Daveboone

And....I wouldnt count on any game officials helping....they have their hands full, and if you have to go find one, bring them to where you are and get it out chances are the meat is done. Never in my life have I ever heard of a game officer helping retrieve game unless they quite literally were on the scene of the kill.. Careful scouting you pick an accessible spot that you can get your animal out. Sure, every year a few monster bears are shot, but there are many times more small and medium sized bears which are a piece of cake for one or two guys to get out.

Oldtimr

Officers will help get game out of the woods if they are on the scene and have the time. I have helped track deer and I have loaded up deer and hauled them to hunters vehicles if I am upon the hunter on patrol. However, that is strictly voluntary and it is not a mandate of the job.

jnicholes

Well, I have a sad update for you all. My hunting buddy who was going to take me has cancer. He’s going through therapy, and as a result, he is very weak. He also has no immune system, so he’s very susceptible to disease. He doesn’t think he’ll be able to take me this year. However, next spring is a possibility. It all depends on if he gets his strength back. Since this is the case, I’m going to settle with a deer hunt in October. I’m able to do that by myself.

Jared

mrbb

well sorry to hear of your friends issue's
cancer is one of them things that can effect anyone at any time, just never know, so I wish him the best of luck with treatment and getting past it !

as for the bear hunt, I again ,say, you can still GO, if you really wanted to, you just have to think ahead before pulling the trigger IF the chance comes up!

any amount of time in the woods where bears are, gets you a chance at tagging one, and as they say where there is a will, there is a way!

SO< if you DO get lucky, Help can always be found , if you again, you plan a head a little and ask folks in advance, that IF you get lucky WILL they help!
we all start out being a rookie on anything we do
and its NOT always needed to have a teacher show us HOW<
it all again comes down to your desire to learn and make the effort to get things done/
I can say this for certain, I am a 100% self taught hunter outdoors,man, grew up in a non hunting family and learned it all DOING it myself.
and honestly I am GLAD I did it MY way on my OWN< it was always more satisfying to ME< when I was successful, knowing IT DID It and I wasn;t lead to things by anyone

WOULD it have maybe been easier, , AT time , SURE,
but I never wanted to hunt cause it was easy, for me JUST the opposite, I enjoy the challenge of ME against what ever I am hunting, making me, have to learn about the game I am after and learning!

as even with a mentor or a teacher, , you still have to learn to read sign , and learn about the animals you target
and NO one can do this but YOU! its all honestly up to you to develop the skills to be GOOD at reading sign, and at present day, there is NO better time in the world to READ info about game animals and or ways to hunt them, there is litterally more info on the web than at any other time in history, to give guidence to one willing to learn and then GO and DO!
experience will always ONLY be gained by doing, and NO mentor can make you have experience, its YOU being OUT there gaining it!!
back to if worried about getting lost, Again, no better time in history to have devices to prevent that from happening, and there still is NOTHING wrong with a old school basic simple compass, they still work as they always did and are CHEAP to buy,
and no shortage again on info on HOW to use them!
phone today with google earth on them will about show you exactly where you are at any point in time if one wanted to know??

again, no bash here or likes
just saying, if YOU want to LEARN how to hunt bears, YOU can do it, with or without anyone taking you!
its your call, but there isn;'t a real reason to NOT go THIS yr unless you DON"T want to!
you will just be one more year father away from learning how to, if you wait!
NOT a bad thing, but also, not a needed thing!
thousands of hunters each yr are on there own for the FIRST time learning HOW, its NOT that uncommon to be honest!

jnicholes

Thank you so much. I actually appreciate you saying all this and saying I can still go if I want to.

One thing I am about to say I am very open with. It actually helps me out.

One thing you have to realize is that I suffer from mental illness (ADHD and depression.)

When something happens, and it’s out of my control, and it affects my plans, I can get depressed pretty easily. Sometimes I feel like giving up. You pushing me to continue the bear hunt if I want to is actually helping me out. It’s helping me overcome my problems by helping me learn not to give up so easily when things don’t go right. So, thank you so much. I’m still a little nervous about bear hunting on my own. It’s possible I can find somebody else to take me, I have until August 30 when the season opens.
I will reconsider then. Maybe I will go, maybe I won’t. I am willing to learn, but I don’t really have somebody to teach me in front of me. Then again, I am a self-taught hunter myself. I shot my first deer on my own after doing all the research and figuring out many things, like where to place a shot, that type of stuff. I guess I could try. No harm in doing that.

Jared

Bocajnala

Go hunt bear brother. "Worst" case you get one and have to figure out how to butcher it.

You'll have fun whatever way it goes lol.

