Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: oldrubline on June 04, 2016, 09:08:00 AM
-
Well...this was the year to finally start putting these dreams into reality. I posted on 'Commitment' earlier in the spring as part of my taking action and reaching out to those of you who have been doing this for awhile.
About 9 days ago I went to work with my truck packed and left the Upper Peninsula at around 6pm with manic fever to reach my mountain destination of Missoula! Drove 6 hrs that evening then holed up in a 'ma n pa' motel for a short sleep somewhere in Minnesota before getting back on the road.
I brought 2 outdoor books on tape to listen to. On the way out I enjoyed American Buffalo (he draws a tag for an Alaska herd). As the truck reached the Rosevelt Nat. Park in N. Dakota I was thrilled! The topography was changing and I was getting west. Saw a bison standing in his dusty wallow watching the free way there.
Then...Montana!!
(http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/r498/cotedan/IMG_1859_zps2ivyapip.jpg) (http://s1168.photobucket.com/user/cotedan/media/IMG_1859_zps2ivyapip.jpg.html)
Seemed like I was almost there already! But...the state goes on forever! Something funny...speed limit was 80. I set the cruise for 85 as in Michigan I drive 5 over everywhere and am still passed constantly. But...here...I was passing everyone. That seemed strange. I eventually saw a trooper in East bound and with plenty of median between he and I. Didn't think anything of it till a minute later he was flying up behind me at about 120 mph!! So...got 40 dollars added to my trip and a 'good luck on your hunt' from my first Montanan!!! (cruise now set to 80)
There's a 24 wait if you buy a bear tag so I got it soon as I got into Gallatain...
(http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/r498/cotedan/IMG_1864_zps3wys50jz.jpg) (http://s1168.photobucket.com/user/cotedan/media/IMG_1864_zps3wys50jz.jpg.html)
Now I had something to boil up or pan fry back home if the bear weren't cooperative...(I eat tag soup all the time)
Reached Missoula around 10 pm and stayed the night with my friend Brandon (Pinky, he says he's met you before. I believe there is a mutual friend, Aikido instructor you guys know? )
Next morning it was off to the trail head and up into the mountains! I had to hike in above the South Zone to where you can camp and my hike was 3.5 miles before I finally stopped up along a cold mountain creek. I hardly remember the hike cause I was so stoked!
(http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/r498/cotedan/IMG_1907_zpsut1p1ox3.jpg) (http://s1168.photobucket.com/user/cotedan/media/IMG_1907_zpsut1p1ox3.jpg.html)
I had debated on shelters for the trip. I didn't really know what to expect so decide to play it safe and use a tent for base camp and bring my lite Bushcraft tarp for any trips out from there. I do a lot of Bushcraft skills and wondered about incorporating them into the trip, but when I got there, my focus was all on being out of camp hunting. There was the slight possibility of grizzlies in the area so I kept camp as clean as possible and got my food bag and pack up high a good 100 yards from camp.
(http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/r498/cotedan/IMG_2325_zpshunppz5b.jpg) (http://s1168.photobucket.com/user/cotedan/media/IMG_2325_zpshunppz5b.jpg.html)
I cooked down there by my pack and the creek well away from the tent.
Once camp was set, I was ready to explore/hunt. I had brought in my Bison pack on the larger external pack. I was glad I did as it was great for the actual days spent in the high country. Another thing that I was very very glad I had purchased was a water bladder. I brought a 3 L Platypus and it was an absolute lifesaver!! This is not L water bottle country by any means!! The air is so dry. Having the bladder to sip from meant I could focus on a 7-8 hr hunt above basecamp without having to drop down the steep to get water.
One of the first things I realized was that this was not going to be the 'classic' glass and stalk country I was envisioning all winter. The meadows are there, but they were fairly small and the hills were mostly timbered and steep. This brought my spirits down at times and I wondered if I should pack out and go elsewhere. But, I decided to stick with the location and do my best. My routine became waking up before the sun, climbing up high, and then sitting over a meadow where I had seen sign. Once the shadows of morning where gone I would slowly work my way down going from one timber clearing to the next.
