Fletch's Quest For A 600+ lb Jersey Bear...
- Thread starter Fletch
- Start date
- 6,439
- 136
Sat from 6am till 6:30 pm. and saw nothing... Was done eating all my food by 11:00 am..... It was a long afternoon.... I'm just not one for those all day sits..... Going to be a washout tomorrow so back at it Sat.
- 6,439
- 136
Strange bear season so far.... Alot of guys that normally get bears for themselves or friends are seeing NOTHING.... Guys that were bitching about always encountering them when out and about in the woods can't buy one now if there life depended on it.... Raining today so sitting home right now.... If rain slows down I may go put something out for tomorrow's last sit.... Well guess that's why they call it hunting... Guess I could go back to original spot and fill my tag with a lesser bear if I just wanted to kill a bear, she's there 3 times a day all day... NOPE... Not out there to just kill something so I can add another one to my count... So I'll hunt half a day in the morning then snoop around a little in the thick shit and see if I can figure out that bucks routes and move my cameras around and concentrate on finding him...
- 6,439
- 136
We'll pulled camera cards and had nothing on them either last night or today... At least I didn't miss anything this morning... At least nothing walked in front of two cameras that is.... Might have snuck through where cameras wouldn't pick them up... Take that buck I had on cam... Two cameras (different angles) watching same spot, maybe 10 yds apart, yet deer was only on one cam....
- 6,439
- 136
Sgt Fury
Sgt. Spellchecker
- 6,439
- 136
- 6,439
- 136
We'll...... THE FAT LADY HAS SUNG..... ITS OVER....
A frustrating week to say the least.... We've gone weeks on end without rain, so what's it do this week?? Rain Mon. And Tues. then again Fri. Late in the game it looked good at my backup spot with a great bear on cam... He came in one night, never seen again on 3 cams or in person... Also no bear sign, such as shit anywhere to be found.... Where were they??? And I'm not the only one that struck out.... I guess as a famous person once said: All the fun and no mess....
A frustrating week to say the least.... We've gone weeks on end without rain, so what's it do this week?? Rain Mon. And Tues. then again Fri. Late in the game it looked good at my backup spot with a great bear on cam... He came in one night, never seen again on 3 cams or in person... Also no bear sign, such as shit anywhere to be found.... Where were they??? And I'm not the only one that struck out.... I guess as a famous person once said: All the fun and no mess....
triple_duece
Ragin Cajun.
- 9,675
- 168
Maybe more people in the woods w more bait out. [emoji2373] seems to be logical. There is another season right? Ain’t no justice w hunting and fishing, first time guy and kill a monster and you can hunt for 20 years without killing.
Looking back on my hunting career, I can say this. The anticipation, practice, setting up and the sleepless opening nights waiting for the hunt is the most fun that I enjoy. Killing is great but just the icing on the cake. The friendships made through your journey and sharing hunts and stories, beer, good food and the campfire is the shit. We just walked into the camp after telling ten years of good stories tonight.
So relax and enjoy the chase, it’s the only thing that’s guaranteed to happen. I’ve found when I just enjoy the moment, that’s when the good stuff happens.
Looking back on my hunting career, I can say this. The anticipation, practice, setting up and the sleepless opening nights waiting for the hunt is the most fun that I enjoy. Killing is great but just the icing on the cake. The friendships made through your journey and sharing hunts and stories, beer, good food and the campfire is the shit. We just walked into the camp after telling ten years of good stories tonight.
So relax and enjoy the chase, it’s the only thing that’s guaranteed to happen. I’ve found when I just enjoy the moment, that’s when the good stuff happens.