-Jake

mrbb

life is never easy for anyone, we all have things that can weigh us down and make us NOT want to do something, but personally I think, some times we all have to step out of our comfort zones in order to advance ourselves, ts never easy, so don;t think, I am saying it is
but through my life time, , I have found most times I push myself to learn roe about something I WANT to know or do, or places to go, I find the rewards are almost always higher than any let downs,
and some times again, them let downs end up being great learning tools, that teach you things you may never ever learn if you didn;t fail first! and again, they also then make the rewards better when you do succeed!

as I said I grew up in a NON hunting family, I spent more time in the woods NOT hunting, but learning and gaining experience, that when I finally got to be allowed to hunt, I was way ahead on things
for yrs I carried a camera, and just my desire to learn about wildlife

you don;t have to carry a gun to HUNT, and or gain experience, nor do you have to wait till Hunting season to spend time in the woods and learn about wildlife and how mother nature works

this is something we can do any time of the yr and in any weather, if one WANTS to!

depression can be a very hard thing to get over and get you going period, but , IMO once you DO get going and focus more on the things you wish to do, the less you will notce the depression, as our minds seem to strive on new things, even if at first we fear them

being in the great outdoors can be a good way of helping maybe with depression too
as I said, these days the world wide web is a tool it can be used for good or bad things, all comes down to HOW and WHY your using it.
But with SO many groups of folks today online, , being able to email folks and places, you can FIND folks to help you gain experience of you make the efforts
as said before, local game wardens, can be great tools to help find you mentor's and or likes, as can local gun shops, bow shops, state or regional forums , where others from your area chat about things, almost EVERY state I know of has a state based hunting site,hiking site, and so on!
you get out of life what you put into it more times than not,
Just try and stay positive and working at getting your goals meet and sooner or later you'll get there, just DON"T stop trying
I personally started BEAR hunting decades ago, with ZERO intention to SHOOT a bear, I used bear season as a way to get me more time in the woods to learn more about deer LOL
but some how that ended up with me having a huge interest in bears, more on the learning about them than hunting them, to be honest! but learning about bears, ended up teaching me a lot about HOW to hunt them as well! sort of by default LOL

Now I just enjoy watching them and learning still about them, over any plans to shoot one again!, I find them fascinating animals still, and have been lucky to live in a area with LOTS of them to get to watch some grow for 15+ yrs, and seen how yrs effect them and all
as a fact I just NOW< had a 3 yr old who had her first cubs this YR show up, but sadly, she is missing her cub! I knew this bear from the first time she came out of the den 3.5 yrs ago, watched her grow up, get kicked out of mom's care, live on her own, and then have her own cub!
A shame to see her now alone NO cub, but that is nature , almost every bear I see with cubs from early on till late season, tends to loose at least one, nature at work I guess

jnicholes

Thanks. I think I will go out before the season starts and just study and be in nature. It’ll help me out during this hard time. Who knows? Maybe when the season opens, I’ll be able to get a bear!

Thanks again for all the advice. I really appreciate it. Jared

jnicholes

Here is a spot I found. I would like an opinion on it. The nice thing about this spot is that its a downhill hike from the spot to the car. Plenty of spots to set up a bear bait container. I am not sure where to set it up at, though. No deep areas where a taken bear is irretrievable. A good spot for a blind also in the area.

And bears! I think I heard one while I was walking.

What do you guys think?

Ill scout for more spots a little later. Always good to have a few spots.

Jared

mrbb

well for me to be honest here, its HARD for me to tell anyone what is a good spot or bad, from a video of any forested area, just not knowing what all is about the rest of the area to me matters to a degree!
as when you ADD BAIT to the deal, it draws things and changes there natural patterns!

as there is and will always be a lot of variables , in forested area and things about them to ever be able to say YES GOOD or NO BAD spot, based on
aerial pic's of surrounding area can help, but then you also have to watch out as if you SHOW the WORLD where your going to be, others MAY use your work to find THERE SPOT, don't laugh, this happens, and its why few folks will ever suggest to HUNT HERE< on a forum, as they will make a good spot BAD real fast in doing so, when crowed possibly show up and take over the spot!

, any how, IIMO< what you want to have in a spot , is one that is easy to get into and out of without disturbing things much, leaving less human scent as possible
and in places FEW others will be entering, so NOT to be disturbing things, and having some natural DRAW there and cover/water near by only helps

Bears when you bait them many time swill sleep NEAR the bait, and there noses are powerful tool to them living, and they know how to use things

when they start to scent humans a LOT at bait sites, its rather common for them to go nocturnal , as with bait being there 24/7, this leave them that option

so impact on the area needs to be as little as possible, but yet again allow you to get IN, bait, and OUT!

and then you want to have easy access to a nice set up to watch over bait, be it a blind, or a tree stand,

MOST folks prefer tree stands, IMO< as in warmer weather it helps keep your scent up higher(makes many feel safer too, but black bears can climb tree's like a squirrel and JUST as fast when they want to)



I can fully agree hunting a place you HIKE UP< to is better than one you hike DOWN to, as when heavy animals are DOWN< its nicer to have to haul them DOWN hill, rather than UP hill, using gravity to your advantage, and NOT dis advantage! LOL

if you LIKE the area, and the area HAS bear sign , it can work I gather!
just be safe when doing so
sows with cubs, like bait , just like smaller and larger bears , only they can have a little more worries to you when entering and exiting
all the more so when your trying to be scent free and sneaky entering and exiting!

this is also a reason I think MANY hunters like tree stands, it make them feel a LITTLE safer being up higher!