(http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/r498/cotedan/IMG_2056%201_zpsj48ycpuj.jpg) (http://s1168.photobucket.com/user/cotedan/media/IMG_2056%201_zpsj48ycpuj.jpg.html)
(http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/r498/cotedan/IMG_2120_zpsgdierzkz.jpg) (http://s1168.photobucket.com/user/cotedan/media/IMG_2120_zpsgdierzkz.jpg.html)
The sign was there for sure and I had no doubts plenty of bear where around. But at times I felt like they could be anywhere in a vast heavy timbered region and that too much luck or chance was involved....something I had hoped to reduce with better glassing country.
-
Rocks flipped, logs busted, and some scat in a few of the clearings....
(http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/r498/cotedan/IMG_2282%201_zpshzsjo5k8.jpg) (http://s1168.photobucket.com/user/cotedan/media/IMG_2282%201_zpshzsjo5k8.jpg.html)
I had made pemmican for the trip with dried meat and rendered beef tallow. This was my breakfast and dinner. At around 1-2 I made it back to camp for my main meal, a pot of coffee and a rest. I had made my own dried food from dried meat, rice, and veggies and would boil this stew. Often at this time I would be frustrated and the break would revitalize me and get me ready for the second part of the day...
(http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/r498/cotedan/IMG_2729_zpscvzr0ubr.jpg) (http://s1168.photobucket.com/user/cotedan/media/IMG_2729_zpscvzr0ubr.jpg.html)
(http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/r498/cotedan/IMG_2954_zpss7h4dgby.jpg) (http://s1168.photobucket.com/user/cotedan/media/IMG_2954_zpss7h4dgby.jpg.html)
In the afternoon I got another long hunt. I would end the day setting up over a meadow where I had seen sign. It was beautiful over the mountains with wildflowers in full bloom. I saw both mule deer and whitetail every day. I saw 5 bull elk total and each wearing their velvet antlers. The trails were amazing to a flatlander from the UP with almost zero deer per square mile in some areas!!
(http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/r498/cotedan/IMG_2232_zps6nycbkar.jpg) (http://s1168.photobucket.com/user/cotedan/media/IMG_2232_zps6nycbkar.jpg.html)
My highlight was on about the 4th night when I was setting up over a creek meadow that had bear tracks along the silt. Just before dark I heard a stick crack to my right and looked over 20 yards to see a big bull elk slipping down the mountain into the clearing where he fed at about 30 yards!! I was stoked!!
One of my biggest challenges was mental. Every day I asked myself if I were hunting hard enough, was there anything I wasn't doing that I should be doing, was I being careful enough, aware enough, looking hard enough,.....I'd say to myself 'what would the greats do if they were here (like Fred Bear) and am I falling short of that?'. 'How can I be a better hunter TODAY...right NOW'. I really struggled with this and it would often be easy to become frustrated by not feeling like I had as high 'success' strategy (spot and stalk?) as I had planned to enjoy on the trip. So...I just kept asking the questions and making sure I pushed myself.
My fears of being alone (My local contact had said he'd heard of mountain lion following bowhunters up there...and there was a slight chance of grizzly) were present much of the time and really became a challenge when shadows turned to dark. At one point I found a nice meadow about an hour walk above camp with bear sign. The nagging questions were going through my mind of how I should hunt it ('what would Fred do here?'). I knew I had to stay near the clearing and be sitting above it at first light. The best way to do that was to set up my tarp in the timber and do an overnight. This took pushing myself because now I was really back in there and brought up my fears...but this was a trip to face those limitations and hear the answer to what I 'should' do and to not be a candy cane. So, camping away from the main camp became part of my technique...
