I keep a journal of all hunting/fish related activities. I have been doing so for years, and its really fun to look back at the fun/crazy/silly/emotional and just plain memorable times that I have had, whether it applies to hunts with friends and family or just with myself. I don’t keep it so much to know what lures/rods/jigs worked best or when the deer moved the best, but instead to simply remember the hunt and re-live the emotions that I felt at the time. When my memory of the event fades, I can always look back and get a refresher. Here are the excerpts from this year’s journal. I thought this was the easiest way to relate my story including the ups, downs, and emotional joyride that this year’s bear season brought. I took a few liberties with the bear’s journal entries, but I figure its in the ballpark anyway. I hope you all enjoy the story as much as I enjoyed the hunt!
Mike
2009 Bear Hunting Journal
February 7, 2009. Got a notice in the mail today that I was drawn for a WI zone C bear tag. There are definitely some mixed emotions about this. On the one hand, its awesome any time you can get a WI tag. Generally a 5 year wait is about the minimum. Some zones take nearly 10 years! On the other hand, I also just sent in my deposit for a Newfoundland black bear hunt for a year from June. Pennies and vacation time needs to be saved for that trip, which may severely limit the resources I have available for a WI tag. I’m just not sure how much time I’ll have to bait and hunt without taking many (any?) vacation days to do it. This might be a tough call… We’ll see how this plays out.
[Bear…] ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ SNORT ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ growl zzzz grunt ZZZZ… I’m a little hungry, but still too sleepy to do anything about it. Would someone turn up the heat please? ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
June 12, 2009. One year countdown to Newfoundland starts today. Not sure if I’ll take a bow or gun. Sort of leaning towards a gun. If I down a bear quickly, I can do some fishing for huge brookies and Atlantic salmon. The salmon run won’t be full swing yet, but there might be some grilse in the streams. And I guess brookies are very plentiful… But it would be fun to take the bow, and all the other guys are taking bows. Getting a gun through customs might be a pain? I dunno, guess it might depend on what happens this fall with the WI bear season.
Got a flyer in the mail today for donating bear tags to a Make-A-Wish type of charity. Mental note to self… Look into that if it really looks like I won’t be hunting this fall. It will just depend on available time, I guess. I’ll have to decide closer to the date….
[Bear…] Hungry! foodfoodfoodfoodfoodfoodfoodfoodfoodfoodfoodfood. yawn, scratch scratch. Off to find some grub. Found a perfectly good pile of old doughnuts the other day, those were yummy. Don’t know why someone would cart them into the middle of my woods just to bury them under some logs, but people do strange things.
August 25 2009. Bought my bear tag today. I’m not sure of the exact logistics yet, but it looks like I’ll have some free time to hunt anyway. A glance at my September work schedule looks promising. A few nights here and there and a weekend or two, but its better than nothing. I even have opening day off! Where can I hunt though??? I think a few of the neighbors will let me hunt – I’ve talked to them about it a number of times before. Although there are some huge bears in the area, there aren’t a lot of bears, and there a lot of houses that might make them shy during daylight. I’d be lucky to get my bait hit if I hunt around here. Plus, I really feel like a joker asking permission to bear hunt two weeks prior to the season. They probably think I’m goofy. I feel unprepared and almost sheepish asking. Better late than never, I guess. We’ll see what happens. Can’t kill one if I’m not out there.
[Bear…] Berries!!! Mmmmmmmmmmm, lots of sweet blackberries around. And grapes!! And sweet corn up close to the houses!! Yumyumyumyumyumyumyumyum. Dude across the creek keeps bringing old doughnuts. Man, I’m sick of old doughnuts. I could go for a Ham’s though. That was one smart boar who came up with that “Ham’s, the beer refreshing” jingle.. Can’t get it out of my head… “From the land of sky blue waters…. Ham’s, the beer refreshing…. Ham’s, the beer refreshing…”
August 27, 2009. Slight setback. Out of my 4 possible sets, I just got denied at two of them. Can’t say I wasn’t expecting it, though. The one landowner’s brother bow hunts and doesn’t want my bear baiting to disrupt his opening day and/or season. Can’t say that I blame him, and I was pretty much expecting this the whole year, even though I kept getting the opposite answer whenever I brought it up. No big deal, I’d do the same if the shoe was on the other foot.
