Im leaving for Doland in the AM. Thanks for the report.
Time to

I shoot an HHA slider single pin. I set it for like 27 yards and adjust if needed for further shots.

I think he broke his neck. My uncle used to have a small dog that was hit by a car and he held his head in that very same position.
It looks painful.
He would not last long in St Louis Co. MN

Very interesting video

Great story! Good job guy’s. Beautiful bears.

Steve

Thanks Joel.

The quartering away shot for archery is a very good option for bear.
In the low light it is tough to tell when a bear reaches forward with that close shoulder. When you hit the shoulder blade with archery equipment you have a wounded bear……….. Not good. At the very best you will get 1 lung and that is a very bad deal.
Most ladderstands put the seat at 15 feet up and 15 yards away from a bait brings the shoulder into play.
Now you bring that bear in at a slight quartering away angle and you get the chance to take out both lungs and the heart. It gives you lots of arrow penetration and destruction. However you may not end up with a exit wound. If you hit the quartering away shot you catch both lungs and can hit the far shoulder but you get no exit wound. Thus the importance of paying attention to detail as the bear leaves the scene.
If you can lower the shot angle from a ladderstand you improve the broadside shot. Even low poundage bows can get pass thru’s on a bear if they hit just below the shoulder or the shoulder blade is moved forward.
The ease of setup with ladder stands is a huge advantage. It would be really easy to cut 2 or 3 feet off the ladder to improve the shot angle.
I was lucky enough to hunt with an experienced bear hunter via archery this season and his bait was setup for the quartering away shot. He uses a double ladder stand on the bait and the shot angles work out best for the quartering away shot. That is his preffered shot.
Here is some evidence to it’s effectiveness.

I was a very lucky guy to get the opportunity to take such a magical animal.

#253 lbs dressed – nice boar.
Good luck to all the bear hunters still hard at it. You have got to love the cooler weather that has moved in.

Steve

Nice Set

Joel,
Congrats on the bear. Looks like a good one.

Steve

Good luck everyone. Put the on them.
There are tons of acorns in the woods this spring. could be why we are not seeing as many birds in the fields.
I am seeing more and more turkey sign in my area every day.

Good Luck tomorrow for the “A – Team”

Steve

That is my plan for at least Sat and Sunday. I also have to check the other side of the area- Its a real long walk in with the road access closed off.
I have permision for property West of that area as well. I will try and spend a couple of evenings before the hunt in the general area as well. There were lots of sandhill crane tracks in the area as well- They look just like turkey tracks
I am fired up just hope the toms are as well

Good Luck

Steve

Joel,
I am back up for the “A” season. I hope it warms up a bit. In the North Metro area I have not seen alot of birds out and about- yet.
Where you joined me there was a standing corn field with lots of corn still in it. There was not much for turkey sign around the area yet on Saturday. I did see several sets of tracks in the snow- just not numbers.
Here is the million dollar question- When more birds disperse and they locate this standing corn will it hold them in the area? I am looking for your thoughts on this

Have a great turkey season – Be Safe

Steve

Joel,
This turkey season is already taking its toll on you It doesn’t help to have a camera on you everytime you decide to take a catnap.
Good luck this morning- I am looking forward to todays updates.

Steve

Here is mine from work. Joel Nelson was along for hunt. Fun opening morning but short season.All packed up and heading out around 8:45 AM- maybe sooner

Joel showed me the patience needed to wait them out. Very interesting hunt. I met Joel that morning at 4:30 AM for the first time- I had a good idea that birds would be roosted nearby but not quite that close. As it got lighter I was getting more and more nervouse that there were not any birds nearby Joel let out a owl hoot and a pile of birds sounded off really close I thought at flydown they would march right out and come on in but a tree blocked one of the trails into our setup We could see 3 toms strutting 80 – 130 yards out. They moved off – I think to hit a bird feeder 300 yards away. Joel had the experience to not overcall in this situation . After some time at the feeder they started their march in. Chineese fire drill- we both had been sitting in the blind since 5:30 AM or so with coffee and soda’s pushing Time to make the quick nature call and be ready Joel saw the first one- a mature longbeard- I waited and looked for the other two before committing to the shot. I saw them out of the corner that he came from and took the shot Thanks Joel

My background pick is the close up of with the call and double beards. The colors are incredible

I hope to be sitting with a friend in the same spot on opening morning – hopefully watching him tag out. My daugter and I will be hunting F in the same area.

Good Luck

Steve

My Power Crystal is a stanby. Just don’t forget the sandpaper the rougher the better

Good Luck post some pics to rub it in– We are already jealous

Steve

Funny I came across this thread after going thru all of my calls this afternoon 6 slate/ pot calls w/ numerous strikers on each 3 box calls and digging thru my mouth calls. My neibors must love me

Back to the diaphram calls. I have tried many calls and for years i could not get a call to purr. Last year I tried the H.S. calls and found that they fit me well and I could purr on 3 of them. the Stagger 3, 4 and the Fang. The Cutting 2.5 not a purr at all. I have kept them in the freezer and all of the reeds seemed to be stuck together. I get them unstuck and they seem to stick back together again. I end up buying; like many of you guy’s several calls a year
Without buying online is there a store in the metro area that carried more than the Primos, HS, Knight and hale mout calls- Oh yeah the newcomer in the game flextone? I had a MAD call that I liked years ago.
Joel- how about a breakdown on the types of cutts and what kind of calls typically can be made with the different cutts? Maybee something you can chew on for a while— pun intended
I have been looking for the Quaker Boy calls and have not seen them in G.M or F.F.

