Dan, when will you be hunting bear in WI next?

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john1984
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Dan, when will you be hunting bear in WI next?

Unread postby john1984 » Sun Jun 15, 2014 8:24 am

Dan, how many preference points you got for WI so far? Ever consider hunting zone C again ? It only took me 3 points to get a zone c tag. Why wait 8 years when you can get one in 3? Jackson county is suppose to have a abandunt population. I never explored over there but take a look at some Ariel's and topo's 10 miles straight east of Black River Falls, WI. I bet you could get a big bear over there

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Re: Dan, when will you be hunting bear in WI next?

Unread postby dan » Sun Jun 15, 2014 9:20 am

john1984 wrote:Dan, how many preference points you got for WI so far? Ever consider hunting zone C again ? It only took me 3 points to get a zone c tag. Why wait 8 years when you can get one in 3? Jackson county is suppose to have a abandunt population. I never explored over there but take a look at some Ariel's and topo's 10 miles straight east of Black River Falls, WI. I bet you could get a big bear over there

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Actually that has crossed my mind many times... However there are some issues. I do much better on the DIY hunts in Minnesota because of the regulations. In Minnesota I can put out as much bait as I want so I can limit my baiting to once a week and have success, and baiting is only aloud for a couple weeks prior to the season there so I only have to make a couple trips...

In Wisconsin the amount of bait you can put out is so small you have to have someone bait for you, cause I can't drive back and forth to Black river falls every two days to bait, and if I don't, I cant compete with the guides and locals. And, since Wisconsin baits all summer, it would be all summer driving back and forth...

In order for me to DIY a Wisconsin bear hunt I need help from a local I can trust to bait for me. I would love to do that, but as of right now it does not seem to be an option.
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Re: Dan, when will you be hunting bear in WI next?

Unread postby john1984 » Sun Jun 15, 2014 10:42 am

You say over 90 % of the guides in MN are baiting in the wrong spot. Why would the guides in Jackson county, WI be any different? I bet with your skill level you could start baiting in early August once per week using 10 gallons and kill a good bear up here. Maybe jackson county gets more pressure but take a look at some Ariel's and topo's east of Warrens, WI and look at topo's and Ariel's around Mather, WI and Meadow Valley, WI. It's bear habitat. And I would love to see you bear hunt those areas.

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Re: Dan, when will you be hunting bear in WI next?

Unread postby john1984 » Sun Jun 15, 2014 4:26 pm

10 gallons of bait is such a small amount ???? How can you haul more than 10 gallons to your "remote" bait sites in MN so easily ????

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Re: Dan, when will you be hunting bear in WI next?

Unread postby dan » Mon Jun 16, 2014 4:51 am

john1984 wrote:10 gallons of bait is such a small amount ???? How can you haul more than 10 gallons to your "remote" bait sites in MN so easily ????

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In buckets and sacks... I make several trips and usually bring a helper.

There are so many guys baiting in Wisconsin that bears are pretty much on set routines by the time august comes. I might try it without a wisc. bait helper but my expectations would not be as high as in Minnesota.
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Re: Dan, when will you be hunting bear in WI next?

Unread postby john1984 » Mon Jun 16, 2014 6:20 am

Dan said, "There are so many guys baiting in Wisconsin that bears are pretty much on set routines by the time august comes. I might try it without a wisc. bait helper but my expectations would not be as high as in Minnesota."

I asked my young guide about pressure, here is what he said. "Actually the pressure can get heavy at times. A lot of dog runners come down to black river-warrens area to train. It pushes the bears all over and makes them hard to pattern. As far as other baiters it depends on the year. Thats why i go in so deep to get as far as i can from people."

I wonder how much the dogs disrupt the bears "routine" ?

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Re: Dan, when will you be hunting bear in WI next?

Unread postby Bearman13 » Thu Jun 19, 2014 9:58 am

I'm Minnesota guide. 90% of the guides are not baiting on the wrong spot. I' can bring bears to most any place I bait where I live. I'd say 10% of the guides don't care about the client.

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Re: Dan, when will you be hunting bear in WI next?

Unread postby dan » Thu Jun 19, 2014 10:25 am

Jim Wallner wrote:I'm Minnesota guide. 90% of the guides are not baiting on the wrong spot. I' can bring bears to most any place I bait where I live. I'd say 10% of the guides don't care about the client.

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From what I have seen 10% is a big understatement... You might be an exception, but I have run into a lot of guides in Minnesota while hunting and scouting and none of them seemed any good...
As far as bringing bears to your bait, that can be done, but my opinion is that baits placed in the right position will get older bears, and more bears... Just like deer hunting, you can shoot a deer just about anywhere, but to get the old cagey ones you need to go where they feel safe and where they want to be. I put out 9 baits last year and had multiple big bears hitting all but two, and both of those were unknowingly placed too close to logging operations. The guides that were in the camp grounds with me shot one bear out of a dozen baits and it was a tin y bear the guide himself shot. It was the only bear they saw, and many of there baits were never hit the whole week. Mine were pounded, and one of mine was unknowingly to close to two of theres and theres were not being hit and mine had several bears hitting it including a giant... They were using decent bait, but what I noticed is there set ups were not near swamps, bedding type cover. The two friends that came with me both shot bears evening one, and I held out for big and waited for good winds and got mine a couple days into the hunt.
I would like to think that my success is a direct result of finding good terrain on aerials and topo's and then scouting for bear sign in the summer and setting up near the fresh sign and likely bedding.
Two years ago I went up with one friend, he shot a monster on day one, I shot a choclate day two... Registering at the Holiday gas station two separate guides approached me and were whining about how bad the hunting was. OLne had a few bears down but that was out of dozens of clients. The other had one bear sighted and passed... They asked to look in my freezer and although I was trying to avoid it I did not want to make enimeys so I let them look... They went nuts and said, you don't know how lucky you are, you just don't see bears that big and for both of you to get bears, yada, yada... The bear last year was bigger than that one, and we had bigger bears on every camera than that one... I have ran into a total of 5 guides right in the area I hunt, and none of them are doing anywhere near as good as me, I have to think the scouting and placement have been a huge part of my success... And, I would have to think you being a logger, your seeing some prime areas and putting baits in those spots, not just putting out baits anywhere trying draw bears to your bait?
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Re: Dan, when will you be hunting bear in WI next?

