wisconsinteacher
Handloader
- Dec 2, 2010
- 1,976
- 290
After waiting 6 years since her last tag (which she didn't fill) my wife drew a WI bear tag. We set 3 baits in June and had some great bears hitting but like every year the big ones disappeared as the corn and acorns started dropping. The last week before the season we had bears coming in still but not much over 200. We didn't hunt the first two nights of the season due to rain and work but on Friday night, we saw a sow with 3 cubs. The sow didn't like us there and stood in the brush popping her jaws as the cubs fed. It got more interesting when one of the cubs came to the base of the tree and looked up at us. I had to spook it away. Saturday night we sat a new spot and right at dark passed a 150 pounder. Sunday we tried a morning sit and had 2 150-175 pounders come in after 45 minutes of sitting. My wife had no problem passing them but I was kinda questioning our decision. Sunday afternoon we were back in the stand from Saturday night at 3:00. At 3:15 a small bear passed by the bait but did not eat. It was a beautiful night and we were enjoying the time together in the stand. At 7:10 I saw a bear and said to get ready. As he came in, I told her to shoot him but he did a walk through by the bait and kept on going. I was sick. Finally a good bear and there was no shot. About 10 minutes later, I looked to my right and saw the bear coming back. He came in slow and turned around to leave 2 more times before committing to the bait. As he came back the last time, I told her to get ready. He came in broadside and put his nose on the hollow stump. From there, he looked up at us and took one step forward opening his vitals. As soon as that happened, I saw the green lighted nock from the crossbow right where I told my wife to aim. The bear took off in a quick walk and I saw him disappear followed by sticks breaking. I felt good and we backed out to get help. At that point, I told my wife the bear was 200-250 pounds. We gathered the troops and went back in after an hour's wait. We found blood and took it right to where I heard the sticks break but there was no bear. At that point, the bear could either cross the creek or go up a steep creek bank. I started looking across the creek and my wife went up the hill where she found a pin drop of blood. From there we kept looking but I was getting nervous. One of the group members had a thermal scope and in a few minutes said he found the bear out about 100 yards. We slowly walked towards the image and he continued to confirm that it was an animal and that the head was not up. Finally, we got close enough to see the bear with a spotlight and he was stone dead. I knew the bear was bigger than 250 but not as big as it was. I yelled to my wife and when she got to it, she was in shock. The bear was 323 live weight with a big head and beautiful hide. To say we were happy is an understatement.
It was a great 3 days of hunting and well worth the hours of baiting and working to make it happen. I learned a lot about bears and bear hunting in the past few months and am simply amazed by their behaviors. How an animal that big can not be seen or heard is amazing.
Thanks for reading the long post.
It was a great 3 days of hunting and well worth the hours of baiting and working to make it happen. I learned a lot about bears and bear hunting in the past few months and am simply amazed by their behaviors. How an animal that big can not be seen or heard is amazing.
Thanks for reading the long post.
