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Post by tuketu on Jul 27, 2022 11:32:58 GMT -4
Last week of July ..Time to do a pre season inventory :
6 Bags Old Roy (229 lbs / 108 kg)
1 Bag Whole Oats
1 Bag Rolled corn
1 Gal Crosby's Molasses
7 Pancake syrup
5 Jello Crystals
4 Hickory Smoke
3 Pails Donut crumble /sugar
1 Mini Marshmallows
Now my list of "Yettagets"
2 - l ltr Bottles vanilla
6 Bags Icing sugar
12 Jello Crystals
6 Mini marshmallows
Stales from the local bakery
That should give me a good start !
... Next ...
Picking barrels to use ( hole sizes to choose)
Start prepping the barrels with lids, chains and swivels
tuk
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Post by tuketu on Aug 15, 2022 8:09:36 GMT -4
Sorry I'm a bit slow in posting but some of us ole fellas still have to work to support our bear habit ! But there is a light at the end of the tunnel - I'm just one lottery away !Finally got set up middle of last week with the exception of forgetting to turn one of my tcams on, I'll install a third when i go in today (Monday 15th) or tomorrow.
My record from last year was 11 hours 14 minutes for my first hit, but keep in mind, this is my 9th season at this site and 12th in the same general area so I'm just another berry patch to a lot of the residents.
Wagon Ho - The one man show is on the road !
A quick view of the set up .
Left Click on images to view video
tuk
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Post by tuketu on Aug 15, 2022 19:01:22 GMT -4
Monday 15 August ... second bait run to see if I've been hit .... 7 hours 33 minutes. Only problem is, it hit the tcam first, and with the 2nd tcam off ( my bad ) very little for pictures. Only bear picture is a shot of a " Mini Me" that I harvested last year. I must say I have some of the most polite bears ... they even stood the barrel back up ... upside down ... but I appreciate the courtesy !
I now have 3 tcams set up so better snaps to come !
tuk
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Post by tuketu on Aug 16, 2022 8:58:02 GMT -4
Mini Me ?
You be the Judge !
tuk
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Post by tuketu on Aug 29, 2022 8:08:56 GMT -4
Bait Check ...things are looking up, have one - maybe 2 potential shooters . I'm a meat hunter so a barrel topper meets my harvest criteria.
There's a clown in every bunch. This one seems to have a fascination with one of my tcams
Not sure if this is the same bear ... night time bear looks a bit thicker , but could just be the camera angle
And what would a bait site be without a few youngsters playing around
tuk
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Post by sideswipe on Aug 31, 2022 11:26:56 GMT -4
Love the pics Tuk. A couple shots vaguely look familiar!
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Post by sideswipe on Aug 31, 2022 11:39:29 GMT -4
Got an email from a friend last week that came from some sort of Garmin gadget. In addition to txt I was able to see where his pin was on the map. He was up in the Colville National Forest which is central WA just a couple slingshots from the BC border. Gen bear season has been on since 1 Aug here in WA. Told me so far he has spotted Mule deer, moose, & two bear. The bear, one being a color phase, were both mature but out of range. Don't know if he was bow or gun hunting as he does both. Hope to have a "bear down" report in the near future.
Health prevents me from running around the woods anymore but it doesn't keep me from enjoying keeping in contact! As if this forum needed any justification.
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Post by tuketu on Sept 4, 2022 9:46:40 GMT -4
Season opens here Monday , September 12th ... Just a week away !
tuk
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Post by tuketu on Sept 4, 2022 10:27:02 GMT -4
Saturday , 03 September ...
Not much to report, doesn't appear to be any new bears added to the group, it's pretty much "Standing Room Only"
One if not two potential Candidates for 2022.
tuk
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Post by tuketu on Sept 17, 2022 12:03:53 GMT -4
Sunday before the season opening I picked up Lance at the airport. That afternoon we discussed the game plan for Monday and everything was a go for Monday.
Opening Day ...Monday ... Opening day proved to be a disaster. Do to some administrative issues we were unable to get a non-resident license for Lance.
A better part of the afternoon was spent trying to get the documents require but was a fruitless effort. The only option at this point was for Lance to retake the Hunter's safety and Crossbow courses which took us about 4-5 hours Monday evening.
Day #2 ... With certificates in hand we stopped at DNR, and we were all legal to hunt. We hit the baitsite at about 1:15,and after standing the barrels, freshening the bait, we were settled in our stands at 10 t0 2.It was a sunny warm day but the winds blowing hard and swirling. It wasn't until 4:30 that the only bear of the day came in. Definitely not one of the shooters were were targeting. Ihave to admit that I was a little disappointed we didn't see more bears , but given the wind conditions I wasn't totally surprised.
Click on Link to view video.
![]() i.imgur.com/TIsK9g4.mp4[/ituk
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Post by tuketu on Sept 17, 2022 13:52:19 GMT -4
Day #3 ... Wednesday.
