@#&^%*$ Bear! (Update: Bear wins)

[wildschwein]

#4846

As of right now my wife and I are living/working at a firetower. We are a little over sixty km in the bush, so as you can expect we encounter a fair bit of wildlife. Well last night just before midnight, our yard light came on and our dog Satchell starts barking like crazy. The wife and I wake up and look out the window, but only hear crashing as whatever critter it was hightails it for the woods. We go back to sleep.

This morning I grab my longbow and head outside to do some archery practice. But there is a problem. My cube target is missing. No bloody way! And sure enough after a little investigation I find Bear tracks in the soft ground heading in the same direction the critter ran off the night before. And to add insult to injury he left a big pile of you know what on the edge of our lawn.

Now my theory is that he had been watching me practice for some time. Seeing my deadly accuracy, he obviously feared for his life (Spring Bear season is still in effect and I DO have a tag). So in order to save his own skin he steals the target thinking that by doing so he will prevent me practicing, thereby saving his own skin. Of course this means WAR!

Little did Yogi know that my longbow is only a 35# and not even legal for Bear. But now I am PO’ed at losing a $120 target. Hadn’t even planned on hunting Bear this Spring. Only bought the tag in case I saw a colour phase during my walks (we always carry a rifle). But now I find myself hankering for Bear steak. Think tonight Thumper (my .45-70) and I are going to go for a little walk :twisted:.

Of course he might of just been hungry lol.

[David Petersen]

#34550

Well Justin, I think you have the bear psychology fitured out pretty well. 😛 A friend here used to keep a huge 3d range in a wild place outside town. It was frequently visited by bears and lions. Oddly the most-attacked targets weren’t deer, elk, pig, or sheep … but coyote. The bears would knock the targets down and tear them up helter-skelter. The lions were much more methodical, ripping out the spine on the back behind the neck and under the throat. We figured they were young predators getting in some 3d practice. 😯

[kellydockter]

#34562

good luck, keep us updated.

[Arne Moe]

#34634

Byron Ferguson told me a few years ago that he had quit hunting bear because he didn’t hate them anymore. Sounds like you have reason to head out for revenge!:D

[bruc]

#34742

I don’t know a lot about bears, but I’m wondering why he took it ? Would he eat it or just wreck it ?

Bruce

[wildschwein]

#34758

Well the wife and I went out chasing after our midnight interloper. Didn’t find him (lucky for him) but we did find the target. Pretty chewed up, but with enough duck tape it was returned to service.

Now when I go Bear hunting I’ll just carry the target with me and use it for bait lol.

Bruce, Bears love soft chewy things. Quad seats (don’t give em to much flak for that though), juice boxes, jerry cans, etc. If its chewy or smelly they love it.

[Wexbow]

#43225

wildschwein wrote: If its chewy or smelly they love it.

They’d love my mother-in-law so 😛 😳 Sorry, i couldn’t resist that one 🙄

[bamboo]

#45077

’round here we call them dumpster-divers—food of choice–disposable diapers!![full of course!!]–if i had a wine press i could develop a NJ bear lure!!!LOL

[dixiedawg80]

#45172

Wexbow wrote: [quote=wildschwein]If its chewy or smelly they love it.

They’d love my mother-in-law so 😛 😳 Sorry, i couldn’t resist that one 🙄

Wexbow, I just spit the coffee out of my mouth. Great one!

[Frank H V]

#50900

wildschwein wrote: Well the wife and I went out chasing after our midnight interloper. Didn’t find him (lucky for him) but we did find the target. Pretty chewed up, but with enough duck tape it was returned to service.

Now when I go Bear hunting I’ll just carry the target with me and use it for bait lol.

Bruce, Bears love soft chewy things. Quad seats (don’t give em to much flak for that though), juice boxes, jerry cans, etc. If its chewy or smelly they love it.

Heck, you could just put your target back in the yard & sit up over it in a chair on the porch. The Bear just might be mad enough that you retrieved “his trophy” 😡 that he just might come back for it.

By the way, the .45-70 has been getting it done for a lot of years. 😉

Keep us informed.

Frank

[wildschwein]

#52044

Well I have been after the target raiding Bear for about 2 weeks now, but with little success. He even managed to cause more trouble by scatching the hood of my pickup. While I haven’t knocked him down yet, I have seen him on several occasions and made two stalks. Both times he was feeding away from me and I couldn’t get within range. And man oh man is he big! By far the biggest Bear I have ever seen. On one of my sightings I saw him walk just under a overhanging Spruce bough, and when I measured the distance from the ground to the bough it came out to 45 inches. That would make this fella at leat 43-44 inches high. The numerous piles of scat that he leaves around are thicker than bananas.

Instead of using my .45-70 I have been carrying my 40# lefty recurve. Due to my injuries I can’t shoot the 40# for too long as of yet, but I am very accurate with it out to twenty yards. And with my Ace tipped 650 grain ash arrows, I dare say that I am not undergunned for this bad boy.

Anyhow the hunt is still on till the 15th, and I’ll let you know how it goes.

[Wexbow]

#52092

This game of cat and mouse is getting very interesting. At 44″ I’m trying to figure out if it’s a very big cat or one hell of a mouse 😛 Keep us posted…

[Frank H V]

#52236

Well if he’d scratched the hood of my P/U it would have become personal. 😡 As much as I like hunting with a bow, I’d choose the .45-70 at this point………

Let us know how it turns out.

Frank

[wildschwein]

#62162

Well the Bear has succesfully evaded me, as our 2012 Spring Bear season ended yesterday. A couple stalks were made, and while no arrows were loosed, I would have been able to tag him if I had carried Thumper more often. Oh well eh? There is always this fall (August 25th archery opener). Until then I will spend my time chasing him with a camera with the hopes of snagging some good photos to share with you folks. Gotta admit that it was kinda fun (and a whole lot more difficult) chasing one specific animal. Hopefully I will see him more often this season once the rut slows down. Here are a couple of pics showing what he did to my target.

My Wife and our pooch shortly after finding the target.

A close up of the damage done.

[lyagooshka]

#7717

wildschwein,

LOL!!! 😆

What a great story. Thanks for sharing. Really enjoyed reading how it all panned out. Don’t give up. Fall season is just around the corner.

[Author]

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