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

[talltines]

Great stuff Steve.  I sure hope Daniel can make that Manitoba trip!

[RM81]

Great pics.  Can't wait to hear the rest.
   

[Steve O]

So I had three bait sites to cover the island.  Russ' site from last year was deep in a swamp on the south third of the island.  

My bait covering the center section of the island was my absolute favorite.  It was at the end of a 1/4 mile by 100 yard wide clear cut that was all grown over in raspberry bushes.  I placed the bait where the raspberries joined a cedar swamp and a hardwood ridge.  The bears had everything they needed and they found my goodies on their short nightly forays.  It was our favorite becasue we could get a tasty snack right thru the last weeked of baiting which was Labor Day.  After that, the berries were dried out and picked over, but the bears by then knew there was another food source right there from me.

My bait covering the northern third of the island was at the end of a hardwood bench where a cedar swamp made basically a 90 degree turn.  

I will say, there was quite a bit of anticipation returning to the baits for the first time, especially after a talk with Uncle Barry about a few things I should have done on my initial setups...I have those locked in for next time, but things were OK as all the baits were hit.  Russ' was just picked at--it took a while for that one to heat up, but the Raspberry and North bait were destroyed.  Then, once we started looking at the trail cam pics, we REALLY got excited.  Raspberry and North bait had multiple bears, and multiple is being conservative.  They each also had different BIG bears coming into them, and coming into them at all times in the afternoon with plenty of shooting light.

[StanM]

Just started reading this, this morning and covered it all...might be late for work, but couldn't stop  

[Steve O]

I tell you what, trail cameras are a gift.  I started hunting when you tied a piece of string across a trail and it pulled a pin out of a digital clock when the animal walked by.  I remember when my Uncles and I split the cost of ONE 35mm CamTrakker to run on their property.  That thing cost a fortune to run.  Now you can buy units for under $100 that work 10x better than those of just a few years ago and take and hold THOUSANDS of pictures.  And we got thousands!  There was plenty of activity at all the baits.  I will post a couple of the big bears.


 


 


 


North bait above and Raspberry below.


 


 


 


 

[Jon Stewart]

Great story.  You have some nice looking bear coming in.

[hayslope]

VERY nice bears!

Can't wait to hear the rest of this one!!!!

Ya can't question those bear's taste.....gotta love chocolate!

 

[Steve O]

Each bait site got a tree prepared with a set of climbing sticks,a bow rope, and a hook to hang my Lone Wolf Assault stand.  I could slide into whichever stand had the best wind and be ready to hunt quickly and quietly.

The North bait had the least amount of cover to hide me, so we cut off a few Cedar branches and used a rachet strap to give me some background cover.

 
 


 

[Steve O]

A couple of diversions before the hunt itself starts:


We are blessed in Michigan to have a world class Salmon fishery in the Great Lakes.  They are mainly taken on the big lakes; that is as easy as it gets...trolling on a charter boat and reeling in your prize.  The ultimate way to fish for these titans is in their spawning streams when they are fresh from the lake.  Trying to stop a 20# fresh from the lake Chinook (or as they are more aptly called "King") Salmon in a 40' wide stream full of logs and snags is about as much fun as you can have on a flyrod.  Our Crown Jewel is the Pere Marquette River in western lower Michigan.  The PM is a National Wild and Senic River and has no dams or impoundments for its entire length.  It is not stock; these fish are wild and are a natural producing and sustaining fishery.  Well, the Kings were in and I just had to stop          

My two best fish of the day:

18# Female

   


20# Male

   


   

[KodiakMag]

Hungry now.

[FerretWYO]

This is great. Those are some Bruts you got coming in there.

[kibok&ko]

from here, for us , it's just like a kind of dream coming true ... keep it coming please !

[TJK68]

Great read and pics

[Steve O]

Last diversion before the hunt...

I have never shot an animal with a two blade head.  Even when I shot a compound, I shot big Snuffers.  My best hunting buddy has shared many a camp with Roger--between them, there have been many hundreds of animals cleanly killed.  I talk with the Wensels all the time; it is pretty clear what they think works! If I am worried a little that a Snuffer is too much, I drop down to a slim Woodsman.  I trust all the experience of these men and I have never had an issue or bad experience with a Snuffer or Woodsman.  

Enter Larry Hanify.  Larry was making Abowyers  LONG before all the single bevel hype.  Larry's shop is not all that far away and being an engineeer, I am always interested in seeing how things are done and if there really is a better way.

After seeing how the Abowyers are made, and the precision and hand crafting that goes into them, I knew if I was  ever  going to shoot a 2 blade, it was going to be one of his Brown Bear.  You can't pick one up and hold it without quality oozing all over your hand        

The final straw was when I stopped by the shop a few weeks ago and they were doing the final sharpening of a batch of Brown Bears.  Larry uses one of those double grinding wheels; standard wheel on one side and paper on the other.  I really wish I had a video of how it was done, but throughout the process, the head sharpness is tested on a Post-It note.  The whole length of the head slices off 1/16"-1/8" strips of the width of the little yellow note paper.  They can FEEL if there is a section of the blade that is not as sharp as the rest and polish that just a little more until it is just razor perfection.

 


 


 


 


   


   


 

I grabbed a pack, mounted them, and put the rubber coating back on!

[Steve O]

So now I have a tag, my limit of 3 places to hunt spread out evenly, and razor sharp broadheads.  Now for the bow, which TallTines?

The Camo beater!  After last year's pummeling we took in Alaska, it had earned it's place at the top of the stable.

 


It is 55# @ 28" and shoots any 250g head like those Abowyers to perfection off any full length 340.  That bow is a rocket!

All set now with the pre work.  The hunt is about to begin!

[steadman]

Loving it Steve!  

[Manitoba Stickflinger]

I LOVE THAT BOW! Seriously...it's the fasted curve I've ever shot!!! I think the real BW cut himself making it and put some mojo in it!

[Dirtybird]

Ha ha Ryan, I believe all his bows have mojo.

[Mike Vines]

Steve, I'm loving the story.  I keep checking back to see what new pieces you have blessed us with.

  I hate to do it to everyone else, but we have a hunt to meet about.  I will be there around 12:45.  I need to stop at the house and get your silencers first then I'll be on my way.

[wapiti792]

Best thread ever man  

Those are Michigan bears? Look like some of those Manitoba beasts at Ryan's. Keep it coming!