(http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/r498/cotedan/IMG_2387_zpsx5rf0h0x.jpg) (http://s1168.photobucket.com/user/cotedan/media/IMG_2387_zpsx5rf0h0x.jpg.html)
All night I kept thinking: 'if a grizzly jumps on my tarp in the night I play dead; if a black bear I fight back...but, how will I know which it is in the dark!!?'
Another challenge was just coming back from a hunt in the dark. There was a grouse hanging around camp. One afternoon I came back and he was just a pile of feathers and nearly steaming it was so fresh. I made my mid-day meal and prepared to go out for the evening. As I left I pushed through the thick shrubs along the creek. Suddenly I heard a loud and awful mammal cry. Like a woman's scream mixed with mammal tones. The birds everywhere began to call their alarm calls. I knew I needed to be off hunting and would have to push my way home through this same thick area in the dark that evening. On the way back I used the mantra 'Im the most dangerous predator in these mountains'...it kinda worked...but I couldn't zip up the tent fast enough when I returned.
Gradually my 5 days turned into what feels like one long day of hunting that sped by quickly. I never saw a bear. I learned lots about myself and the mountains...and I guess that was the main point of the trip. I had seen that I was capable of walking up and down the steep all day (would be real sore in the mornings up until day 3). I felt good about the Commitment I had made to learn and push myself so that I can experience hunting to its fullest.
(http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/r498/cotedan/IMG_2457_zps9cqy1jj6.jpg) (http://s1168.photobucket.com/user/cotedan/media/IMG_2457_zps9cqy1jj6.jpg.html)
My questions to you that have had these same challenges: What have you done to deal with things like scent? I am used to whitetail hunting where I have to have scent control maximized. Here in the mountains I am sweating up for 1 and 1/2 hours up the mountain before I even start the hunt. I washed up in the cold creek but still could smell odor. Suggestions?? Guess I still got close to the elk and deer by using the wind factor. Is that what it comes down to? How about the mental game? Have you asked similar questions to yourself? I would hear my mind wandering with doubt and frustrations and then try to bring it back and focus on a 'mindful predator' mentality/focus. Seemed to work somewhat... what have you done?
I liked having my day pack (Bison ) and brought it in with the main pack which I ditched. My plan was to bring down what meat I could with the smaller pack (expandable game bag) and go back to the meat with the larger pack (hung or submerged in cold creek). Do you hunt with separate packs?
What would you add to this trip next year?? Is there better topography to glass and stalk than I had here...or is that part of the mental game (grass always greener)?
What do you think about solo trips like this vs having a partner? Probably help with the mental game I bet...seems like lots of advantages to having a partner...though I wouldnt not hunt just because I didn't have someone to go with.
Anyway...please give me your suggestions and help me add to my experience so that my future hunts will be even more efficient and fruitful!
-
deleted
-
:thumbsup: Sounds like a great hunt. The odor thing is tough with the sweating on the steep hikes. I use merino base layers and unscented baby wipes and you have to use the wind.
-
Forgot to mention I enjoy both the solo and partner hunts. They are very different experiences.
-
Spring bear hunting is very difficult (no berries) but lots of green grass and logs full of ants.
Sit and watch the meadows like you did or try some attractants if legal. Here in WA A buddy and I found a ridge using a 4x4 to get there were the bear would walk the roads and feed on the green grass in the spring. We went to same place in the fall to hunt, this area is closed in the spring but we would walk the roads very slow and find the berries and watch them, very hard way to hunt bear. When we could bait we has several bears at our baits. It takes lots of time to locate bear in the spring and they do not seem to hang out but move a lot to find food.
-
Enjoyed the write up.
My buddy of mine always wiped down with rubbing alcohol before he left camp. So that's what I do, it does seem to knock out any type of smell. If anything...it kills the smell in my arm pits so I don't have to smell them.LOL
-
Is it reasonable to think that I could find areas that would increase the chance of seeing bear? Maybe foothills with more degree of openings that could be scanned? I also wondered if I should have made my hunt earlier in the season when the bear had fewer green areas to choose from. When I was there it was pretty lush all over and bear sign was well distributed. The book I read was by an author who had lived in MT and mentions glassing bear along a glacier slide?
