Post by rwh on May 11, 2005 9:23:53 GMT -5
I wrote this bear hunting account for Trap & Trail magazine a few years back. Don't believe they'd mind my putting it on Alldoghunters. Hope you enjoy reading it.
With over 30 ears of bear hunting with hounds there's one hunt I still remember in great detail...It was mid October 1994. I awoke later than usual. After pouring the first cup of coffee I stepped outside to check the weather. The sun was already up and it was one of those perfect mornings, rare this time of year in the northwestern Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Bear season was winding down. Seemed like a great opportunity to load the 3 hounds and rig some of the single track roads in the nearby Ottawa National forest. It was a good acorn year and bear were still feeding in the oak stands. Good chance for a pleasure hunt before the season closed. Once the dogs were loaded I drove about 5 miles before stopping to put smokey and Jed on the box to start rigging. Smokey was a 9 year old Walker, and likely the straightest dog I'll ever own. Jed was a 7 year old Plott with a good nose, plenty of grit, and a fine tree dog. The third dog, Sam was left in the box. He was a 6 year old Plott with a hot nose. His main contribution was that of a bay dog. By then it was 9:30 a.m. After rigging about 2 miles both Smokey and Jed struck. Judging by the intensity of the strike...it wasn't a hot track. I opted to continue on into the oak country for a couple more miles. If they didn't strike a hot one we'd return and try to deal with it. We didn't hit anything, so I turned around and headed back. Upon reaching the same area they struck it again. I stopped, shut off the engine and unsnapped both Smokey and Jed. It was enjoyable the way those two dogs honored each other when working out a track. Watching them you could see how the bear moved around feeding on the acorns some time earlier. After they'd been trailing around for about 10 minutes...they began working farther into the west. I got Sam out of the box and held him by thecollar until he got a fix on smokey and Jed...then turned him loose. He harked to them on a dead run. By now they'd been trailing about 20 minutes and were close to being out of hearing when...even though they were deep into the west I plainly heard them jump the bear. It was at this point the race abruptly turned south. After a few minutes it seemed as though they were quartering back toward my position. I was hearing them better. I heard thembay-up for a few minutes then move on, heading back into the north. Then they turned west, going almost out of hearing...heading deeper into big country. About then I began to consider my next move. If they lined-out to the west it would be about 6 miles to the nearest road. If Itook off on foot and carried my beeper rig and antenna I might eventually get a fix on them. Although, it was just as likely I'd end up about 2 hours walk from my truck...and not get a fix on them. To my great surprise the bear decided to make another circle. The dogs were tight on him. They would stop and bay awhile...then move again, walking and baying. The action drew closer as they headed north again...my guess was they were less than a mile away. I rationalized...this had been going on for what seemed an hour and a half and the bear never left the area. I talked myself into believing I could catch up on the action on foot. I grabbed my beeper box, antenna and my old weathered .444 Marlin rifle and took off after the dogs. For the next 2 hours or so I was able to stay within hearing most of the time. But, it was begining to dawn on me...the bear wasn't circling like before. He was headed north. If he continued north another 5 miles or so the dogs would reach a busy county highway. The thought of what that could mean took the fun out of things. I hadn't heard the dogs for about 15 minutes. So, I stepped up the pace a bit. The terrain was mixed hardwood and aspen with swamps in the low spots. Good going actually. I remember coming to a big beaver pond. On the other side of the pond the terrain changed to a vast clear-cut. By then it had been about a half hour since last hearing the dogs. Fearing this thing was going to end up at the county highway...I began hooking up the beeper box to trygettingasignalwhen I heard Smokey's faint tenor bawl to the north, out in the clear-cut. I soon learned the dogs were on the back side of a hill much closer than expected. It was like getting a second wind. I got a good fix by compass and headed into the thick cut, stopping ever couple minutes to listen. I was getting closer. The baying was intense. Soon I was within 100 yards of the action...when the baying changed to treeing. The dogs were treeing just uphill from me. Moving as quiet as possible in the thick cover, I came to a gully about 50 yards deep. They were treed at the head end of the gully on a small ash tree. The bear looked to be about 200 to 225 lbs. As I began making my way up the gully towrad th edogs the bear saw me and was fixing to bail out. No time to tie dogs back. I shouldered the .444, hammer cocked, when the gold bead was on the bear's head I pulled the trigger and the bear fell to the ground. Once the dogs wooled the bear a little I tied them back and checked for injuries. Sam was the only one with injuries...just minor cuts on the front end. Although, after several hours of walking and baying, the dogs were spent. Now I needed to figure out the best way to get the bear taken care of...and get the dogs back to my truck. I remembered a main trail coming into the clear-cut from the county highway to the north, and was confident of reaching it using the many skidder trails. It'd be easier leading dogs out. Once out to the highway there was a good chance someone I knew would be passing by andIcould get them to call my wife to come and get me. So, i skinned the bear, quartered him up then covered the meat with the hideto help keep the ravens off it. Once the task was completed, Sam's beeper collar was fastened to a tree so I could find my way back to the bear later. The temperature was about 45 degrees, so the meat would be ok if left over night and retrieved the next day. The walk out to the highway was more than 2 miles...more like 3. From there it was another 8 or 9 miles to the truck. The dogs and I traveled about 5 miles more...when the Niemi brothers happened by on the way to their deer blinds in the national forest. They gave us a ride to my truck. It was about 4:30 p.m. by then. Next day after work a friend and I rode his 4-wheeler in on a trail I knew would take us close to the quartered up bear. He set the odometer when we started. The beeper signal helped us hone in to our destination...and we were able to get within 50 yards of the bear. Once back to the truck we checked the odometer...it was a 14 mile round trip! I don't know how far I walked that day, maybe 20 miles. It was sure worth it...to have experienced such a special memory with 3 old dogs that have since passed on.
