Gibb with his stone point bear

My bear, 195 in the round, fat little porker!

Wow Greg that guy in the first pics is a brute.  I think I would wet myself just seeing him in the woods.  Nice pics and congrats on the hunt.

We skinned out 10 bears!!  Talk about R&D for my knives is an understatement    

 

That's a bruiser Greg. I didn't see any that big...biggest was maybe a bit over 200. And every bear over 150# I saw was rubbed up pretty bad. That one has a gorgeous coat!

6/26/07 New baits were chosen this morning; I was interested in a place where Ray shot his bear, "The bowl". Barry would go back to the stand where he had numerous encounters, Tippit would try a spot where he thought he would have a chance with a stone point.

After the skinning chores (seems like we were always skinning    ) and baiting duties, I spent about an hour in the treestand behind camp shooting my broadhead into the 3D bear under Ray's guidance. I was determined not to make the same mistake twice...and Ray was instrumental in getting my head back in the game from the last botched encounter. I soon realized why I had missed: from a seated position, which I never shoot from, my lower string was hitting my thigh at full draw, raising my bow slightly right before release. Even at the short range it was causing me to hit high. Many shots later, I felt like I could comfortably shoot at the steep angle and stay sitting.

It may not be a big deal to those with many more years of experience, but I certainly learned something I had not experienced before while on that stand practicing. The more I learn...the more I realize I don't know and the more I want to learn. Never having shot from that position/angle, I took it for granted it would be a slam dunk. But lessons learned hard are not easily forgotten.

Another equipment check and sharpening session...I was confident and hopeful as we geared up for the evening stand. Allen and I headed out for the long ride to the stand. "The Bowl" was set off of a beautiful scenic lane...single track...staying true to the lush, rainforest views we had seen so far.

 

We did indeed get some R&D! I learned a good bit about different blade shapes, hardness, thicknesses etc. while processing those bears. I really had a good time trying the differnt blades Tippit brought, and surprisingly the best skinner was voted to the blade everyone least liked the looks of...but dog gone did that blade work well! My Campbell blade performed well, as usual...and my Wolftrack skinner was a hit with Tippit and others that tried it.

Love the new blade shape Doc, but you're not going to make me wait till next year to try out the top one in the last pic are you?!!?  :rolleyes:    

this is getting good ,JC...oh yeah...I know how this ends!              

I was getting all wrapp-ilated up in the story..forgive me.

Allen walked me in to the stand site, a slight bowl like depression at the base of a hill with multiple adjoining trails. The bait had been hit again since last baiting only a few hours before...we probably ran the bear off as we came in.

Allen left with exchanged "good luck"'s and I settled in for another anticipated hunt. I had not sat long before I saw black far up the main trail. It still baffled me how these animals could simply "appear" without a sound. It was a fairly large bear...my palms began to sweat and I struggled to remain in control of my breathing. I hope that thrill never goes away!

The bear came in a bit less cautiously than I expected. He stopped a few times on his round about route to check the wind and look at the bait, but basically walked right in. It was very difficult to pass up this bear, the biggest I had seen yet, but the coat was mostly gone...there was far more skin than hair showing. I decided to just wait and see what else came in. The bear posed in every conceivable angle...even laying down with his head across his paws at one point. During one of his snacks, I saw movement in my peripheral vision at the top of the hill...but it was brown not black. Interesting....and the big bear thought so too! Vaulting over the bait and brush stacked behind it, he tore off up the hill in an explosion of donuts, the brown form turning inside out in an attempt to disappear before the big bear made it to the top of the hill. This time, they made noise!

The bigger bear returned a short time later from a different direction. He snacked for a few minutes off and on and suddenly bolted upright. I was so intent on watching him, I didn't realize the brown colored bear had slipped in, this time close enough to see it really was brown. Off went the big-boy again, this time in highest gear and his nitro running. Just over the crest of the hill I heard a terrible commotion, like a tractor trailer sliding through the woods...growls and howls to raise the hair on my neck. Somebody was gettin a good ol fashioned whuppin, and all for donuts!    

They both stayed gone for longer than I expected. I suppose the big boy wanted to make sure brownie wasn't coming back. Again I noticed a black form that had simply appeared in the few seconds it took for my eyes to scan the trails...but this was a different bear. I could only see his front torso as he walked towards me, not as big as the first bear but a beautiful coat.

Are you saying donuts aren't worth fighting over!!!!???  Haven't you learned anything from Vance?        

Back to the story...I think I hear Miss Kim's rug coming....

oh jc this is one good story my man keep it comming.  

Fighting over donuts.You should have seen the gang at breakfast.48 scrabled eggs,5 pounds of bacon one large onion and 48 pieces of toast.Fallowed by not one but two gallons of strong black coffee.And I have no idea on how many cookies they consumed afterwards with the two gallons of coffee.I'll bet my Stetson some members of the Quebec quest could out eat a few of them bears.

WOULD YOU TRUST THIS MAN?


Sorry bowdoc, uncle Barry made me do it.

JC, the bears we saw were all prime, considering the date I felt fortunate. The three we took were all perfect pelts. As for the bigun, I would have liked to have seen him, he got caught on my trail cam. Rick hunted him that night and the next morning but it was obvious he was moving around a bit.

I had a great moment walking into a nice sow with a yearling cub, she woofed at me treed the cub and made noise in brush off the trail to let me know she was there. Saw another good one in the headlights coming down the logging road the second night we were there, but that was the only other off bait sighting.

We had a great time, I'm thinking about going back in September since I still have a fall tag, I'm guessing the bruiser dosn't see any pressure in the fall, might be a little easier to trap.

Greg

Bone eating butterflies?

Fellas JC got his story telling abilities from Charlie Lamb...can you tell?

Charlie, is he making you proud? He can drag out a story second only to you....  :D  I'm his wife and I am still waiting!

Kim make that feller of yours one of them monster cookies, and give him a big old glass of milk and plant his body in front of that puter and make him tell it all.