Ya know, Al - I actually think I may have seen that big bruin before he died that fall- actually in the late spring of '06. I hiked in to do some fishing for native trout (got about 1.5 miles deep), and ran into a really big bear on the way out. He'd just came down out of the ledges to chow on some skunk cabbages. They usually don't make me nervous, but it was almost pitch black, I had no light, no cell signal and he was a biggun. LMAO Usually they run, but that guy just stood there and let me walk by with my butthole puckered up to the size of your average decimal point.

I did have a really bad run-in with a smallish sow and cubs once in spring turkey season.In all honesty,Ialmost shot her.She was downrightangry.

Back on topic: Even in areas where baiting is "illegal" - I suspect there are a lot of people who do it anyway. I've found my fair share of bait sites over the years, despite it being 100% banned. People arejust too lazy to do it the hard way, so they cheat.

Ron - "graveyard" flats (on the dunbar side)is, and will always be, home to some of the best deer hunting around. The herd numbers are low, but the age structure is the best around. It's still a needle-in-a-haystack scenario. Lots of the cutoffs are really filling in. Thedeer (gun)hunting in there is marginal, b/c it gets crushed with pressure in bear season, which opens the preceding week.So, the big racks are already locked down tight on the beds once deer season opens. They've played that game before. That said, everybody I know who hunted that area really hard - they all tagged out on good deer. They're in there - they always have been & always will be. You know how it is though - nothing comes easy in there.