After the steep learning curve I experienced last year on
how to truly prepare a kid for a bear stand hunt, I had plans to make many
adjustments this year. The first adjustment was going to be abandoning my
decade long, well established baiting site, in exchange for a more accessible
one that would hopefully be more remote and crawling with more bears. The plan
was for a coworker (who will remain nameless) of mine to take over my old bait
site and we would setup a different one. I did a bunch of research and found
what I thought would be the perfect spot, using my boat to get there.
As the designated bait stand setup weekend got closer, it
became apparent I miscalculated the ability of the season to thaw the ice in
time. A few days prior to the needed weekend, there was still thick ice
preventing any boat from getting close to where I intended to bait bears. Due
to the next couple weekends being packed with unchangeable plans, going a
different time was not an option. This meant the old bait stand would have to
suffice for another year. I let my coworker know we would be sharing the stand,
which was perfectly fine with him.
We planned to head in on a Saturday and spend the entire day
setting up, however, plans had to change to Sunday due to my coworker taking a
shift on Saturday. Because of that, I decided to pack up the truck and head
down with Ashton the bay before. We explored, played games, did shot placement
challenges, and got him comfortable shooting the rifle again.
One of the things I needed to change was how Ashton was
resting the rifle. The stand was setup for adults and he could not sit
comfortably in the seat with the rifle in the shooting rest. To shoot off the
current setup, he had to sit on his curled-up feet, which resulted in the rifle
moving quite a bit at rest. This also made him extremely fatigued rather
quickly because many muscles were engaged simply holding the rifle on its
potential target. To correct this, I rigged up a tri-claw clamp to put on his
rifle. This meant that I would take a tripod with us to the tree stand, set it
up on the platform in front of us, and have him rest the rifle using the
tri-claw. The best thing about this approach is that we could practice a near
similar scenario before getting in the tree stand.
We were allowed to target shoot where we were camping for
the night, so we got out all our shooting gear to get Ashton comfortable with
the tri-claw setup. Shooting off the tripod with the tri-claw worked perfectly!
It took quite a few loads, but Ashton eventually got the jitters out and
confidence up to shoot tight groups at 50 yards. The best part of the shooting
session was his ability to know exactly what to expect when we got in the tree
stand (and his excitement to not have to sit on his feet while looking down the
barrel).
It was starting to rain so we wrapped up our shooting and
retreated to the camper for dinner. I sent a text to my coworker to show him
the exact spot to meet us at in the morning. He replied with a message that he
wasn’t going to make it, since he really needed a day off to recover from a
grueling work schedule. When I read this, I was FURIOUS… not at him, but at
myself. I have been burned so many times by “friends” or potential hunting
partners from me relying on them to do something or uphold their word. I have
relied on people to assist with filling my freezer, only to be disappointed and
let down. This has happened to me so many times that I vowed to not assist
someone or bring them into my circle when it meant it could potentially impact
my freezer space. Well, I ignored that promise to myself with this coworker and
it bit me in the ass big time. I depended on this coworker to arrive on Sunday,
with his two boys, with dog food. Because I was foolish enough to depend on
someone outside of my circle, I suffered the consequences. Ashton and I were
now the only ones here to setup the bait stand. The distance needing covered
and weight needing hiked in takes two full grown men about 6 – 8 hours of
setting up. I could have easily gotten one or two other guys I trusted there to
help me, but instead, I ended up with no help. In addition, I was short on
needed dog food to fill the barrel. I guess this wasn’t the worst thing since I
wouldn’t really be able to do all the lifting and hiking myself, but it wasn’t
even an option to fill the barrel at this point.
I was absolutely fuming. I have been talking with this guy
for many months about baiting bears, which seemed genuine, but now felt like
lies. I spent the rest of the night debating what to do on Sunday… abort and
don’t hunt this year, or hammer out an all day grind meant for two guys. I
bounced the options off Kevin and he settled me down, suggesting I do the bare
minimum, leaving cameras, oil, and anything non-essential behind. I appreciated
his suggestions as it grounded me and convinced me to push through the next
day.
I spent the rest of the night trying not to think about what
felt like a knife in my back. Ashton does a good job of taking my mind off
things, making me laugh and being a sentimental stinker at the most opportune
moments. We ate dinner, watched a superhero movie, played a game on his tablet,
and went to bed ready to work the next day.
