WI Bear 2017

[BassBoysLLP]

Dan you better put together a camp by season. I don't think you'll be able to pull that bear out yourself.

We need to exchange numbers... It might be "camp Dan" like the old days when I was actually young enough to do it.

Sent you a PM with my contact details. I don't hunt your area much anymore but will be more than willing to help you out. It's a country short run.

[Dthree]

Nice track. Good luck.

[Bear Magnum]

Very nice bear! Excited to follow along with this hunt thread!

[Hunt247365]

Thats a very nice bear! Good luck. Not sure what part of C your in but shoot me a PM and if your close enough would be more then happy to give you a hand getting a bear out of the woods.

[Wapitiwarrior96]

Me an Dan went up to run some baits this morning.
All the baits he put out last weekend were cleaned up! Lots of bear sign... Hopefully the pics post, first time trying this.

[BassBoysLLP]

[stash59]

[dan]

Thanks for posting the pic's Steph.

It was a good trip. I had put out 5 baits the weekend before, and all were cleaned out. The big guy is back on the bait I missed him on, kinda expected that after finding his track a 1/4 mile from the bait last week. Now thos tracks are at the bait. The one track is much bigger than it looks in Stephs picture. It is 3+ inches deep into the sand ( I stomped next to it and barely made a dent! ) That bait had another real good pad at it, but certainly a different boar. Two of the baits had marked trees and me being 6'1 its hard to believe how high up!

One interesting thing... we visited one of my bait sites I did NOT bait last week, to fetch my hollow logs and right away noticed one was missing. Then Steph says " is that your camera and points out a trail cam pointing at my log and a scent dripper above it. Then we notice a second camera off to the side watching the 1st camera... Hmmm I took my remaining log and left

Put out trail cams, wish I would of last week... But any who, next trip we should have pic's!!!

If your wondering who Steph is, he is a new forum member who has a tag in the area and offered to help bait and with camp in exchange for helping him get a bear... I like him, he is lucky. We saw 2 bears today!

[BassBoysLLP]

Awesome. Bear camp is growing! Dan, that looks like a monster. World Class. I love the history.

Anyone willing to put forth the work and dedication is a winner in my boom. It's a long season. Twice as long as the WI deer season. Hope you get the bear bug Steph. Its addicting. Looking forward to your story.

[john1984]

I'll bet your correct Dan, but just out of curiousity, how do you.know that big bear track is from the same big boar from 2 years ago??? And not some other bear?

[dan]

I'll bet your correct Dan, but just out of curiousity, how do you.know that big bear track is from the same big boar from 2 years ago??? And not some other bear?

There are not many bears that size. Odds are pretty slim two bears in that area have the biggest track I have ever seen. I have baits up in Northern Minnesota that only get baited once every 3 years or so when we have tags and we see the same bears that were there 3 years prior. The sow I shot up there last year took that bait over every year we baited for a decade... Mike foss hunted giant bears on the same baits for years too... Snaggle tooth comes to mind right away.

Might sound odd to you. But that is a giant track. The biggest I have ever seen on a black bear anywhere. The fact that its hitting the exact same bait and living in the exact same swamp just further locks this in. and I see the same bears come back to my baits for years. Sure some come and go, but there are also those who call that area home. You also see time frames, like a certain bear showing up early then dissapearing each year, or another one who shows up later in the season.

Mike Foss could probably elaborate a lot more on this subject, I know he has long time history with a lot of huge old bears.

[BassBoysLLP]

Agree with Dan 100%. A dollar bill is 6.14". A monster bear has a 6 inch track. Big bears (over 6 foot) have a track between 5-6 inches. That track is over 6.5", close to 7". I also have never seen anything that big. Its a world class bear. Its size alone makes it unique.

[dan]

Agree with Dan 100%. A dollar bill is 6.14". A monster bear has a 6 inch track. Big bears (over 6 foot) have a track between 5-6 inches. That track is over 6.5", close to 7". I also have never seen anything that big. Its a world class bear. Its size alone makes it unique.

Really hoping we have pic's of him next week.

[stash59]

Agree with Dan 100%. A dollar bill is 6.14". A monster bear has a 6 inch track. Big bears (over 6 foot) have a track between 5-6 inches. That track is over 6.5", close to 7". I also have never seen anything that big. Its a world class bear. Its size alone makes it unique.

First thing I learned from serious bear hunters in Montana was. A bear that had a hide that squared 6' + was a far better than average bear. A goal they all hoped to reach. Then they said the way to know if you had a 6' bear in an area was to measure across the tracks it left. Usually for every inch of width you got a foot towards the bears square measurement.

The square is the average of the tip of nose to tip of tail measurement. The tip to tip measurement between the longest claw from the left to right side foot. Of both the front and hind feet. For those of you following that didn't know this. They put more emphasis on the square because alot of bears need to be skinned and quartered to get them out of backcountry areas.

The bears out there don't put on as much weight as Midwest bears. Not really any mast trees to put on lots of fat. So a 6' spring bear usually weighed just over 300 lbs. By fall some of those would be near 400 lbs.

The bear I was lucky enough to kill had paws that measured 6 1/4". He squared 6'4". Weighed 275 lbs. dressed. So add 19% for what the guts weighed and you get 327 lbs. live weight. Shot him in May.

Dan's got a real hoss lurking around his bait.

[BigHunt]

8-) That's definately a good one. Man I wished I was physically up to it. If I was I'd gladly carry in some bait fro lessons from the master. Even without the chance to actually hunt.

Where's Bighunt?

Good point Bass!!

oh you know ...im out and about following bears around .....