School me on black bears ***Update page 7: Getting better!

[Greg Szalewski]

Good luck to you Mike. I will be up that way tomorrow hunting with my Godson. Don't listen to Tom. Your story will be a better fit for the Stump Shooter. Or at least a pic. 8^) I look forward to hearing the outcome.

[suburbanirma]

Good luck tomorrow, Mike. May the giant show up at 7 p.m. and your shot true. BTW, a story on set-up, baiting, trials and tribs, culminating with a great shot, post shot excitement and hero pic would be a fantastic story. Again, good luck and have FUN!

[NBK]

Pray it's so Tom!
Spoke with Sara today. Good luck on the elk hunt.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Mike,

I suspect you might be in the stand now.  I hope its going well.

[NBK]

Not yet!
Pics have shown all activity to be in the evening. Getting in the stand at 2:00 and sitting 6 hours till dark.
Following the exact same routine as normal baiting with the only difference being my level of scent control is changing from no control to fanatic level.  
SW wind tonight which is good.  
 I'll be MIA now for a bit as there's poor cell service out there.  I'll report when I can.
God I love this!

[DarkTimber]

Good luck Mike!

[NBK]

Hit the big bear. High and forward. No blood and 8-10" of penetration. Bad storms any minute. Sucked it up and called a friend with a hound. Waiting for him to show. Gonna vomit now.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

[suburbanirma]

Pulling for you, Mike. Hope the dog works out. Could be quite an adventure tonite. Good luck!

[TURKEYFOOTGIRL]

Good luck! Keep us posted. Saying prayers

[NBK]

Dog found the trail and good blood. Skies opened up at 10:00.   Beyond a downpour and lost the trail. Got another guy and hound lined up for tomorrow morning.   Meat will be spoiled, hair will slip off hide but that bear will die and I have to try and find him. Guys, this is the not so glamorous side of hunting and it's on me but there won't be any hunting tomorrow, it'll be spent searching.

[suburbanirma]

Meat and hide might be OK if you find the bear  within a few hours of its demise. Get on the trail again right away this morning... a hound should be able to find it. Good luck, Mike.

[NBK]

No bear. Did grid searches early this morning because of the heavy rains. Had a game warden with a rifle join my dad and I because the hound hunters said after the inches of rain we got the dogs would be useless.
Blood gone, no scent for dogs to follow and then the worst storm of the summer hits today at 9:30.  Torrential rain, hail, downed trees and power outages across the area including us.   Continued looking until 2:00 and we called it.

I'm gonna check out for awhile, regroup, and think about what direction I want to go.  This was a beautiful animal and I have to get my sh*#t straight before I head back out.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Sorry to hear this Mike.  Best wishes.

[Doc Nock]

Sorry for the loss... but it sounds like you made a lion's effort to do the right thing!

They used to say in MT when I lived there, "If'n ya ain't been bucked off a horse, ya aint rid much".

I think that same adage goes for losing an animal somewhere in your career!

We do all we can.  practice, practice and practice more, but the mind and body cannot create the stress of a hunt shot and conditions!

And animals move!

I about quit bow hunting once over an animal that I liver shot and lay in thick stuff where I couldn't shoot nor get down to sneak in on... watched in for 2.5 hrs. About threw up and gave up hunting with bows!

You do all you can do and then some more. Then forgive yourself but never forget.  Get back on the horse!

[Izzy]

So sorry for you. Ive lost a dream critter to spoilage and I relive it almost every morning while drinking my coffee in the dark of morning. It sucks but is beyond our control.

[suburbanirma]

You certainly had Mother Nature working against you on the retrieval efforts. Huge storm this morning again dumped a couple of inches of rain on the landscape. Tough for a dog to pick up long-gone scent or blood. I know you are feeling bummed out but you did all you could do under the circumstances.

[TURKEYFOOTGIRL]

I had the exact same thing happen when I had my Wisconsin bear tag except the hit was low in the chest. 100 yards into trail a torrential rain hit. No bear. So sorry.

[Cavscout9753]

More planning and preperation could not have been done, and a greater effort to recover could not have been given. Fate always gets a vote. I couldn't imagine how tore up you must be, but you should not have any regrets. Who knows, the bear could have lived, and if not, little goes to "waste" in the woods. I have enjoyed tagging along vicariously through your preperation, the enthusiasm and energy were almost tangible. I hope you bounce back after licking your wounds. So long as you can pull the string there's always going to be a "next time", and I can't wait to read about that one as well!

[The Ole' Bowhunter]

We do our own baiting in Canada and get good results in dense, boggy type terrain where bears feel comfortable and secure.  We have in the past used pastries and still do to some extent however have switched to using granola mixed with honey and molasses.  We also do a honey burn whenever we open our baits with a little vanilla extract mixed in addition to spritzing nearby vegetation with various extracts such as watermelon,licorice.  Good Luck and let us know how you make out.  

I also recommend fletching your arrows with three, bright feathers on your bear hunting arrows such as white or yellow because in the dim light conditions associated with bear hunting, they are easier to follow with the naked eye and will help you in determining how to follow-up on the blood trailing.