When we woke up, the weather was terrible, rainy and cold.
This put a damper on any optimism I had, but Ashton filled the bucket with his
comment, “It’s just rain Dad, we are Alaskan’s, we don’t let rain stop us.” So
true son!
It was at this point I wished Ashton was a teenager. Unfortunately, the maximum amount
of weight he could carry on his back was about 15 pounds, but it was better
than nothing! About half of our trail is nothing more than a small path winding
through thick trees. Due to the record snow this year, trees fell across our
trail in many places and alders collapsed everywhere too (still rooted). These
obstructions took a significant amount of time the first time in due to the
need to reroute or use the handsaw to cut them.
Once at the bait site, we could tell bears were already
showing up, expecting to feast. There were large brown bear tracks in the snow
and scat piles around the tree the barrel hangs on. The darn brown bears are a
nuisance, so I was glad they showed up with nothing available to eat. I hoped
this would make them move on and not return. We made three trips in and out (typically it’s
two with 2 adults), dropping gear at the bait each time. After the last load,
we started to set everything up.
I learned my lesson from last year to not put the barrel on
the side of the tree where the bears have dug a huge pit from eating the
oil-soaked ground. Instead, I strapped the barrel to face the other side of the
tree so a bear at the barrel would have no pit to hide half of its body from
Ashton.
Unfortunately, in my attempt to shed weight and leave behind
the nonessential gear, I also left behind the lock for the chain that holds the
barrel to the tree. I felt so stupid and again frustrated at my coworker
because this mistake was indirectly caused by him. I let Ashton know that we
would need to make another round trip just for the lock, to which he
understandably groaned and asked to not do it. At this point, he suggested just
tying the chain together with rope. I didn’t think of that option because these
brown bears bend the drums like an accordion… there is no way rope would hold
them. I decided his idea was worth a shot to prevent us from adding another
six-mile round trip and decided that if a brown bear ripped it off, it would be
worth the saved miles. I proceeded to tie the chain together with paracord in six
different places, using multiple wraps, making it stronger as a unit (spoiler,
it held perfectly).
We were pooped at this point, and happy to head out for the
final trip back to the truck. It was late evening, and Ashton had school the
next day… our ETA for getting home was going to put him well past his bedtime,
especially if we stopped for ice cream.
A tradition we try to repeat is stopping for ice cream on
the way home after a hard day of setting up the stand or hunting. I was
confident the store was closed, so we weren’t in a hurry to leave. However,
after we loaded up and headed home, we noticed the OPEN sign still on when we
drove by. It was one minute until the top of the hour and apparently, that is
when they closed! I told Ashton to run inside as fast as he can. As we
approached the front door, a man with a scowl greeted us and said we really needed
to arrive earlier, to which I let him know they needed to update their hours on
Google because according to Google, they closed an hour prior. I let everyone
know all we wanted was an ice cream cone for the kid, and they lightened up a
little. Ashton was now under pressure to hurry up and make a decision on what
to order. In his hurry, he picked Rocky Road, a flavor he has never had before
(he usually gets some kind of sherbet). We gave them a good tip, paid, and ran
out of the store basically swept out with the brooming.
Unfortunately, Ashton didn’t like his flavor of choice. I
guess Rocky Road has peanuts in it, and Ashton does not like nuts. He ended up
taking bites and spitting out the nuts. This took him a while to eat his ice
cream cone and he barely kept up with it melting too much and making a mess. As
soon as he finished his cone, he passed out from the long day of setting up. I
wished I could sleep the whole drive home too 😊
The following week at work was
awkward. I was still furious about being ditched at the last second. I avoided
my coworker, but we crossed paths a couple times at which point I made sure
exchanges were super brief and professional. To this day I’m still upset with
myself for letting someone in, only to get burned again.
Ashton and I had two hunting dates
planned for the bait site, two weeks and three weeks out. If the first option
didn’t work, the second one would be used.
Hunting Trip 1
I picked up Ashton from school on a
Friday and we headed directly for the bait stand. The plan was to hopefully
shoot a bear early on, but if needed, we were already planning to pull him from
school on Monday to use that day for hunting too. Before leaving town, we had
to make a stop at the bicycle repair shop to pick up Ashton’s bike, which he
wanted to ride for the first half of our hike to the stand (which was on
gravel).
After we arrived, we ate our dinner
and then proceeded to hike bait into the site. We arrived at a chaotic scene.
