I wasn't sure I was going to set any bear baits this year and really didn't decide too until TJ told me he was coming up and if I could point him in the right direction. I started baiting the day before the season opened and about 2 weeks after everyone else. My son and daughter were pretty excited to try and shoot their first bear as well as TJ. It was SUPER wet and was tough getting any daytime pics consistently. The weather turned colder this last week and when I made the 5 hour round trip to check cameras and re bait on Wednesday I saw two of the baits that were way back in the public land spot were getting hit multiple times during daylight every day for 4 straight days. Justin could not get out until Saturday because of football and school. We drove up knowing a storm was coming and hoped to catch a bear coming into the bait before hand. Once we got there I changed the SD card and re baited. I banged the bucket on the logs and it must have been like ringing the dinner bell because by the time I climbed the stand and sat down Justin said there is a bear. He had a BIG head but didn't come out of the brush and disappeared as fast as he showed up. We sat there for another hour and a half as the storm was rolling in. There was quite a bit of thunder and lightning but not much rain at this point. All of a sudden I heard something walking through the water on the trail and told Justin to get ready I think a bear was coming. She walked in the same way as we did. She walked towards the bait but didn't go in. I was telling Justin it wasn't a big bear and we were talking about whether he was going to shoot it or not. He asked how much it weighed and while Justin was deciding to shoot or not it walked into the brush that the bigger one went in. I could see he was disappointed he didn't shoot and told him to stay calm because I think it is still there. About a minute later she came back out and went around the back of the bait and was heading off towards our left into some SUPER thick stuff. I told Justin if he wanted to shoot he would have to swing his slug gun over there and get ready. It stopped about 15 yards away and we could see its vitals and part of its head. The bear went right down where she stood and it wasn't long before we heard the death moan. My son was super excited and said it was the coolest thing he has ever seen in the woods. It may not be the biggest bear but you would think he shot a Booner. I could not be more proud or happy with Justin. He is becoming quite a hunter and I can not wait to see what he does next. Here is a picture of the bait station and Justin's bear, you can see it is really thick in there.
Good stuff man! Congrats to you both, and a big thanks for all your work up there! I can vouch boys, that bait is waaayyyyy back in some thick stuff!
