Russell Outdoor Guides- Bear camp 2017

[BrushWolf]

Headed home from Jerry Russell's bear camp. Had to stop for the night. Gonna catch some sleep and then finish the drive home tomorrow. Story to come...

[David lozzano]

[Fattony77]

Can't wait for this one...  

[BrushWolf]

I'm just gonna jump right in. Day 1- We met Jerry at HQ to get our license and follow him back to camp. After some paperwork we sat down and made a game plan about how the night was gonna go. Then we had some chow and settled in. With everyone loaded up we headed to our baits. Pics to come later.

[BrushWolf]

 

 

 

[BrushWolf]

[BrushWolf]

Ok just bear with me photobucket wants 400.00 for 3rd party image hosting. It wouldn't let me post all the pics I uploaded.    :mad:   We will get this stated somehow I have lots to share.

[Chad Orde]

Sounds good we will wait!

[BrushWolf]

Alright let's get back to it. The wife and I got dropped off and settled into our blind in record time. When I say Jerry gets you close I mean close enough to smell the stink on one of those fuzzy buggers. No shooters came in for us but we were ready to get back to camp and see if anyone else let one fl

 


 

[Etter]

Ive shot some bears here in ga on the ground but never over bait. Always been up a tree (although Ive had some visitors that way too).  That looks like a blast

[BrushWolf]

When we got back to camp we grabbed a bite to eat and waited for all the other hunters to return. The conversations  went as follows- "Did you see any bears?" "Yeah" "Any shooters?" "There sure were" and finally "Did you get one?""Yeah, I shot one" And that's how you start an awesome week at bear camp! Bobby made a great shot on a nice mature boat. After listening to him recount the story and everyone was done congratulating him it was time to turn in for the night. Now more than ever I was ready to shoot my bear.

 

[Cyclic-Rivers]

sounds good so far!

[KAZ]

[BrushWolf]

Day 2- Got up  early, had a nice breakfast, and enjoyed camp before getting ready to hunt in the evening. The weather had unfortunately turned windy and blew in rain. With the hope it would shift in our favor we went to sit. This was the beast we were waiting for. Keep in mind that's a 55gal drum in front of him.

 

 Mother Nature decided tonight wouldn't be the night for a bear. It was just too windy to allow the bears to move. We did get to kill some stuff around the fire though.
 
 

Day 3- After breakfast the wife and I decided to get our fishing license and get some line wet. We fished the river from HQ toward camp. What a relaxing way to spend our time before hunting. Since I went out tonight by myself while she stayed in camp Jerry put me in a tree.

[BrushWolf]

Day 3 cont.- The guide dropped me off and put out fresh bait while I climbed in the stand. After he left I looked around and had a really good feeling about the way things were set up. The bugs were really bad, the thermacell wasn't even making a dent, so I zipped up my bug jacket and got ready to wait. It didn't seem very long when out of the blue I heard what sounded like teeth cracking together. Immediately I thought that must be a bear. I turned and got ready to shoot. Out of the shadows a black form emerged. It looked to be a shooter. With that in mind I waited for him to present a shot. He walked quartered to me for about 12 yards. Then he locked up and stared in my direction. I thought it was over. Had I moved? Had he seen or heard me? So many thoughts were racing through my mind. Next thing I knew he turned and walked back the way he came. Only stopping once to look over his shoulder before disappearing out of my life. I was pretty bummed. I'd just missed my chance at my first bear. It was maybe 10 minutes later when I heard what I thought was red squirrels coming to the bait behind me. As I glanced over my shoulder I spotted Smoky the Bear on Steroids! This old boy was cruising, totally unconcerned with the bait. He seemed to be looking for love. Boy did I hope he came close enough for a shot. Next thing I knew he made a hard left behind some pines and I got ready. He was headed my way! As he came out on the trail he scraped his back on a pine as he ducked under it. Man what a bear! I needed him turn and offer a shot. He walked passed the bait with his nose to the ground tracking. He was coming right at me!! He was about 6 yards from the base of my tree. Now you've got to keep in mind I'm only about 8 feet up the tree while all this is happening. He was close enough I could have jumped out and rode him.  He stopped and slowly turned toward the trail camera. While he was smelling it I drew the bow. As he shifted completely broad side I left the arrow fly.

[BrushWolf]

It looked like the arrow hit it's intended mark. He whirled and took off down the trail like a streak. Within seconds I heard him go down and I knew it was over. I'd just shot my first bear!! Now the hard part... waiting until dark for pickup. After a 2 hour wait (translate eternity) I heard the truck. When I got in the truck it was pretty exciting because I wasn't the only one to shoot a bear. As we picked up the other hunters we found out that 4 bears had been hit. Back to camp for some food and a game plan. Since it was so late by the time we got in we decided to wait until morning to go recover our animals. I only got about 2 hours sleep that night. As morning came it was time to put Bear Dog to work.

 

After a short track my first bear lay maybe 50 yards from where we started. The big Simmons tree shark did its job. We loaded him in the truck and headed to find the other 3 bears. After all the bears were recovered we headed back to camp so the work could begin.  

   

Shot with my 49# Brushwolf bow and a Simmons tree shark. Close to 300 lbs and I'm tickled pink with my first bear. The next day the wife and I spent our time sight seeing on the reserve.

 
 
 
 
 

[Jerry Russell]

Man what a great group of hunters and we hammered some great bears. I am still traveling home and will post up some pictures and stories asap.  

Thanks to all the Tradgang guys that hunted with us.  
As promised, I will respond to all request for 2018 in the order I received them.  We have 6 openings left and Tradgang members and friends get first option.

[Ray Lyon]

Congratulations on a nice bear and great story.        

[Chad Orde]

Thanks for sharing that is great hunt!

[ron w]

     NICE !!!!!