Doe Down! Second deer of the 2014 WI archery season!

After being lucky enough to fill my buck tag on opening weekend, I took this big mama doe last night from the same stand. 

 No glamour shots here, as this doe took me to hell and back tracking just spots of blood every few yards or so with a cell phone light through the swamp.  I didn't recover her until 11pm, but she had only gone about 60 yards.

 I have 2 more doe tags for bow, gun season, 3 fall turkey tags, and a fisher tag left for the 2014 hunting season!!

Barefoot Hunting

I was honored when Heidi Fiscus, writer of Barefoot & Paleo, approached me after seeing a post on the Society for Barefoot Living's Facebook page, asking me to talk about why I hunt barefoot.  

Here is Heidi's write-up as featured on her blog: http://www.barefootandpaleo.com/2014/09/barefoot-hunting-with-skye-goode.html 

The Shortest Hunt of My Life

This story will not be like my previous, longwinded anecdotes that encompass countless hours in the stand and details that boggle the brain.  This is not the story of the Pope & Young monster that I worked my butt off all season to shoot.  This is the story of my 1 hour deer hunt that opened and closed my 2014 bow season in a matter of minutes. 

            Over the weekend, I headed out on the back of the Harley for the last and coldest ride of the season up to Tomahawk, WI to enjoy “Mini Sturgis”, while the rest of the state was taking to a tree stand for the Wisconsin bow opener.  On Sunday, after driving back 4 hours and returning home at 3pm, I thought I would sneak out to the stand for a couple hours, since I would not get to hunt again until the following weekend.  I was full of makeup, hairspray, perfume, and motorcycle exhaust.  I didn’t get a chance to shower, and hadn’t really showered in days.  I grabbed my Mossy Oak camo from my Watson Airlock bag that I washed the year before, and shot 3 field points into my target for my first three shots of the year; my sight hadn’t shifted from the previous season so I was good to go.

            I was dropped off at the woods at 4:02 so I wouldn’t leave a vehicle behind because the deer sometimes come from across the dirt road.  Walking into my stand, I kicked up 3 flags.  I climbed up my treestand and realized that I forgot a bow hanger and my video camera.  The mosquitoes were AWFUL.  I usually hunt barefoot but was forced to put some green socks on because the mosquitoes were eating me alive.  Nearly 15 minutes later, a doe with a buck fawn came into my food plot; I assumed these were some of the flags I jumped just minutes before.  I was eager to harvest a doe, but this one had gotten pregnant as a yearling and given birth to a buck fawn this spring, so I knew she was good breeding stock to keep in the herd, plus I could never live with myself if I killed a doe with her baby as witness.

            As I watched these two graze among the clover, I noticed they both perked up to something behind me.  As they meandered off, I saw a deer coming in quick over my left shoulder.  I saw it was an 8 pointer, young, seemingly a 2 year old. 

I took a few pictures on my phone, thinking, “I’ll post this to Facebook, bragging how I pass up this ‘good buck’”.  But then I quickly realized, What!? This is a nice deer, a great shot opportunity (broadside at 15 yards), and the fact that I drew a fisher tag for this fall season was the most important thing in the world to me right now.  If I pass this buck, I’ll really regret it in November when I’m struggling to find any deer that would qualify as a buck.  To me, an unfilled tag is the ultimate defeat. 

At 5:06, after giving it a split-second thought, I drew back on this deer.  I shoot a 1997 Vector III PSE Nova youth model, AKA: The Noisiest Bow Ever Made.  The buck jumped back from 15 yards broadside to 30 yards straight on.  I’m a confident shooter so I took the shot to the center of the chest.  The arrow hit slightly to the left, entering his chest and exiting under the right shoulder.  The buck took off, ran 30 yards, and I heard him topple over.  I let him sit an hour to be sure since he was out of my eyesight, then got down from the tree.  I started to track him and found blood sprayed all over the leaves and high on the trees, confirming the shot placement.  I only took a few steps when I was able to see him laying over yonder. 

One hour and 4 minutes.  My 2014 archery season consisted of one hour and 4 minutes.  I’m aware that I still have doe tags to be filled, and gun season will be upon me quickly, but it’s still bittersweet that I won’t be in the stand with my bow during the rut, covered in doe pee, making mocking scrapes, and calling my best series on the grunter. 