Rich
With over 30 ears of bear hunting with hounds there's one hunt I still remember in great detail...It was mid October 1994. I awoke later than usual. After pouring the first cup of coffee I stepped outside to check the weather. The sun was already up and it was one of those perfect mornings, rare this time of year in the northwestern Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Bear season was winding down. Seemed like a great opportunity to load the 3 hounds and rig some of the single track roads in the nearby Ottawa National forest. It was a good acorn year and bear were still feeding in the oak stands. Good chance for a pleasure hunt before the season closed. Once the dogs were loaded I drove about 5 miles before stopping to put smokey and Jed on the box to start rigging. Smokey was a 9 year old Walker, and likely the straightest dog I'll ever own. Jed was a 7 year old Plott with a good nose, plenty of grit, and a fine tree dog. The third dog, Sam was left in the box. He was a 6 year old Plott with a hot nose. His main contribution was that of a bay dog. By then it was 9:30 a.m. After rigging about 2 miles both Smokey and Jed struck. Judging by the intensity of the strike...it wasn't a hot track. I opted to continue on into the oak country for a couple more miles. If they didn't strike a hot one we'd return and try to deal with it. We didn't hit anything, so I turned around and headed back. Upon reaching the same area they struck it again. I stopped, shut off the engine and unsnapped both Smokey and Jed. It was enjoyable the way those two dogs honored each other when working out a track. Watching them you could see how the bear moved around feeding on the acorns some time earlier. After they'd been trailing around for about 10 minutes...they began working farther into the west. I got Sam out of the box and held him by thecollar until he got a fix on smokey and Jed...then turned him loose. He harked to them on a dead run. By now they'd been trailing about 20 minutes and were close to being out of hearing when...even though they were deep into the west I plainly heard them jump the bear. It was at this point the race abruptly turned south. After a few minutes it seemed as though they were quartering back toward my position. I was hearing them better. I heard thembay-up for a few minutes then move on, heading back into the north. Then they turned west, going almost out of hearing...heading deeper into big country. About then I began to consider my next move. If they lined-out to the west it would be about 6 miles to the nearest road. If Itook off on foot and carried my beeper rig and antenna I might eventually get a fix on them. Although, it was just as likely I'd end up about 2 hours walk from my truck...and not get a fix on them. To my great surprise the bear decided to make another circle. The dogs were tight on him. They would stop and bay awhile...then move again, walking and baying. The action drew closer as they headed north again...my guess was they were less than a mile away. I rationalized...this had been going on for what seemed an hour and a half and the bear never left the area. I talked myself into believing I could catch up on the action on foot. I grabbed my beeper box, antenna and my old weathered .444 Marlin rifle and took off after the dogs. For the next 2 hours or so I was able to stay within hearing most of the time. But, it was begining to dawn on me...the bear wasn't circling like before. He was headed north. If he continued north another 5 miles or so the dogs would reach a busy county highway. The thought of what that could mean took the fun out of things. I hadn't heard the dogs for about 15 minutes. So, I stepped up the pace a bit. The terrain was mixed hardwood and aspen with swamps in the low spots. Good going actually. I remember coming to a big beaver pond. On the other side of the pond the terrain changed to a vast clear-cut. By then it had been about a half hour since last hearing the dogs. Fearing this thing was going to end up at the county highway...I began hooking up the beeper box to trygettingasignalwhen I heard Smokey's faint tenor bawl to the north, out in the clear-cut. I soon learned the dogs were on the back side of a hill much closer than expected. It was like getting a second wind. I got a good fix by compass and headed into the thick cut, stopping ever couple minutes to listen. I was getting closer. The baying was intense. Soon I was within 100 yards of the action...when the baying changed to treeing. The dogs were treeing just uphill from me. Moving as quiet as possible in the thick cover, I came to a gully about 50 yards deep. They were treed at the head end of the gully on a small ash tree. The bear looked to be about 200 to 225 lbs. As I began making my way up the gully towrad th edogs the bear saw me and was fixing to bail out. No time to tie dogs back. I shouldered the .444, hammer cocked, when the gold bead was on the bear's head I pulled the trigger and the bear fell to the ground. Once the dogs wooled the bear a little I tied them back and checked for injuries. Sam was the only one with injuries...just minor cuts on the front end. Although, after several hours of walking and baying, the dogs were spent. Now I needed to figure out the best way to get the bear taken care of...and get the dogs back to my truck. I remembered a main trail coming into the clear-cut from the county highway to the north, and was confident of reaching it using the many skidder trails. It'd be easier leading dogs out. Once out to the highway there was a good chance someone I knew would be passing by andIcould get them to call my wife to come and get me. So, i skinned the bear, quartered him up then covered the meat with the hideto help keep the ravens off it. Once the task was completed, Sam's beeper collar was fastened to a tree so I could find my way back to the bear later. The temperature was about 45 degrees, so the meat would be ok if left over night and retrieved the next day. The walk out to the highway was more than 2 miles...more like 3. From there it was another 8 or 9 miles to the truck. The dogs and I traveled about 5 miles more...when the Niemi brothers happened by on the way to their deer blinds in the national forest. They gave us a ride to my truck. It was about 4:30 p.m. by then. Next day after work a friend and I rode his 4-wheeler in on a trail I knew would take us close to the quartered up bear. He set the odometer when we started. The beeper signal helped us hone in to our destination...and we were able to get within 50 yards of the bear. Once back to the truck we checked the odometer...it was a 14 mile round trip! I don't know how far I walked that day, maybe 20 miles. It was sure worth it...to have experienced such a special memory with 3 old dogs that have since passed on.
Rich