Alright BQ 11 crew, I hope you're all ready!! For you first timers you're in for an experience of a Life time!! I can't make it this year but I'm looking forward to hearing all about it!! Who's ready??!!
First timer here. I think I'm ready, I have been checking my gear to make sure I don't forget anything. I can't wait to meet everyone.
Rick
Rick, do you plan on driving to Tom's house? Seems like you're closer to LeTuque than you are Toms house! You'll love it!!
First time for me as well .
Today is my last day of work , I'm a night shift worker and I'm going to try and get myself adjusted to living like a day shifter before I head out this next Thursday .
Going to be a long drive for me .
Talked with Tom just last evening and I'm all excited for this .
Going to drive to Letuque and spend the night Friday.
Been ready for weeks, just struggling through these last 5 days at work! I'm going to be useless for 3 days next week!
LD
Gonna miss you this year Sean! I guess Bowdoc is going to have to pick up the slack! You two look a lot alike so it should be just like having you in camp! :biglaugh: :biglaugh: :biglaugh: :biglaugh: :archer2:
LD
It's a great time. You new guys won't be disappointed.
Graps, you might stay on that night shift schedule for the midnight run North. Its an all nighter.
Larry what airline are you using I will be earlier than you so I can meet you when you arrive.To the other hunters looking forward to meeting everyone.Kip
Delta, Believe that I get in at 1:00
QuoteOriginally posted by Caddo:
Gonna miss you this year Sean! I guess Bowdoc is going to have to pick up the slack! You two look a lot alike so it should be just like having you in camp! :biglaugh: :biglaugh: :biglaugh: :biglaugh: :archer2:
LD
Ha!! I can't hold a candle to ol Seattle Slew!! He's 110 pounds of blue twisted steel!! It's killing me sitting this one out.
Well when you get there look for an ugly old fart
with a big smile.See you soon.Kip
I hope you all have as good of a time as I did on BQ #9, pick a spot and let'er rip !!! :thumbsup:
Have a great time guys! I am missing it again. Wonder why there are so many bears in these avatars,lol.
I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone at the camp .
Best hunting camp/time. Ever! You will all have a blast and I'm sure you'll all have shots at bears and make some great friends. Enjoy yourselves. Be safe and good luck!
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Ill 2nd that one Matty :campfire:
Make it a third x3 Matty! I wish I was going so I could get reacquainted with "Chevron" another year older and possibly unrubbed.... :campfire:
Good Luck everyone. I would say have fun but I think that's a given...
Looking forward to another great year! A great hunt and always a great camp. I'm counting down the days.
QuoteOriginally posted by Matty:
Best hunting camp/time. Ever! You will all have a blast and I'm sure you'll all have shots at bears and make some great friends. Enjoy yourselves. Be safe and good luck!
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AMEN, Brother!
Next year for me again.
Boy that crew above is a bunch of handsome devils !! I just returned from 2nd bait trip 12:45 AM this morning and weather was very COOL and rained Thurs-Sat !! The bugs are waiting for us next week and between myself and 17 yr old helper Javen (1st bait trip) & my buddy Brian Vincent 92nd bait trip) we lugged close to 5000# of sweets,grease & meat scraps into the bush and that doesn't include,teestands,treesteps,climbing sticks,stink bait as well as assortment of super strong bear scents.Looking forward to next weeks hunt; ATTENTION Bear Questers be SURE to have Lacrosse type rubber boots the bush recieved ALOT of rain the past 10 days. SEE you boys this FRIDAY late afternoon and Rick & Dal you guys Saturday morning about 6 am. DRIVE & FLY safe gents.
Thanks for all your hard work to put this together for us .
I'm all packed and ready to go . :jumper: :jumper: :jumper:
I'll be there with bells on .
My engine is started! Vacation started today. Getting my truck ready for the haul. Sharpening broad heads and packing for the week.
Don't forget your rain gear. It looks like we may see some rain. Temps from low 50's to low 70's on most days. A day or two might reach 80. Temps will definitely drop while on stand in the in the evenings.
We are going to have a blast!
I am so pumped for this .
Go get 'em guys! Y'all will have stories for a life time. My advise...
1) Much easier if you get Tom to help!
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2) Let the river run red!
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3) Bring home a Big One and enjoy every moment...tippit
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One more hour of work left and then vacation starts and off to La Tuque in a couple of days!!
Flying tomorrow, Woo Hoo! Just have to make it through this last day at work!