Most of you reading this post are thinking, “I would have let him grow another year”.  Good for you.  I, however, have a lot of life changes on my plate, limiting the number of days that I have in the stand this year, so I vowed that the first 8 or better I saw this year was getting a shot.  Next year, I definitely won’t be taking a buck in the early season unless it’s a booner or in velvet because I’m already SO incredibly bored.  Luckily, I have a several turkey tags and some doe tags left in my pocket!  On a brighter note, as I mentioned before, I did draw a fisher tag, so come October I’ll be putting all my time, money, and effort into making sure that tag does not go unfilled.

Bear Baiting in Wisconsin

This article will be based off the Wisconsin DNR regulation site as well as my personal experience and knowledge as it relates to Zone C, Class A, bait sitting only. 

The fall season for black bear hunting in Wisconsin this year runs from September 3^rd-October 7^th.  As always, the deadline for getting your application in for the following season is December 10^th.  The baiting season begins on April 15^th and patrons carrying a Class A license may begin feeding bears until the hunting season opens.  A resident license is around $50, and most hunters in Zone C obtain a kill permit after 4-5 years of applying for preference points, though some of the northern counties require 8-9 years to obtain a kill tag. 

 There is a 10 gallon total limit for bait at a time, which includes mineral and liquid scents.  Baits must be placed 50 yards from a public trail or gravel road, and 100 yards from any highway or interstate system.  The two most common mistakes first-time baiters make are:

1) No man-made materials are allowed at the bait station.  The bait must be inaccessible to deer, and totally enclosed within naturally occurring materials.  A hollow log half buried into the earth with a heavy rock on top is the most effective and common wait to prepare a bait.  Digging a deep hole and covering it with heavy logs is another method.  Hollowing out a stump would be a great option as coon would not be able to dig underneath.  No man-made materials means that you cannot use plywood nailed to the bottom of a log, and no tires, buckets, barrels, etc.

2) No animal parts or by-product may be used for bait.  In most states and Canada, the most popular bear bait is meat.  Hunters are very successful in using beaver and roadkill, creating a great renewable resource for the environment.  However, in Wisconsin, it is illegal to use any animal meat, fish, and even by-product, so that includes honey.  Fryer grease however, as long as there are no solid animal fat chunks contained in it (so french fry grease but not fish), is legal but is still considered in the 10 gallon limit.

My setup.  Hollow log buried into sand pit, large rocks on top to keep coon and small bears out.

                                       Types of Bait to Use

For most baiters, unless you go with a guide service or have access to create your own bait, it would be suggested that you contact a local bait seller and purchase a couple 55 gallon drums for your baiting season.  Most sellers price 55 gallons anywhere from $50-$80 depending on the type of goodies.  Some common staples in the baiting game are sugar cones, cereal, pie filling, cookies, candies, chocolate, trail mix, granola, and cookie dough.  These are some of the cheapest ingredients, though pricier products include corn, molasses, liquid smoke, and confectioner’s frosting. 

A lot of people ask about what they should use for bait.  Is it too sweet? It is not sweet enough?  Will they like this, will they like that?  My answer is simple, bears have two main thoughts.  In the spring, mating is number one.  But after the mating season stops in July, bears care about nothing more than fattening up for the upcoming hibernation.  Bears have been known to raid bird feeders, dumpsters, and grain bins.  Like humans, bears have varying tastes, and Bear A may gorge on the trail mix while Bear B might ignore the mix and go straight for the donuts.  That’s just how it is and part of the game.  If you have a big bruin that seems to return night after night for those jelly donuts, it would behoove you to continue filling that station with those jelly donuts and make him happy.  I don’t really believe that bears “get sick of” any particular bait, but when for no particular reason, a bear decides to wander off from the station for a few weeks, baiters assume it was because they got sick of the bait, when it reality, they just chose to move on.

This big boy was not leaving anytime soon.  The sticks placed in front of him were to try and manipulate the bears to feed on this side of the bait, so I could have a clear open shot from my stand that is behind this camera.