I had thought about doing an Ontario spring hunt but wanted to do more of my own self-guided spot and stalk style hunt.
Dan
-
Scent control is impossible in the mountains. Learn to use the wind as effectively as possible.
As mentioned above, spring bears are moving a lot following green-up. Two indicators of elevation of feed are dandelions and fiddleheads. If both of those plants are in early bloom, that is the elevation the bears will most likely be at. Foothills are most likely the first place to green up, but by the time you were hunting they were probably moving to the higher elevation areas in preparation for rutting activity.
Bears are territorial, and the best habitat (most food/least human interference) is inhabited by the most mature and dominant bears. Remote avy chutes away from trails and roads meet that requirement.
Your time spent having stew at 1-2 is when you should have been glassing meadow edges and avy chutes. Bears aren't like ungulates, so the "out at first light" mentality is wasted. 10AM to 2PM then from about 6:30PM to dark are the best times in mid-late spring to chase bears.
Good on you for testing gear and resolve. Always best to trial run gear before the fall, and spring bears are a great way to see some country and check out your systems to see what works and what doesn't.
This is just my personal view, but there is no comparison between spot and stalk bear and hunting over bait. Once you have been ground level at ten yards or under on a bear's own terms, sitting in a tree will most likely seem kind of tame. YMMV
-
Awesome. It's not all about the kill, it's about the experience.
A good experience without a kill is still a good thing
-
Great write up. Thanks for sharing.
-
Great hunt you did everything you could , it just was not your time to kill a bear. Maybe you will run across one in September on our elk hunt. I like my solo time in the mountains but I do like hunting with good friends ( a real bad time if you end up with bad attitudes in a backwoods camp ) good people make for a good camp. And one thing is for sure you will find out in a hurry what guys are made of on a backpack hunt. I always learn new things on every hunt about myself my gear or my friends , we may not always pack out meat but we always bring out new adventure stories. Learn from every experience and the success will follow......
,,,Sam,,,
-
No bear but a great experience for sure. Loved your pictures. Thanks for sharing. Looks like you had great weather, so you were blessed. Weather can be so fickle; bad can ruin a hunt in a NY second. I personally like to camp with a bud for safety sake, but actually hunt on my own. On that note, I have found that many people want to talk about making a trip like yours but seldom do. You are to be commended for chasing your dream. :thumbsup:
-
Excellent adventure! Great job, I think a lot of NR hunters may go home without game but great memories!
One elk hunt(no elk) a bear got between bro and I ,growling like crazy,,we were a couple hundred yards apart with dark coming on.
When we met up and headed for camp, he says" kinda glad you have a junk knee, I can out run ya this way!" :laughing:
-
Daniel,
Great adventure and read.
Thank you for sharing.
-
Bill...yes, mostly weather was great! Did have intermittent showers one day. Another evening I had a storm come in as I was walking back in the dark. It came over the western mountain pretty fast and I put my Frog Tog. poncho over me and bow. It made things a bit more disorienting for a bit in the dark with my LED head lamp making everything glow in that odd way those lights do. Had more trouble finding my way through the brushy creek bottom but eventually got to my tent.
I was glad I went with the poly style pant (inexpensive on sale green ones from ll beans for 40 bucks) and they dried out fast. I used the merino layering system with one full set clothing including a light puff down vest (Goodwill 6 dollars) and a Asbell wool zipper hoodie. I did carry 2 pair of merino underwear and socks and would wash in creek and alternate. This system worked very well and did not add a lot of weight or bulk to my pack.
