Good to be afield again!

[Guy Miner]

Last night my son drove the Jeep up into the hills, and we spent some time on foot, glassing for bears. No luck, but it was good to be out. Still too darned hot for hunting until the cool of the evening, and even then, it seems pretty doggone warm. The young man was well armed with his .45 Colt Ruger Blackhawk and the good old .30-06 bolt action. First time he's carried a handgun while hunting. He enjoyed. I had the .30-30 Marlin-Glenfield with the little 2.5x Leupold and handloaded 170 gr Remington SP bullets. Found some elk sign, but no signs of bear at all. The blackberries are growing, but aren't ripe yet. That will draw them out in a few weeks...

This was just a quick, close-to-town hunt. Didn't have time to venture much farther last evening.

 

[YoteSmoker]

Guy, have you ever tried using wounded animal calls? While calling for coyotes on Memorial day this year, I called in a nice black bear using "Lightning Jack" on my fox pro that I had set out about 30 yards in front of me on about a 3' high stump. The bear came from behind me about 45 degrees from my right shoulder and made a bee line for the call. At this time, he faced the call (straight on view now) reared up on his hind legs and like it was going to pounce on it then not really growled, but made a few huffing sounds. Then he sat there on his butt trying to figure out why there was no rabbit and what in the world was making that sound. He walked off a ways and then sat down again wondering what in the world was going on. I think he was within 60 yards of me for about 10 minutes before he wallowed off accross the creek and up the other side hill from me.

Bear season starts here on Labor Day weekend and I am planning to hunt the same habitat but with mouth calls as electronic calls are not legal for big game hunting in CO. If a bear makes a bee line to me, I'll feel a tad safer with a 7mm or 30-06 vs a 223 like I was holding that day!

Good luck to you and your bear season! When does it end? I may need to compare notes and strategies with you as I've never specifically hunted for bear before.

 

[Guy Miner]

I've yet to call in a bear, but yes, I've given it a try.

My calling experiences have been pretty funny, starting with the German Shepherd dog I called in when I was only 18 or 19, a long time ago... Since then several other farm/ranch dogs have responded, including a Great Pyrenees owned by some wheat farmers I know. Also got a mama mule deer to come in one cold winter day, I think she was looking for a coyote to stomp!

There have been some coyotes too of course - as I'd like to see, but no bears, ever. Phooey. I'll give it another try.

Our season runs through November 15th here in Washington. Long season. Lots of bears. I think they're just not real active now due to the heat.

 

[338winmag]

Call Experience.
Each time I tried my hand at calling in turkeys, I only called in coyotes.
I must have sounded like a wounded turkey or a female coyote in heat? :mrgreen:

 

[Elkman]

Nice pictures guy, much to hot for me to hunt. Even shooting is a pain. You may have some fires in your area today, a big fire starting cloud passed north of Adams last evening.

I have called in bobcats, numerous coyotes, trukeys but very few elk. I just cannnot get the elk call right.

 

[sask boy]

Guy beautiful photos and it is always good to get out with family.

Thank you for sharing

Blessings,
Dan

 

[DrMike]

I've called in quite a number of bears and wolves with dying rabbit calls. Bears lose interest quite quickly, however. Also, they tend to ignore the call when they are some distance away. Because of the presence of grizzlies in my AO, I like to have someone with me to watch my six when I'm calling. However, if I've set up correctly, they will come running up a natural funnel. I called one young bear from a big, black truck. He ran right up to the truck, stood up and looked at us from the front of the truck. I called him back at least five times. At one point, he tried sneaking up to the right side of the truck, peering out from behind some low bushes. It was funny to see him running full tilt with his tongue almost dragging the ground as he came for that rabbit.

Great pictures, Guy. You're certainly getting me primed for the season.

 

[Oldtrader3]

I have had some good conversations calling RM elk in Utah, right after rut when the early rifle season used to open. Now the season is too late for a rut call to be effective. Using a mouth diaphram call for bulls always did best for me during rut. I also have stopped walking elk with a cow squeeker, hand squeezed.

I have had some luck with coyote-varmit calls but I think that they were the young and dumb ones!