hunterdon 2013 hunt season

[hunterdon]

Not one for much for photo taking, I'll give it a try this year.

On Friday afternoon, 2 days ago, was my first hunting opportunity this year. With everything going on this year, my hunting activities will certainly be reduced. Couldn't go for elk, probably won't for moose and lucky to go for deer. So, with that in mind I've set my mind to making the best of it.

After having a late lunch, at about 3 pm, I set out to my hunting stand, located on private land. Told the wife, not to expect me for supper, as I plan to hunt until legal light, after which I will then be home. It was a cool day with a gentle and steady rain and no wind. Conditions were good for bears to be feeding. As I always do in cool/cold weather, I sat myself in my stand with one of those small fleece throw blankets wrapped around my legs. Seems to help me stay warm much longer while sitting still for hours. After an hour sitting, warm and with that steady rain, I leaned my head slightly forward and took a little space walk for about 20 minutes or so. :)



http://oi44.tinypic.com/ezpldt.jpg

[hunterdon]

I chose my stand location since there was a good bear trail going just passed the stand. The wet grass was well matted down with no hoof marks. A good indication of those bear feet. Also there was numerous fresh bear droppings nearby. Some were of a very large bear as evidence by the large diameter of the droppings and some were of a smaller bear. The small guy is the one I prefer. Real tender and tasty. The big boys, are a little too strong for my liking. But, on the other hand, with limited hunting time this year, I decided to take the first opportunity.

Notice the undigested berries (lower right)
http://oi40.tinypic.com/2ynry50.jpg

[hunterdon]

After about another 2 hours or so, I heard a noise to my 3 o'clock. Turning my head slowly, I just caught sight of a bear about 40 yards heading in the 12 o'clock direction. The bear went about another 20 yards and starting feeding on some bushes. It was about a 55 yard shot for me. No way was I going to shoot that distance. I don't like wounded bear. The shot has to good which means close for me. I waited a bit, but the bear was staying put.

So, I quickly and quietly attached my sling and arrow quiver to my crossbow, and slowly began to descend the ladder. The bushes gave me cover from the bear's view, and a nearby highway gave me some background noise cover as well. I waited for the noise of a passing vehicle and descended about 3 steps each time. After reaching the ground undetected by the bear, off came the boots. My approach from then on would be on bare socs. Slowly but steadily walking ever so softly, feeling every stick and twig beneath my feet, I stalked as quite as a mouse, all the while observing the bushes move slightly as the bear continued feeding.

I was now about 20 yards from the bear, but could not take the shot, as the bear was on the other side of the bushes. Just then, the bear suddenly stops feeding and walks straight towards me looking straight at me and stops about 9 yards in front of me. No problem, I have taken bear much closer than this before. The closest was a large sow, (about 300 pounds) at a distance of only 3 feet. The problem was there was still some bushes obstructing my shot, so I held off. I knew the bear did not smell me, since the wind was good, and did not hear me, and I was in full camo and still as a stature.
Satisfied, I guess, the bear just as quickly goes back to his original bush and begins feeding again.

Just ahead of me was a small rise. I just needed to walk another 4 steps and I would be above those bushes for the shot. I took 2 slow steps, when the bear suddenly walks a fast pace to my 9 o'clock for about 15 yards. Not sure why. Then the bear turns and slowly walks in the 6 o'clock direction at which point it comes in contact with the trail I previously walked with my stinky feet.....I guess.:confused:

That's when the bear stopped and slowly began to smell and look around for me. It wanted to identify where I was in order to determine it's direction of exit. No problem, as I was still as a statue and with my bow in shooting position, just 18 yds distance. That's when I had a problem. As I looked in the scope, it was quite foggy. When leaving my stand, I should have checked and wiped clean the glass, but forgot. A rookie mistake. There was no way I could reach in to my pocket for a cleaning cloth with the bear looking right at me. So, as I'm left eye dominate but shooting right handed, I had to open my left to confirm the bear's position and then close so, my right eye can now find the foggy target. After doing this quickly 3 times, I was confident in my shot placement. I decided it was now or never.