Baiting Tips/Tricks

Tree Tootsie Pop:

When I first put bait at my property, I was having 16 different bears hitting the one bait.  I noticed on trail camera pictures that some of the shooter bears were coming into the bait after it had been cleaned out by a previous bear, and then hitting the road, not sticking around since the site was emptied and of no use to them.  So I went to Sam’s Club and bought the biggest container of cake frosting and peanut butter and returned.  I took a brand new paint brush and simply smeared the peanut butter and cake frosting all over the trees and stumps around my bait site.  Keep in mind that this counts towards your 10 gallon limit, and also, DO NOT put it on any trees that you wouldn’t want damaged, like oaks or apple trees.  I found that the peanut butter oil seeps into the bark and stays through rain for months afterwards.  Coon and bear will lick, claw, and chew these spots on the trees, sometimes killing the tree in the process.  This solved my “emptied bait” dilemma.  Bears were still coming in after the bait was emptied, and though they didn’t have much to eat on, they had a “tree tootsie pop” and scent, which is enough to keep them returning the next night.

Poor Man’s Popcorn Ball:

While at Sam’s Club, I also bought a movie theater sized bag of popcorn kernels and a big bucket of Kool-Aid mix.  I popped the kernels, creating a massive amount of popcorn.  Go buy a couple 5 gallon buckets.  Fill the buckets up with the popped popcorn.  Sprinkle Kool-Aid mix over the bucket.  I then created a quick confectioner’s syrup on the stovetop by stirring in white sugar with boiling water.  Pour the syrup over the Kool-Aid covered popcorn and let cool.  You have now created a 5 gallon bucket popcorn ball to take into the woods with you for your next re-bait.  This is a great way to stay with the exact 10 gallon limit of baiting, and the sweetness mixed with the airy kernels will keep the bears coming back for more.

Grease trail:

My cousin showed me this trick and the results were awesome.  Throw grease all over the bait site.  The grease soaks into every leaf, tree, stump and log in the area.  When you enter the woods, the smell of grease is lingering throughout the canopy.  Bears that visit the bait site will have greased soaked into their pads and the thick fur on their legs and feet.  Upon leaving the bait/area and tracking grease all over the woods, they are creating a “Hansel and Gretel bread crumb trail” for other nomad bears to follow.  This allows you to have a variety of bears frequenting your site so you have the opportunity to choose your trophy.  Be sure that in Wisconsin, your grease does not contain any animal by-product.

Banging bucket theory: 

Old timers and experienced guides swear by this trick.  Bears aren't stupid; they understand that the bait site is not a naturally occurring phenomenon, and that humans are the reason for the smorgasbord in the middle of the woods.  After filling the bait station, bang hard on the bucket a few times.  Chances are, the bears that are frequent flyers are bedded within earshot and it will create a “Pavlov’s Dog” type of effect.  The bears will associate human activity on the bait site with food, and if they hear you enter the woods during open hunting hours, they will relate it to food instead of fear.

Choosing a Bait Site

The great thing about bear baiting is that you can pretty much choose the tree that YOU want to sit in, and place your bait accordingly.  There are, however, a couple keys points to remember when choosing your site.  Water access is vital.  Whether it is a river, lake, swamp, or a small creek, bears follow waterways, keep cover in the cool temperatures during the day, and drink a lot of water throughout the day.  Thick cover makes feeding bears feel more secure, but still bears can be coaxed to feed in an open grass feed if they’re hungry enough.

Big guy feeding in the open grass field in broad daylight.

Once your baiting commences, and you start getting different bears, it’s a great idea to place a trail camera over your site to range what bears are frequenting and when.  If a sow with cubs comes into your bait site, it’s best to stop baiting all together and abandon the site.  A sow’s purpose is simple, to raise the cubs.  If she finds a food source that is replenished daily, she won’t leave.  Being protective, she will run off any other bear, even a massive boar, just to keep those cubs on that bait site.  Last year, I had a sow with 4 cubs take over my site at the end of May, and stayed until late July, so I abandoned the site and went elsewhere.  Once the sow took to the bait site, there were no other bears pictured on the camera except her and the youngins, though they did take some cute photos. 

