NH's bear season opened yesterday, I figured since I was going to be hunting as much as I could you all might want to tag along. I'll keep this updated each time I hunt and do my best to get some photos too. You'll be along for the ups and downs, I am sure there will be plenty of both!
While I couldn't hunt yesterday, I did get up at dawn and go bait one of my sites while a buddy baited one further north. (In NH you can't bait until the first day of the season) This is the area I baited yesterday, the site is about 400 yards into the woods across the river, though I have to access it from another area, which means about 3/4 of a mile walk with 50-60 pounds of bait each trip. Glad you came yet? :)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/P1060562.jpg)
This is from our stand site, this bog is to our left as we face the bait, we are at the edge of a thick, wet spruce bog which is behind us......
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/P1060568.jpg)
And here is our bait from the stand, it is a long shot......maybe 9 yards....
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/P1060569.jpg)
And here is a closer photo of our "goodies"....
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/P1060570.jpg)
I did get to hunt today, I'll have more on that a little later....
David
I'm looking forward to this one.Keep them coming.
One of the things I never get tired of in this area are the pair of adult eagles that live near the river, I love watching these birds.....
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/DSC_0078-Version2.jpg)
So today was the first day I could hunt. I had everything prepped, bait packed, broadheads sharpened, thermacell ready to go. The hunting area is about 23 miles from my house and takes me about thirty minutes to get there. I was about 1/2 mile from where I park when I began to get this nagging feeling that I had forgotten something......I looked in the back seat and couldn't see arrows!!!! Sure enough, I had everything I needed but arrows, and didn't have enough time to return home to get them and still hunt. I wasn't happy, but since I was there and had bait I figured I might as well make the hike and rebait the site. I got to the site and it had been hit already!!! I have one picture of the rear of a bear as it left the bait, it seems that I had the camera aimed a little higher than it should be......oooops. I reset the camera, rebaited and sat in the stand for about an hour and a half, it felt good just to be in the woods again. I made my way home and found this just as I had left it......sitting on the hood of my unmarked cruiser......
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/P1060571.jpg)
Hopefully all of the bad happened today and good things are in store for us......
David
Keep them coming. Dang how much could 50 pounds of doughnuts weigh, they got holes in them! LOL I know one thing they'd be lighter by a few by the time I went 3/4's of a mile with them!
Glenn
Keep them coming man!
Nice job. The pic of the eagle is incredible...I also hiked to the top of a ridge in Oregon, only to realize as I got in the stand...No arrows...I do not think it was a good idea for you to sit in your stand wo arrows. Its times like that when they come in and give you a perfect shot! Keep us posted on your hunt.
working bait for bears is a bear. I tried that one year when I was in Alaska, cheap dog food and grease from the chow hall. In a 55 gallon drum chained to a tree. It worked well but just never got a shot at the bear using it. I spooked it off of the bait once. Love the hunt and thanks for sharing,
Kelly
great pictures.
Dave,
I hope you get to arrow a Waddler !!!!
:campfire:
great pics good luck. :archer: 5
Awesome pictures, my friend. I love NH. I don't hunt bear but, Lord willing, I will be in the woods opening day. Jawge
Dave,
Like you I opened my (single) bait 9/1 and am looking forward to action. Thanks for sharing and best of luck. Todd
Great thread Dave. I like a little New England action on TG! As mentioned before, that Eagle picture is incredible. Did you take that from your stand? Good luck on your hunts.
QuoteOriginally posted by Coonbait:
Dang how much could 50 pounds of doughnuts weigh, they got holes in them! LOL I know one thing they'd be lighter by a few by the time I went 3/4's of a mile with them!
Glenn
:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
Good luck on the bear hunt!
Dave:You and Birdbow need to close the deal. Up hear in Maine this week it has been slow. Only one trad guy got a bear....a nice one...200#. Lots of small bears being seen. I had one come in Tues. but didn't shoot (could have) but couldn't really tell how big (or small) he was. He just walked by the barrel and never gave me a chance to size him up. Lots of natural food up hear right now so it is slowing things down. Kind of makes me wish we had planned on the 3rd or 4th week when the berries will be gone. Just the fact that your bait was hit in one night bodes well. Just shoot straight.
This will be fun, thanks David. I'm surprised that a big bear didn't come in, since you were unarmed. That would have been my kinda luck.
This is going to be good. :campfire:
:campfire: :coffee:
Bill I am going to do the best I can, but I have high hopes as fas as putting one on the ground.
