Bear Quest 6 Start Your Engines!!!!

[awbowman]

I would think that the bones would take a tint well.  Maybe something to bowdoc's liking.

[Warberg]

After talking to Tom,, the wait on group twos pics and storys are       me..
Tippit knives are now my favorite..Well done Doc Springer.

[Whip]

I know that sometimes the inclination is to think that week 2 guys are at a disadvantage - that the week 1 guys have already picked everything clean.
But reality says that they may have the best of it, knowing what was learned by theirs crew.  I'm on the edge of my seat  waiting to find out!!

[kuch]

I'll break the ice but you all will be disappointed. I drew the 41Mm stand , the stand in which Tippit got the biggest bear of week one. Saturday sat 7.5 hours and had a nice bear circle me about 30 yards  out  at 8:30. Sunday ,same stand 6.5 hour sit . Had a 100lber come in at 7:30 but she looked at me when crawling under a limb and did a 180 and bugged out. Sat there monday through wed and saw no bear. Switched stands thurs....not a fun sit . My thermacell took a crap at 5:00 so I sat there with just a headnet til 9:45. No bear. went to my son's origianl stand on Friday. My son passed on a few smaller bears on the Glove and switched to the Beaver pond . He saw a small bear and a "real nice one" as he put it. He turned in his seat and his seat cushion sweaked ....big bear took off.  On Friday night , the small bear came to my bait at 7:30. I let him get comfortable and put a good shot on him. He died in seconds. I shot at 7;34 , I packed out the stand and bear and was in the truck to pick up other hunters by 7:52. So  it worked out for me at the last minute, but I didn't have my camera and had to pick up 2 other hunters....not to mention we had to skin it out before we packed out  We hunted very hard all week . My son put in 44 hours in the stand and did not quit.And he wants to go back. We had a blast and plan to be back if possible. Those that have not been to bear quest are missing out. It's a great time.Thanks to Tom and Bowdoc and all the guys in camp that helped out.
    There will be better stories than mine to follow , I'm sure .Give 'em time.....work sucked today !

[Greyfox54]

Congrats Kuch ! You got a bear! Tell your Son not to be disapointed He's doing the right thing by putting in the time . You never know when things will happen and besides you can learn alot by watching and waiting . Bring him back next year . Fred

[Smokey84]

One of the most challenging and rewarding trips I have ever had the chance to experience.  My bear sighting were limited but it wasn’t for a lack of effort.  I drew the cove for my first spot, after my first three days I am now very fluent in squirrel chatter and have a much better understanding of their social hierarchies.   On the 3rd day I spotted a sow and 2 cubs making their way along the tree line to my right but they never gave the bait a thought.  Later that evening I did spot what looked to be a pure white creature with very distinctive ears in the thicket off to my left.  The mysterious creature never left the thicket but when it moved it was very smooth and always had its attention directed to either me or the bait.  Very cool encounter.  After talking back at camp it was either an albino moose calf or a wolf.  Never got to see it again and never got a picture.   The next day Dennis and I spot 2 moose on the cove to the right on the way into the cove stand.   They didn’t stay around long enough to get a picture before they busted their way into brush.   Yet another damn cool encounter.  


After that I moved around to the moose tower, black label and moose path all with the same luck.  I did get the chance to see good bit of the area around black label after my good pal Chad sent me into the wilderness with some miss information!   :D   Love ya Chad! Hahaha For anyone that heads out there in the future, the path to the stand is at 11 o’clock from where you pull in!  


My week was filled with great laughs and even better people.  I learned a ton thanks to Zach, Larry, Jay and of course Tom and one of the greatest people ever to walk this planet BowDoc!   I have already stated my plans to my wife to make it next year.  I have some unfinished business!   I’m not sure it’s possible to really explain in words just what kind of experience this trip is.  It’s a hunting trip, it’s full of laughter and great food, it’s a trip to meet new people and make new friends.   It’s a trip I want to make sure I experience every year.

[battman]

Man I'm loving reading all these stories.I've yet to be on a deer hunt with a traditional bow but you all have got me wanting to go on a bear hunt.

[Sean B]

Awesome guys, congrats Kuch!

[Pierre Lucas]

Might as well start at the beginning..... Right off, I knew was going to be a hell of a trip at this point.... Chris forgot his camera while leaving on Thursday morning, so we went back to Chris's house and got his camera and Jean-Pierre, Chris, and I were on our way.  Glad we did.
 