Thanks

Steve

Got my tag- 227 E

My group was drawn for the 2006 hunt. We had been applying for 3 or 4 years i am not sure how long. We were drawn for the zone that runs from Ely to Babbit and on South.
It was definitly a highlight of my years of hunting. I was lucky enought to hunt with my dad and my friend Bill who has hunted with my dad since before I was born.
It was an awsome hunt. We saw a total of 28 or so Moose including 2 really big bulls. and I ended up taking a smaller bull with 4 or 5 days to go- listend to my dad a little to much- a young bull would be so much better eating We can’t go without shooting a moose– heard that one a lot He was getting a little tired I think- to many days up early and working hard. I took it at 8:30 AM – weather was 28 degrees and snowing– perfect conditions to cool down a moose—- I should have held out for the monster I saw 2 different times.

Someday I may even put together a story with the pics for you guys to read.

Scout Scout Scout — Early — Earlier and late in the day. Midday scouting is not where it is at.

Steve

I enjoyed the shoot last summer. A great time for sure
Let’s Do it. Rapis works well for me but I also love a road trip.

Later

Steve

I had a great time flinging some arrows– Needed a few mullagans along the way It was great to meet some of the guys. It will be on my schedule for next year if there is another gettogether…

Great day and good fun

Steve

Well I am going to make it down. My daughter is on the fence. My son is off at a scout camp returning later in the morning. I will be there for the shoot.

Looking forward to meeting some of the other members

Steve

I hope to make the shoot with my kids Kristi 17 and my son Matt 16. We would do the archery shoot as well.

Sounds like a great time

Steve

It is a great chance to rub shoulders with the big dogs

I will respond with a final confirmation..

Steve

I am up as well. Trying to decide on wether to try a full strut Jake… He is wimmpy looking. Found a kill in the backyard 2 months ago
I have seen 2 gobblers traveling together in my hunting area and am thinking about the full strut… If they give me then it is going to be a lonely hen.
First time hunting this late Got to get out and do some scouting the next couple of nights

Shoot Strait

Steve

Congrats

Great job Joel and Brad. I can’t wait to hear the story with pics. Only 25 more days before I can get out

Yes it is the HS Stagger 3 and 4 both worked. something about the reed purred for me. I cannot get any other call to purr.
Good Luck

Like I said I would choke on the thing as the birds were comming in.

Steve

I was also in the same boat. I could never purr with any diaphram call. I finnally found a call that I can purr with this season. It is wrapped in bright yellow tape and called a stagger 3. It worked so good when I was just looking I noticed a stagger 4 and bought it as well.
I can make nice yelps, cutts and even purr (I can call like a champ in the car but with the pressure on I will dry up and choke on that darn call )
The reeds on the call seem to vibrate just enough on the tip of my toung.
I found the calls at a major fleet store in both Oakdale and Blaine.
Now if I can only find the first one I bought. I don’t seem to notice much sound differences between other calls by the same maker.
All the guys out for this first season are making me very envious…. I do what I can waiting for my chance to do the archery hunt in 1 month
I spent $10 on black latex paint for the inside of my Eclipse blind—- so all you guys out there keep giving tips — some of us are taking notes.

Good Luck with the purring….

Steve

Joel,
I am going to go with the Hammerhead 2″ cut expandable. Ease of tuning is the # 1 reason for using the expandable. It was a very popular head for turkeys before the Rage came out. I am very interested in the Bullhead both the 100 grain and 125 grain head. Sounds very durable but may be slightly difficult to tweak.
I am still getting used to my new (used) Guardian. So one less variable to mess with.

p.s. I caught your taped presentation on Mapping G.P.S. units that you put on in February at T.B. Very nicely done

Steve

I won’t be hunting until the Archery season but my preperation has started. I bought my new chair to shoot from in the blind and started shooting sitting down. I still have a few things to work out in my form but the shooting is going better than anticipated
I made the move to the magnum DB/primos chair. It is made for comfort just like me
Soon I will be taking the blind out and stripping all of my screens out of it. I plan on doing some serious shooting from the blind and try to get some real life shot senerios set up in order to check out angles and trouble spots to avoid at the moment of truth
Last year I had the privlege to share a blind with Joel and learned the importance of patience and not overcalling Thanks Joel.
I may try and head out to check out some areas that I have never hunted and observe/learn some of the travel patterns of the local flocks.

Good Luck to all

Steve

Great show. I gotta get Fox Sports Pittsburgh to pick up this show.

Roy