2018/2019

[officialwafflez]

Full archery season opens tomorrow here in Tennessee, good luck to everyone here and overseas hitting the woods.

[Tod1d]

Just got back from a black bear hunt. My cousin & I hunted as a team, and he shot this one.
366# (166 kg) dressed. We estimated 410-415# (~185 kg) live weight.
Good double-lung shot. He ran about 50 yards. But down into a swamp. We had to cut him in half to get him out.

I had a bear hitting another bait pile on a 3 day cycle, but never saw him.

Kurt with the bear



Me hamming it up a little

[InstinctiveArcher]

Nice bear! That's a dandy! Where were you hunting?

[Tanngnjostr]

Nice bear, Tod!

But what do you mean when you say "to get him out"? Didn't the bear just vanish when you harvested it with your huntermate?

[Jaegerschnitzel1990]

Nice bear! Congrats to your buddy!

Fallow deer and I seem to have some kind of weird relationship....they just seem to hate me. Wherever I am, that´s where the fallow deer are not. If my buddy climbs the exact same seat the next evening, he will see fallow deer most of the time, but as long as I am in the area the forest seems to be extincted.

However, right now the chestnuts are falling and this seems to be a time when even I am allowed to see fallow deer



This spiker came with a 2-3 year old buck which was too big to fit in the regulations. What he lacks in antlers, he will easily make up with delicious meat in my own freezer. Some great hunts to come in the next months...I love autumn!

[Tod1d]

Nice bear! That's a dandy! Where were you hunting?

Thanks. Iron County, MI

Nice bear, Tod!

But what do you mean when you say "to get him out"? Didn't the bear just vanish when you harvested it with your huntermate?

Yeh, that would be nice. Meat just magically shows up in your freezer, and trophy on lodge wall. HM sure would have helped with finding him in the dark too.

[SoftShoe]

Just got back from a black bear hunt. My cousin & I hunted as a team, and he shot this one.
366# (166 kg) dressed. We estimated 410-415# (~185 kg) live weight.
Good double-lung shot. He ran about 50 yards. But down into a swamp. We had to cut him in half to get him out.

Not sure how I missed this post but congrats on the hunt! Bear hunting even if you dont get one is still exciting. Nothing quite like getting out of your stand at night when you were just listening to a bear chuffing nearby

[InstinctiveArcher]

Nice bear! That's a dandy! Where were you hunting?

Thanks. Iron County, MI

Cool. I'm just up the road a bit. You should have stopped by
Seen a couple bears up here so far but nothing big.

[xOEDragonx]

Just got back from a black bear hunt. My cousin & I hunted as a team, and he shot this one.
366# (166 kg) dressed. We estimated 410-415# (~185 kg) live weight.

Congrats on an awesome bear! He definitely looks like he would have been a big bruiser in life, I can't imagine having to drag him (even halves of him...) out of a swamp. At least after that long haul you had something tastier than tag soup to bring home.

Here's to hoping my own bear hunt is anywhere near as successful as yours turned out

[InstinctiveArcher]

Well I haven't really done much hunting yet since deer season is still just under a week away, but I guess I can share some of my scouting adventures.
I'm in a totally new area this year and am really out of my element. Deer numbers are pretty low, and predator numbers are really high. I've never hunted in an area that has wolves in it, so that is also a bit of a new experience for me. I have seen a surprising number of does with fawns though which is encouraging, and I'm hoping that the few spots I've been able to scrounge up will produce. I've probably spend just as much time at my computer pouring over public land maps as I have doing homework, and my roommates are pretty much convinced that I'm crazy, but whatever. (Wait until I start getting up a 3:30 during the rut and then they'll see just how crazy I am )
Anyways, I've been going out every Saturday to practice with my bow and see what I can stumble across as far as deer sign. I've been targeting areas that were cut several years ago and have grown back up nice and thick and have been walking the edges to see how the deer are using them. The other day I found what I hope to be a hotspot. A big ridge with 3 massive oaks loaded with acorns and spaced about 30 yards apart. The ridge runs right down to a big thicket that I'm pretty sure the deer are bedding in. While I was walking down a two track the day that I found this spot, I heard a vehicle so I ran up the bank and over the hill to get out of view. As I turned back towards where the car was coming, I heard a big crash behind me, and turned around to see a black bear sow and a yearling cub go running up the ridge opposite of me about 40 yards away. Apparently when I cam running over that hill I scared the heck out of them and they didn't want to stick around. I was just glad they went the other day because a bunch of arrows tipped with Judo points is not very affective against a ticked off mama bear!
After that little episode and finding that oak ridge, I went back to the car and kept going. After about 15 minutes I came to a huge area that had been logged pretty heavily a few years back. It was somewhat grown up but wasn't very thick and was still pretty open. I was not holding out much hope for that area as I drove through until I ran into a gulley that ran right through the center of the cut area. It was about 20 feet deep, maybe 25 yards across, and was full of cedars. It also had a stream running through it. It looked perfect the moment that I saw it, and when I got out, I found a very well used trail running through it. Obviously the deer are using this little protected valley to get across the more open areas. I've set up a trail camera there and am super excited to see what I get when I change it this Saturday.
My final adventure was when I was exploring another oak ride. I was going along when I happened to look up a valley that was full of thimbleberry brush. For those of you who don't know, thimbleberry bushes have big broad leaves that form a canopy. Anyways, I looked up this valley and saw an orange head pop up out of the brush, then go back down in and start heading down the valley towards me. My first thought after seeing the color was cougar, and as I watched the brush wiggling as whatever it was made its way towards me, I could feel my pulse quickening a little bit. I don't think it would have done much, but I nocked a judo point tipped arrow on my recurve and waited for whatever it was. At 25 yards, the bushes parted just enough for me to get a good look, and I can honestly say I've never been so happy to see a coyote in my life. I'd only every seen one other coyote that was the same color as this one. I tried calling him in, figuring that if I somehow got him really close I could nail him between the eyes with a blunt and he would be done, but he ignored the calls, circled around without ever looking my way or giving me a shot, then continued on his way. I'm hoping to run into him again this fall.

So that's what I've been up to. Looks like I won't be able to get out in the woods until October 6th, but I'm all packed and ready to go. Good luck to all of those hitting the woods. I'm looking forward to hearing of everyone's successes!