Lets Hear Your Opening Day Stories

[h20hunter]

I was off hwy 520 just past oso loop rd. Don't remember a Dodge.

[seth30]

I thought if you got caught poaching you lost your rights to hunt??

[h20hunter]

I'm not real sure there are a set of penalties. I think it depends on the offense, number and type of game taken, and disposition of game official. The closest I have come to being a poacher was forgetting to pinch my barb on my dick nite. I was guilty of the infraction, paid my fine, and never looked back. I don't bait, poach, or condone those that do. Guess some people just want to shoot, not hunt?


Uh Oh, I think we have jacked the thread. We can shut 'er down on the off topic here and hope some more folks post opening day stuff.

[seth30]

I dont condone it either, but have done some poaching when I was a kid and didnt know that I was poaching, and  that crows had a season.  Got a stern talking too, but nothing past that.  But then again I was a kid, with too much time on my hands and a handy 22 long rifle.

[grundy53]

H20hunter,were you hunting on the sultan basin rd. in sultan.I was with a guy who has a grey dodge pickup.You probally only seen him and his son because he had already dropped everyone off.

I think it was me. I was riding a mt. Bike behind a gate and and a big grey dodge stopped and talked to me for a second. Nice folks.

[seth30]

I saw a guy go by on a dirtbike with a rifle strapped to his back.  I thought wow, he is going to have a fun time bringing that bear back home.

[haus]

found lots of bear poo and stumps torn up. no bears.
In the a.m. we hunted an old clear cut thats only accessible by one very overgrown logging road. The roads kinda tucked to the side off of the main road so we figured we'd have it to ourselves since it didn't really look as if it had much activity for years.....until yesterday. We walked out of the spot mid morning to see a rig parked part way up the road and some guy standing in front of it with his hedge trimmers out choppin branches off the alders    pretty much shot the sht out of plans A and C, but not B. Plan B's always there to save the day  
 gotta love public land huntin'  

[haus]

I saw a guy go by on a dirtbike with a rifle strapped to his back.  I thought wow, he is going to have a fun time bringing that bear back home.

tie front paws and head to the bars, wrap body around the seat. let rear paws hang or tie to rear fender if necessary. sit on bear. ride home.    seen it done with a deer but never a bear. it'd be a comical site for sure

[NRA4LIFE]

A little uneventful for me, but it sure was a nice day for a hike, and there were no bugs!  Went in behind a gate about 3.5-4 miles.  Seen a deer and a funny looking rabbit and lots of bear poop, but no bears.  Bears look to be eating a lot of grass from their crap.  Not a berry seen.

[Bscman]

Saw two bear opening day.

The first busted out of the brush 25yds from my girlfriend and I.
We were walking an OLD gated road system and when we came to a 4-way intersection we must've startled the slumbering "beast."
The trees erupted and everything was busting and cracking...it sounded like a monster..
VRRROOOMMM!!! Out comes this little 150lb tike charging right at us. Out comes the revolver and I start shouting "HEy bear! HEY BEAR!"

At about 15yds it veered off and stopped for a second to look us over. I knew it was too small to shoot, so another "Hey Bear!" got him running down the road.

That definitely had the adrenaline running...it was the closest bear encounter I've had in a while.
To make things even better--it was the first bear my lady has seen in the wild. She had a nice, "up close and personal" experience. High-5's followed! 

We jumped the second bear about 40yds ahead of us, while hiking another gated road a few miles away. It was eating the (few) ripe berries along the road-side. He took off up the hill about 40yds above the road and stopped to look. I had him in the sights, but just sat and watched.
I think this guy would've made a better scarf than a rug...maybe 100-120lbs.

Berries are all still a little ways off in all the areas we hunted...both high and low. We did find a few ripe blackberries...maybe 7 berries total (yum). Seems like the majority of the sign we've seen is at the lower elevations...2 more weeks and things should be looking good!

[kbdavear]

but I did have a good nap. 

Thats okay it happens. My partner didn't really sleep the night before and was set up about 30 yards from me. I saw lhim ean back on a small tree. I let him lay there for about 20 mins. Then I just enjoyed watching him "Jump" everytime I called. He couldn't seem to stay awake, so I just enjoyed working on my calls and startling him.

[bgreen]

Went out today got in at about 0600, hiked the marshy areas then at 1030 saw a nice bear running in the timber. Took a 80yrd shot, the bear rolls and gets up running. I went to where It was standing NO hair NO Blood, I did find the tree I did shoot though. I looked for 1hr just to make sure. Hunted till 6pm and only heard one more tearing up the duff and stumps I never did see that one.