- 6,439
- 136
Boy....No truer words spoken.... When hunting nothing is guaranteed.... That's what keeps that fire burning in us to get out there and and try to make it happen...If it were easy it would get old fast...Every now and again we get someone new out in Illinois hunting with us and they ask if they will get a Illinois Giant??? My response has always been: Chances are good, but nothing is guaranteed... What is a guarantee, is the fact that you will be hunting with a great bunch of guys, food will be out of this world and your going to have a fantastic time... So ENJOY THE CAKE, IF YOU SHOOT A GREAT BUCK YOU JUST PUT ICING ON IT.... It's not always about killing an animal, whether it be a deer,bear or duck... As you said the prep work and anticipation is a ton of fun... Yeh it's work and costs $$$$ but it's what we love to do... The anticipation of pulling a trail cam card is like Xmas morning when you were a kid... And that happens every time you check your trail cams.. Maybe when out checking your cams you'll come across a fresh rub line,,, your brain now shifts into high gear... That's what keeps us going...
As for what happened with the bears this week??? Who knows??? Bigger and better bait pile somewhere else or more hunters in my area... In the spot I ended up hunting this week I gotta say no to both... It's just too vast of an area... Last three days were muzzle loader and I did not hear a single shot...Looked to be a non existent mast crop there, so I believe the bears just were not staying in the area and big bear I had on camera was just passing through... And yes there is one more week in early Dec. But that is hit or miss depending on the weather... Get snow and cold weather and bear activity is slowed down big time... Only good thing is it's colder and unlike this past week when Thurs was in the 70s spoilage is unlikely..
So for right now it's back to scouting... Maybe try and pattern that nice buck... Put 3 cams out yesterday in the area he's at... Got a cam to check that's about 5 miles away today... So as you can see, the bear hunt is over, BUT THE FUN CONTINUES.... LOL.... Oh and thoughts of Illinois are present.... Good Luck down South and in
Missouri...
- 6,439
- 136
I forgot one very important thing.... I looked at my checkbook this morning.... It had a very big smile on it.... Going rate for bear butchering is $1 a pound, and that's with hide on... So a 600 lb bear would be $600 to butcher... Then big bear with a nice coat would have to result in a full size mount... That would be $3000.00 to $5000.00.... Yup check book has a big grin this morning...
triple_duece
Ragin Cajun.
- 9,675
- 168
That’s a great attitude to have as you will enjoy more than most.
I was supposed to be in Missouri right now but it was a couples trip and my dad is home on hospice. One of us has to be home so I told the wife we’re not going. She told me to go and she would stay. I said if we not going I’m not going. So here I am hunting 4 hours from the house with my boys just for the weekend. All is good as I try to focus on the small wins as I have matured.
Oh I have Kansas tags in my pocket, along w my boys that’s never been to the Midwest or ever seen a true rut. All is good for now, happy hunting.
I was supposed to be in Missouri right now but it was a couples trip and my dad is home on hospice. One of us has to be home so I told the wife we’re not going. She told me to go and she would stay. I said if we not going I’m not going. So here I am hunting 4 hours from the house with my boys just for the weekend. All is good as I try to focus on the small wins as I have matured.
Oh I have Kansas tags in my pocket, along w my boys that’s never been to the Midwest or ever seen a true rut. All is good for now, happy hunting.
- 6,439
- 136
Sorry to hear about your Dad... Family comes first... My oldest brother who is 85 and loves to hunt couldnt make our Illinois trip for about the last 8 years due to his wife being seriously ill.. Even though she had a caretaker there and family, he just would not leave her... She passed in 2019... So this year he will be with us in Illinois... Again family first...
- 6,439
- 136
Checked other camera... Had a bunch of does, probably the same 5... One small buck and this buck. Decent mountain deer for Jersey, but nothing I'd shoot...
- 6,439
- 136
So the 6 day harvest total was 336 bears taken..More than last year... Not bad for such a populated state....
- 6,439
- 136
Well the 2nd. segment of our bear season starts on Dec. 7th. and I've been busy chasing a certain ghost of a deer... Therefore bear scouting has been put on hold... Gonna try and put some boots on the ground this week in known bear hangouts and put some cams out... So stay tuned...
triple_duece
Ragin Cajun.
- 9,675
- 168
- 6,439
- 136
Hunted the ghost again tonight and saw nada... This shit is getting old... Going to hunt him again in the morning then go hang a cam or two for Yogi... I want my backpack back...
triple_duece
Ragin Cajun.
- 9,675
- 168