The other landowner also has been patterning a nice buck and his wife doesn’t want me bear hunting out there. Again, no big deal. I saw this one coming a mile away as well. Oh well, I’ve still got my backyard (which I’m not crazy about simply because I highly doubt they will come in during daylight hours) and another neighbor yet to ask. Might not be a bad idea to keep the backyard set on the down-low with the wife, I don’t she’s thrilled with the idea… The other neighbor’s land borders a new clear cut, and the re-growth is VERY thick… Might not be a bad place to setup? Disappointing news, but still keeping the spirits up. BTW, I’ve now fully decided to use bow only in Newfie. This WI bear season will give me confidence in the hunt, no matter what happens with a harvest. Still using the rifle in WI to try to get one under my belt ASAP.
[Bear…] Ham’s, the beer refreshing, Ham’s the beer refreshing…
August 29, 2009. Jackpot! My buddy just came though for me huge. The same guy (who’s wife didn’t really want me hunting bear on their land) called up a farmer friend of his, not too far from his house, about 15 minutes from mine. He’s got a good sized farm with a fair amount of woods. It borders a creek and has some REALLY big woods (for this area, anyway) surrounding the land. I’ll go out to meet him on Tuesday and check out the land a little. From the sounds of it, his neighbors are also baiting and have been seeing lots of bears, as well as some really big ones. 500 pounders, apparently. WOW!! I’m hoping to do some quick baiting and draw a few over the property line. We’ll see what happens, but man I’m pumped!
[Bear…] Old doughnuts got old. I quit eating them. A few days after I stopped, they brought out some better stuff – All night cookie buffet, baby! I think I’m starting to get a toothache, though….
September 1, 2009. I met the landowner Today. Super nice guy. We talked for a bit and he showed me where might be a good place to hang a stand. I didn’t argue since it also looked like a great spot to me (!), and I obviously want to respect his wishes. I hung the stand after talking with him, and found a nice spot to make a bait crib. There was a nice big downfall that was easy to cut up and made great 6 foot sections. (I got a tip on the IDO site about cutting the logs to certain lengths to help judge bears… Lots of useful information on that site!) Crib’s built, stand’s up and I even put a little bait/scent out.. Next step, smoke. Again, this rocks. I’m just pumped up to actually be baiting/hunting WI this year!!!
September 2, 2009. I went up to Vic’s bear bait distributor in Cadott after work today and bought some liquid smoke and a 55 gallon drum of cookie bits. I threw in a few tubs of icing for good measure. Also found some chocolate covered granola at a local store and picked up 150 lbs of that stuff. I should be good on bait for a while! I sprayed about a half gallon of smoke with the sprayer around the area. That stuff stinks, but in a good way! Put the Cuddeback out as well today. Bait has not been touched… yet.
[Bear…] New scents hitting the nose. Another doughnut pile??? Naw, smells like barbecue… Maybe I’ll go check it out tomorrow. These cookies are getting old.
September 5, 2009. Checked the baits today. Nothing happened the first two days, but boy did I get some trailcam pictures after that! About 75 bear pics in just a few days! Holy smokes, if I wasn’t fired up before, I am now!! This is gonna be awesome when I get to start hunting next Wednesday. I’ve got a half day of work Wednesday, which will be PERFECT for an evening sit. YEEEHAAAA!, I can’t wait! Re-smoked the area with the smoke I had remaining. Will it help to bring even MORE bear in?!?!?!? Expectations are running high, knock on wood!!! 
[Bear…] Checked out that new smell. I found a new food source! Good fresh cookies, even icing and sugar coated logs! Yumyumyumyumyumyumyum. A little heavy on the smoke flavor, though, but lots of other bears eating this stuff so I better get my fill.
September 6, 2009 Checked the bait/camera. Weird. Only 4 pics. Camera malfunctioning? Hmmmm. A lot of bait left. I wonder if I’m putting too much out?
[Bear…] Ugghhh. Stomach ache from all the sweets and smokey flavors. Lots of acorns dropping, though. yumyumyumyumyumyum. Ham’s, the beer refreshing……
September 9, 2009. Opening day, baby! Super pumped, even though I’ve had few pics lately. Only 2 camera pics when I got to the stand. Whats going on? Maybe it was the second smoking that turned them off. Did I bait first, and then smoke the bait itself?? Geez, I probably did. Not good. Well, lets see what happens. First WI bear opening day is here! Mixed feelings after not seeing trailcam pics and no bears on my first (5 hour) sit. Whats the deal? Scratching my head a little bit…..