Scent control is a huge factor in your hunt, however, I have a theory that if you keep your bait station smelling human throughout the summer, that it would not have an impact on the bears during the month of hunting.  I would recommend wearing tennis shoes, jeans, and whatever you wore to work that day when you hike out into the woods to re-bait.  The frequent bears will recognize that the human scent is related to food and will hopefully lower their fear factor when the season opens.  During your hunt though, still take a scent-free shower and wear camo that as little scent as possible.  But if a bear winds some of your human scent, but you used this method throughout the baiting season, chances are the presence of human scent won’t alarm it enough to take off.  Remember though that bears have very poor eyesight, but 10x the nose power than that of a whitetail deer.  Because of their awful eyesight, they overcompensate by being able to smell incredibly well.

One thing that I learned during my bear baiting season was that it’s not too important to begin baiting right when the season opens in April.  I spent a lot of money and time stocking my baits and having family members keep my baits full at all time throughout the summer.  The bait site that I eventually ended up shooting a bear was a site that was created less than 2 weeks prior.  After the sow took over my best site, we had no choice but to put out a desperation bait site on the edge of public land along a riverway.  It produced many different bears, and was the site of my harvest for that season. But remember that even if you make the perfect setup a baiting season, once the berries ripen and the acorns fall, all the sweets in the world won't bring a bear to your bait. Be patient and persistent, and hope that after a couple weeks the bears will be done gorging themselves on acorns and might come back to your baits, hopefully with a few days left in the hunting season. 

2013 Wisconsin Archery Buck

THE spot, complete with scent wicks and mock scrapes.

For the second fall in a row, I had the opportunity to bowhunt on a prime spot in Dunn County, WI, owned by a man who I consider my spiritual mentor, Bill. The land had great meaning to me; I had hunted on it year-round including shed hunting, spring turkey hunting, and bowhunting.  The previous fall I focused mainly on hunting the eastern oak ridge, where the birds and deer had hit the acorns religiously.  This year, something told me that the rut would be strong, and that hunting in a stand bordering the bedding area would be beneficial. Throughout the season, I encountered more shooter bucks than I ever have before in one season.  Opening weekend, I passed on a nice 7 pointer that appeared to be a young buck, and came in ready to fight to a grunt series.  I had several encounters with shooter bucks that just didn't present a shot, came in after shooting light, or I couldn't pull them off the doe they were following.  As the weeks progressed, I continued to pass on young bucks that will be trophies next year, but just weren't worth putting my tag on this year. 

After logging over 105 hours in the stand since opening morning, mid-November was starting to heat up and I had an opportunity to take a wallhanger.  As he came in on the trail 35 yards in front of me, not 5 minutes after a hot doe walked through, I knew he was going to give me a good broadside, quartering away shot.  35 yards was a bit out of my range, but sometimes you have to take opportunities as they come and step outside your comfort zone.  I did not have a pin set for more than 30 yards, and even through my bleats the buck would not stop, but I aimed in the vitals and took the shot.  I missed just under his belly and he trotted off; not terribly alarmed but gave me a few snort wheezes and meandered off into the brush.  I was crushed, defeated,kicking myself for screwing up a shot on a nice buck.  I cried all night and called a few friends to talk me through it.  They told me stories of their misses over the years and it helped me realize that if you are truly a hunter, missing is just part of the game. It’s like a professional baseball player batting 1.000, it’s nearly impossible.  Though we all want every shot to connect perfectly, missing is just as important.  I learned that I need not take shots I am not generally comfortable with, and that stopping a deer on the move is very important when archery hunting.  I vowed to everyone who heard of the miss that I would never hunt again, but I continued to hunt the rut.  I had seen a good amount of deer throughout the week; the corn was being cut across the road, the rut was in the full swing, and high winds made the deer constantly on the move at all hours of the day.  One week after my big miss, I had the opportunity to complete a full day sit.

He was a frequent nocturnal visitor to THE spot.

 On Thursday, November 14th, I went out in the stand at around 9 am and sat all day.  It was the peak of the rut, so I periodically called with a series of estrus bleats and low grunts.  Around 1pm, a nice buck walked from across the road, grunting in response to my calls.  He stayed about 85 yards in front of me, and walked down into the bedding area, which was a low-lying swamp just West of the oaks I was sitting in.  He had his head to the ground the whole time, so I figured he was tending a hot doe and would be impossible to pull in my direction. Throughout the afternoon, I kept with the same calling series, mostly out of habit and a bit out of boredom. At some point in the afternoon, I heard a couple deer walk from the bedding area towards the feeding area, but they kept in the thick brush so only their feet were spotted.  I made my last series of doe bleats in tandem with a chasing grunt call.  In the last 15 minutes of shooting light, I spotted a buck coming from the feeding area and making his way right at my stand, nose to the ground, with a quick pace.

