Well it was a long and drawn out bear season opener. As many of you know, I’ve had a stand baited on private land for over a month and have had consistent bear activity.
I planned on hunting the stand in the morning till 9:30, and then join in deer drives with the gun crew till the afternoon sit. I got in an hour early, and settled in. At around 5:45, I heard foot steps coming my way. It was pitch black, so I wasn’t sure what it was-but that changed when I heard the unmistakable slap of a pump shotgun being loaded. Apparently the neighboring property was being hunted, and the guy set up on the property line not 60 yards away from me, and well within 100 yards of my baited pile. Needless to say I was annoyed, and wondered whether the guy was planning on shooting over the property line-Things went from bad to worse when he pulled out a predator call and started screeching at sunup.
Fortunately, nothing came through, and at 9:30 I got down and joined the gun crew with my 17 year old daughter who had been hunting with the crew since sun-up-they had been doing deer drives all day. I hung with the crew for a few drives and they put 2 deer down while I was there.
I returned to the baited stand at 1:30 p.m. for the evening sit, and was promptly joined by the guy over the property line. What an a$$.
I settled in in anticipation of bear arrival somewhere between 2:30p.m. and 4:00 p.m. At 3:36 the appointed hour, and my guest arrived. The big boar that was double tagged proceeded on his usual path, and I readied myself. The Guy nearby also shouldered his gun. As the bear approached the property-line of the adjoining third neighborsproperty-a shot rang out. And the big boar I’d been after was hit. I was shocked at the shot-It wasn’t the guy on the hill, it was someone hunting the other neighbors land-I never even knew he was there.
It was now nearly 4:00 p.m. and I was really bummed. I couldn’t believe what just happened. My bear efforts were ruined. I heard the phone call and the sound of an ATV coming to assist. hence it was time to leave.
I sent a quick text message to the gun crew, and they were preparing for the last drive of the day. I quickly gathered my gear, climbed down, and drove across the farm to the gun crew. When I arrived the drive was already in progress, and I took a post about 50 yards from my daughter on the standing line.
Sure enough as the drivers approached, a big sow and her yearling headed my way. Bears on a deer drive-who knew?? Suddenly I was back in the bear game! The bears closed to 50 yards, and I leveled the 870 and let her bark. The Sow was hit, and passed by me with the yearling. My daughter turned , leveled on the yearling and fired. 2 BEARS DOWN!!!!!
From utter misery and disgust to a slamming day in less than 30 minutes!!!![rofl]
My sow was 254 lbs dressed weight My daughters was 98 lbs dressed weight. We made the trip to Wantage to Antler Creek Taxidermy and dropped them off. I'll get the heads back and take them to Ringwood boy for a couple of euro mounts. The big sow will become a rug.
Thanks for following this long winded tale-now the reward-the pix-We had camera issues so these are all we got.
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I planned on hunting the stand in the morning till 9:30, and then join in deer drives with the gun crew till the afternoon sit. I got in an hour early, and settled in. At around 5:45, I heard foot steps coming my way. It was pitch black, so I wasn’t sure what it was-but that changed when I heard the unmistakable slap of a pump shotgun being loaded. Apparently the neighboring property was being hunted, and the guy set up on the property line not 60 yards away from me, and well within 100 yards of my baited pile. Needless to say I was annoyed, and wondered whether the guy was planning on shooting over the property line-Things went from bad to worse when he pulled out a predator call and started screeching at sunup.
Fortunately, nothing came through, and at 9:30 I got down and joined the gun crew with my 17 year old daughter who had been hunting with the crew since sun-up-they had been doing deer drives all day. I hung with the crew for a few drives and they put 2 deer down while I was there.
I returned to the baited stand at 1:30 p.m. for the evening sit, and was promptly joined by the guy over the property line. What an a$$.
I settled in in anticipation of bear arrival somewhere between 2:30p.m. and 4:00 p.m. At 3:36 the appointed hour, and my guest arrived. The big boar that was double tagged proceeded on his usual path, and I readied myself. The Guy nearby also shouldered his gun. As the bear approached the property-line of the adjoining third neighborsproperty-a shot rang out. And the big boar I’d been after was hit. I was shocked at the shot-It wasn’t the guy on the hill, it was someone hunting the other neighbors land-I never even knew he was there.
It was now nearly 4:00 p.m. and I was really bummed. I couldn’t believe what just happened. My bear efforts were ruined. I heard the phone call and the sound of an ATV coming to assist. hence it was time to leave.
I sent a quick text message to the gun crew, and they were preparing for the last drive of the day. I quickly gathered my gear, climbed down, and drove across the farm to the gun crew. When I arrived the drive was already in progress, and I took a post about 50 yards from my daughter on the standing line.
Sure enough as the drivers approached, a big sow and her yearling headed my way. Bears on a deer drive-who knew?? Suddenly I was back in the bear game! The bears closed to 50 yards, and I leveled the 870 and let her bark. The Sow was hit, and passed by me with the yearling. My daughter turned , leveled on the yearling and fired. 2 BEARS DOWN!!!!!
From utter misery and disgust to a slamming day in less than 30 minutes!!!![rofl]
My sow was 254 lbs dressed weight My daughters was 98 lbs dressed weight. We made the trip to Wantage to Antler Creek Taxidermy and dropped them off. I'll get the heads back and take them to Ringwood boy for a couple of euro mounts. The big sow will become a rug.
Thanks for following this long winded tale-now the reward-the pix-We had camera issues so these are all we got.
