Bear hunt in 2 days!

[Mudd]

Rick if you hadn't told me that was bear on the grill I would have sworn that meat cooking on there looks like leg quarters off of a chicken...lol

Great camp pictures!

I hope the same doesn't hold true for camps as workshop spaces.

Remember the old saying "A clean workbench is the sign of a sick mind!"

Your tent cabin is way too clean inside with everything in its place...lol

Thank you for sharing and trying to placate us until the rest of the kill story can be told.

God bless,Mudd

[DHR]

nice pics guys, makin me wish I was bear hunting.

[Rick Wiltshire]

Mudd -

Not big quarters but that would be one heck of a BIG chicken with quarters of that size  

[razorsharptokill]

Perfectly that is, right into the log about 2" from the top!
  Here you can see the arrow stuck in the log in a pic from my trail cam.

The bear jumped and trotted away about 10 feet. I was standing out in the open and the bear stared a hole through me as I tried to make like a tree. He finally started feeding again and I sunk back behind the stump and gathered my composure and another arrow.

At this point I was now a physical and mental wreck. You'd think I was shooting a huge pissed off grizzly or something! I got calmed down as much as I was going to and tried it again.

I repeated the same process of getting in position. The bear was even more figety now and I drew and let down several more times. I really should have passed on this shot but when I got an opening I let it fly. The arrow flight was bad from the begining. I think I may have caught some sleeve above my arm guard. That arrow fishtailed low and right. It must have glanced off his belly then took a chunk out of a log beneath him. He took off and made about a 30 yard circle and stood out in the brush looking at the bait. He sat down for a bit then came back into the bait and ate a bit more. He then stepped over the logs and calmly walked away.

I knew the shot was bad and prayed he hadn't taken it in the guts. After about 15 minutes I walked over and found one 1/4" spot of blood. I went back to my stump and sat down to replay the whole event.

After about 5 minutes of mentally bashing my brains out I looked out to my front and saw this odd black spot between two trees about 50 yards out. I caught movement and knew it was another bear.

[lovethehunt]

Sounds like you were in the heat of it all!! Keep the story coming.    

[Mudd]

See what I mean Rick!...lol Just another of my mistakes in 2010..lol

I have a feeling there's more to come?? So far my heart goes out to you Jim.

I'm willing you success... for what it's worth.

Thanks again for sharing with us.

God bless,Mudd

[razorsharptokill]

I watched that bear skirt around me checking things out. He was super nervous. It was getting dark and I didn't want to get pinned down at the bait with him feeding. I made that mistake earlier in the week and had to just stand up and walk out scaring the bear off. I found out later that I should have thrown some sticks opposite of where I wanted the bear to run so it wouldn't see me walk out.

This nights bear never did come in and and I'm glad. I'm sure I couldn't shoot a decent shot at this point. I quietly snuck out after he left.

[razorsharptokill]

I walked back to camp bummed about my "two" shots but glad to see the bear was had only a flesh wound. Hunting bear on the ground is one of the biggest rushes I've ever had.

When I got back I was still wound up like an 8 day clock! I think everyone got a kick out of my story and how excited I was. I think this was the same evening that Rick got his bear.

[razorsharptokill]

The next evening I had a much bigger bear come in. I saw him stalking around the bait very cautiously as he had the night before. It took him a while but he finally came in and offered me a shot. I had a military Gortex parka on. About half draw he heard it and bolted.

Shortly he came back in and I SLOWLY took the parka off behind my stump.

I got back into position and picked my spot. I was much calmer this time and had a lot bigger target. His front leg on my side was forward and I chose to put my shot right behind it. He was angling away from me slightly though. the arrow penetrated up to the nock right where I was looking. It was just too far forward. It exited from the center of his chest thus missing all the vitals.

He was the last bear I saw on this trip. I'd do it all over again in a second. Next time I'll be better informed and much more confident.

Thanks for looking.

[JEJ]

Jim, sure sounds like you had a great time on those bear hunts. Great story telling too, it felt like I was there hiding behind a tree next to you watching Boo Boo and his big uncles. You saw some beautiful woods, got some shots, ate like kings, racked up some lasting memories, what a great trip, thanks for sharing it with us. Did you find and bring back any black, shiny rocks to knap on?    

[longarrow]

If you've never been to Northern Idaho, you may maynot come back to OK! It's God's country that's for sure! Love those cool nights and early mornin'!!!

[razorsharptokill]

Originally posted by JEJ:
Jim, sure sounds like you had a great time on those bear hunts. Great story telling too, it felt like I was there hiding behind a tree next to you watching Boo Boo and his big uncles. You saw some beautiful woods, got some shots, ate like kings, racked up some lasting memories, what a great trip, thanks for sharing it with us. Did you find and bring back any black, shiny rocks to knap on?        

You sized up my whole trip in one paragraph except for the shiney rocks. Didn't see any Obsidian.