The bear stood just left of and pass the big tree. Left of the smaller tree. Picture taken from my shooting position. About a 18 yard shot.
http://oi43.tinypic.com/2znv0k1.jpg

[hunterdon]

I centered the 20 yard reticle just behind the shoulder and release the arrow. The arrow hit with that distinct thud and now with both eyes open, I was confident the shot was good. The bear then displayed a mean disposition. I've taken many bears in the past with rifle. At the sound of the rifle they have always bolted faster than Ben Johnson. But, of all the bears I've taken with the sharp stick, only a few have done this. Most get really peeved off at the invisible foe who dared to give him that big pinch. The bear growled and swatted the ground and bushes, all the while looking for who was at fault. No problem, I was still as a statue. I've seen this many times before. I once had a bear do this growling and trashing up to within 4 feet of me while I was kneeling perfectly still as a statue.

The bear then noticed the arrow in it's side. It was not a complete pass through. That's when I remembered I used that arrow to take a nice buck last year, but forgot to resharpen my arrow. ANOTHER rookie mistake. Oh, well. Still I was confident of the shot placement and the arrow still had good penetration.
Finally the bear locked on to the arrow with it's jaws and pulled it out. What followed next was quite the show. The bear continued to growl, roll and swat in the air, with an imaginary foe. Not unlike a boxer shadow boxing. It was quite the show and continued with the bear rolling down the hill all the while fighting with it's enemy.

Finally the bear disappeared out of sight down a small hill. As I waited and listened, I heard not a sound. Slowly, after placing a second arrow in the ready position, I slowly walked in the direction of the bear. The rain was still gently falling and except for the initial area of the shot, the blood trail was gone. I slowly walked up the hill in the bushes thinking the bear probably went a short distance and expired. Not so. I continued for about an half hour ever expanding my search, until I covered that whole hill. No bear. By this time the light was showing signs of weakening. I decided to quickly head back home an get my trusty Rottweiler before it got dark.

http://oi41.tinypic.com/mkuseo.jpg

[coach]

Great thread, Don! I'm enjoying the story. Your writing skills and exceptional descriptions are appreciated. Keep it comin'!

[warnniklz]

Bear huntin in socks... I like it

[hunterdon]

Now back to the where the bear was first shot, and with still decent light, lucky (my dog) picked up the scent and slowly followed the trail. I knew she was bang on, as she followed exactly the path the bear took, at least until I lost sight of the bear. Strange to me, lucky continued to follow down hill across an open hydro right of way and again down a slight hill. I did not interrupt her and surrendered full control of the search to her. Not far, the hill dropped quickly down to the highway. Looking down, she stopped suddenly and with eyes fixed, she gave a few very shallow growls. That's when I knew she hit pay dirt. Looking over the edge there was the expired bear right at the bottom.

So, unusual in my experience, that a bear chooses not to go into available thick cover and rather out in the open and downhill. I think I may not have found that bear in time. So, one more for the lesson book. After first cancelling my tag, a quick retrieve soon followed by a dressing out, the bear was in the cold storage.

http://oi40.tinypic.com/qwynir.jpg

[hunterdon]

http://oi44.tinypic.com/2a5g4cw.jpg

[nature girl]

That was a great writeup. Its good you had your trusty dog to help you out.
Another thing atleast the bear didnt die on the highway.
Thanks for posting up the pictures.

[LBM]

What is the saw cut in the tree for looks like it could be a little dangerous if a full size tree.

[hunterdon]

I agree. I was happy to see that the bear did not go on to the highway, and was completely out of sight from all who would pass by.

[hunterdon]

What is the saw cut in the tree for looks like it could be a little dangerous if a full size tree.

The saw cut is from what is called ringing. The old timers used to do this. The cut is a shallow cut around the circumference of the tree cutting just deep enough to cut off the flow of sap thru the cambium layer. The tree then dries standing. Makes for good dry firewood. However, the sap on this tree continued. Probably because the cut was not deep enough. This is on private land, not public and should not pose any danger to others. I myself have been doing this for many years and have never had a blow down. As the tree dries, it becomes lighter and stiffer making it less affected by wind.

