VermontHunter Posted October 22, 2016 Report Share Posted October 22, 2016 It's been awhile posting, but my opening bow season here in VT has been a active and a interesting one ... NO JOKE ... This is going to be a lengthy story so get a snack now.. lol I get to the family farm early afternoon to check in, and at that time I was informed I had to use my bear tag this year. I have been refusing to shoot bears, I learned a hard lesson in my youth as to what is involved in taking a bear, and I wanted nothing to do with them. Needless to say that choice was no longer mine, use my tag or my area would be open to anyone willing to shoot bears. The reason for this is that the bears have got out of control, they rolled 37 acres of corn last season, just on this one farm alone. And if you know what just one acre is worth, you will understand what the total loss is every year, so they have to be thinned out. I just hate doing it .. The very first afternoon I have 2 yearling twins playing in front of me for what seemed like hours, they them decide to bed down right under me ,, figures .. lol I did have plenty of doe's in the field, but they seemed to keep to the middle out of range. Come to be almost dark I hear splashing in the brook that is located behind my stand in a deep ravine. I know from experience what is making the spectacle, so I gather my stuff, and run off the 2 youngster that were sleeping below me and head for the truck. So here we are on day 2 in the afternoon ,, almost same scenario as the day before the same 2 yearling show up and decide to play around again, but this time bedded down about 50 yrds from my stand. Fast forward a bit to around 5:15 pm and I hear a snap behind me ( of course we all always hear a twig break or some type of noise ,, right ?? ) so I stand up and turn around, I hear something making it's way towards me, YUP, dang it it's a freakin' black bear. So I think to myself lets get this over with .. it gets to be about 20 yrds away according to the trusty range finder, so I let one fly spot on hit ( so I thought ) the arrow enters just behind the shoulder and exits about the same spot on the opposite side. Don't you know it, this dang bear bolts into the ravine. I climb down and check the spot I hit it and there's good amounts of blood to trail. I climb back into my stand and grab a PB&J sandwich and contemplate what my next move is going to be. Do I track not because it will be dark very soon, or do I wait and come back in the morning ... ???? .... In the mean time I see a silver pickup coming down the hill where my truck is parked, it sits there for a minute and then backs out. It's now about 6:00 pm and I just happen to look to my left and see something heading my way, I stand up and grab the bino's , are you kidding me, it's the bear I just shot with my arrow still intact. I grab the bow and get ready, this darn bear stops dead in it's tracks at about 25 yrds. and stands up on it's hind legs for me. I let another go and this one sinks almost to the fletchings. And again this bear runs into the ravine. I'm so amped up at this moment I sit down in disbelief, after collecting my things I head to the truck because it's now dark and I'm NOT tracking a bear in the dark by my lonesome with only a bow and handgun. This is what was left of my second shot, just to show what the penetration was ... I was impressed ... [URL=http://s15.photobucket.com/user/VermontHunter/media/Arrow_zps7nlncmwa.jpg.html][IMG]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a368/VermontHunter/Arrow_zps7nlncmwa.jpg[/IMG][/URL] I stop to the farm to let the aunt and uncle know what transpired. Before I get anything out uncle Allen goes you shot a bear didn't you ?? Rewind back to that silver truck ... come to find out it was Paul from the neighboring farm, they were chopping corn and watched this same bear come out of the ravine run across the corn piece and run smack dab into a feakin' car and then turn around and run back in the direction it came from ( hence my second shot ). Paul wanted to let uncle aleen know that they were going to try and track the bear, so I went and informed them I had shot it a second time and was going to wait until morning to retrieve it. They also thought that was a wise decision, so we all backed out. I returned the next morning to find this fool bear at the bottom of the ravine and it had gone about 50 yds. and died in the steepest part of the ravine. This is exactly why I hate shooting bears , it took me almost a hour and a half to get that thing out of there by myself ... The Toxic broadheads did there job, come to find out my first shot wasn't as good as I thought, it was right behind the shoulder alright but high and missed every vital organ there was, lucky for me I got a second shot, and didn't have a wounded bear running around. THANK YOU LORD !! We figure she's around 2.5 to 3 yrs. old and dressed out to a healthy 156 lbs. and I even found someone who likes bear meat at the weigh in station to take her off my hands ... :) Here she is ... [URL=http://s15.photobucket.com/user/VermontHunter/media/2016%20Bear4_zpszv2wg06h.jpg.html][IMG]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a368/VermontHunter/2016%20Bear4_zpszv2wg06h.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s15.photobucket.com/user/VermontHunter/media/2016%20Bear5_zps2mjwg9ok.jpg.html][IMG]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a368/VermontHunter/2016%20Bear5_zps2mjwg9ok.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted October 22, 2016 Report Share Posted October 22, 2016 pb&j huh. hey boo boo how about that pica'nic basket. lol. Congratulations on the bear with your bow Luke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VermontHunter Posted October 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2016 [QUOTE=wtnhunt;n2056888]pb&j huh. hey boo boo how about that pica'nic basket. lol. Congratulations on the bear with your bow Luke.