Bear Quest V -- Stories for all Posts

[buckeye_hunter]

Larry,

I will get my pics and hopefully video up tommorrow.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

 This thread keeps getting better.

Again, Congrats to all involved.

[Kip]

The eerie cry of the loon,smell of the trees,bayous(I guess rivers)and lake with rocks in them and many other sights and sounds I had missed since leaving two years ago but I was back and very happy.I will start my story with a knife trade.I knew Jeff Springer was going to be there so I asked him if a knife trade with someone was something he would be intrested in.He knew who I was talking about.A man named Everette Johnson who hunts and fishes and makes knives and is handicapped by not having any arms and does everything with his feet.I contacted him and he said he would make a knife for Jeff and exchange one with him.The pic below was our knife exchange and I hope to get Jeff's knife to him soon.I just noticed I was in my P.J.'s still when we did this.
 
The knives were both made with deer antler handles without each other knowing.

[bill langer]

Hey Doc-did you get an instant head ache when you looked at the pics Larry posted of the three wine bottles... I did...   ...

[Kip]

This is one of the ways Bear Quest members can pass time if they kill there bear early.
 
Here is Tom Phillips and bowdoc planning something to make sure everything goes right.
 

[vermonster13]

COngrats Larry and great thread going guys.

[ksbowman]

Who would ever have thought that a traditional bear hunt would have a success rate of 75%? Certainly not me. Just to have the opportunity for a shot would have been a success by any hunters standards. We shared camp with a great bunch of people and one dog Tilly, with a cook of insane porportions. Bowdock kept us entertained the whole time and all the meals were very good. How anyone could pack two lifetimes of experiences in one is amazing. I was lucky enough to score a bear on the fourth day. Day one started with us rolling into camp midmorning and unpacking. As soon as things were unloaded we began the task of replentishing the bait in the 23 bait sites and stands Tom Phillips and his helpers had set up. I rode with Tom the first baiting session and was shown the stand I had drawn "The Point". It was tucked way back at the end of a two track and had been hit before we rebaited. Sitting it the first evening I had a bear come in to seven or eight yards, but was very spooky and when I moved my right foot my ankle popped and he blew out of there immediately. That was all I saw the first night. Day two was rain all day and we unwrapped so many sweets that I can't even look at a Twinkie again. Day three was uneventful and I spotted no bears

[Froggy]

Getting very good.....

[Greyfox54]

Hey Jeff don't leave us hanging . Did you have any encounters with that bear ? I would have been married to that stand for the week , he looked like a keeper to me . Big bears seem to follow you around , what's your secret ? Fred

[Missouri CK]

Here is a video of a bear that came into my stand at 4:30 one evening.  I was doing a honey burn which certainly was an attraction for him.  Sorry the video is taken with the camera sideways as I wasn't expecting him at that moment so your going to have to turn you head to watch it. He takes a while to come into to the view so be patient.

 

[ksbowman]

At the end of the day it was really enjoyable to take one of these   If you can't speak French that's a shower , not what you think. During the day on Tuesday our forth day I talked with Larry Surtees about his experience sitting at "KM 41" the night before and the pictures he'd taken in that stand. He had pictures of bear coming into that bait. Since my stand at the "point" hadn't been hit for a couple days I ask Tom if I could sit the KM41 stand and he said sure. I climbed into the stand at 4 PM and got ready. At 6:20 I saw movement on the trail I walked in on about 25 yards away. The black form of a bear soon appeared. He was extremely cautious and would take a step or two, then stop and smell all around. Finally he got in to 5 yards, but was behind some cover. He caught a nose full of something he didn't like and he blew out of there fast. I got ready hoping another bigger bear was up above and he smelled him and not me. About 10 minutes later a bear came down the hill about 90 degrees to the left of where the first bear came in. I believe it was the same bear, but it was the same size so he must have just circled. One or two steps and he would stop and smell repeating this over and over until he was about fifteen yards in front of me. Then he sat down! There was a huge cloud of bugs all around him and he occasionally shook trying to get some relief from the blood suckers! I knew exactly how he felt. Then he stood once more and came closer. There is a pile of brush placed behind the bait barrels to encourage the bears to came only to the front (standside) of the bait. He wanted no part of that and came right over the top of the brush pile, then sat down again. Fighting the bugs once more and shaking his head he once again checked the scent. He rose and came to the bait finally feeling comfortable he picked up a sweet and ate it. I was ready for a shot with my bow up and sitting comfortably on the stand only 6 feet off the forest floor. As he stuck his head in the bait his left front leg swung forward giving a open shot. I drew and released in one motion. The Pearson switchblade hit right where I aimed and exited through his right front leg. He came up biting at the shaft protruding out his rightside. Taking off at a staight run towards my tree I thought he was coming up for a breif moment. Then as he passed my tree he went head over heels and lay dead 4 yards from my tree. The shot was made at 6 yards so he'd only gone 10 yards after the hit. I always pray for a good shot and a quick kill and it certainly was delivered.              My bow was a 64#@29 1/4" 60" Pearson Mercury Marauder td with Pearson Switchblade heads on 2215 aluminum xx75s