[LBM]

The saw cut is from what is called ringing. The old timers used to do this. The cut is a shallow cut around the circumference of the tree cutting just deep enough to cut off the flow of sap thru the cambium layer. The tree then dries standing. Makes for good dry firewood. However, the sap on this tree continued. Probably because the cut was not deep enough. This is on private land, not public and should not pose any danger to others. I myself have been doing this for many years and have never had a blow down. As the tree dries, it becomes lighter and stiffer making it less to be affected by wind.

Ya no worrys it just looked deeper then being ringed, have seen a few half cut trees left in the bush.
Congrats on your bear as well.

[avadad]

Another good read on HBC! Thanks for sharing and congratulations.

[d6dan]

Excellent read and congrats on taking and finding your bear..

[buckguy]

Excellent write up. Thanks for sharing the experience. Congrats on a good looking bruin.

[Darksith]

beauty write up, nice bear. Great successful outing. Thanks for sharing and congrats

[nuadixion]

Great read. Thats pretty impressive to shoot a 300 lb bear at 3 feet.....wow. Its hard to imagine. Did you shoot it or whack it with something?:)

[hunterdon]

I shot that one quite a few years ago. I was standing on a road up the mountain not far behind my place, which really was not bigger than a quad trail when I noticed the bear up the hill. The bear was heading down my way and quickly disappeared in the thick brush. I waited knowing that the bear would pop out sooner or later. The brush was very thick near the road, so I positioned myself on the opposite side of the road, raised my rifle in the ready position and stood perfectly still and waited. The bear barely made a sound and jumped out of the bush right directly in front of me. Looked at me just barely at the end of my muzzle. I waited, and once the bear was satisfied that nothing was wrong, slowly turned to walk when I fired. The bear was probably about 2 to 3 feet from the end of my gun'z muzzle. The shot actually knocked the bear down on it's side. Never seen that before. It jumped up and headed back in the thick stuff. Only went maybe 8 yds and was dead.

[Rackem]

Excellent story telling! Nice bear, congrats!

[tuffteddyb]

Cool story and pic's!thanxs for sharing!!
appreciate it.

[markt308]

Great thread! I think you and the whole picture thread thing go together just fine haha. thanks for sharing and cool story

[Everett]

Awesome story congrats on the bear like the look of the dog as well looks smart.

[hunterdon]

Great thread! I think you and the whole picture thread thing go together just fine haha. thanks for sharing and cool story

Well photo taking was never high on my priority list, but I am trying. At the risk of derailing my own thread, I'll throw in one more photo. Like the bear I took 2 days ago, this one was also a female. A rather big one. This one I took a few years ago again with the crossbow. That is quite the story as well, but for another time .........maybe. My better half shown here with the bear was just a few yards(15 yds or so.) from this bear, when it approached her. She never moved a muscle. And yes, I certainly was proud of her for keeping her cool. That's the last big one I took. They don't taste so good when that big. I prefer to take the smaller bears.When it comes to bears, I'm in it mainly for the table fare.

Didn't quite get all the bear in the picture
http://oi43.tinypic.com/2im18pi.jpg

[MOUNTAIN MAN - TOYOTA/ATV]

I enjoyed all of your stories.

Good work. Nice bears!

[hunterdon]

Thanks to all for the nice comments!!! Hopefully I'll have another story with photos to post, as the 2013 season progresses.

[nuadixion]

I shot that one quite a few years ago. I was standing on a road up the mountain not far behind my place, which really was not bigger than a quad trail when I noticed the bear up the hill. The bear was heading down my way and quickly disappeared in the thick brush. I waited knowing that the bear would pop out sooner or later. The brush was very thick near the road, so I positioned myself on the opposite side of the road, raised my rifle in the ready position and stood perfectly still and waited. The bear barely made a sound and jumped out of the bush right directly in front of me. Looked at me just barely at the end of my muzzle. I waited, and once the bear was satisfied that nothing was wrong, slowly turned to walk when I fired. The bear was probably about 2 to 3 feet from the end of my gun'z muzzle. The shot actually knocked the bear down on it's side. Never seen that before. It jumped up and headed back in the thick stuff. Only went maybe 8 yds and was dead.