LD
To say that I'm jealous is an understatement!! Have a safe trip guys and good luck!!
Ok , I'm all packed .
Sean and Jeff, I hope you both will make it up again soon.
Ever since my first trip, I have been hooked and keep coming back. I know if I miss a trip it will drive me crazy!
Sean, We will save you that big one from last year...let him get a little bigger.
Jeff, Well... you always find the big ones, or maybe they find you!! :) I still haven't seen another as BIG as that boar I spent a few hours with my first year...then again, the look really big when they are only a foot or two away... and you just arrowed your bear an hour or two before.
Good Luck John. I'm thinking of getting my son to come up with me but this is his busy blacksmithing season just after the ski slopes close at Crested Butte. I'll keep trying.
Keep trying Jeff. I think a father and son trip would be the best! My father never really hunted in my lifetime, but he went with me in the early years to ensure I was safe. I still remember those times. I have thought about trying to get him to go with me now. I think he would enjoy it and I know he would love fishing and helping out.
Graps, all I can say is thermo-cel!!!! With lots of extra fluid! Hope you are ready for the bugs, 'cause they are ready for you!!!!!!
Good luck, shoot straight and God bless,
Rodd
YES! Thermacell!!! Year before last I hunted a morning and once I got in my tree, I realized I forgot my thermacell. II thoughts it out but it wasn't a real fun morning even seeing bears.
Some things to remember.... orange vest, bow case, some sort of a safety belt for the tree stand. Game camera might be fun if you have one.
I always take an old camp shirt to tie around the tree. Cuts down on noise, especially if there is sap you might stick to.
Good luck fellas ! First timers be ready for an awesome hunt. Bring your thermocell ! I had 2 smoking in my stand at once it kept the blood suckers away. I killed my bear the first night but my trailcam showed a bunch of other bears including a real bruiser. Tom does a hell of a job and he'll carry your bear out on his back just give him some chocolate chip cookies. I'm looking forward to all of the stories. Shoot straight ! Tony Z
:campfire:
Good Luck to everyone on this Bear Quest Adventure and best wishes.
I was fortunate to attend Bear Quest 10, last year. It was a hunt of a life time for me. I will never forget all of the great people that I got to hunt with. It was a adventure that I would highly recommend for everyone.
Again, Thank to everyone that made it and continue to make it as great as it was and is.
Tim Nuss
Good to hear from you Tim :thumbsup:
There ought to be a bear down by now :goldtooth:
Any reports from this bunch ! Probably couldn't believe the story's but just checking in.
Looking forward to all the great stories to come from this hunt.
:campfire: :campfire: :campfire:
Yep, I'm looking forward to the stories.
QuoteOriginally posted by bruinman:
Yep, I'm looking forward to the stories.
Me to........ :campfire: :coffee:
Me 3.
I got inside info on who won the biggest bear in camp pot (I thought pot was illegal), but I can't tell. I'll say this, I'm not surprised because he's a friend and a very impressive bowhunter. Stay tuned. BW
I got inside info on who won the biggest bear in camp pot (I thought pot was illegal), but I can't tell. I'll say this, I'm not surprised because he's a friend and a very impressive bowhunter. Stay tuned. BW
Thanks for the update Uncle Barry. I was starting to think we'd have to go up there and pick through bear scat to identify the boys. Haven't heard a word yet. Tony Z
Ha Barry, I'm getting bits and pieces here and there. I ain't saying nuttin!
R Combs brought the first bear back to camp .
First I would like to give a big thank you to Tom Phillips for arranging an awesome hunting experience. This was my first ever bear hunt and didn't realize the work that goes into setting up a hunt like this. I know Tom and Brian Vincent made a couple trips up to Quebec to bait and set stands and cameras before we ever arrived to camp.
There were a lot of experienced hunters in this camp that have hunted bears and just about every big game animal in North America. I'm kind of a quiet person but am a very good listener when the stories start flowing(I believed most of them).
The first day was spent checking baits and cameras. Our stand locations were drawn from a hat and I drew the beaver pond stand. When we checked the bait barrel it was empty. We then checked the camera and seen multiple sows and cubs and one lone bear that could be a boar. Needless to say never seeing a bear in the woods before I was excited. The camera showed him at one point checking out the tree stand.