[WhiteOaks]

       

[steadman]

Atta Boy Ben!! Congrats Bud!! I have a hard time believing that bear smelled anything besides you      

[Jack Guard]

Way to go guys.  Awesome story.  

Larry, i just knew you would have great luck.  Its good to see you in that picture with the Bear.  

This trip is on my wish list too.  One of these days i will be home long enough to make a trip like this.  

Keep it coming guys, i am really enjoying it.

[buckeye_hunter]

Before I say anything about the bear I shot, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for being able to have a military veteran out in the stand with me. I appreciate the efforts of our armed service men and women greatly. Thank you for your service Larry and thank you for agreeing to film my hunt.  

[Kip]

Five years ago on a cruise to Alaska with five other couples I celebrated my birthday on June 19th.I told my wife that it would be nice if I could be out of state or country for my birthday from now own at 57 and not getting younger or stronger.She thought it was a good idea little did she know three of those years would be at Bear Quest but being the great wife she is cherred me on.
After arriving in Albany for about a half hour I spoted a guy with a big fish on his tee shirt.I walked up to him and he turned out to be Randy Page a colonel in the U.S Army and my pardner for the long trip up of which I will not bore you with.Back soon

[Terry Green]

Larry is correct....these group hunts are best if there is one thread for all the stories, and that the name of the hunt is also in the title.  Making a thread for week one and a separate one for week two also works great.  These are the ones to surely get archived in the future.

This keeps all the stories together and you get to see all the players on one thread.

If you start your own thread, that's cool too, it just that time has shown us those kinda get lost over time, but the 'main' threads hang around.

If you have already started your own thread, feel free to copy and paste your story here as well.

[buckeye_hunter]

Larry and I headed out to "The Bird" stand in the early afternoon. Tom wanted us to put up another hang on stand, but I was more comfortable with my climber. The location only had one stand and that was not big enough for both of us. There was a tree opposite the current stand and I knew my climber would work fine right there.

When we got to the stand, I went up with my Summit climber and then Larry handed everything up to me. I set the climber at the same height as Larry's stand at about 6 1/2 feet.

It was prety cool to have two people up in stands that close together. One filming and the other shooting. I just couldn't get comfortable in my stand because the seat angle was wrong. As a result, I moved WAY too much and no bears were coming into the stand. I stood for a bit and leaned back against the stand, but the seat creaked when I did that. Finally, I decided to move the top part of my stand to get it in a better spot and at a better sitting angle.

[cacciatore]

I love those old bows!

[buckeye_hunter]

After sitting for about 25-30 minutes quietly we started hearing bears in the periphery of the stand. I saw one behind Larry and I believe he saw a couple out behind me. Twigs would snap occasionally and the squirrels would sound alarms from time to time.

After awhile of this I looked to my right and saw a bear on the path. I got Larry's attention and said with hand gestures "Big bear over there!" I was actually fooled because she was no where near as big as I thought. 4-5 inches of thick fur all the way around makes bears look much larger than they are in reality. It didn't matter at this point, I was interested....

The bear popped her teeth a few times and then rushing in to the bait site. She took a minute or two to get comfortable, but then settled in facing directly toward me! She stayed that way for 20-30 minutes. This bear turned out to be the bear I had let go on the first night!