Unread postby Bearman13 » Thu Jun 19, 2014 12:47 pm

Yes as a logger I know the whole county well. The biggest bear we've taken came off a dead end county road with 4 houses on it. It was a 100 acre swath of federal land tucked in there.

I'd say the right location is more key than remote. Bigger animals are necessarily in the most remote places. As deer hunters we both know that. Water and cover are what I'm partial too.

I like beaver ponds and spruce/cedar swamps. Guys who don't live where there attempting to guide are not guides. How well can they really know the
Area???

Yeah it's prolly more than 10%. I register my bear at Bucks hardware in Grand Marais. I had the most bears registered. And biggest.

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Re: Dan, when will you be hunting bear in WI next?

Unread postby Bearman13 » Thu Jun 19, 2014 1:20 pm

I cap the number of hunters in my camp. Keeps the customer service up. Some guy running dozens and dozens of clients and the guides hunt?? Thats ridiculous. 218 pound average last year. Thats dang near 90 pounds better than the overall state average. I guess I must do something right. The biggest was 350 dressed. So your lookin at close to 400 on the paw.

I wouldn't call those other guys guides. More like con-artists..

Dan the hunting was tough for everyone in the Arrowhead region. But for guys like us who put our time in, scout etc., we will kill bear.

Lots of other factors determine where baits go. Sugar sources, slash piles, bees, ants, hazlenut patches etc.. Most people wouldnt even understand...
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Re: Dan, when will you be hunting bear in WI next?

Unread postby dan » Thu Jun 19, 2014 1:31 pm

Jim Wallner wrote:Yes as a logger I know the whole county well. The biggest bear we've taken came off a dead end county road with 4 houses on it. It was a 100 acre swath of federal land tucked in there.

I'd say the right location is more key than remote. Bigger animals are necessarily in the most remote places. As deer hunters we both know that. Water and cover are what I'm partial too.

I like beaver ponds and spruce/cedar swamps. Guys who don't live where there attempting to guide are not guides. How well can they really know the
Area???

Yeah it's prolly more than 10%. I register my bear at Bucks hardware in Grand Marais. I had the most bears registered. And biggest.

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I agree with this... You are correct, the baits do not have to be remote. They do however need to be in the correct locations. Most of my baits are remote cause thats the "right" location. But with the vast logging road system I can usually get somewhat close. Not being from the area, I often get burned by baiting to close to a road... Bear season comes and all the sudden there are hunters all over where I was expecting to have a good spot...
One thing about being a little remote though. If I can find a swamp thats back a 1/4 mile from the road I can generally hike back to the swamp and all the bears from the swamp will hit my bait 1st before hitting the guys along the road..
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Re: Dan, when will you be hunting bear in WI next?

Unread postby Bearman13 » Thu Jun 19, 2014 1:54 pm

Totaly agree on that. Truck traffic scares bears. Its amazing just what getting back into a spot 100 yards off the logging road will do. If you have a super remote atv bait spot thats one thing, the bears know your bringing food. But a abunch of traffic all the time doesnt work. From my experience.. I know you like to get close to bedding areas. I wont push that envelope to far. As the closer you get with CLIENTS the more chance of totaly blowing the spot.

When I hunt I get right up to the front door if I can. Ive killed a bear every year ive had a tag but one. And I shot one but the hit was high and we couldnt find it. We looked for two days.. You wanna learn bears.. Get on a long blood trail..
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Re: Dan, when will you be hunting bear in WI next?

Unread postby john1984 » Thu Jun 19, 2014 2:06 pm

Dan, when and if you look at maps around Mather,WI, Meadow Valley, WI and east of Black River falls, some of the roads they have listed as roads are not open, they are gated, only open to the DNR. So keep that in mind if you see a so called "road" on a online map. Many are gated so you gotta walk a ways.

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Re: Dan, when will you be hunting bear in WI next?

Unread postby dan » Thu Jun 19, 2014 2:10 pm

john1984 wrote:Dan, when and if you look at maps around Mather,WI, Meadow Valley, WI and east of Black River falls, some of the roads they have listed as roads are not open, they are gated, only open to the DNR. So keep that in mind if you see a so called "road" on a online map. Many are gated so you gotta walk a ways.

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Are you from that area?
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Re: Dan, when will you be hunting bear in WI next?

Unread postby dan » Thu Jun 19, 2014 2:12 pm

Jim Wallner wrote:Totaly agree on that. Truck traffic scares bears. Its amazing just what getting back into a spot 100 yards off the logging road will do. If you have a super remote atv bait spot thats one thing, the bears know your bringing food. But a abunch of traffic all the time doesnt work. From my experience.. I know you like to get close to bedding areas. I wont push that envelope to far. As the closer you get with CLIENTS the more chance of totaly blowing the spot.

When I hunt I get right up to the front door if I can. Ive killed a bear every year ive had a tag but one. And I shot one but the hit was high and we couldnt find it. We looked for two days.. You wanna learn bears.. Get on a long blood trail..

I used to guide archery deer hunters in Wisconsin, I know what you mean... I have been on a couple of those long bear trails too and your right on...


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