Any dates a group from the site is thinking of going? Thinking this may be the year to go again.

And we left South Dakota…….

Well, we are back from our hunt. What an experience! This was a time of many firsts…..first time ever seeing a wild bear…..first time hunting in Canada….and first time bear hunting. I am officially hooked! We arrived to camp to find they were 13/13 this season, and expectations were high. Bears were hitting all baits at all hours. My brother Doug planned on hunting archery and me with a slug. The outfitter knew we wanted to video the hunts, so they had set up 2 ground blinds and some double tree stands a few days prior. They had a number of good bears coming into one ground blind and a single, huge bear into the other blind. We went with the odds, and decided to hunt the blind with multiple bears on the bait. We set up the next morning; to our amazement we were located 9 yards from the bait. As we questioned our own sanity, the outfitter left with a wink, told us to enjoy the experience, and that he wished he had remembered to acquire the names of our next of kin. Adrenalin was flowing at an all-time high, as we wondered what the he&& we got ourselves into. After jumping at the sound of every squirrel, gray jay, and raven, we finally settled down afer a few hours. 6 hours into the hunt, I hear my brother whisper “here we go – here we go – here we go”. His eyes as large as hubcaps said it all, especially when he was looking out the side blind window (next to me). I did not was to move; as I was in my best freeze-frame, Doug whispered “don’t move, the bear is 4 yards away.” That’s was all it took to wish that I had packed adult Depends and to wonder if the bear could hear my heartbeat. When the bear came into view, it was obvious he was nervous about the blind. Doug was very patient before shooting, and though his shot was a little higher and further back than what he intented, the sow was found expired 60 yard from the bait. She weighed in at 240 lbs and according to the outfitter, she was very old, as her milk tooth (?) had been worn down to nothing. Day 1 was a huge success; we had our bear and the hunt on video. That lead to day 2; coming off our first bear kill we were excited to get back at it. We went to the other ground blind (where there was only one bear coming in, but he was a big one). The plan was to see if the bait had been hit; if not we were off to a double tree stand where multiple bears had been hitting the bait. An additional bonus to the big bear location was that it was only a few miles from camp (close to where Doug shot his bear), and an easy wheeler drive back to camp. Being raised a South Dakota flat-lander, any area with trees and/or curves automatically turns me into a directional-idiot. The other option was 18 miles out….which the thought of being left there with only the wheeler, my slug gun and the bears was cause for heartburn. As luck would have it, the bait had not been hit…..time to settle in for a long haul from gravel to logging trails to wheeler trails to the end of the earth. We arrived to find the bait empty and a great tree stand set up for recording the hunt. Two hours later, a dandy bear appeared out of nowhere. (Do they always just materialize out of thin air? And how does soemthing that big not make any noise when it walks?). This bear was very nervous; I remained frozen with my gun accross my thigh. When he finally exposed himself and walked to the bait, he was walking directly toward me….I could not move….or I would be busted. Once at rhe bait, he turned, and went up a trail. At this point I was not too concerned, as the outfitter had instructed us not to take the shot too early and to wait until the bears were on the bait and presenting a broadside shot. We should expect them to be a little nervous coming into the bait, and to be patient, as eventually they would get comfortable and come in to feed. Experiencing that same behavior with Doug’s bear, we were no worried. The bear disappearing up the trail allowed me to bring the gun up to prepare for my shot. As if on cue, the bear came back to the bait. For a few seconds, I had the bear in my sites with a great shot opportunity….but the bear was not in the bait so I waited….and the bear turned and walked away….never to be seen again except on video. The following day, a cold front hit with winds and torrential rains. Though the following (and remaining) 3 days of our hunt were very nice weather-wise, the bear behavior changed dramatically. Fewer bears were hitting the baits and they had begin to go nocturnal. I was not going to get my bear this year…but am thrilled to have had the opportunity to have been on this hunt and see my brother shoot his bear. When I first planned on bear hunting, I considered it as something on my bucket list….do it once and move on. Fat chance…..I am hooked. I have already reserved my spot for next year, and will be going much earlier in the season to significantly increase my odds of success.