He was walking the exact trail that the bruiser from a week before had walked, though it was not the same buck.  I grabbed my bow, nocked my release, and with a second to spare, he walked right into my shooting lane.  This time, my instincts told me to not make the same mistake twice, so I let out the loudest bleat I could and accounted for the extra yardage on my pin.  The buck stopped dead in his tracks, broadside but quartering to, so I let the arrow fly.  It was a solid hit, slightly back; one of those “knocked the wind out of him” kind of hits.  He buckled up and labored to take off running.  He ran straight for the bedding area, and I lost sight of him around 80 yards out-exactly where I spotted the buck at 1 pm that day.  Still shaking from the adrenaline, I got down from my stand and immediately checked the trail camera that had been pointed to take pictures of that deer trail, but it hadn't captured a picture of the shot.  I went to the hit spot and saw his running track, hair, and my arrow broke in half,with the broadhead end laying 10 yards from the hit.  It was covered in dark, chunky blood and smelled like the intestinal track.  It was just about dark now and I was running out of light.  I followed his running track for about 15 yards and did not have any blood, so I put my coat where I found the broadhead and headed back out to the road. 

Bill happened to be turkey hunting this same night, and was sitting due West in a pine plantation about 125 yards from my stand.  I waited on the road and when he came out, told him I connected on a buck. He said he did not hear any crashing close to dark, so with myself being on the East end, the paved road being the South end, and Bill on the West end,I was able to pinpoint that the buck was somewhere in that 125 yard rectangle of thick bedding area.   After conversing with Bill and telling him every detail of the hunt, we both agreed that with the shot being back and the cool temperatures, it was best to let the deer sit overnight and resume tracking at the day’s first light.

            It was one very sleepless night.  I called a few of my closest comrades to ask for advice.  My cousin Adam assured me that because of the shot being back, and the fact that I immediately backed out and did not jump the deer from his first bed, if given a few hours the deer would surely die overnight.  A good friend and trapping legend, Duane, completely agreed and suggested that I use my sleepless hours to prepare for the morning’s track.  Duane’s first tip was to fill a spray bottle with Hydrogen Peroxide and a food coloring such as blue.  Upon coming into contact with blood or other bodily fluids, Hydrogen Peroxide will foam up, leaving behind a blue tinted layer of bubbles to facilitate directional tracking.  Duane also suggested bringing along a roll of toilet paper to hang on each and every blood drop, track, hair, turned overleaf.  If tracking gets difficult, one can turn around and look at the pattern of paper hanging on the trail to see if the deer started taking a particular direction, plus, it’s biodegradable so clean up is easy.  Both of these tips proved to be very beneficial on the next morning.

About an hour before the sun came up, I went to seek the advice and guidance of Bill, who happened to be working the overnight shift at our office.  He helped me walk through the events that took place the night before, and assured me that with patience and attention to detail, my deer would be recovered.  I headed out to the woods and the first thing I did was get back up in my treestand.  I replayed the entire hunt, focused on where I shot and what I remember the deer doing, and paid attention to the landmarks in the area where I last saw the buck before he headed into the thick brush. After I was certain that I memorized every detail, I resumed tracking from the spot where I left my coat.  At first, all I had to go on was his running track.  In combination with the landmarks that I noticed up in my stand, I followed his track for another 20 yards.  At this point I heard something take off in the woods, but it was quiet and fast, so I knew that it couldn't have been my buck, and figured it was probably just another deer that happened to be using that trail. 

At the first point of blood, I found the other half of my arrow with the fletchings covered in blood.  Blood was scarce and the only spots I found were dark droplets of about a dime to quarter sizes.  I was careful and diligent, and hung a piece of toilet paper on every droplet, every scuffed track, and every broken sapling.  About 40 yards into the track job, the blood ceased.  I became frustrated when I entered the swamp opening and saw that his track was not noticeable in the heavy swamp grass.  Remembering the suggestions that Duane gave me, I pulled out my spray bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide and knelt down by the last blood. I sprayed a full 180 degree span on the ground.  Immediately, a leaf about 3 feet from the blood foamed up and told me the direction the buck went it.  I was shocked because if I hadn't had that clue, I would have taken the trail in the opposite direction.  Like many wounded deer do, the buck began circling back to where he had been shot. This leaf did not have any blood on it, but clear juices from the deer's body had dripped out and would have been undetected to the human eye.  I continued on and about another 25 yards into the track job, I heard crows chattering like crazy.  I looked up, and saw my buck lying up against a tree.  The feeling that came over me was indescribable! 

