Just got back form a 5 day stay up north. Had trail cams on all three baits. Hunting was frustrating for me to say the least seems we had an invasion of sows and cubs....I'm not sure if they've always been around our baits but I've got over 400 pics from the three cams and I'll bet over 80% of them have cubs in them. Newborns, yearlings and two year old cubs with mom. The only colored bear was one tiny little chocolate colored cub. My 4 days and 35ish hrs on stand resulted in one 20 second viewing of a yearling black bear not very productive to say the least. Makes me want to re-think my baiting strategy. That being said I took 4 first time bear hunters with me resulting in a nice bow killed boar the first nite by my buddy Darryl (aka renslip)
The last nite a new friend Jay shot a young sow, he was extremely happy as it was his first big game animal and he shared the hunt with his dad as they were on stand together. (no pics I wasn't with them).
Another new friend Devon had an opportunity on a big bear but wasn't able to close the deal.
It was a good week all in all but with the knowledge of what was hanging around the baits has me wondering....where were the big big boars?? Not out yet? The sows had control of the baits keeping them away (I doubt this). Very frustrating I was probably better off not knowing exactly what was around. Here's some of the cam pics:
Here's the "cabin" we stayed in beats the heck out of the Almac!
Sounds like your hunt went much the same as mine Cowboy Al. Left a little to be desired. Ah well, twas fun, guessin there wasnt much else youda rather been doing either though eh?!! Good luck in the draws eh...Pack.
__________________ MULEY MULISHA
It's just Alberta boys... Take what you can while you can,, if ya cant beat em join em.
Well the sows with cubs aren't always a bad thing. A sow with yearlings will come into heat any time now and that's better than any bait I've found. Also the 'fresh' /new cubs greatest predator is an adult boar so they will hang in the same area as these cubs looking for an opportunity. Also if they are able to kill/eat the nursing cubs the sow will come back into heat within 2 weeks of when she stops producing milk. Don't know how the boars know this but I've read that they'll hang around waiting for this to happen. While this isn't the desired result that we want to see happen - it does - just another thing to be aware of.
My bro and I have had the same kind of season so far - I feel your pain! Lots of younger bears and sows with cubs both yearlings and fresh. We'll get one more sit on Sat. We're really hopeing that a very large bear we have on trail pics will decide to eat something while the sun is shining. He's hitting way after dark and only every once in a while.
Glad to see my camera is still workin for you. Try setting it on a 5 min timer next time to not fill up the card as fast and you will be able to see more than moma and cubs. At least they didn't eat the thing this time
Congrats on a good hunt.
I guess with seeing all those cubs this year will certainly bode well for the years to follow.......tough for this year. bearb8er has some valid points....just a matter of time when the big boys will show. As far as if the big guys are around, we took three great boars last week and they all had up to 2 - 2 1/2" of fat on them already. They have been out and about and feeding. They are more secretive (don't want an incounter with an angry sow any more than we do with an angry lady ) and they will lie low and do as little as possible for the first while out of the den other than feed on highly nutritious foods to start packing the pounds on. I've often thought that the big boars don't come out of the dens until later in the spring but after seeing more and more pics on the site of big boars that have been taken early and my experiences out hunting, I think differently. They just act completely different than a young boar. Just my opinion and thoughts. I think that when you put the time in like you did, someone is going to get rewarded........just a matter of time.
Marco
Nube, the camera was set on 10 min intervals and I built another twin to it. A little different wiring set up but the same "guts" as your original. I built a 3/8 plywood box with a bunch of drywall crews sticking out of it to protect the cameras, the bears still came and investigated it but they left it alone once they got "stuck" (those screws are sharp you had to be careful handling the box). After I assembled all of the parts and a few specialized tools to build the new camera it probably wasn't cheaper than the Bushnell walmart sells but in my opinion they work way better and give a guy more options. By the other posts I'm not alone in my frustration...I'd like to sneak back up there for one more sit this weekend but my brownie points at home are pretty much used up!
bear hunt 08: the good the bad the strange?
LIVING THE DREAM!!! I get to goto work and play with guns and bows all day!! 
Linear Mode