[Bear…] Acornsacornsacornsacornsacornsacorns…..
September 12, 2009. Baited this am before heading out of town. Very few pictures. After having such high expectations, this is really discouraging. Deflating is the exact right word. I feel like a hot air balloon that just had a massive hole punched in it. I never imagined bear hunting would give me such highs and lows in such short order… Anyway, I made up a sweet smelling concoction and sprayed it all over the area. I bucket brigaded out the old stinky smoked bait and re-baited with a small amount of fresh bait. No more smoke, but I’m hoping the sweet spray works better. With this “baiting restart”,I remain hopeful. I’ve got over a month left for the season. Still very optimistic. Definitely hunting tomorrow night. I know I get lazy at times, so I think I need to adopt a new motto to remind me… I should plaster this on the front cover of the Journal…. “You can’t kill ’em if you aren’t out there….”
[Bear…] Acornacornaco….sniff sniff… I smell food! Good food! Sweet food! I’m there! yumyumyumyumyumyumyum!!!!
September 13, 2009. Got back from MN around 5. Was debating about watching the Packers-Bears game (Packer season opener) vs going hunting. You can’t kill ’em on the couch, so hunting it is. Its been a long weekend, but the wife has been extremely good about watching the kids and doing more than her share while I indulge in my hunting habits. Huge thanks to her, I think I owe her a back rub and a clean house… Anyway, I hit the stand by about 6:00 pm. Still warm (whats the deal with the weather this year?), about 80 degrees. I took in about 1 gallon of bait. When I got to the crib, it was just destroyed. DESTROYED. The big 12″ logs were thrown all over, even the huge 16″ bottom logs were heaved way to the side. Bait was all gone. Camera showed 33 pictures since Saturday am. Jackpot, baby!!!! Oh man, did that get me pumped for the sit. Good things have GOT to happen tonight!! GOT TO!!!
I sat up in the stand for a few minutes thinking about how much I like my newly installed safety rope… Keeps me connected to the tree on the ascent/descent and while sitting on stand by way of a simple prusik knot and caribeaner. Nice! Easy! Safe!
The 100th mosquito just buzzed the tower in the last 30 seconds, time to get out the head netting. “Ghost rider, the pattern is full”… Maverick and Goose mosquitoes, I guess. Where’s Viper to shoot these guys down? Why can’t they go bother that caterpillar in the next tree over? Funny how the mind wanders while on stand. Adjusting the head net to keep the skeeters out is almost an art.. Have to have it far enough past the ears that you can’t hear the buzz. Don’t turn your head or your skin will get too close to the netting and you’ll start donating blood. Dang mosquitoes, I hate it when…….
What was that?? I heard some brush moving, definitely not a squirrel. A few seconds later a black shape and more loud crunching… A bear! Oh boy, here we go! I can feel the nerves now. I got the gun up, put the mosquito netting up… (Arrrghh… I can feel them probing into the skin on my ears….) I slowly put my hand to my face to protect it with a controlled swat. The bear circles in, glances up at me a few times, keeps coming. Slowly and cautiously, but without undue hesitation. I get a good look as he licks some ferns that I sprayed with my sweet bear attractant mix. He seems small. Is he really small, or is it because I am 20 feet up in a tree? He’s 5 yards from the base of my tree now, circling back to the bait. No other cubs or sows are coming.
He looks bigger now that he is in front of that 6 foot log. I told myself earlier this year that the first good bear I get a shot at is the one I’ll take. My first bear will be quite the “trophy” for me regardless of size. Well, I decided this is the one! Safety off! I pulled the .30-06 to my shoulder as my heart really beings to race. Nerves seemed to become more electrified as I know its going to happen any second. Logic in the back of mind mind does a quick safety check – Safely in the tree? Don’t lean at an odd angle… Back to the tree trunk for safety due to recoil… All systems are a go! Fire when ready! Now, bear… just put that front foot forward… There you go…. Cross hairs just behind the forward shoulder, center of the body…. BANG! – WOOF! He spun so quick he was a blur, then ran/tumbled around the bait pile until the hit the trail he came in on… Then silence… A few seconds later, the “death moan”, and that was it!
