almost tagged a spring bear in Idaho last night.

[BULLBLASTER]

ive been running my bait since the season opened, and it started getting hit last weeek i hunted friday and saturday afternoons and had a nice chocolate/cinnamon bear come in saturday around 6 pm. he was walking in straight to the bait then just stopped, looked 90 degrees to his right (our left) for a few seconds and then turned and took off. 

huntnnw was there filming. the first pic is off huntnnws vid cam and the others are trail cam pics.
hopefully i can make it happen next weekend!

there are 4-5 different bears hitting this bait

[bobcat]

Nice looking bear. I hope you get him next time!

[Austrian Hunter]

That's an awesome looking bear!!  Hope he comes back when you ready for him! 

[Ridgerunner]

Oh man what a sweet bear, keep at it, it will happen!

[carpsniperg2]

Good luck

[BULLBLASTER]

i was able to make it in mid day today and hang a stand so that i dont have to pack the dbl bull in and ouyt each time. cant hunt again till thursday or friday but hopefully itll happen then.

[coop2424]

That is awesome hope you get him.  What are you using for bait?  I have not had any luck with anything hitting mine yet.

[huntnnw]

Reason he left is he smelled you 

[BULLBLASTER]

Reason he left is he smelled you 

hey... I wasn't the only one a little gassy in the blind!   
besides I thought bears like smelly things... 

[BULLBLASTER]

That is awesome hope you get him.  What are you using for bait?  I have not had any luck with anything hitting mine yet.

I have been using a bit of anything and everything... the normal bread syrup jello oil... etc. I also hung a game bag of fat bacon meat in the tree. That the near is climbing up to.
Anything smelly...

[coop2424]

That is awesome hope you get him.  What are you using for bait?  I have not had any luck with anything hitting mine yet.

I have been using a bit of anything and everything... the normal bread syrup jello oil... etc. I also hung a game bag of fat bacon meat in the tree. That the near is climbing up to.
Anything smelly...

Well that is everything I am using also so looks like I am just in a crappy spot.  I might need to move locations if nothing hits it this week..

[BULLBLASTER]

Hey coop. What is the elevation at your site? I am pretty low. Are you in an area open past may 15? I hope your bait gets hit!

[coop2424]

Hey coop. What is the elevation at your site? I am pretty low. Are you in an area open past may 15? I hope your bait gets hit!

I am not very high I would say about 3000-3200ft and no I am in unit 2 which closes the 15.    I am basically on the top of the Mtn but in darker timber and there is a clearcut about 100 yards to the left and below it that are facing south.  There is also water in the middle of the clearcut.  I am thinking if I don't have anything hit it by this weekend I will probably move it.  Good luck to you guys and I hope the next pictures are with a down bear..

[huntnnw]

I have a bait 1.5 miles north of his and nothing has touched it...hope this week

[EA338AI]

Taken quite a few bears but not a color phased one yet.  hope you get him

[BULLBLASTER]

I arrowed the chocolate bear last night! 
ill post the story and pics tomorrow!

[carpsniperg2]

Way to go

[coop2424]

That is awesome congrats..  More pics!

[BULLBLASTER]

here are a few more pics from my trail cam.
the date and times are off...
the brown one is hte one that i shot, and the black is a big ol boar that comes around at night.

[carpsniperg2]

That black is a brute but got to love the colored bears

[BULLBLASTER]

now on to the story.

I got into stand around 3PM on the 2nd.
the bait was basically gone. I had hung a treestand last weekend after I almost got a shot but didnt have a window in the right spot og the blind. made sure I could shoot there in the future.
around 715 or 730 pm i looked down the ridge and saw legs coming up. this bear was going very slow and very cautiously. stopping every 2 steps and looking allaround and smelling.
I held tight until the bear got to 22 yards and tuned into some brush before I grabbed my bow and hooked the release. when the bear passed back through the brush and toward my shooting lane I drew back and waited. the bear came out to the exact spot as in the very first pic I posted in this thread, but this time I had a shooting lane and the bear was quartered away!
I settled my pin high and tight behind the shoulder and let fly. I saw the arrow dissapear right where my pin had been and knew it was a good shot. the bear let out a bark and took off down the ridge. I heard the thrashing for 2-3 seconds then calm.
I was confident in the shot so I waited in the tree for 5 minutes and then climbed down to examine my arrow (I was alone and wanted to track in daylight because it is very thick brush) I found the arrow stuck in the dirt with the nock pointing right at my treestand. as soon as I picked the arrow up I noticed the "red carpet" this bear left a steady stream of blood all the way right to where it was holed up under a log.