Dan
-
Dan, You had some great weather and it sounds like a good trip. To bad you did not get to see any of those bears. On many occasions when i am searching for elk i find the bears and no elk. guess it works both ways. :rolleyes:
Thanks for sharing your adventure with great pictures to boot. :thumbsup:
-
read this on scent control- i used to be a scent control nut- now i am just a nut i guess :D
http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/hunting/2015/10/can-scent-elimination-sprays-beat-the-nose-of-a-drug-sniffing-dog
great story- and a great adventure- sounds like you had a great time-
kudo's
glad you went and did it!!! :thumbsup: :clapper: :clapper:
-
Great pics and a fine write up!
-
Ya done good. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Finding Spring bear in the Mountains is very difficult. There's not one behind every bush. You might consider packing a can of bear spray. Provides some peace of mind.
Hunting solo is good for the mind and soul. A partner can help keep one's spirits up, can also work to drag them down if it's the wrong partner. When I hunt with a partner, we hunt solo, but we always look forward to sharing and comparing experiences at the end of the day.
-
I really enjoyed that story and the photos.
I have Bowhunted/backpacked for elk four times and came close to getting a bull only one time. All with my son in CO.and never saw a bear.
It is a tough way to hunt, especially for bear, I think. The only thing I could offer would be to get some help from locals for areas with higher bear densities.
-
Just goes to show that the hunt isnt about the kill. I drove from my home in north Atlanta to SE Arizona two years ago to hunt javelina for the first time. I hunted my butt off for five days straight and never even saw one. Still one of the best trips of my life
-
Very nice recap of your hunt with excellent picture support. Thank you for bringing us along.
As for scent control, I have tried quite a bit, but have settled on the product Lavilin.
I used it for the first time last summer on a fly-in fishing trip. I rubbed it into my pits and groin, and a week later, I still smelt good. Wife told me, so it must be true.
Now for the real test...my 12 year old is at that point in life where if he forgets his deodorant, his armpit smell is so bad, they would make a maggot gag. He too was on the fishing trip and used Lavilin. A week later, he was easy to sit next to.
Having tested the product, I relied on it last fall for a two week moose hunt. Had a shower halfway thru and reapplied the product to finish out the hunt.
If you are gonna try the product, it's best to shop around. It is not cheap, and you don't get that much (does not take much product when applied), but the performance is well worth the price in my eyes.
-
That's an awesome experience!
Thanks for taking us with you. I sounds like you had a good experience.
I hear what you're saying on the mental aspect.
A buddy and I do a backpack trip each spring to shed hunt, and even that can get mentally challenging at times.
-
What Mike said, I use Lavilin year round; it just works.
That said, I love your recounting, I have been there and done that.
Having been there and done the same, these are my recommendations:
Cover more ground. If bears are not in an opening one evening, the odds of them being there the next evening are slim.
Hunt until you encounter bears, then you might, I repeat might, find them in openings later in the day or around the same time the next day.
It doesn't matter what scent cover you use, It dosen't work with a bears nose, NO MATTER WHAT, WHEN BEAR HUNTING (AND EVERY OTHER Critter I HAVE HUNTED) wind/scent is by far the most important factor to finding and taking game. If the wind is not in your face, your odds of success are exponentially lower.
If I had written an account of my first few bear hunting excursions 30 years ago it would have been identical to yours.
One last thought: Analyze every hunt, and most importantly, apply whatever your experiences are to every future hunt.
We are creatures of habit, don't keep repeating the same mistakes!
-
I jut want to pause and thank all of you for your contributions of wisdom. I am taking what each of you have said and looking back at my hunt with reflection. I am already formulating a new 'strategy' for the next time I go. Even though I can look back and see that I did the best I knew how to do at the time, I can't help but get excited about the 'next time' and how it will go as I build experience. One 'curse' of such a trip is that my mind wants more of the wilderness and I am dreaming more than ever about getting back out again!
