Quick hunting update from the Hell Bear.

[Markus]

Just a quick update from the camp.

Deer have been showing up lately and I've been in the bow stand, but it's been all doe's so far and my wait for a buck opportunity continues.

We're still keeping the 3 bear sites going. Despite being over run with runts, there is the occasional visit from a decent bear at the 2 camp sites. My daughter hailee and friend nicole are still hunting when they get a chance.



Duck season opened yesterday, but due to the heavy rains, the municipality opened up the tidal dam and flushed out the water to make room for the coming downpours. My uncle and I headed to the blind this morning and we knew there was a good chance there wouldnt be any water..and there wasnt. We hung around at first light to see if we could get any pass shooting in and it was dead. We did muster up 1 black and missed one other opportunity for a black. I also shot a coot by accident. I've never seen one in these parts before and i actually thought it was a hen woodie when i swung on it.



Tim just got back from his annual moose hunt with his dad in the Cape Breton highlands. They tagged out on a beautiful bull moose! This is tim's 3rd impressive bull. I cant wait to try a few cuts of this baby!





Next on the agenda is my youngest daughters bear snaring set up. She's been waiting for the rains to pass and tomorrow we're heading back to the remote site to see if that big fella is still around. Id he is, we're gonna lace the area with 3 foot snares to see if she can get him.

[smitty55]

Nice bull. Congrats to Tim and his Dad.

As for snaring bear, I'd never heard of or considered such a thing being a mainstream part of trapping until a few years back at the Hell Bear. Since then I've talked to a local trapper about it. Bear hunting is such a rush in itself, I can only imagine what it must feel like to walk up on a snared and probably ornery bear and then have to shoot it. Would certainly take a different mindset, but I think I'd be good with it. It's just a different method of harvesting the way I see it. Big props to your youngest lass for goin for it. How old is she again?

Markus I'm curious about a few things. How many tags do you get on your trappers license? How often do you have to check them? Snares aren't very selective for the most part, so how do you try and target specific animals based on your cam pics? I guess there's always a chance that a small one might get caught regardless of your planning. I was also wondering if you knew about the effect of a major stressed out critter would be on the meat itself when it comes to eating. Not that you can go wrong with ground, stew and sausage, that's for sure. How agitated do they get when foot snared, or are they all different?.

I'm enjoying the updates. Cheers

[Markus]

How old is she again?

She's 16 now....old enough for he own trapping license now.

Markus I'm curious about a few things. How many tags do you get on your trappers license? How often do you have to check them?

I can shoot 1 bear and as a trapper I have tags to snare 2 more. You have to check your snares at least once a day.

Snares aren't very selective for the most part, so how do you try and target specific animals based on your cam pics? I guess there's always a chance that a small one might get caught regardless of your planning.

Bear snares are foot snares. Raccoons, fox, fisher ect could trip the snare, but it's designed to grab a front leg when the thrower goes off, so with other animals it just springs and scares them...it wont catch them. I have gotten a cub before by accident on a nuisance call job, but i just released it unharmed. We never set snares in areas that there's cubs around.

I was also wondering if you knew about the effect of a major stressed out critter would be on the meat itself when it comes to eating. Not that you can go wrong with ground, stew and sausage, that's for sure. How agitated do they get when foot snared, or are they all different?.

I've never noticed a difference. I've never had bad bear meat to be honest, it's definitely our favorite!


We made the trip back to our remote site, but a quick cam check quickly showed us the bear hadnt been in for a while. So we didnt set any snares today. We freshened up the scents and will be back a few days to check again.

[smitty55]

Very cool. Tks for the response. Good luck in drawing in a good target. Anything special you might try to bring into the bait site, like maybe hanging a beaver carcass?
Most of all, props and best of luck to your daughter, not that I think she'll need it. She's in good hands.

Cheers

[Markus]

We've close down 2 of the 3 bear sites for the season and i dont think it'll be long and we'll close down the last one too. We have a bit of bait left and we'll let the bears enjoy whats left and get a few more pictures.

My buddy Wayne and I took his 2 oldest boys duck hunting yesterday morning. We got to the marsh blind before sunrise and enjoyed some hot tea while we waited for legal shooting time. We had some early teal in our decoys that were driving the boys crazy. lol Then they took off 1 minute before legal time and the boys gave us the gears. lol

We ended the morning with a great mix of birds for a 2 man limit.



I was treated to a nice surprise when i found out 2 of my mallards were sporting some jewelry. I called these in today and i'll add them to my lanyard.



Not sure when we'll get out for ducks again, but it's nice to have some big plucked ducks ready to go into the smoker.