First link is Doug’s bear.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fhX3JwKh-c

The second link is footage of the bear that came into my bait.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qypbm7oSp1w

Thanks for posting the pics. We are viewing all the bear pics we can to help us better estimate sizes.

Thanks Dennis. We are hunting out of Cygnet Lake. We are bear hunting virgins, so probably won’t know a good bear from an average one. But we are really excited about the new experience. Sound like the fishing is awesome too. Should be a fun week.

Dennis: How have your other hunts been up there?

Back atcha Kooty. We are due to get together for a refreshment!

I also had the same problem. I have Windows XP. With an empty 1G SDMMC card, I tried to get the update via a desktop and two laptops….no luck. Ensured I was using a SDMMC (not SDHC)card and made certain it is empty. Went to Gander where I bought the unit; they had the update on a 512 card and the upload worked beautifully. I learned that in many cases the upload will only work with a 512 Meg card. Makes no sense, but just ordered a couple on line for $5 each in preparation for the next update (I had a hard time finding MMC cards at retail stores e.g. Best Buy).

Snap on weights?

Kooty is roght….and we have never had an issue. We typically were off the water and parked by 1 or 2 AM. We took the usual precautions (removed equipment and electronics) as well as covered the boat. There were always a number of other rigs parking there as well.

We are staying at the Super 8. At this point, we are arriving Sunday night in hopes of connecting with someone to prefish with Monday/Tuesday. If we don’t coordinate something, we will arrive Monday late afternoon.

Farm Boy….I think that is an excellent idea…..

I received confirmation yesterday.

Count me in.

Update….I have moved back up to #4 (again) in the waiting spot, my buddy has fallen to #14. I am curious to know how they position us on the waiting list. He actually registerd the day before me. Our plan was to try to ensure we both made the cut (we could not find pro’s to sign with prior to the priority cut-off), as we will split expenses for the trip.

FLW states they are still at 1/2 a pro field. Can any of the pro’s give some insight or predictions as to how many sign-ups they’ll get? I can’t imagine they won’t get at least 100 pro’s….

If our position continues to vary as it has, we are considering pulling our entries.

Set me up, Ryan?

You would think you would be OK….but note my post above. From my expereince with this tournament (and this is the first time I have ever registered…..) the position on the waiting list is by no means “secure”….

I am not quite sure how the waiting list works. I registered after the priority cut-off approx. 2 days after my buddy did. When checking to see where we were “in line”, I was @ #4 and he was @ #9? 10 days later I called and was told I was #10. As of this AM, I am #8.

How can we get one prior to the event?

Let us know what you find out.

I visited with a pro yesterday and he stated the field (pro) was @ 75 with and additional 25 co’s registered.

Assuming you spoke with FLW, did they give you a pro/co head count?

MLG,

You are correct. Hope we make the cut.

Interesting. My partner spoke with FLW yesterday, and they told him the priority deadline applied only to those pros /co’s registering to all 4 tournaments. I just looked at the registration rules on the FLW site, and that is my interpretation as well. I will call them now, as I just connected with a pro. I will post my findings.

TTT. We have registered for this tournament. We can still align ourselves with pro’s to ensure both the pro’s and our participation. My email address is on the message above. Feel free to contact me to coordinate exchange of names and FLW membership numbers. Thank you in advance. Jeff

TTT. We are committed to immediate registration. Please IM me or email me @ [email protected]

Thank you.

I’ll second the request. I have a friend who lives near Mann Lake. He has never ice fished, but tells me this little lake has a lot of hardwater activity on it every year. We have picked a day in January to introduce him to ice fishing on this body of water….any insight would be appreciated!

Many lakes opened with the recent wind we had….as of yesterday morning, the NE corner of Waconia was open as well.

Why are the local sheep herds smiling this morning?

You will be “down” for a while…..