this bear is a sow and I figure her to be in the neighborhood of 160-180 lb. the quarters that I packed out weighed 46 lb. and the cape and head was 55-60. the carcass was the rest. when I checked it in at IDFG the warden guessed weight at 175 just looking at head and paw size, he figured 200-220 for fall weight. so not a tiny bear.

the field pics could have been better, but I did pretty well for being alone and self timering.
thanks for looking

[coop2424]

Nice job and great bear.  You did well for being by yourself with the pics..

[johnr060]

Awsome. A color phase bear is on my bucket list.

[BULLBLASTER]

Nice job and great bear.  You did well for being by yourself with the pics..

i just wish i could have gotten the head up a bit and picked the grass from in front... oh well.

[coop2424]

Nice job and great bear.  You did well for being by yourself with the pics..

i just wish i could have gotten the head up a bit and picked the grass from in front... oh well.

You always look back at it and wish you would of done things better.  That is how we learn and next time the pics will be even better.  It is hard to calm yourself in the moment to get the perfect picture..

[Michelle_Nelson]

Very nice looking color phase!  Looks like she has a real nice coat too.  Way to go getting her with archery gear.  She is a very respectable size sow. 

[BULLBLASTER]

Thanks Michelle! This bears coat is amazing! So long and soft. No rubbed spots or anything. Your avatar bear makes me jealous tho!

[Huntboy]

Sweet looking bear, congrats.

[Michelle_Nelson]

Spring Bears make some of the best mounts just for that reason.  As long as you get them before they start rubbing.  What are you planning to do with yours? 

The Bear in my avatar is much smaller than the one you got.  I still havnt decided what I want to do with it.  It had the thickest coat I've ever seen on a bear from Washington.  I just had it dry tanned and its hangibg on my wall.  Thought about doing a lifesize or a closed mouth rug.  Cant decide.

[RadSav]

And people give me heck for my big stabilizer on my Truth2.  Yours makes mine look like a baby

I sure miss working bait sites and taking bear up close with those perfect bow shots.  Reading your story and seeing the pictures really got me dreaming of my past life.  Those were good times.  I've never shot a sow before, but dang if I might have had to tag that one.  She's beautiful.  Congratulations!

[BULLBLASTER]

Spring Bears make some of the best mounts just for that reason.  As long as you get them before they start rubbing.  What are you planning to do with yours? 

The Bear in my avatar is much smaller than the one you got.  I still havnt decided what I want to do with it.  It had the thickest coat I've ever seen on a bear from Washington.  I just had it dry tanned and its hangibg on my wall.  Thought about doing a lifesize or a closed mouth rug.  Cant decide.

just having a soft tan on this one.

[BULLBLASTER]

And people give me heck for my big stabilizer on my Truth2.  Yours makes mine look like a baby

I sure miss working bait sites and taking bear up close with those perfect bow shots.  Reading your story and seeing the pictures really got me dreaming of my past life.  Those were good times.  I've never shot a sow before, but dang if I might have had to tag that one.  She's beautiful.  Congratulations!

well you know what they say about big stablilizers...?




...accurate shots... duhhh 

I cant believe how much fun running a bait site is... ton of work but lots of fun too! and yes bears are really fun to have up close. they have to be teh most careful animals coming to a bait... very cautious like they know your there.

[RadSav]

I cant believe how much fun running a bait site is... ton of work but lots of fun too! and yes bears are really fun to have up close. they have to be teh most careful animals coming to a bait... very cautious like they know your there.

Wait until the first time you come to sit in your treestand and have to remove the bear poop from the seat first.  Made me extremely jumpy.  I bet I checked the tree above my head 1,000 times in an evening.  Moved a little faster through the bush too.  First time a young one tries to join you in stand is a fun one too   Man, I miss it bad!

Sounds like you are hooked!  I should say congratulations for that too

[Ridgerunner]

Awesome bear, I wish I lived close enough to Idaho to start baiting that looks awesome.

[huntnnw]

definitely not the same baiting in the fall as for bears coming in and how much they eat