The barrel was completely empty. This is not good to happen because bears no
longer have a reason to come back if there is no food to eat. I was unsure how
long the bait was dry since I didn’t have cameras posted. In addition, a dang
brown bear somehow managed to steal the anise scent bell I had hung more than
12 feet in the air. This bell is often the saving grace if food is low or
empty… it still produces a sweet smell that will bring in bears. If the bait
has food in it, the bears leave the bell alone; but if there is no bait to eat,
they turn their attention to other edible things. Again, I could not see what
took the bell or when, because I was forced to abandon the cameras when setting
up without help.
Well, both the bait was gone and
bell was eaten, making zero reasons for bears to be at the bait site. Of
course, I was internally angry blaming the inability to fill the barrel all the
way on my coworker. I also wanted to know date and times of happenings at the
bait stand but again, blamed my coworker for that inability as well.
We rebaited the barrel with dog
food, sprayed the air with anise, and headed back to the camper hoping
everything went dry recently and curious bears were still around. After we
returned to the camper, we didn’t know what to do. Typically, this is the time
we sit down and review pictures and videos of bears to get a good idea of what
we can expect. We didn’t have intel to review, so we just watched a quick show
before we headed for bed.
Prior to bedtime, I started to have
a runny nose that seemed like the start of allergies. I didn’t have allergy
medications, so I just tried to blow it all out whenever I could.
The plan would be to sleep in
tomorrow morning, and not wake up early. The bait and scent needed to soak and
since the site was dry, there were likely no bears hitting it regularly in the
morning.
We eventually rolled out of bed
around 9AM. Donuts are a must when bear hunting, so Ashton indulged in his pastries
while I got everything ready for a long day in the stand. We got to the stand
around 11AM, and nothing had touched the bait since we were there last night.
We saw absolutely nothing all day.
We sat for eight hours, and had nothing to show for it.
Fast forward to the next morning…
We got to the stand around 9AM, and again, nothing had hit the bait overnight.
We sat for another 10 hours without seeing anything. However, this time, I may
have been partially to blame for a lack of bears. Apparently, my allergies
decided to go on hyperdrive, and I could not stop my nose from running. It was
dripping nonstop, like a faucet, both out my nostrils and into my throat. I was
a mess, sneezing every 10 minutes, and sniffling/ coughing every 60 seconds.
There likely was no way bears would get anywhere close to us with that kind of
noise (or so I wanted to believe due to the lack of action)
Monday rolled around and we only
planned to hunt until 2PM. We got there around 9AM, sat for five hours of me
having the worst allergies of my entire life, and never seeing a bear. The only
consolation prize to sitting 23 total hours was that a porcupine came waddling
in to view at the 23rd hour. Ashton has never seen a wild porcupine
(that he remembers) so he said all the sitting was worth that quick sighting.
For me on the other hand, it wasn’t worth it… and I blamed it on the bear bait
being dry for way too long, which of course I thought was my my fault again for
relying on my coworker.
We were forced to leave the bait
stand empty handed and planned to come back next weekend, which hopefully by
then bears have found the bait.
Hunting Trip 2
Ashton was done with school for the
year, so we left for the stand Friday after work. Once we got there, we
repeated the same process of heading in to add bait and check out the site.
This time I took a camera and another scent bell with us to hang.
The bait was munched on since last
weekend. It was mostly gone, but there were still pieces on the ground and a
handful at the bottom of the barrel. This meant that the bears that were eating
the bait would be back until there was nothing left.
We dumped 50 pounds of dog food in
the barrel, hung the scent bell, put up the camera, and headed back to the
truck. We were eager to hunt the stand knowing bears were active and coming
back this time. We wouldn’t be able to sleep in the next morning, so we went to
bed early.
The next morning was more of the
same routine of eating donuts, making lunches, packing for extended sitting
time, and (forgot to mention this earlier) getting a poop out of Ashton. We
then headed into the bait site, getting settled in the stand by 8AM. We could
tell the bait was hit some time over night so we hoped bears would come back
while we were there.
The bugs were bad this weekend and
mosquito nets were needed. We got the tripod and tri-claw setup in case Ashton
would need it, and then settled in for a potential 11 hour sit. I kicked my
allergies with the help of medications, but it turned into a sinus infection.
At least I wasn’t dripping nonstop and making noise every 20 seconds… I now had
to clear the congestion every hour or so.
