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Thanks guys for all the "Luck"! My wife and I are buzzing around, packing all our stuff. Well, we are packing what we can find. Everything is strewn all over since the end of hunting season.
I am planning on sitting on the ground mostly and hunting with the bush in the bag suit. I have taken a bear from the ground before and the excitement level is incredible.
We have packed and weighed all of our bags and after building a couple of quivers will retire for the night.
I intend on holding out for a larger bear at least for a couple of days. Maybe I can get one that weighs more than me. Wally has a huge bear coming in and has been saving it for my wife. I think he might like her better.
Parker is our friends son and in reality has priority since he has never taken a bear.
Well, lots to do yet. more details when I get back, bigjim
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Good Luck, Big Jim, to you and the Mrs. Big Jim.
Not that you are at a loss for bows, but if i had known that you were heading after bruins, I would have insisted that you hold on to Snake Eyes a bit longer and break her in Big Jim fashion!
Look forward to the stories!
-------------------- "The Joy is great of him who strays In the shady woods on summer days, With eyes alert and muscles steady, His longbow strung, his arrows ready". Maurice Thompson Posts: 775 | From: Roanoke, VA | Registered: Jan 2012
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Well, we got back yesterday and as always, it was a very enjoyable trip. We all had fun, but no bears were brought back to the states. Our trip started out with missing luggage and a liesurely stay a local hotel while we waited for it to arrive. The following day we trekked to Wally's place near Fredricton NB. After purchasing our license's, we shook out the gear and went to the woods. Baits were all being hit, but a lot of early feeders. I have never spent so much time in a bear stand. We would arive about 10:am and sit until 10:pm. Not norm for Bear hunting, but we were routinely seeing bears around noon - 3pm. For some reason, Barbara never got to see a bear. I had one encounter early on while sitting on a ground stand I set up using my bush in the bag poncho but the bear was not as big as my last so I let him walk. On the last day, I had two bears at the bait when I walked in at 10:am and then one bear came back at 2: and then returned every hour for the next 4. He acted very nervous and never stayed long, besides he too was too small so I passed.
About 6:, the biggest living bear I had ever seen showed up and he was a Whopper! I understand that most everyone over estimates the size of bears, but this big boy looked like a fall bear with a BigJim sized head and belly. he stood well over the top of the 55gal drum and made it look rather small. My official guess of weight would be over 450 lbs. He came in and sat down on the back side of the barrel(maybe 12 yards away). As I waited for things to develop, his nose went up in the air and he was gone. Unfortunatly, the wind had been circling that day. I had been hoping that the bears would not be able to discern the difference between my scent and that of the guide doing the baiting. No such luck and that was the end of my bear encounters. Parker (the son of a friend that joined us)had been fortunate to see bears (as many as 4) every evening. A couple were nice, but to his credit, he was holding out for a jaw dropper. That is not something you see from many hunters and even less from youth hunters. On his last evening in stand, he was encountering bears as usual, but it was not until late that his turn came up. I believe the big bear that had visited my stand meandered to his. Parker told me that this bear was so much larger than anything he had seen that he had gotten immediately excited and new he would shoot given the opportunity. The bear layed down in front of the barrel and reached in with his paw and head, but was too big to go much further in. At about 20 yards, Parker sent a broadhead deep into the bear. We looked for the bear a little the evening of the hunt, but for lack of blood (common even on the best shot placements on bears), we had to plan a daylight search. By the time we started searching in the morning, it had been raining for several hours, but we had a crew of people to help and I was feeling good. At about 50 yards, we found the fmj arrow on the ground with the broadhead absent. No doubt the pt was stuck in a bone as the shaft was broken and missing the head. We searched for several hours using grid search and compass but were unable to recover the big bear. Unfortunatley we couldn't stay and look another day due to our airline itinerary. I know Parker had to be devastated as I know that I would have been. He handled it like a champ and we worked out plans on what we would do different for the next bear hunt.
All in all, it was an enjoyable experience and it has left us all with a heated desire for the next bear hunt. Back at work, BigJim
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thanks for the update. My condolences to Parker, a lost animal is never easy to take, and even harder on a whopper of your first. Hopefully the guide will find it, but The woods of New Brunswick can be thick and formidable. I will put out some positive mojo.
-------------------- "Our outdoor heritage owes more to the countless Lords who questioned and explored than to Lord Ripon, who simply chose to shoot and tally." E.D.Thomas Jr. Posts: 3135 | From: Waldoboro, Maine | Registered: Mar 2008
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Great story Jim, sounds like a memorable trip in spite of Parkers loss. Let's hope the Guide finds him. I would love to visit the northeast someday and check out those New Brunswick Blackies..... Just getting close to a Big Bear is a real heart pumper!!!
-------------------- The American system of democracy will prevail until that moment when politicians discover that they can bribe the electorate with their own money Posts: 4497 | From: San Luis Obispo, California | Registered: Mar 2009
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Thanks for the story and sorry you didn't get to harvest a big one but you probably enjoyed the outdoors just as much. )
-------------------- "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach that man to fish and he will eat for a life time" Posts: 419 | From: OHIO | Registered: Apr 2010
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Thanks for the story Jim, it sounds like you guys had a good time and hopefully, were able to rest a little...
-------------------- PBS associate Compton Traditional Bowhunters TGMM Family of the Bow Posts: 1744 | From: Hudson, Ohio | Registered: Aug 2006
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Sounds like a good time was had by all 