Sunday morning we went out to check baits and cameras again and it looked like the same boar came in again. At 4:15 pm I climbed into the stand for the first time after grabbing the card from to camera to check again. The boar had come into the bait a half hour after we left that morning.
At 5:15 pm I saw my first bear ever while hunting. He was coming in slow but eventually came into the bait area checking his surroundings and eventually came over to my tree and glanced up at me for a split second just like he did on the camera. He then made his way over to the bait barrel and stuck his head in but his front leg was back so there was no shot and he eventually wandered off.
About 10 minutes later he showed back up, this time when he put his head in the barrel his front leg was foward. When I shot I remember hearing a clank sound so I wasn't sure if my arrow hit the barrel after passing through the bear or it was the bears head when he banged it on the barrel when he bolted out of there.
The bear ran right by the bottom of my stand and I could hear him crashing down the hill below me but I didn't hear a death moan so I didn't go check on him. After an hour and a half I headed back to camp. Tom was there and asked if I had had a flat tire or something because I was back so early. We waited until after dinner to go look for him.
We went back to the stand about 11:30 pm and Tom found the first bit of blood. I am amazed that even with a low exit hole just behind the opposite shoulder that the long hair soaks up the blood and doesn't leave a great blood trail.
The bear did a circle on the side of the hill and crossed his own blood trail which threw us for a few minutes. After getting back on track I stayed on the blood trail while Tom went farther down the hill toward the road. Although I thought I had made a good shot it was a relief to hear Tom say your bear is over here. It was laying in the ditch right next to the road that I had drove down to go back to camp. In total he might have traveled about 150 yards.
The rest of the week was spent hanging out with a bunch of great traditional bowhunters including one Don (bow doc) Ward which was camp cook and head entertainment.
Thanks everyone in camp for a great experience, I'm sure I'll be back for round 2.
Rick
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I guess they're all bashful! Another great hunt hosted by Mr. Tom Phillips. Absolutely fantastic, great hunt, great camp, great bunch of Trad folks to hunt with again this year.I started out this hunt by drawing the "Cove " stand. I was really excited, I love hunting the water baits! Due to some unforeseen issues with the folks moving out of the cabin, we got a late start on Saturday. By the time we got all situated, baits checked and stands adjusted, it was just too late to hunt that evening. Sunday and Monday at the Cove stand were pretty uneventful, no bears sighted and not a lot of evidence of bear activity. Still, just being able to sit out in the Canadian wilderness as mosquito and black fly bait was just magnificent! Tuesday I decide that a change was needed so I moved over to the "Hillbilly" stand. The Hillbilly stand hadn't been hunted yet and is historically a good bear producer. After the short boat ride, Jay dropped me off and I was in the stand shortly after 4:00 PM. As I sat there I remembered what Bill Terry told me as I left camp. "Hurry up and shoot your bear so I can hunt it tomorrow and kill a bigger one!" That Bill, always encouraging!
At 5:30 I saw my first bear of the hunt. He was about 30 yds out and making his way to the bait. As he got closer I could see that he was a beautiful bear, with a rich black hide and a huge white blaze on his chest. Unfortunately he could walk into the bait barrel without touching! He stayed around for about an hour and a half or so then suddenly gave a woof and ran off. I'm thinking that this means another, probably bigger, bear is coming. If there was, I never saw it. About 8:00 I see my second bear coming down the same trail that the first bear came in on. Immediately I recognized this as a different bear, definitely bigger! As he slowly made his way into the bait, stopping and sitting down, sniffing the air every 10 ft or so, gave me the chance to stand up and get ready. I determined, thought not the big 300 pounder that I was looking for, this was a shooter candidate. He came in close, and made a left turn towards the bait, concentrating on scarfing up the marshmallows that I had placed earlier. He was broadside, with his head down, facing away from me at 6 yds. I'm thinking, man it doesn't get any more perfect than this! He stepped forward with his right leg and I guess I lost all self control. Next thing I knew, my arrow was disappearing into his side and the string tracker was playing out!
He let out a woof and ran straight away rom me, back up the trail he'd come in on. At about 30 yds I saw him fall, get back up and move to the left out of sight. I could hear the crashing as he went down for keeps and heard the death moan. Game over. Since the Hillbilly stand is a good ways up the side of a hill, I determined that the best thing I could do was gat out of there and go get a sled to drag him out with. Bedside's I didn't want to bugger it up any more, knowing that Bill Terry would be hunting there the next night! By 8:30 I was back on the shoreline waiting for my pickup.