Today was to be a carbon copy of yesterday with regards to wind and temperature. Warm and humid we had concerns about downing a bear and not finding it until the next day, by then there was a strong possibility meat will have spoiled. With only 3 more days before Lance's flight home we would have to optimize the time we had , which meant long sits until dark. It wasn't until then that the winds began to subside, as the waning minutes of daylight were fading quickly. I was beginning to feel that day 2 was a total bust without even seeing a bear. It was then that Lance looked over and pointing to the hill nodding his head up and down. From my stand the hill was obscured the dense limbless spruce. He would wait for me to give the signal that it was indeed a shooter. When I finally saw it there was no question and the thumbs up was given. The bear "Hank the Tank" was in amongst the barrels and at one point I thought he was going to leave before Lance was able to anchor the crosshairs on the Micro 335. Finally he got the shot he wanted and launched "El Diablo". Hank darted towards the swamp, but slowed to a walk into the swamp zone.
The bright red blood on the bolt fletching's told us the arrow had flown true and precise. We were confident it would be a short tracking job. Now the work began! We left shortly after to go get the vehicle and retrieve the necessities for recovery. By this time it was dark but were knew exactly where the bear had entered the tree line. We searched and searched for a blood trail but not a drop to be found. Visual location with flashlight was not going to be an option . The swamp was covered in a blanket of chest high ferns. You'd basically have to trip over him to find him. We checked every bear trail headed into the swamp, still no blood. I have to be honest in saying that maybe we weren't going to find him. We looked for the telltale signs , broken fern paths, blood on bushes and branches that lay across the trails but still nothing. After about 40 minutes we began wonder if in fact it had been mortally wounded and even Lance began to question his shot placement " Maybe I shot high ?" he said. At this point we began to wonder off trail ,. It was then that Lance yelled out "I've found blood over here " ...the track was on. How we never spotted the blood at first is still a mystery - our eyes had deceived us , even after climbing back up the treestand and telling Lance "Yep right there is where he entered the woods. The blood trail led us to believe we'd come upon our bear in short order, but it just kept going on. By this time we had travelled about 100 yards and we had considered the notion we may be pushing him. Fearing the worst we decided to back out and come back at first light to take up the trail again. It would be a long restless night.
Day #4 ... Thursday ... It wasn't daylight yet but we were on our way . A quick sidetrack to Tim's for a morning coffee and it was off to the woods we go. Our conversation was a rehash of what we had already discussed the night before . Finally we had reached the bait site and made a B-line for our last known spot to pick up the trail with fresh eyes and daylight. Ahead was the tunnel of chest high ferns where we had stopped at 12 hours ago. With the flashlight for extra light I looked ahead but saw no sigh to follow. I bent down on the trail to discover a side trail, and sure enough he had turned off yet again. I stood up and took about 2 steps and he lay not 15' from where we had stopped the night before.
Our biggest concern was yet to be realized. After a few photos , we were quick to begin the task of field dressing him out. The pooled blood in the body cavity was tepid in temperature and we were so afraid the meat had spoiled. Overnight temps had dropped some to 15* c (59*f) certainly not as we would have hoped for. He was a beautiful animal and the biggest yet to be harvested from my different bait sites in the area over the years. . It was a brutal drag to get to the trail, block and tackle - tree to tree. I was quite evident to me that I'm getting too old for this shit! Thank God Lance was there ! Once back to the vehicle it was a short trip to Benny's where we'd skin him out the for the cooler. Much to my amazement there was no foul smell or sight of any tainted meat. By the Grace of God it hadn't spoiled . I was elated to say the least.
Being Lance's first bear and a new home purchase he had long before decided if he got one the hide would adorn his "Home Pub". Congrats to Lance on a perfect shot and a fine bear !
tuk
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Post by tuketu on Sept 19, 2022 16:26:25 GMT -4
Only managed to pull one half decent Tcam pic of Lance's bear just before the shot.
Actually the first time I've had a good look at him in relation to the size of the barrel.
tuk
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Post by sideswipe on Sept 24, 2022 19:08:40 GMT -4
Great, I’m stoked! Just sent you an email ‘bout no “bear down” reports. Shut my mouth.
Tell Lance we need a pic when he gets da rug on the wall. Know how long that can take, My taxidermist lost my pelt as it was a Spring season bear & was stuck to the bottom of freezer. But Buela now owns one spot on the wall of the downstairs shop.
Speaking of pubs...when are you gonna take us to the Knot Pub again? Still got the hat but it just don’t taste the same.
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Post by tuketu on Sept 29, 2022 10:13:47 GMT -4
The Knot ? As soon as I can pick you up at Airport ...On Time !
He took the hide to a Local taxidermist here in Nova Scotia, Lance lives in Newfoundland and he said he wanted a good job done so it will be at least a year gefore he gets him back. The hide laid out is 80" nose to tail.
tuk
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Post by tuketu on Sept 29, 2022 12:01:34 GMT -4
First time into the bait site since Hurricane Fiona . Luckily we were jusyt on the fringe of the storm so there were no wind falls across the road in or at the bait site itself. Both barrels were knocked over and most of the food gone.
Tcams revealed I have at least 4 bears return after Lance's harvest. hearing from a lot of hunters that their baits seeing very little activity since storm. My theory is the winds would have dropped a lot of acorns and beech nuts in the hardwoods so lots of natural bait on the ground.
Two young daytimers together
Appears to be two nightimers as well - potential shooters ?
tuk
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