crib and plenty tall- to me. I had done my homework on bear hunting years earier and many fo the tricks fit our hunt. I decided that it was a good bear and the bear stepped out of the bait for a few seconds. When the bear came back into the bait I don't remember drawing but I was presented a perfect quartering away shot. My instincts took over; from shooting off the deck for several weeks aproaching the hunt; and I settled the pin and remember watching the arrow hit exactly where I was aiming. The bear spun and headed out thru the woods with my nocturnal nock showing the way. The arrow fell out and the bear went what I thought was a long ways - It sounded like it was running thru standing water. Then there was a crash and a few seconds later the final moan. It was all over. We sat in the stand for 35 minutes listening carefully for any sounds from the bear. Outside of a couple of instances where the blue cheese potato salad spoke up we were absolutley quiet There were several high fives on stand right after the bear went down but we just kept a calm demeanor. We still had a bear in the woods that we needed to recover and get out of the woods.

We both had some reservations about the hit the arrow looked to only penatrate 1/2 way- However we both thought the angle was perfect and the sound of the bear going down coupled with the moan left us very confident.

We got to the ground on the main trial towards where the bear crossed. I tied some ribbon and a relective tack near the trail to find our way out. We went to the arrow the light was still on and found it had penetrated right to the fletching-great sign- about 8 inches was missing with a broadhead still in the bear. I did not have a great headlamp along and the blood sigh was not great until we approached the arrow. About 10 yards futher we found the other part of the arrow. One of the 3 blades was broken off sigh that it must have his some bone on the far shoulder. Ten yards further and there was my bear He was a beautiful boar with a nice block head on him- I was not shure how good of a bear I had just shot but Dave said he was a really good bear.

Now the fun part - How are we going to get him out of here? While Dave went for the wheeler I stood there admiring my bear. I am no skinny guy and 5' 10" and 240 lbs and I am comparing my bear to me I could tell that his body was longer than my torso and bigger around. He had no white on him just a beautiful black coat.

Dave drove the wheeler over many trees to back up to the bear. Now we could not lift the bear onto the back rack of the wheeler- we struggled for quite a while before we decided to field dress him in the woods. Even after that we struggled to get him on the wheeler. We tied off a leg up high and then were able to wrestle him onto the rack- I am old and weak We drove him out and took him to a cooler where we weighed him at 253 lbs add 17% for a live weight approaching 300 lbs.

I cannot thank Dave enough for his generosity and his guidance thru this hunt. I also need to thank my very understanding wife. My wife's only reservations were that she did not want a big taxidermy bill because of my hunt famous last words. The kids will have to work a few extra hours to help with there tuition cost away at college I plan on a tanned hide and cleaning the skull both trophies in my book.

Thank You Dave and I hope you get another big one this year.

Steve

[reinhard1]

congradulations on a fantastic hunt. i'm sure the story could have been much longer with all the exitment and everything involved. but it was very well said indeed. good luck.

[TRZ II]

Great Job. You are a lucky man to get a nice guided hunt! Can I get his number?

[Sorgy]

thanks guy's. It was a great experience. Bear hunting is not to be taken for granted. The successful hunters are busting their tails collecting bait, driving up and back baiting, perfoming maintenence on their equipment, baiting some more and just maybee they may have an active bait. Others pay guides or outfitters to do the baiting and set up there hunts for them and it cost plenty. I understand SOME of the work that goes into hunting (but not all of it) them every year or every other year. It is more of a passion for some of these guy's to do it year after year and week after week. I am very lucky indeed to have a friend that is very passionate about his bear hunting.

Good Luck everyone who is still putting in the sweat equity. Not many guides are guiding after the first two weeks of the season.

Steve

p.s. the chops I had tonight were fantastic. Chops, sweet corn and fried potatoes.

[certified jumbo]

what a hunt!!!! congrats!!! i enjoyed my beer while reading this, fyi!!

[whitewolf6647]

Awesome story and very nice bear, congratulations.

[mrklean]

congrats on the first bear

[paceman]

Great hunt and story. Thanks for sharing!

[luckydog25]

What a great story!! I felt like i was there with you..thanks for sharing!!

[Boar]

Awsome story, hunt an all around just plain cool job, Way to go! Makes me wish I was there to, but then I came to the part of the blue cheese salad an then remeber Im glad i have my own stites great job boar

[HooknHorns]

Great story, nice job. Now your hooked on the fun.

[RumRiverRat]

Great Story!

Dave sounds like a great friend to have!

[Outdoor Authority]

good story and enjoyed reading about another first bear.