Jeff, I completely expected a monster to show up since I only had a camera with me!!!!
The eagle pic was taken along the river, but with a different camera, a Nikon SLR and a 70-200mm lens.
I will be back at it either tomorrow afternoon or Monday. Here is a teaser from our second bait site last year to keep you interested between now and then........
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/Yogi1.jpg)
David
go get em David
Go get'em bud!! Nice pics.! Shawn
Hope you nail a big one David , good luck . Drew
This is great stuff hope it works out right place at the right time so it all falls together just right. Good luck cool to read the happinings.
Good luck David!Great pictures.My big guy showed up on the 2nd. Fourth year I've been feeding him.Lost 2 of our baits to road closures.Nuts are scarce this year here.How are they in you're area?
That eagle photo is almost too good to be real! Absolutely superb, and caught in the lens just right! Congratulations, and good luck on the hunt.
:coffee: :archer2:
Looking forward to your bear hunt again David.
Good Luck and thanks for sharing.
In my stand now.......pretty hot though....
Paul I would love to see you get that bear this year....like you we don't have a lot of nuts around here this year either
David
Just got back from Maine. Things are going really well. After Irene went thru, the air cooled well on Monday morning and the bears were hitting the baits well.
We knocked down 6 bear for a party of 7. Mine was 190#. Took him with my Damon Howett Hunter on Tuesday.
Thanks for sharing your hunt with us. I love to see and hear of other TG hunters from NH and VT. I will be in NH this season for deer after a three year void and am looking forward to getting back there. I look forward to seeing how your season unfolds.
Good luck Big Guy....hope you arrow a nice one!
Hope you get a chance at the bear you posted David! The big boy circled me on the 2nd and come in 20 minutes after I left. He doesn't forget... I'll give him another go the last week when I get back from CO. Hope to see some pic's of yours when I get back to civilization.
Good luck!
Paul
The big ones aren't dumb Paul, and you're right, they don't forget.....
I hunted yesterday, talk about hot. It was 84 when I left the truck, bait and all. I brought a change of clothes with me, by the time I got to the site I was completely drenched. The bait had been hit again, and the camera showed it had been at 7:28 that morning......here are a couple of pics of that bear......
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/MMMBearBait3.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/MMMBearBait7.jpg)
After I rebaited I got changed and got into the stand. At about 5 pm I caught movement to my left near the end of the bog, bear! It looked to be the same bear that had been there in the morning. He came around the edge of the bog, then made a loop around the back of the bait at about 40 yards out. He came into a clearing at 35 yards and just stood there when there was a sound to my right that he locked onto. He then slowly walked dead away when I caught movement to where the sound came from. It was a bobcat that had his attention focused on the bear, both ended up walking away in the same direction. It was pretty neat as that was the first bobcat I have ever seen in the wild, wish I could have gotten a picture of that Nothing else came in the rest of the night, when I got back to the truck it was still 82!
My buddy was at our second site, and while he didn't see anything, there was a really good bear there at noontime. I'll put up a couple of pics when I get them. I will be heading up to hunt with him in about an hour, stay tuned!
David
Great story so far, the pictures are really cool, too. I can't wait to see how this turns out. TRW
QuoteOriginally posted by Huntrdfk:
In my stand now.......pretty hot though....
Paul I would love to see you get that bear this year....like you we don't have a lot of nuts around here this year either
David
David, If you invite me up there would be at least one big Nut around.
David,
Seeing Bobcats is awesome. You wouldn't think it would drive a bear away. Those type of encounters are what makes me want to go back again and again.
Dave, do you use something at your bait site as a size reference?
This one is going to have an awesome ending,I can feel it.
Greg, our other site has a 55 gallon drum, so that gives some reference, there are a couple of decent bears on that one. The site the pictures from above came from doesn't, that bear looks like it has longish legs to me, when I saw it yesterday it looked like an average bear.The crib there is about 3-3 1/2 feet high and the camera is mounted at 6 feet at a downward angle.
David
This is exciting!
Thank you!
God bless,Mudd
Dave: I want to see a pic like this of you and your bear. If you want details go to the Hunters Point Guide Service thread...page 2. I think you would shoot one like this whether there was a barrel there or not.
(http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a322/Arrowworks/Karlgreenbear.jpg)
:thumbsup:
I saw that Bill, that would do nicely, thank you.
Today I hunted our original bait site from last year, it has easy access and is active. This is the bait from my stand, 14 yards from the bait....
