I didn't get draw for a fall bear hunt with 3 preference points... Oh well. I'm exploring the idea of a no quota self guided. I live about 25 minutes south of the Prior Lake so I'm thinking that the Princeton, Mora, Cambridge area. Does any body have any tips or experiences they could share. I'm not looking for spots to hunt, I can do the leg work myself, I'm just looking for guidance as I try to plan this. Thanks
I have friends in the Bock area and it is competitive to put it in a kind way, heard of tampered baits etc. There are some nice bear in the area just scattered hard to keep the same bear coming on a regular basis.
Well if anybody knows where your bait is you are just a guy from the cities to them. If you can find private land with quiet owners and exclusive use it would be ideal. A dry summer wouldn't hurt either.
I had no idea you lived right near prior lake, My parents live in Prior lake. next time I'm up there we'll have to go shoot some fish or something
Heck yeah! I'm not to far away at all. Let me know when your around next and we'll see if we can make something work!
Wyoming antelope are a blast. I have never taken the bow out but all 4 my dad and I have shot have been in bow range. Find the water and find the goats. Lots of scouting helps. We would go out a day or two early and put 500 miles on the truck a day just scouting. Then it's just a matter of getting to the spot in the morning way before anyone else does.
What is the style of hunting you'd be doing for the bears? I've been baiting bears here in Maine since I was a young kid with my father, so I could lend some info on it.
no I haven't but my dad, uncle and cousins have. I wasn't old enough when they last went in the late 90's
I'm about 10 miles west of Princeton - Not many bear around me (although I have got bear on my cams every year). I would recommend going a little more north near Mille Lacs. But as Sota said... It's very competitive.
Dr Ken Nordberg wrote a book back in the late 80's on bear hunting as well as several books on Whitetail as well. His bear hunting guide is a great read and provides good information.
Have you got a bear on camera yet this spring? I am 10 miles south of Princeton and have the Sherburne refuge and the Sanddunes state land adjacent so there is more big patches of woods. I usually get the juveniles that hang around a day or two. I did have what I considered a decent bear a couple years back.
Not yet. Just looked back at my pics from last year and the first pics I got were on June 11th. I'll only get a few pictures a year.
It seems that 10 miles east of Princeton and a little north has a good number of bears seems like 169 is the divider in habitat in the southern range of bears. It is kinda funny there can be a couple bears running around in Zimmerman and it's neat but no big deal, in Elk River they see a bear and it is on the news and in the paper.
I have ran baits east of Isle for the last few years. There are a number of really good bears up there but you have to compete with other hunters, guys on 4 wheelers and dirt bikes and other nature lovers. It is the far northern part of the no quota area. I will post some of the bear pics I have gotten there and I am sure at some point this summer I could meet you up there and show you some of the spots I ran baits. My son drew for area 51 this year and my daughter will draw next year so I wont be running baits there this year.
Also you are going to want to try and have the best bait possible if you are going to hunt public ground. I always try and have stuff no one else does to pull bear from other hunters.
That would be awesome. I'm starting to consider the Wyoming antelope hunt a little more. If the lope hunt doesn't work out I'll see if we can work something out. Regarding the bait, the is a frozen pie company and a few bakeries near me that I was going to ask but haven't actually spoken to them.