The whole season came down to that one ten minute hunt, that one split second trigger pull, that one final exhale of bear breath…. And then all was silent and I was once again left alone with my thoughts. Mosquitoes even seemed to give me a respite to consider what had just transpired, what I had just accomplished. All I could think about was getting down to see him.
As I got out of the stand, I was taking down my tree stand and heard some more noise. The bear getting up again? No… More black shapes! At least two more bears coming to the bait pile less than 5 minutes after I shot the other one! Here I stand, halfway up a tree with my tree stand in one hand and a fistful of pine sap in the other. I let them come in, but they seemed to hang up at the point of their fallen comrade. I could hear them sniffing not 25 yards away. Time to get to work, so I threw the stand to the ground and started shouting. The bears begrudgingly left, but not without more persistent shouting. The gutting, the drag out, rehashing of the hunt with the landowner, all the phone calls. Its all sort of a blur now. The emotions really didn’t come until it really sank in, later in the night.
Excitement was immediate, but the gravity of what I accomplished hit home strangely enough when I watched the Packers claim victory over the Bears. By that time, my bear was mostly skinned out hanging in my garage, about to be butchered, wrapped and frozen.. The radio announcers were nice enough to let me know that the Pack were behind late in the 4th, but driving. Two minute drill. I ran inside to watch the last minute heroics as the Pack pulled out the “W”. The Packer defensive interception at the end sealed the Bears fate, and that’s when I realized how great of a night I just had. I spend the morning with extended family we don’t see often enough. I spent the day with my immediate family who treats me like royalty. I spend the evening harvesting my first bear, doing so with a Wisconsin tag, no more than 15 miles from my home. I skinned it myself (and did a good job!) and accomplished a tremendous feat mostly on my own accord, something I have not been able to accomplish at earlier dates with major help from friends and guides. And I capped off the night watching the Packers pull out a last minute win on opening night. As I sat there I realized just how truly lucky I really was in all aspects of life. I couldn’t help but smile. As I cracked a Leinie’s and dried my eyes, for some reason the old Ham’s jingle popped into my head. I couldn’t help thinking how lucky I am to live, hunt and fish in the land of sky blue waters…
Life is good, and you can’t shoot ’em in front of the TV. Two valuable lessons learned.
September 14, 2009. Postscript, in a sense. As I look back just days (hours!) since I ended my 2009 bear season, I find it to be such a bittersweet emotion. I really didn’t expect to miss bear hunting this much after the harvest. My total season was extremely short – Sept 2-13. Only eleven days of baiting and just two sits in the stand! My first sit was a disappointing 5 hour-no-bear-80-degree-mosquito-filled-sweatfest, and my second sit was only 10 minutes. I went from pre-season highs with lots of bear pics, to opening day lows back to harvest highs in very short order. This is such an exciting hunt, I just don’t think people know what they are missing by not hunting bear.
I will definitely miss the excitement of baiting, the novelty of trailcam pics, and bear stand sits themselves the rest of the month. It was always neat to have that unknown feeling until the next time you get out to check the cameras… Is the bait hit? Any big ones? How many? During the day? What time exactly? Will they be there next time I’m in the stand?? I am thankful for the free time that I’ll now have to spend bow hunting deer and spend with the family, but I also realize that it will be 5 years minimum before my next WI bear hunt. What a hunt, a great tradition, quite the learning experience, and a huge sense of accomplishment to do this on my own. Huge thanks to the landowner for the opportunity as my bait site was on private land. Thanks also to all of those who have helped me in various ways – family support, my wife watching the kids while I go “play”, those who offered advice, tips, tricks, etc, those who helped me hunt the private land/meet the landowner, etc..
All in all, it was quite the ride to say the least, and it definitely leaves me ready to use my bow on my next bear hunt. This 2009 bear hunt has been such a roller coaster ride from start to finish. Ups and downs involved with getting a tag, finding a place to hunt, baiting, and the hunt itself… When its all said and done, I certainly wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. I think the smile in my photo says it all.
Saturday was an awesome day in the stand!!! Just having that many deer around us without them knowing we were there was awesome. I originally had wanted to hold out for a buck but with so many deer and opportunity right in front of me I decided to give in and get a doe out of the way. It was awesome for everything to finally come together after all the hard work.
Its exciting to be on doe patrol the rest of the season 