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/P1060574.jpg)
This bait had at least three different bears on it last year, one a dark snouted bear I named Yogi. His picture is on the first page, and I would love to shoot him. He hasn't shown himself yet, but this bear has hit the bait two days straight and I don't think I would hesitate shooting
him......
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/BlackBarrel6.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/BlackBarrel11.jpg)
Tonight ended up being a bust as the skies opened in a torrential downpour an hour before dark and chased us out of there. I'll be back at it Wednesday, my son has his first High School JV football game tomorrow and I can't miss that.
David
Up at Eldon's a bear that is as high as the bait barrel is a mature bear. If you get that one, David, you will have done really well. I'de shoot him in a minute...no hesitations at all.
Great pics Dave. I'm no bear expert, but those all look like shooter bears to me. I know one thing, judging by the times on the camera, I'd be taking some days off of work. You got me pumped now. Good luck!
Get them bud, Good luck!!
I love this kind of thread great pics! Best of luck to ya. TD.
David, from the times on the trail cameras, maybe an all day sit would be the ticket!! Shawn
:campfire:
Have to say I agree with Greg and Shawn here!
Good luck David, I'm excited for you.
I'm right with you guys, going to take a few days next week and spend a lot of time on stand. Looks like rain here for the next two days so Friday will be my next day out.......really want a chance at one of the bears on the "Black Barrel" bait.....
David
I'm with the other guys who think you ned to get in early.
Good luck and keep us posted!
:campfire:
I agree with Shawn,
Skip work, go hunt
Well.......it was a good day for baiting anyways!
Wash :dunno:
ttt
:coffee:
Hey David,
I can't believe I haven't seen this thread? :knothead: Love the photo of the eagle!
I'll be checking back in to see how this plays out, hopefully I'll bring you some luck! :D
Tim
I hope you do to Tim!!!
I spent from 7am to 4 pm in the stand today, had to leave as Hunter has a football game tonight.....
Bait was smashed last night after my buddy hunted, nothing came in today while I was there.....will be back at it Sunday afternoon.
Stay tuned........
David
Cool best of luck
Hey David, Great story and pictures so far! I wish you the best of luck!
ttt
up
Good luck tonight. Hope your son did well at the football game. :thumbsup:
Yup, waiting to hear with "Baited Breath"(get it?) Good luck bud! Shawn
Shawn , was that you getting into David's bait barrel? :saywhat:
Pretty dark and no word, maybe David did good! Shawn
Still waiting for good news!!!!
Hey David.....you out there??? :dunno:
Sorry guys busy weekend.......so, where were we??? Oh yeah, ended with the Friday night hunt, nothing seen but the bait had been hammered from the night before. (I had to leave early for Hunter's football game, which they won by ending the defending champions 15 game unbeaten streak!!!)
Remember when I said I would bring you along for both the ups and the downs? Imagine my dissappointment when I got to the stand yesterday to find the bait hadn't been touched since I rebaited Friday afternoon......nada, none, and the only thing on the camera were racoons and a coyote. Not what I was expecting at all......I hunted yesterday from 1 pm to dark, and except for a couple of squirrels saw and heard nothing.
Seeing that I only have 9 more days of the baiting season left, I got up early this morning and was in my stand at dawn for a quick three hour hunt. Ups-bait hit hard again. Downs-My camera was gone!!!! I hunted till 9 am and then went to inspect the tree it had been on. I found one of the bungee cords there ripped apart, ok, so a bear took it. After a short search I found it about 50 yards behind the bait, right in the area that a smaller bear had been coming in from last year. Remarkably, the camera had no teeth marks nor any damage, and was still working!
I was able to view the images and saw that the bear was indeed the smaller one I had seen a number of times last year, this is the first time he has shown himself this year. I will put some pics of him up later this evening.
That's today's update, though I am a little concerned that the bigger bear hasn't been around the last couple of days. I know there is another hunter less than a mile as the crow flies, I'm hoping that bear didn't make his way down to that area....
:pray:
Oh yeah, I didn't put my camera back out yet.... :nono:
David
Nice thread' :campfire: :coffee:
Glad you found your Camera, Cant wait to see pictures of the "theif".
Yes, let us see the rascal, maybe he is big enough this year to pay for his crime. Maybe you can use that camera as "bait"?
In case you wondering...here is what a bear looks like stealing a trail camera.
(http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a322/Arrowworks/Bearandcamera.jpg)
I have a number of photos just like that one. Keep it comuming. Bear opens Saturday for us in northern NY.
As I said earlier, I was fortunate in that I found my working undamaged camera behind the bait site, what the bear doesn't know is that I caught him in the act......
