MIKE'S
OUTFITTING
2004 SPRING BLACK BEAR HUNT REPORT
 We
had another very successful spring black bear season.
Mild, warm weather prevailed and the bear sightings
reflected it. We had an unbelievable number of bears
hitting the 21 bait sites. Several hunters saw over
40 different bears in 6 days of hunting. Some hunters
saw as many as 15 bears in a single evening. The average
number of bears seen in a week was around 20-25. Almost
everyone could have taken 2 mature bears but we try
to preferably shoot male bears, not females. This is
what maintains a large, healthy bear population for
years to come but it also ends up keeping down the total
number of bears being killed. Several "missed"
shots also kept the success rate somewhat low.
We took 12 bears for 15 hunters. Out of the 12 bears
killed, 10 of the bears were good sized males and only
2 were females. 4 of them were colored and 3 had skulls
easily over Pope and Young's qualifying minimum of 18
inches. 2 of those were over 19 with one giant well
over 20. A 4th bear just missed making 18 inches. That
4th bear was taken by Harry Harding
from Michigan. It was a big bodied male that just didn't
have a big head. Harry also took a gorgeous rare blonde
bear on the same hunt. The next biggest bear, an 18
4/16 skull bear, was shot by Ed Evansfrom
Minnesota on his second hunt with us. The first bear
to break 19 inches was shot by Mike Adams
from Colorado. It was a huge, cautious old boar that
would not commit to coming right in to the bait.
 Mike
took him with a rifle just before the bear probably
left for good. It weighed in at around 350 lbs. The
absolute monster of the hunt was killed by Chad
Caves from Wisconsin. The bear had to chase
2 wolves off the bait before it could come in and then
Chad took him with one rifle shot. The battle scarred
bruin had a broken bottom jaw, probably a kick from
a moose, a split-in-half paw, mangled ear and a huge
gash across his chest. He squared out at over 7 feet
and had a 51 inch chest girth giving him a weight of
at least 440 lbs. and up to 465. His skull was just
under the Boone & Crockett minimum of 21 at 20 12/16.
He was taken off one of our baits that we've had for
8 years, showing that you never know where the big ones
will show up.
Honorable mention also goes out to Megan Chancellor
for taking her first bow killed animal, a beautiful
cinnamon bear. The other hunters not included here can
also be proud of the bears they took, no badly rubbed
ones and no big breeding sows. Congratulations! It was
great to have so many repeat hunters too, 8 out of 15,
come up on another hunt. I hope we gave you the service
that will make you want to hunt with us again. Andre,
Jen and I also thank everyone for their generosity.
We are now booking bear, deer and antelope hunts for
2005 and 2006. Please give me a call
if you are interested.
Mike Ukrainetz
|