Thats amazing .......hard to imagine being so close to a bear ......

[one-shot-wonder]

Great write up Don.....congrats to you on a good eater, whats your plan peperoni, cured hams, burger? Also congrats to your wife on a fine looking chocolate bear.

[40incher]

Good for you!!

[hunterdon]

Great write up Don.....congrats to you on a good eater, whats your plan peperoni, cured hams, burger? Also congrats to your wife on a fine looking chocolate bear.

I actually took the bear, but the wife was my spotter. My wife kept her cool while sitting on a stump, as she was exactly between me and the bear. I couldn't take that shot and had to wait for the bear to walk a certain distance from her and in a safe direction before I took the 30 yard shot.
We plan on grinding up pretty much the whole bear in burger. The wife likes bear burger the best. We also melt down the fat and later use that for making sausage with the deer we will get later this season. Nothing wasted. At our house, we are all involved in the hunting, and processing of all our meat. Sons and daughter and all. It's a family affair for us.
Thanks!

[coach]

Great stuff, Don. Thanks for sharing.

[hunterdon]

Chapter 2.

Time for my son Igor, to go for his first buck. So, on Sunday afternoon Oct.13th, we headed out up the mountains. Igor had taken his first animal ever, (a whitetail doe) just last year with the crossbow. Naturally he wanted to try his luck with the bow again. Of course I admired his determination to go with archery, but suggested we would bring the rifle as well, as a back up should we be unable to get close enough for a decent shot. So agreed, he sharpened up on his rifle shooting the day before we headed out.

After making our way to the top of the mountain by quad, we parked the vehicle and headed out on foot. I know the area well, actually I took a 4x4 mulie there last year. This mountain is actually a deer winter range mountain, and so I knew we would not see lots of deer this early, but that will change big time towards the beginning of November. We did manage to see one whitetail doe, and one mulie doe, that afternoon. But that was it. Our best bet would be early in the morning.

The following morning, (thanksgiving day) and well before daylight, we headed down the highway in the old truck and reached my friend's place where the quad was parked. From there it would be by quad only up the mountain. Arriving finally at our hunt destination, we parked the quad and geared up for our walk.
The early morning was clear, crisp and the edge of the sky was just starting to grace us with it's light. Time for a quick granola bar and off we go.

As we came to the first cut block, we walked ever so slowly, frequently stopping and glassing, until we covered the entire area. No deer. We then walked another 2ks, or so, and came to a series of cut blocks. Again, walking slowly and frequently glassing. Finally, I noticed movement half way up the hill. Up came the binos, and sure enough, the first deer was a nice 3 point mulie. Just at that moment, we heard the sound of quads coming our way. Our hearts sank. The buck was completely unaware of us, but as soon as he heard the sound of those quads, he made a beeline up the mountain and in the woods. Gone!

A bit disheartened, but at least the morning was young and the quads were gone, we pushed on. We continued up the road again exercising great caution when I caught movement up ahead, right near the road this time. A good position to be in, for a possible sneak up with the bow, I thought. Binos up and I could see 4 mulies. All does. I scanned the surrounding area, but could not find any buck. However, just ahead of the does was a bit of a knoll, and thought it could be possible that a buck could be just ahead of those does and over that knoll just out of our sight. The does were unaware of our presence, and so we proceeded forward steadily and cautiously.

Our hearts sank again, as we heard those same 2 quads coming our way again.Blasted!!! Oh well, I thought, but it was still early. I could see that Igor was starting to loose his confidence, so I reassured him that we still had lots of time. But if the truth be known, I was starting to loose confidence. Sure enough, as those quads drove a mere 30 yards past us, they saw the buck near the road. The buck spooked up the mountain and eventually out of sight. Since they saw we were on those deer, the 2 hunters were kind enough to pass up on the buck and offered Igor the opportunity, if he so desired. I thought that was decent.