[/QUOTE] Love my PB&J for my snack in the stand ... lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted October 23, 2016 Report Share Posted October 23, 2016 Sounds like it was a eventful couple days. Congrats on the bear. Thanks for sharing. Great story as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted October 23, 2016 Report Share Posted October 23, 2016 (edited) Luke;...Bears need to be shot a bit further back than behind front leg; Vitals are not like a whitetail; go for what you would consider a gut shot, you will drill vitals every time. Congrats! I hate bears! I used to grow corn...yes they damage alot Edited October 23, 2016 by Mathews XT Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VermontHunter Posted October 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2016 [QUOTE=Mathews XT Man;n2056904]Luke;...Bears need to be shot a bit further back than behind front leg; Vitals are not like a whitetail; go for what you would consider a gut shot, you will drill vitals every time. Congrats! I hate bears! I used to grow corn...yes they damage alot[/QUOTE] As you can tell Martin I don't shoot a lot of bears ,, messed up that first shot bigtime and realized it after I sat down. I got lucky and the bear presented a second opportunity for me ... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted October 23, 2016 Report Share Posted October 23, 2016 Dont get me wrong, I'm happy you got to finish him off Luke!....Good Bear is a DEAD Bear! Info on vitals is for anyone to consider that reads this, aim further back than normal on a bear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VermontHunter Posted October 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2016 [QUOTE=Mathews XT Man;n2056910]Dont get me wrong, I'm happy you got to finish him off Luke!....Good Bear is a DEAD Bear! Info on vitals is for anyone to consider that reads this, aim further back than normal on a bear.[/QUOTE] Yep, didn't think anything bad of your response in the least Martin. And that info is good info for all to know, this is my first archery bear and I didn't give the shot placement the research I should have. So anytime anyone can give good advice, I'm listening .. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted October 23, 2016 Report Share Posted October 23, 2016 (edited) I had to be "educated" waaaay back on this too. Canada outfitters will tell you on your spring bear hunt to shoot midway back horizontal and vertical on body if broadside. Your quartering shots are more forgiving of course. Thinking you shot high and forward [URL="https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwixt-rOl_LPAhXESCYKHXKyA24QjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wasparchery.com%2Fblog%2Fwhere-to-shoot-a-black-bear-with-a-bow&psig=AFQjCNE68K1KyDrm3ScwOeh6VXdVx_4Cig&ust=1477355296195191"][IMG]https://www.wasparchery.com/uploads/blog/where-to-shoot-a-bear2.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Edited October 24, 2016 by Mathews XT Man 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VermontHunter Posted October 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2016 [QUOTE=Mathews XT Man;n2056922]I had to be "educated" waaaay back on this too. Canada outfitters will tell you on your spring bear hunt to shoot midway back on body if broadside. Your quartering shots are more forgiving of course.[/QUOTE] Absolutely ,, I'll take all the info I can get ... I may be 50 but there's still plenty of learning to be had. And sites like this and people like yourself is where the info and learning come from ... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted October 23, 2016 Report Share Posted October 23, 2016 Congratulations Luke! Sporting of you to give her a warning shot. Glad it all worked out for you. BTW...it's terrain like that makes having 500' to 600' of rope handy down here for dragging game out with an ATV or UTV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VermontHunter Posted October 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2016 LOL ,, you ain't kidding Al ,, Next time it's winch time ... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted November 10, 2016 Report Share Posted November 10, 2016 On ‎10‎/‎23‎/‎2016 at 1:39 PM, Mathews XT Man said: I had to be "educated" waaaay back on this too. Canada outfitters will tell you on your spring bear hunt to shoot midway back horizontal and vertical on body if broadside. Your quartering shots are more forgiving of course. Thinking you shot high and forward guy I know missed too from not aiming in the middle. gave him a low haircut instead. he hit the bait bucket that was legal to have there. now everyone calls him Bucket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted November 10, 2016 Report Share Posted November 10, 2016 congrats on the bear luke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VermontHunter Posted November 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2016 I see my pictures of the bear have issues after the migration, not sure how to fix that I don't see a edit option. Thanks Guys, I should have had that info before shooting at a bear ,, my bad, and a lesson learned. I'm just fortunate it worked out in my favor, because a wounded bear is no joke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted November 11, 2016 Report Share Posted November 11, 2016 I still got one on cam here, he wont go to bed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VermontHunter Posted November 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2016 20 minutes ago, Mathews XT Man said: I still got one on cam here, he wont go to bed! Is it cold enough there yet Martin ?? We see bears routinely through out Nov. and early Dec. here in VT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted November 12, 2016 Report Share Posted November 12, 2016 1 hour ago, VermontHunter said: Is it cold enough there yet Martin ?? We see bears routinely through out Nov. and early Dec. here in VT. Not really, we been near 70 to low 60's the last two weeks, unsesonaLLy warm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.