The scent issue is an interesting one. When that bull came out to feed in front of me the wind was just right. He only knew I was there when I tried to stand up and move in even closer to get a better photo. Wow! What a sight it is to see such a beautiful, and large, magnificent animal crash up a steep mountain side above a meadow! I have written about my method of hunting whitetail in other areas of this forum. This is something I feel more and more confident about. I left the tree stands 5 or so years ago and have hunted the ground since. I have actually had no more difficulty getting close to wary northern deer in that time. Both my partner and I use very clean approach with showers or sauna before the hunt. Our clothing is 100% wool and kept outside or in closed boxes with balsam boughs. We smoke ourselves and our clothing regularly. I have many brush blinds up to 3 miles walk in and will often stop and build a small smoky smudge before I proceed the final few hundred yards to the stand. Of course, wind direction is THE MOST IMPORTANT factor, but we are often having face-to-face ground level action at 10-15 yards and there is nothing like that....its thrilling in a way I never got up in the tree. Of course, we do all the right scouting and set up in the spring to increase our odds in an area with some of the lowest deer densities in the country. (as Greg Miller writes in one of his bowhunting books, hunting in areas with low deer numbers means your not going to expect to see deer on a stand every time) The use of smoke, I believe, is not a cover up, but does something else. I used to trap and it is a regular practice for fox trappers to 'smoke' the traps to 'kill' the scent. It does something...
Its this type of approach to deer hunting that I wanted to expand into my other big game hunts. To learn methods that rely on hunting skill, hard work, and determination to increase the odds in the hunter's favor. I could slip over to Ontario to hunt a spring pre-baited stand...and I have nothing against that AT ALL, ...its just not the way I want to PERSONALLY take bear on a regular basis- I don't rule out a bait hunt and will probably do one eventually. (Baiting of bears goes back for centuries and native peoples would often kill bear in baited deadfalls).
Speaking of Ontario, I love the bush country and often go fishing up there by canoe (my parents own a cabin above the Saulte). One of my dream hunts (you'll see I suffer from romantic visions) is of an 'old fashion' moose hunt by canoe. My hunting partner and I have built wood and canvas canoes. I would love to camp by canvas tent and call during the day along a northern water route. The difficulty is that you have to hunt through outfitters. I wonder if any reader out there on the forum has ideas about hunting Ontario or has done such a hunt as I describe?
Anyway, thanks for reading along with my ramblings and thank each and every one of you for your helpful campfire advice!
Dan
Best my iphone could do in low light...
(http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/r498/cotedan/FullSizeRender_zpscj0c2ghn.jpg) (http://s1168.photobucket.com/user/cotedan/media/FullSizeRender_zpscj0c2ghn.jpg.html)
-
Fantastic pics and thanks for sharing your adventure and experience!! Trust me when I say that you aren't alone in your feelings about how you do your trip and not just the outcome of the hunt. That's why we shoot the bows we do!! I've always considered myself a traditional hunter, not just traditional bow hunter. Wool, leather, and canvas have a warmth and magic to them that comes out when you add woodsmoke!! Good hunting!!
-
Enjoyed your post. Long ago I lived in Billings and I have spent quite a bit of time scouting and hunting Sheep in the Absaroka/Beartooth Wilderness Area, always alone and miles back in. You are aware that at altitude weather can change rapidly to cold and wet. One suggestion, I would lose the down vest in favor of one insulated with Primaloft.
-
Great pics and really enjoyed the write up. I'm jealous!!
-
Things to make the evenings and other times go by. Keeping a journal. I always take a thick book in case the weather gets bad. I got caught in a hurricane above 10,000' in CO. Spent the day in my tent reading.
MAP
-
Great read, trip recounting. I laughed at the part of the women screaming in the bushes!
Bobcats can do that, not sure bout a fox? They make a weird bark but that sounds like a bobcat, I have heard a mtn lion can make that scream to but I have no experience in country where they roam. I camp out a bit and have been off in a swamp on a kayak trip and heard them on couple different occasions. It will make the hair stand up on ya! No doubt! Made me throw a couple extra logs on the fire that night.
j
-
x2 bunyan :)
-
i have really enjoyed this thread!
-
Bears or no bears...that was quite a trip. Thanks for sharing that with us..I felt like I went with you.