It was beginning to feel like
another long day of nothing when I spotted a small black bear to my right
around 1PM. He only passed by, smelling the bait area, and then taking off as
fast as he appeared. Then around 3PM, a bigger bear was spotted circling the
outside of the bait site. I told Ashton where he was, but of course, it stayed
out of site for an extended period of time. It then popped out about 10 yards
directly to our left with its nose held high. He knew we were there; he could
smell us. He was debating what to do with our presence, and he chose violence
(more like intimidation).
The bear looked up at us, snorted,
and then pounded the ground with aggression. He walked a little closer to us
and then repeated the aggressive act. I have never had a bear do this to me in
the tree stand before unless I was being loud and purposely trying to scare it
off. This guy obviously didn’t like what he smelled and wanted to let us know
not to mess with him. Before he got aggressive, I didn’t think the bear was too
big, but this had me second guessing myself. At the same time, I had my hand on
the revolver in case I needed to shoot the bear if it decided to climb the
stand.
His circling was done now that he
came out of the cover to threaten us. He got wise and turned toward the bait.
Eating was on his mind now. As he got comfortable by the barrel, Ashton got
comfortable with the rifle. I told him he needed to look down the scope at the
bear for a couple minutes before even thinking about shooting. This would get
his nerves settled and confident in the shooting spot… it would also allow me
to see if the end of his rifle was moving while he zeroed in on the kill zone.
About a minute into this focused aiming, he was rock solid, and the rifle was
not moving at all. I let him know, he can shoot when he feels comfortable.
The bear was lying down completely
broadside. This isn’t the best shot, but it was one we practiced a lot on shot
placement charts. Ashton knew not to take a shot he didn’t feel comfortable
with, or one that had the bear at an awkward angle. Well, Ashton must have felt
extremely confident from our placement practice because it wasn’t 10 seconds
after I gave him the go ahead to when he started his shooting breathing, and
pulled the trigger!
It was a perfect shot! Blood was
instantly pouring out of the bear while it ran to escape whatever just happened
to him. Although he was out of site, he only ran 20 yards and dropped. The
death moan soon followed, which signified a bear that was going home with us.
Ashton was so excited and happy he
cried. He said this was the first time he ever had happy tears. You can tell
where his heart is too because one of the first things he said was that he
couldn’t wait to tell Josie and Mom!
We climbed down the tree stand and
collected our gear before we headed over to the barrel. There was blood
splatter everywhere. Ashton followed the blood trail and quickly found the
bear, curled up, deceased, under some alders. We then kneeled by the bear,
shared a prayer to praise God, and thanked the bear for its sacrifice.
The bear wasn’t a massive bear, but
it wasn’t a small bear either. It was a great first black bear and it had a
perfect hide. It wasn’t old enough to have flat or damaged teeth, so it was
likely a four to five year old boar. We drug the bear up hill about 5 yards and
placed it in a flat, clean area with cover to protect from sun and rain. Lots
of pictures were then taken before the butchering began.
This was the second bear Ashton
helped me butcher. He does a great job listening, watching, holding, and
fetching needed items… he makes field dressing way easier and more enjoyable.
While cutting up the bear, I noticed the shot placement was absolutely perfect.
Ashton shot the bear through both lungs and the heart, and didn’t hit either
front quarter, damaging very little meat. He was bummed that he hit the heart
though since that is his favorite thing to eat.
We were in no hurry, so we took our
time cutting up the bear. A few hours later, we were all done and managed to
load both our packs with everything to take stuff out in a single load. I took
the entire bear (meat, hide, skull), and some other heavy items while Ashon got
the bulky/ lighter things. It took a few stops on the way out, but we managed
to get back to the truck around dinner time.
We debated staying another night,
but I don’t like messing with bear meat since it can go rancid quickly, so we
decided to head home for a late-night arrival.
Ashton was so psyched about his
success that he wanted me to send the picture to everyone he knew. We sent it
to many people, and he continues to tell people about the hunt to this day. He
is now asking me what animal he can shoot next and has set his heart on a
caribou (too bad hunting opportunities for those continues to decrease).
It’s fun watching him grow as an
outdoorsman, and I take pride in knowing I had a huge hand in his success; he
may never recognize it, but that doesn’t matter to me. His success is my
success, and now I may never need to shoot a rifle again!
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