BLACK BEARS 2011

BLACK BEARS

  Well Bear season in both spring and fall was, well, different.   We had a lot of interest for the spring and fall hunt, but slowly things came unravelled.  We ended up not having any bear hunters in this year.  However, in part this was a blessing in disguise.  

  I hired my good friend Yoshi Aoki to come work for me all of May and first part of June in order to guide, bait, and help me with the renovation of cabin 1 and 2.  We baited a bunch of baits, and started on the cabin.  Long hours of carpentry, plumbing, and electrical meant little time for bear baiting or even fun most days.   This renovation was not completed until June 8th,  which would have been the last day of the hunts.   So it actually worked out.

  As for baiting, we has some awesome baits.  The cameras also showed some real big bears, and a couple of real nice cinnamon bears.  This was great to see being that we only baited 4 sites. 

  This summer I continued to bait a couple of sites to see how the fall hunt could possibly go.  And it was a success.  Not only did we get pictures of real good bears with heavy silky coats, but also a lot of pictures of wolves.  Hopefully we can get some fall hunters up to try and take one of these as well!

  A new addition to our bear baits is going to be two man ladder stands.  It is nice to be able to move a stand according to where the bears come from, giving a hunter ample time to decide and get ready.  It also means two hunters can sit one bait at a time, or be a very comfy stand for a single hunter.

  I personally got to do some bear hunting, and had ample opportunities to shoot, but I am a bit fussy and waiting for "thee one".  I have permission to get at least a half mount done, so I am going to be picky.  

  As an interesting note, Yoshi and I took the dogs for a walk on a trail close to the lodge.  I had a moose stand set up back there, and decided just to check and see if we could spot any bear tracks.  We did find a fresh track in the frozen moss, so it was fresh and very accurate.  The track was a front paw which measured 7 inches!!!  I am not going to say what I think the bear would measure or weigh, but regardless, it is no small bear.

 It will be interesting to see what bears show up the next year!

Bryan