Here he is contemplating how he will complete his dirty deed, thinking, "I'll eat first then I'll take care of the plastic thing on the tree over there"....
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/PICT0972-3.jpg)
Ok, now I'll eat a little......
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/PICT0985-3.jpg)
Note the time in this next picture, I think this was a diversion as he attacked!!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/PICT0987-3.jpg)
And now the attack.....38 seconds after the diversionary tactic.....
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/PICT0988-1.jpg)
Now the thief thinks he is safe as he makes his escape, not knowing that the camera still took a picture as he made his escape......
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/huntrdfk/PICT0991-3.jpg)
The ups-bears are still on the bait AND my camera is safe and sound........the downs-I'm not sure there are any right now!!!
David
Daavid...all that you need is patience and a good shot.
That's what I am thinking Bill, I have to work a couple of days this week but will be back at it Thurs and Friday afternoons....
Looking at the third picture in that series I now realize that he came back to eat more after he took the camera as that bait was just about gone when I got there yesterday.
David
This is great - you and that bear are developing a relationship, and he just said "take that, sucker!". Your move, David........
Hopefully you'll get a shot at him.
Haven't logged into tradgang in quite a while, so I'm coming in late Dave. :) good luck with your malcontent bear.....apparently hes pissed he hasn't gotten 'his' day the the 'Bruins' stanley cup! lol
I'll be hunting NH for the first time in almost a decade when deer season opens this week. can't wait to get out there.
Thanks for nposting! Excellent pics and story.
Good luck.
David,
Hello! You must have hunted at least once in the past week.
How bout some updates? :readit: :coffee:
Yea! :notworthy: :pray:
On Facebook he stated he sat in the rain for four hours in the morning before he had to go to work. Today is the last day of bear baiting in NH so....today he's gotta do it.
You're right Charlie, I have......like Bill said today is the last day and I am on my way out as soon as this post is finished! I will update the last week later tonight and tomorrow, but I will say that while I haven't had a shot opportunity yet this bear has continually destroyed our bait site.......
David
It's about 3 PM David, and I am thinking that you are having an adrenalin rush right about now. Are you/did you?
Its dark out East here David, Cant wait till you log on.
maybe he was out tracking late last night and wanted to sleep in
Hi guys, sorry for the delay. I have been trying to load photos but photobucket won't let me right now.......I will get right to the point, I did not shoot anything. We hunted hard, but no bear showed during daylight hours after September 4th on this bait. We tried putting less bait in, taking bait out with us when done hunting, two hunters going in to bait and only one leaving.......nothing worked. We hunted three straight days from dawn to dusk, only to have the bait hit at midnight each night. The closest we came was Tuesday morning, when I hunted from dawn, (6 am), till about 10 am. While I didn't see anything, the camera showed a bear there at 5:15 am. It started raining at 6:30 am and was still raining when I left...... I don't know that we could have hunted harder than we did, it just wasn't meant to be....... I do have some photos I want to get on here, a couple from our other bait site are pretty interesting.
That bait, by the way, was hit pretty regularly right up until Sept 13th, and we only hunted it once, which was Sept 2. Apparently that was a mistake.........
David
Dave, dave, Dave :readit: what happenned :knothead: :banghead:
My brother has been having the same situation as you so far in WI. There are no sure things in hunting. Cant wait to see your pictures.
Thats a bummer not getting a bear, but it is a fun way to hunt them as you found out. Yep hunting over bait is a sure thing :rolleyes: can't wait to see the pics. Thanks for taking us along :thumbsup:
Been a tough year for baits David. Lot of natural food to compete with. Pulled mine today with 2 days left in the season. Took 22 minutes of video of a bear 175-200# last night but thats all the footage I got for the season.... Averaging 4-5 hours of footage the last 2 seasons.
Thanks for the pictures and story..
Paul
Sorry, Dave. Some times hard work and time put it still doesn't get it done. However, it's all about the journey, isn't it?
Now it's time for deer and turkey.
David;
Did you ever get daylight pictures of him? If you did, but never saw him while sitting then he was scent checking the bait and when finding your scent there-well you know what happened. So for next year, and yes he will remember where this food source was, you may have to move it slightly to gain an advantage over him. Without knowing the terrain I can't give you any help but do have lots of ideas from experience on setting up sucessful bear baits.
Good luck with the hunt. I'm trying to talk my wife into moving to your state when we retire. This makes it even more reason to move. Hope to see your bear soon.