The moment I looked up from last blood!

I walked up to my trophy to see that one of his back hams were torn into. It was very shocking because in the two years of me scouring that land,I had never heard a bark, never cut a track in the mud or snow, and never caught a picture on the many trail cameras I had out of a coyote.  I figured that the animal I kicked up at the beginning of my track job was probably the yote eating my kill.  Many hunters would be angry, but I considered it a way for me to give back to the land. We all play an intricate part of the ecosystem, and the buck presenting me the opportunity to shoot him was no different than me giving the coyote an opportunity to grab a quick snack.  It’s unfortunate that one ham was gone, but it was a meal well-appreciated and I had plenty of meat from the rest of the deer. I also see it as a way to feed the prey that I pursue in the winter months and am currently working hard to call in that coyote that was an important part of my archery kill this fall. 

Coyotes enjoyed a snack just minutes before I found him.

            We all remember every detail of our hunts, but sometimes forget that there are many key players in the game that help us to be the star.  Someone taught me to hunt, someone granted me access to their land, someone helped me with the decision to not push the deer, someone gave me tracking tips and even the crows helped lead me to the recovery.  I think even the miss from the week before played an intricate role in teaching me valuable lessons in resilience and perseverance.  If I would have put down the bow at the moment I missed that deer, I would never have had the amazing opportunity to experience this hunt the way I did.

Damaged G2.

Very happy to harvest this buck with my 13 year old compound bow.  No fancy equipment needed.

First Wisconsin Archery Bear

After 5 years of patiently waiting, I finally drew a kill tag for the 2012 Wisconsin bear season. I quickly learned that filling a hollow log with sweets would not guarantee a bear would come in easily, especially with the acorn season coming up fast. I had started baiting in mid-April and had three primary bait sites that were actively getting hit by many different bears. One site was overtaken by an old sow and her four cubs early on, and she ran off any bear that tried to cross her path, so I had to let that stand run cold. 

My second site was a ground blind on public land in Jackson County, in the heart of wolf country. I had sat there several times, and it was a seasoned bait site that my cousin had used to run dogs, so every bear in the area knew that site was there for years. There were no trees in the swamp site that would hold a stand, so a ground blind was my only option. Opening day I went into the blind and heard something running on the dirt path, but no bear ever came in. When I left the blind and cut my own track in the dirt, there was a huge wolf track right on top of mine, like he was following my scent. Needless to say, I was a little nervous sitting in the ground blind with only a bow during the hunt.

The season started on the first Wednesday in September and I had been hunting almost every day for two weeks, not seeing any bear. I had consistent hits on the baits that were filled with cookies, donuts and sweet syrups in the months preceding. The week of opening season, the acorns had steadily started dropping and getting a bear to hit my baits seemed impossible. I had talked to other bear hunters who reported that they were having baits run untouched all week because the animals were overindulging on acorns. I was getting very discouraged that I was spending countless hours in the stand over a log filled with goodies, when the bears would rather do work to dig through the leaves for nuts than have an easy free meal. 

Finally, on Sunday September 16th, 2012, my time came. I went into my third site; a bait that was setup by my cousin in early August as a last ditch effort to pull some bear off the river and into the public land swamp. As I settled into the hang-on stand, I was almost getting lazy with my hunting since I hadn't had any luck for weeks. I didn’t take a scent-free shower before I went in, I didn't put camo makeup on my feet, and I didn’t wash my clothes that I had been wearing for two weeks. My hair was in a ponytail, still full of hairspray and perfume from the night out on the town before, and I just rubbed some dirt on my face to stop the glare. A few hours in, I was starting to get discouraged. I had trail camera pictures of several big bears that would always come in together at around 4 pm and gorge themselves for a couple hours on the bait site 15 yards down from my stand. It was now 5 pm and I hadn't seen a thing. 

