So....
It has been a long and arduous season for bear this spring. Different locations ( all on the same 600 acres of private property ), different setups ( two natural ground blinds eventually to a natural tree blind ), different bait variations and a crazy amount of walking.
I spent every day I could out there and thanks to a very generous work schedule that was a lot.
I used a three sided ground bait crib which worked amazing. I built it with fallen timber in the area. It was three sided so I could control what side the bears came in and exactly where they would be standing. It was awesome how well it worked.
An observation I had is that the mosquitoes were brutal at ground level. Once in the tree they were about 10 % of what they were on the ground. On the ground I had to use the thermocell but in the tree I never had to use it at all ( not looking to start that debate again just an observation ).
Another observation I had was that not matter how consistent I was with replenishing the bait those bears came in whenever they wanted. There was no real pattern to it. They visited anytime of day. Made for some very long sits.
Alright...So lets fast forward to the last day of the season.
I headed to the stand around 9:30. Every morning I went to the grocery store to pick up the bakery goods they had for me. The deal we had was that I could have whatever they were going to recycle as long as I got there relatively early and didn't let it sit there all day. That wasn't a problem as the bears weren't showing up consistently in the morning. Again they were extremely unpredictable ( wouldn't be much fun if they were ).
I made up two five gallon pails of bait as opposed to the normal one. Normally I just carry the one in my hunting backpack. I sat in the tree for a little while before a juvenile boar came in. It would come and go over the course of the day. Sometimes it would seem to be spooked other times it would just saunter off. Now I don't know about the rest of you but a tree or ground blind has the amazing ability to put me asleep.
Over the course of the day I had to leave the blind a few times to stretch my legs. Come 7:30 my body was aching ( especially my knees ) and with sunset at 8:55 that night I knew I had to go for one last walkaround. Ten minutes later I'm back in the stand. Not even five minutes after that one of my two target bears sneaks in from behind me.
Attachment 40510 ( pic is from a week earlier. If you look closely my tree stand I built is centre of the pic near the top of the photo. I used camoflage burlap from Cabelas to cover in the sides and clothes pins to quickly attach it ).
She sneaks in and lies down in the crib. No shot. She proceeds to, over the next hour, stuff her face all while crouching or lying down. I tried everything I could to get her to stand. I yelped, scraped my backpack, knocked on the tree, I think I even said get up in a loud voice. Nothing worked.
8:40 she gets into a sitting position. No shot.
8:42 she rolls over her left hip into a standing positon facing away from me. No shot.
She starts walking off.
8:43 she goes slightly left. No shot
8:44 a little more left. Starting to quarter away but still no shot.
8:45 a little more left. A decent quartering away angle,not what I wanted, but the best chance I was going to get.
8:46 I send the Excalibur Grizzly bolt downrange.
8:48 The death groans. Holy crap. I've just filled my first tag EVER.
I stayed in the tree until 9:25.
Once down I went over to where she was hit. No bolt. No blood. There wasn't one spot of blood the whole time I searched. I followed game trails and eventually found her less than 40 yards from point of impact. So once I found her I had to walk back to get the truck and see how close I could get it to her.
Attachment 40511Fortunately the kids have too many sleds. Did I mention I do everything on foot. No ATVs. I was completely knackered after dragging her through the dense cedar bush.
Attachment 40512It was 10:40 by the time I got her out to the truck and around 11:25 by the time I had her loaded in.
Attachment 40513
Unfortunately she was rubbed out on both sides. So no rug or wall hanging. Getting a half body half stepping out with the mouth slightly open on driftwood and moss, an European skull mount in a display case and the rear claws made into a Native necklace.
I skinned, gutted, quartered and butchered the entire animal by myself. Not too shabby for a relative newbie ( been hunting since the fall of 2018 ).
I went through a wide spread spectrum of emotions the next few days following. What an experience. I will never forget it for the rest of my life. Thank you all for your help and suggestions.
