An Outdoorsman's Journal

Tales from the Bear Hunt

Hello friends,

   This week's column is about the six nights that I spent hunting black bear in northern Juneau County teamed up with my good buddy Doug Cibulka. We have been running baits since April 15th and giving this hunt our best shot.

   Wednesday, September 3rd
   High 62, low 45

   Today is day one of these hunts and not only is it Doug and I at "Bear Camp," our buddy Jeff Moll is here and is hunting teal and geese, and using my golden retriever Red. Today we were walking Doug out to his stand and somehow Jeff's alarm went off twice on his Suburban. That gave us a laugh, "except for Doug.” Mr. Moll, who grew up with Mr. Cibulka and I, had one volley at a flock of teal in 2 hunts and dropped one.

   As much as it hurts to say it the black bear in northern Juneau County at least for Doug and I have pulled off from all of our baits but one and at that one they have become nocturnal. We are not worried as this was our best season of baiting in 16 years with hundreds of experiences of large bear, day time bear and lots of other critters.
   Acorns, especially at least right now a forest floor of mushrooms and berries are what is on the menu instead of nuts and trail mix.
   I am hunting on private land and Doug on public. The stand Doug is hunting has been our best. Doug, Jeff and I have had to stay up very late at night to figure out a solid plan for the next day’s hunt.

   Saturday, September 6th
   High 64, low 41

   The big story for Doug and I are 2 bears that are hitting my bait for over 135 days. One is a male in the 450-to-500-pound range, the other is a female who spent alot of time during the June breeding season is about 325 pounds. The entire summer these animals have been hitting the bait about an hour before dark. This week they have reverted to 20 to 50 minutes after dark. In other words, just after I get out of the stand.
   Wolves, let me tell you about wolves. They are at our bait 20 minutes after the bear opens the stump and leaves for the night or sometimes comes back. So far we have not seen a cub on the trail cameras which is not normal, they usually are a pain in the butt, not one pic.
   I was doing some learning on the bear/mushroom subject and read that bear have a nose 7 times stronger than a bloodhound. It is not known if due to their strong nose they know which mushrooms are safe to eat or they simply can eat any mushroom that they want.
   Today I had the pleasure of helping out some very good friends. One of my dad’s, the late Robert Walters best friends was Al Mc Donald who with his wife Laurie raised two fine children June and Mike near Rio. All of my siblings and I used to have an absolute blast on their farm/property near Rio, while the elders also had their own fun.
   Al McDonald and my dad started hunting deer together at The Meadow Valley Wildlife Area in the mid-50s and I started 54 years ago. In 1985 Al showed me the spot where we have our present deer camp and I moved us there that fall. Al was one of the toughest, most independent, fun and honorable men that I ever knew. About a month ago Al passed away while sitting on his atv on his property. Today, I showed his wife of 70 years Laurie along with Mike and June this sacred spot. We had a really nice picnic and celebration of a great man who with his bride was originally from Bloomer.

   Tuesday, September 9th
   High 73, low 54

   My 6th night in my stand, the big bear was at the bait 21 minutes after I left it last night, none of our other baits have been hit in 5 days. I know things will get better but I’m not sure when. About an hour before dark, I heard a wolf getting its ass kicked by something, maybe another wolf, possibly a bear. The fight was only 70-yards from where I was sitting. The altercation ended with the wolf doing a whole bunch of whimpering and the victor doing a very large roar. When I checked baits today, the big bear hit the bait 40 min after I climbed out of my tree.

   Experiences like that are why I run baits for 5 months!

   Sunset