The problem was the deer were now up and over the hill, and out of sight. I suggested to Igor that he switch over to the rifle and we head up the hill after them and possibly get in position for a shot. The hill was steep and the log debris was horrible. That made for a slow ascent in order to minimize our noise. After about 15 minutes or so, we were able to get a visual on the buck, and without spooking the does, Igor managed to close the distance another 15 yards and get in a position for a shot, while using a downed log for a gun rest. That's as far as I'll take it as Igor tells the rest of the story in his own words.

Click on the link for the 3 and half minute video. Hope it works:confused:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_UlNr7j8g0nZHJNNVNhcUs0bWs/edit?usp=sharing

[hunterdon]

http://oi40.tinypic.com/3130y35.jpg

[hunterdon]

Chapter 3

Headed out yesterday afternoon for my first mule deer hunt. Waited for the morning rain to stop and then up by quad. Arriving at my hunting destination at noon, parked the quad and then on foot for the next 6 hours. The fog was just starting to lift. I love hunting in the fog. Especially when calling in a moose. You just never know what you've got until he's real close.

http://oi39.tinypic.com/14ih1lk.jpg

[hunterdon]

At this time of day, I decided not to hunt the open cut blocks. Better to stay in the bush I thought. So I skirted the mountain side and checked for deer sign and see just who's in the neighborhood. Here are some of the ladies. Unseen here is a buck just to the left of this group of six, which I didn't quite get in the photo. I'm using just a cheap 49 dollar camera, so I had to get within 40 yards of the deer, and without spooking them.

http://oi40.tinypic.com/20uo74h.jpg

[hunterdon]

Didn't get photos of all the deer I saw, but here's another group of four.

http://oi44.tinypic.com/2duicl4.jpg

[adriaticum]

Beautiful stuff! Nice work.

[hunterdon]

This little lady thought she had me fooled as I walked by at only 15 yards . I guess she figured I couldn't see her since she was still as a statue and hidden behind all those bushes. I kind of chuckled a bit. This kind of stuff makes the day so nice. Isn't that part of what makes hunting so great. You don't have to shoot something all the time you know.

http://oi44.tinypic.com/2w7rdbs.jpg

[hunterdon]

So, I finished off the day not seeing Mr. Big. And I didn't really expect so, as it is still October. But that will change come November. That's when the big boys come from the higher hills and get a little careless when love is in the air. So, I'll spend the rest of the week working around the house, and head back out again on Friday. The wife wants to come along then.

On a side note. Here are a few photos of mushrooms I took. I have no idea if they are edible or not. Perhaps someone here can tell me what they are. There sure is a ton of them.

The reddish color makes me a little nervous. What do you think?

http://oi39.tinypic.com/21cxnid.jpg

[hunterdon]

Here's another type. I found patches of this kind with more than a hundred.

http://oi39.tinypic.com/1zp4o09.jpg

[hunterdon]

These 3 girls look like real heart breakers with those big brown teary eyes.

http://oi41.tinypic.com/vq4j69.jpg

[ElliotMoose]

Great read and congrats on a full freezer!

[kennyj]

Great story and photos. Thanks for sharing.
kenny

[hunterdon]

Just checked my trail cam this morning. I have just the one, and this year I'm considering a different area to hunt. It's very difficult access and receives little to no hunting pressure at all, but is still not far from home. The only thing is, it's helps to be part mountain goat. No problem, I have been working out all year and I'm in great shape. So here's a photo from yesterday at this new spot. Looks like this 4x4 buck will be a bruiser in about 2 years. He's on my 2015 calendar.

Looking forward to mulie hunting tomorrow (on another mountain.)

http://oi40.tinypic.com/dvor2o.jpg

[604redneck]

Where's the like button on this forum

[andrewscag]

Great write up! I'm with you on smaller bears being great eating



Pics of the underside of mushrooms help a ton with ID. A big key is whether the underside has gills or pores.

If you're interested in edible mushrooms, a good way to start is to learn one or two easy local edibles thoroughly, then look for just those ones. Best is to get some of these from the grocery or friend if you can. Lots of places sell chantrelles this time of year and they're a good one to start with. You've then got a real life example. Trying to figure out if every mushroom you find is edible can drive you crazy.