About half way to Tom's house we all decided to make a little detour and instead of spending the night in Pittsfield we would spend the night in Rockport, Massachusetts.  A quaint little New England town on the ocean that I had visited some 30 years ago.  We got there around eight that evening got a room at a bed-and-breakfast right on the ocean. The owner directed us to a place up the road a few miles to the Lobster Pool where we proceeded to stuff ourselves on fresh delicious seafood. A great little place on the ocean with a beautiful sunset, lobster, fresh clams, fresh oysters and a few adult libations made for a wonderful evening in Rockport. That evening we spent some time outside on our deck overlooking the ocean listening to the waves crashing and enjoying the stars.

 The next morning we got up early to watch the sunrise at about 0430, took a little tour through Rockport and we were on our way to Tom's house at around noon to meet up with Jay, Larry and the Dwight…  

Have to get back to building some strings…. enjoy the pictures.


   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

God Bless,  Pierre

[Yellow Dog]

Pierre, looking good so far          

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Should have said something, My friend has a condo in Rockport. I will be there next weekend cashing in on the Blue Fish.

Cool stuff Chad, Congrats.

Pierre, Looking forward to the rest......  

[kuch]

thanks guys. really one of the most fun hunts to go on. I look like rudolph from where the black flies kept biting my nose thru the head net when my thermacell died.

[Yellow Dog]

Chad, congrats on your last minute bear. Tom knows how to do it right.

[JP Lucas]

Okay folks here is where the tempo of the hunt begins to pick up.   We are now off to Tom's house a 2 hour 45 minute drive to meet up with Jay, Larry, Dwight. We arrived at Tom's house and a few minutes later Jay Larry and Dwight show up and we exchanged pleasantries and got on with the task at hand.  Four drums of cakes and supplies for week two are now being loaded into our truck and Jay's SUV which are already fully packed we are now scrambling for places to stick everything.  Vehicles loaded and everything in shipshape where now on the race to La Tuque.  We arrive two 2 o'clock the following morning and we hook up with Chad Eli and Brian on the way, pull into a roadside parking place in La Tuque and try to catch a few zzzzs.

It's now Saturday morning, the guys are up and about and ready to go to the sport shop and meet up with week one guys. The excitement and anticipation is in the air and you can cut it with a knife.

At the sport shop we meet up with Chad, Zack, Jeff and Dennis, the rest of the week 2 hunters, while the week 1 guys are checking in their bears.  We meet Tom and Bow Doc and congratulate all the week 1 hunters and hear all the stories. It doesn't take long and we are on our way. About two hours later after traveling on a dusty gravel road checking some baits sites on the way, we arrive at camp.  Exhausted from the driving the day before and only getting a few hours of sleep everyone is still excited and starts unpacking and the party and hunt has begun. It's now Saturday afternoon and things are about to get started.  Bow Doc puts out some lunch for everyone(more on Bow Doc’s cooking later) and Tom puts all the stands in the hat and explains what is going on and we now draw our stands.  

Hopefully some of the other guys will jump in and take over on Saturdays hunts.

   
   
   
   
   
   

JP

[Whip]

The best part of Bear Quest threads is that we get all the great stories from week one, and then just as they are winding down week two steps in to start it all over again!

Bring it on boys!!

[awbowman]

I don't know Whip, looks like a "relaxed" bunch right there in the last picture.  

[Whip]

Yep, that's obviously the result of overfeeding by Bowdoc.  

[see]

Thats me in the sleeping bag as I had to lay down.Jay and Larry are in the toyota and jay snoars like a live bear so the ground was calling me.Man were we tired.We met Bowdoc who is an elderly man that was like a 12 yr old on steroids and had ADD multiplied 10 times.there was never a dull moment with him.sorry Doc I just could not resist saying this about you.l did eat good all week as Doc was always cooking up something good.I will let someone else chime in here and pick up the day on Sat.

[Pierre Lucas]

Mr. Dwight,

Need for you to tell us all about your stand and hunt on Saturday night.  This is a good one.

 Mostly everything is a blurr on Saturday after the lack of sleep and the rush of excitement...so let us hear it my friend.    

God Bless,  Pierre

[ranger 3]

OK, for all you bear hunters, I have seen a lot of diagrams of bears and they all seem a little different. So on a real bear say about 200# in you guys opinion, how big of a kill area is it?