Quote Originally Posted by kevingm1987 View Post
Yup, same thing happened to us in 2020. We were at a different spot in the MU but as we drove in we drove past people on the way out. After the first spot I found on google maps was a bust and the second one had people in it, we just turned down a side road. Ended up at a great spot. We put our hands over the fire and it was still warm! Good timing.

in 2021, we were in a different spot and got winded out, it was bad. We headed over to the natural spring to fill up water, near the campsite you stayed at, and noticed no one there. We quickly headed back and packed up and moved down there. Way more protected and way better camp site then the spot we had before.

Recognize a few of the pics, did you stay in the SW corner for most of your trip? I have been up the big massive burn from 2020 that backs on to the lake in one of your photos. The lake being in a different MU though.
Correct, the lake at the burn is in a different MU.
I don't know about a natural spring near the camp. We used the water from the river for cooking and washing. We brought our own water for drinking and topped up our jugs each time we had to make our too many trips into town lol.
We covered a lot of ground in the MU. I am not sure where my dad and our friend spent most of their time when Marc and I weren't with them. We spent quite a bit of time going after the Monster and I wanted to spend more time in a few areas and figuring them out instead of seeing the whole MU and learning nothing in detail, all while burning a ton of fuel. Too much driving now makes me crazy and I absolutely despise it because I did it with people when I was younger whom I thought knew what they were doing and really didn't. I am whole-heartedly against just winging it and blindly driving all over hoping that something will jump out in front of us. I know it happens, as it did on this trip and it also happened with my second bear, but I really do despise doing more than is required.
My dad thought it was hilarious that I was dead set against too much driving because we don't have the animal density anymore, in my opinion, like they did 40 years ago to make just driving roads for animals worth it, and then we killed a huge bull ON THE ROAD! But, it is what it is. I'm not complaining lol. It just goes to show that you never know what will happen when hunting.