droptine

It was surely a strange day for me on the bear hunting ground. I start out checking my bait pile and nothing touched it. I sat around near the truck calling with a fawn call cause my one year old was with me sleeping. He woke up so I swung him on my back pack and we explored the country side looking for more sign and maybe a lucky shot at a bear. I had tried one of those burn sticks in the berry flavor earlier but wasn't having any luck with it. Well we walked back near my bait pile and noticed a big depression at first glance right in the middle of the pile. I quickly looked up and scanned the landscape when I notice something quite large and brown moving about 130 yards away. I got closer and notice it was a large white faced steer. We closer and a herd got up and took off right down the trail to the main road. They were definately out of place so I set off to get the truck and warn the farmer. I notice the tracks were very close to that burn stick bucket I had set up before. I guess those things are good for herefords. Anyway on the way back from telling the farmer about his cows I noticed a truck on the side of the road and a guy next to it in camo. I recognized the guy as a bear hunter from the year before that just started hunting on the property that I hunt. I asked him how he was and he just kept saying "I'm not proud of what I've have". I stopped and checked him out and there on the ground lay a bear that wouldn't top 25lbs. I asked him, "What the heck is that? I've seen bigger coon." He said that he had shot and trailed the previous night a 300lbs boar the night before and could't find it. On his way out of the woods he comes across a sow and cub, with him in between. He said the sow was coming at him and he tried to make noise and scare her off but she was still coming closer and stopped about 7 yards away. At this point I asked him if he tried to back away slowly and he said that he was afraid of tripping. "OK", I said, then asked what happened next. He stated, "I shot the sow and it ran off." He said that he left cause it was dark and he came back the next day to get her and see if he could find the boar. When he got there the next day,(today), he said that the cub was up in the tree bawling because of his dead mother down on the ground. He felt obligated to shoot the cub. He then called his buddy who came to tag the sow and said that his buddy would only tag it if he could keep all the meat and he agreed to this. When I arrived he said that his buddy had just left with the sow. I believed him but never noticed another truck on the way past the first time to warn the farmer about the cattle being out. I talked to the farmer who by now had stopped twice while driving by looking for the cattle who weren't his but he was helping his brother who was the one who lost the cattle.
Later when helping the farmer get the cattle he said that he never saw another truck and thought the guy was making the whole thing up but admitted seeing the guy last night at about 6:00 pm very tired and scared looking on the side of the road. Pretty wild day for Dan'l and I chasing cows and such. Just thought I would write this all down before I forgot something. I don't no what to think, only that this guy shot 3 bear out of my area and 2 were sow and cub and one is a wounded boar. But I only seen that one racoon sized cub in the back of his pick up. One thing, he did give me the low-down on the bait he was using and even gave me some. It was a 5 gallon plastic sack of that cherry flavored sodapop mix and that he put the bait out 3 days before and first got into the stand on the third day. The guy was using a bow by the way.


GOD BLESS
Charlie Patrick
Eastern Ontario Guided Adventures http://www3.sympatico.ca/chazpat/wildcanada.html

skeeter 7MM

Wow what a story. It sounds a little loaded though....with BS. What the heck would he shoot 3 bears for? Why kill the cub and only drag it out? (i understood he thought it would be inhumane to leave the little guy but) What about the boar he hit first? If their was no phantom truck, maybe he shot the sow by mistake, left and the cub was whining and just took the cub? Pretty weird and a little hard to believe?

Question, what is the limit for blackie's in Ontario? Can you shoot cubs, legally? I know sows are recommended left, but still open.

Bait idea, have you tried Jello or Drink crystals, they work pretty decent in berry flavour in Sask. We mix them in with bread, oats, etc...it seems they dig it here. I have also used cherry coke or even plain coke works. They seem to really like the sweets after and before they den.

Good luck getting your bear!!



Edited by - Skeeter 7mm on 10/03/2002 23:39:15

droptine

Yea Skeet, the limit for Blackie's is 1 per customer. Not sure on the cub or sow. I never checked that cause I know I wouldn't shoot eiter a cub or a sow. He said he followed the trail of the boar for 3.5 k's but could not find it. It had rained over night but he said he could still find blood in the morning. He also said that when he first hit the boar and where it first stopped that there was a very large puddle of blood and a trail of blood that was 4 or 5 inches wide for a long way. Also said he may have one lunged it on the shot from his portable Warren and Sweat stand.
I'll try those jello's and drink crystals. I think I have some from 1908 up in the cupboard.

GOD BLESS
Charlie Patrick
Eastern Ontario Guided Adventures http://www3.sympatico.ca/chazpat/wildcanada.html

Mt^Boy

That's a pretty sad story. I think that guy should pull his head out of his a$$! LOSER!!!

Firstly, black bear mothers rarely attack with cubs and mostly bluff charge and run away >>> just back out from between them slowly...AND Bear hunters should definitely carry BEAR SPRAY for exactly THAT reason...IDIOT!

I bowhunted bears (on the ground) this year and saw over 40 bears. I was within 10 yards several times & THREE yards away from a mom and cub that I thought was a deer coming into this apple tree in the bush... I used a bear banger and they ran faster than a whitetail... BLACK bears act much differently that Grizzlies!

Here's a few photos of the bears from this year...
http://community.webshots.com/user/mtboys

skeeter 7MM

Droptine, it just doesn't add up. Really nothing you can do, to bad?

The cupboard clean is how I stumbled on to the jello trick. What I did was mix it with some stale Dog buns from a grocery store and put a little water and molassas in the jugs. I dumbed her out, we had some rain well the next hunt a couple days later their was a large hole burrowed from the bears digging at the sweet taste. Much the same as salt for deer! Something else is black licorice burns, if legal. Also my favorite bear bait is beaver, we will string them in a tree and drum...the bears favorite food and natural prey. Everything is worth a try once!

Robb92

If the story he told you was true he needs his head knocked in!!!! What a total waste!!!!

droptine

One thing I remember him telling me was that the other bears had eaten the gut piles already. I haven't shot many bears but I know the last one I shot, the gut pile was there for over 2 months and nothing touched it. It was a big male. I wonder if they're going after the galls which is illegal here. I don't know. I was hunting today all day and saw some tracks and the farmer who owned the cows was out chasing them and told me that he saw a big black bear crossing the road not far from where my truck was parked this morning. Didn't see anything myself but they were hitting my uncles' molasses lick for deer. Never touched his pile of roasted soybeans though. I'll try again next week maybe.
Yea Mt^Boy, I asked him where his pepper spray was and he didn't have any. I hunt on the ground too and usually see a lot of bears but haven't seen many this year yet. I think I'll have the Warden check that guy out if I see him up there again trying to bag another bear. If he uses another tag the owner of the tag has to be right there with them.

GOD BLESS
Charlie Patrick
Eastern Ontario Guided Adventures http://www3.sympatico.ca/chazpat/wildcanada.html