The downfall to bear hunting is that you aren't able to observe other wildlife because everything stays clear of the bear’s buffet. There are no deer, squirrels, or turkey to occupy your attention while you wait for a bruin to come in. I suddenly heard a twig crack over my right shoulder, and slowly turned to the sound. A small bear, maybe 100 lbs., was casually walking into the site. It looked like a small sow, and though any bear is a good bear, I decided it wasn't worth the time and effort that I was putting in to fill my tag.

About an hour after the small cub walked off, I heard more footsteps coming from my left shoulder this time. I turned slowly, and again, a nice sized bear was coming right in for the bait. As I grabbed my bow, nocked an arrow, and clicked in my release, I was prepared to take the big sow that appeared to be about 250 lbs. The first thing I noticed was the white patch on her chest, which in my area, 1 out of 100 bears are said to have a white patch, so that intrigued me even more. She sat down and began licking the peanut butter off the rocks on the bait site, and was facing me straight on. I decided to take her with a shot through the chest and drew back. As soon as I felt the let off and put the pin on her white spot, I caught some movement out of the corner of my left eye. Another bear was coming in and I saw his huge block head right away, letting me know it was a big boar. I let my bow down thinking that I might want to re-evaluate which bear to take. 

The sow with the white patch is on the left; my boar is laying on the right.

He stopped in his tracks, looked me straight on, and began sniffing the air trying to catch my scent. Bear have very poor eyesight and in the darkness of the woods, he was unable to make out what I was, though he was slightly alarmed. Just then, the strangest thing happened. A big doe walked through the site about 40 yards behind the sitting sow and stepped on a stick, making a loud crack through the woods. Since the boar was already weary of the movement he saw in the tree, he took off at a full sprint back into the swamp. My heart sank into my stomach. I thought I had blown the best opportunity I would have at taking a trophy bear. But I realized that the sow was still perfectly content eating sweets on the bait pile, so I continued to hold my position, knowing that if she was happy, the boar had to come back. I was standing barefoot on the metal stand, still holding my bow, not drawn, but in the upright position. Thank goodness for my tree harness or I would have shaken right out of the tree because my muscles were starting to fatigue and adrenaline was pumping through my veins, making my knees weak. I had stood there in that position for what felt like the good part of an hour. Just as I thought he would, the boar came back to the site when he realized the sow was not alarmed, but instead of coming right in, he walked a complete circle around the area, staying about 60 yards out.

I was so proud to take this bear with a bow, just like I had planned!

He finally decided it was safe to come in and walked up from behind my right shoulder this time. When he was broadside on my right at 10 yards, and his left leg took a step forward, he stopped and watched me draw back. I took a fraction of a second to put the pin on the quarter size spot I picked out and let the arrow fly. It was a solid THWACK through both lungs and he let out a loud groan like someone had knocked the wind out of him. He barreled through the swamp and I heard him fall over about 60 yards away, with a terrifying death bawl shortly after. I grabbed my phone and called my cousin who was bowhunting a couple miles away and through the heavy breathing and shaking managed to tell him, “I got him, I got a big one, he’s a big one!” The bear was still moaning so loudly that my cousin could hear the death bawl over the phone.

Harvesting a trophy is a family affair!

Once all the family came to help me take care of the bear, we went back into the woods and recovered my arrow that cleanly passed through and was lying right where I shot 

him. There was no need to follow a blood trail, as just a few yards away I could see the black brute lying in the swamp grass. I was proud of myself for sticking out the season and not being discouraged when baiting didn’t work. I was unable to get an exact weight on the bear, but it was estimated to be about 300 lbs. The skull green scored at 18 inches, so I missed Pope & Young by a fraction of an inch. I had it half mounted and he hangs in my living room, posed in the exact position I shot him, head turned to the left, his shoulder forward taking that step. 

The skull dried to 17 7/8 inches; missing P&Y by 1/8 inch!

I relive the hunt every time I walk past the mount and my heart pumps just as hard as moment I shot him. It’s a memory that will last a lifetime and just goes to show that perseverance is a quality that any hunter, be it whitetail, turkeys, or bear, needs to possess in order to bring a trophy home. 

Very happy with my mount done by Bill Vyvyan at Timberline Taxidermy!