A Perfect Michigan Bear Hunt Courtesy of TallTines and Abowyer...

[Benny Nganabbarru]

[M. J. Brundage]

Congratulations!  Great story, well told.

[hayslope]

Excellent story and photos.  Thanks for sharing this hunt and all the prep work with us.

BTW - that photo of the tenderloins in the skillet made my stomach growl......

Well done!

 

[vintage-bears]

A most enjoyable read.
Thanks so much for sharing your adventure with us.    
..........Philip

[Ray Lyon]

Originally posted by Steve O:
I said a prayer of thanks.  Thank you for my family, thank you for our country, thank you for letting me make a good clean killing shot.  That last part is very important.  Even though I know what I saw, I did not hear any death moan.  You all know how doubt likes to creep in if you don't see the animal fall.

I marked the tree where he went into the swamp and decided to wait one hour.

I am proud that I made it 40 minutes before I got down.  The shot was too good to have doubt.  Thank you Lord.

   

I started down the trail he took away from the stand.  

   

There was part of my arrow.  A little bit further, blood and the broadhead end of the shaft.  I went nice and slow and quiet marking each spot of blood, now coming more frequently on both sides of the trail.  At each pause to tie ribbon on the tree I would survey the area as far as I could see.  Then, there he was.  That is always such a moment of intensity.  Relief, sadness, and incredible joy all in one breath.

   


   


   

He had made it about 50 yards and took a hard right before going down.  He was about 10 steps fom the line he had been on.

Steve,
Outstanding story and I'll Ditto, Ditto Roger Norris's comments.  I know some guys get a little facial hair growth after a few days in the bush. Is that you on the right or the left in the hero shot?    

[Mark Zagrzebski]

Steve,

Congratulations on a beautiful animal! Looks like you put a lot of work and dedication into your hunt, I am glad it worked to perfection for you.

Mark

[rushlush]

Steve congrats! Thanks for a great story and pics.

[Longbow1953]

Good Job.  

[Yellow Dog]

Steve, very well done. You did it "your way"          

[Sean Butler]

fantastic story!

[Chimaster]

I forgot to add this on my last post. I wish you would have shot that bear with one of my bamboo arrows. Just kidding, I know what you think of them. I must say though, those single bevel heads did an awesome job. You've made a believer out of me. I think I'll give them a try on my buffalo hunt.

[Herdbull]

Steve, you did a great job all the way around with the hunt and the story. You depicted many collateral benefits of hunting bears over bait. It's up to the individual hunter to set his own personal challenges and you raised it for yourself and your family. Can you show a few more pictures of the bear? It may not mean a lot to others, but I'm curious as to age, hide square and skull measurements if you have them. Thanks, Mike

[Steve O]

Thanks Mike.  As far as weight, I don't know exactly.  I do know he was a lot heavier than any deer I have ever dragged.  Skull is still on the skin; by the point I gto him skinned I was working on 2 days with 3 hours of sleep, so I decided I will let the taxidermist take care of it.  The hide was 78" wide paw to paw and 74" nose to tail.  I will get the age of him at some point as each bear has to be sealed and they take a tooth for aging as part of that process.

I did a pretty good job of documenting the hunt until the bear went down...at that point I went into total work mode and without anybody around to give me a hand, the few pictures I have posted here are all I have of him and I   :(

[Chimaster]

Its good to see that Mike offered his congrats. I want to here about his hunts out West. Steve I still think the bear should be full mounted. It was a most worthy effort. Can't wait to here whats next!!!!

[billy shipp]

Great story, and hunt.....congrats on a nice bear.  

[Toecutter]

Thanks!!  Awesome in every way!!    

Nathan

[smoke1953]

Great story and hunt Steve. Congrats

[Bob Palmer]

Good job Steve! Great story! Congrats!!!!!  

[Ray Lyon]

Steve,

I hear you on the work part. When I got my 2008 MI bear it was 70 degrees out. Fortunately I had 4 guys help me get him out of the woods (we used an old tarp to set him on and each grabbed a corner) for the 1/3 mile out, which was mostly closed off two track. My bear weighed 225 on taxidermist scale and I thought that was bad enough moving around with help! The rug came out beautiful and I'm glad I had the help and tarp.  Thanks again for the great pictures and tagalong.

[bohuntr]

Congratulations Steve, awesome story and pictures!!!