Of course, true to his word, Bill hunted the Hillbilly the next two nights and of course shot a bigger bear there Thursday night!
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Thanks again Tom for another Fantastic Bear Quest hunt! The good Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I'll be back next year, hoping for a chance at that 300#er!
Congrats fellas!!
LD, that's a good looking bear for sure!! Dontcha hate it when they practically beg you to shoot them!! Congrats Rick!! Post a picture if you can!!
Congrats guys!! Keep um coming.
Outstanding..... :notworthy:
Well I came home empty handed but had a wonderful time .
I did get to watch a couple of cubs playing near the bait while momma circled me about 30 yards out .
I did get a little nervous when she was behind me and I was between her and the cubs . ( Did I mention that I was hunting on the ground ? ) :scared:
Buy the time she got back around near the cubs , it was so dark that I couldn't hardly see so I desided to leave the blind and walk out .
To my surprise , the cubs just stayed there and momma started making a sound kinda like a hoot owl and snapping her teeth .
Well at that point I changed flashlights​and grabbed my 5,000 lux and on full power I shined it in her face .
That stopped her but as I walked out she kept making that noise and snapping her teeth .
Every few feet I would shine her in the face .
She followed me for about 150 yards and when I got to the road there was no sign of her .
That was a very neat experience .
And to top off the evening , I saw a cow moose in the road on my way back to camp .
What a great experience .
You'll get em next time Dale. I'll definitely have to check into the string trackers some of you guys were using for the next bear hunt.
Great job so far gents. :thumbsup:
Well that's what Trad Hunting is all about .
If you gotta harvest every time , it's not for you .
Fred Bear said , it's not about the trophy or the harvest , it's about the hunt .
Just seeing some bears makes it a successful hunt . :archer:
Beautiful picture Larry purty bear. sorry I couldn't make it up this year either. Really mis it its the best up there.
Thank all! Ryman Cat, hope your feeling better, missed having you there this year, maybe next year!
LD
I will say that one of the things that was neat about being in a traditional bow hunting camp is all of the home made equipment. From Bill's quiver to Larry's bamboo arrows to Dale's knives.
Again thanks everyone for a great time!
Rick
Sounds like another great time and hunt. Congrad LD nice bear.
QuoteOriginally posted by R. Combs:
I will say that one of the things that was neat about being in a traditional bow hunting camp is all of the home made equipment. From Bill's quiver to Larry's bamboo arrows to Dale's knives.
Again thanks everyone for a great time!
Rick
That is a great thing about it. Bill Terry also made his broadheads and fletched his arrows with feathers from a turkey he killed. Last year one of the Phillipse boys, Patrick I think, killed his bear with an arrow he made from a river cane.
Had a great time, road in with Larry and Jay had been a while at since my last B.Q. and even longer with my freinds Larry,Jay ,Tom ,Bill and Bowdoc and Mike.Quickly got introduced to the other hunters I drew the glove stand first nite and saw a bear far off no shot.I was not real sure abount that stand so close to bait when I pulled to full draw being short ,limbs would touch bottom of stand.I asked Tom to try another empty stand Beaver Pond.Did not see anything there so after a couple tries I went back to the Glove.With good light still I saw a Bear coming my way from behind bait setup.Still behind the bait which gave me plenty of clearance for my bow.The bear stopped and decided to make a left turn which opened her right side behind the leg and my arrow went just where I was looking.The bear took off and the death moan was fast and over in a few seconds.She was a medium size bear but looked really big in the fading light but ground shrinkage did her part.I was really proud of my shot and outcome.Kip If any body has a pic please post I did not get a pic on my camera.
Kip, it sounds a lot like my hunt up there. Glad you had a good time. Some of those baits are pretty close........lol!
here you go Kip
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Congrats Kip!!
Here's another one for you, Kip.
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Way to Kip!
:thumbsup:
Some great looking Bears guys, congrats!
Nice looking bear Kip. Congrats.
Man that looks fun! Congrats guys on a great hunt.
Thanks Rick and Larry for pics. Damm I am ugly.
Kip your not any uglier than the rest of us and your cooking more than makes up for it. :biglaugh:
Great job guys and a special congrats to my buddy Kip
That's funny Kip, there isn't any of us that are brand new anymore
Nice bears guys! sure hated to miss out this year. Ain't a week goes by round here that bear camp doesn't come up in conversation. Hillbilly was good to us last year also!