# Amasa Successful Hunt



## GrizzlyHunter

My son was successful! I’m still in Da’ Yoop. I’ll post more upon my return.


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## stickbow shooter

Beautiful bear congrats.


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## dkamphouse

Awesome bear!! I knew Darrell would give ya a awesome hunt!!


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## Sprytle

Very Nice!! Congrats to all!


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## fishdip

WOW,great bear and really cool pic.


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## giver108

Very nice. Congrats to the hunter!


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## alaska86

Congrats ! It’s an awesome bear. Great picture. Thanks for keeping us involved


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## mattawanhunter

Looks like another Bruiser, great UP trophy!

Did you use a guide who baited for you or was it a DIY!

Be curious to know how much he weighs congratulations to your son and yourself great memories!

Has it been Hot up there it's been hot down here!


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## pike man

Congratulations, Looks like a Big Bear !


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## GrizzlyHunter

mattawanhunter said:


> Looks like another Bruiser, great UP trophy!
> 
> Did you use a guide who baited for you or was it a DIY!
> 
> Be curious to know how much he weighs congratulations to your son and yourself great memories!
> 
> Has it been Hot up there it's been hot down here!


Guided with dogs. 

It’s been 75-85 degrees up here for 5 days, then a cold front came in, the temp dropped 20-25 degrees, and the bears came out...thick!

Live weight is...456.5 pounds, on a digital scale.


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## sourdough44

Very nice.


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## GrizzlyHunter

I’m still up here...celebrating with my son. But here’s a couple more pics:


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## GrizzlyHunter

Thank you all for the very nice responses. I will be sharing all of them with my son. 

Thanks again!


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## GrizzlyHunter

FYI...for size reference my son is a gym rat, who’s 6’ tall and weighs in at 220 lbs.


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## mattawanhunter

That is a Brute, 465 lbs!
Looks like a fine, strong young Man! Good for him, life time memory right there in God's Country!

Did you find a camp or hunting property while up there?

Also do you think Peak colors going to be the last week of September or the first full weekend of October up there?
We're planning another trip!

Safe travels back!



GrizzlyHunter said:


> Guided with dogs.
> 
> It’s been 75-85 degrees up here for 5 days, then a cold front came in, the temp dropped 20-25 degrees, and the bears came out...thick!
> 
> Live weight is...456.5 pounds, on a digital scale.


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## stickbow shooter

That's one old bear , I bet it was fun.


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## Firefighter

Fantastic!!!


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## GrizzlyHunter

mattawanhunter said:


> That is a Brute, 465 lbs!
> Looks like a fine, strong young Man! Good for him, life time memory!
> 
> Did you find a camp or hunting property while up there?
> 
> Also do you think Peak colors going to be the last week of September or the first full weekend of October up there?
> We're planning another trip!
> 
> Safe travels back!


Thanx for the kind words. Yes, great memories for sure.

We looked around one afternoon for a camp but I think it’ll be a long process before we find something. LOTS of wolves in this area! We saw where a pack of 6-7 traveled down a dirt road at night for at least a mile. It was a disappointing sight. 

I not a color expert but they’re turning somewhat already.

We’ll be packing up and heading home shortly. Take care.


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## deepwoods

Dan DEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!


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## GrizzlyHunter

Mattawan,

Here’s a pic of some good colors. Most of them aren’t this bright yet though.


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## GrizzlyHunter

reelbusy2 said:


> Congratulations to your son and you,that's one beautiful bear. Not to far from our neck of the woods. I'm gettin ready to head up and do some scouting and bird huntin in a week or 2. Did you guy see many birds?


Thank you!

Yes we did. We saw a lot of partridge. And an incredible amount of turkeys. Flocks of turkeys everywhere!!!


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## GrizzlyHunter

As most of you know my oldest boy will be graduating with his Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from MI Tech this December. I decided to give him an early college graduation present of a guided bear hunt with dogs. He's never hunted bear before, or hunted with dogs, he's only deer hunted. He only has 5 credits this fall, so his school load was light and he'd be living in the UP which made the drive convenient (for him). I've been applying for him for years so he had 8 points to burn. Because he'd be hunting the 2nd season (with dogs) he would easily draw a tag in the Amasa unit. And since this was a gift to him I chose not to burn my points and just do my best to help him fill his tag.

There would be another hunter in camp who would have the first right of refusal on a bear. She was already booked with the guide when I had contacted him. He offered to take us. But I would accept, until after I made sure he got the other hunter's approval first. He asked the other hunter and she agreed. So we had deal.

Fast forward...

*Friday* - I left work (in Livonia) around 11:30 AM and met my son at our guide's bear camp in Wisconsin, just south of the MI/WI border at 8:30 PM. We met our guide who then went through all of the rituals, what to expect, and informed us that we need to be in the truck, ready for an all day hunt if necessary, at 5:30 AM. And we were.

*Saturday* - high temps were projected around 80 F. We saw some bears on this trail cams, but nothing big. We saw one medium size bear and our guide decided to go after it. After a relatively short chase the dogs had it treed. Once we got there we immediately realized it was way too small to shoot. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. But later that night our guide had a "bait-sitter" (as he called him) who was hadn't filled his tag yet from the 1st season. He shot a bear right before dark, but didn't bother to look for it, and called our guide to come help. We were all back at camp when the call came in, so a bunch of us jumped in our trucks to help with the game retrieval (one of my favorite parts of being in any camp). We got there and the hunter walked us to the bait pile and relived what happened with us and pointed to the direction the bear went. The hunter wasn't sure if he even hit the bear. We shined the flashlight in that direction and asked him "does your bear look like that over there?" And literally 25-30 yards from the bait pile was his bear...dead as door-nail! He felt a little bit embarrassed that he called for help and two truckloads of bear hunters/guides show up to help and we find his bear within sight of the bait pile. The bear was a little on the small side, but he made a great kill shot and recovered his bear. Because of the heat we hurried up, took some pics, field-dressed it, and skinned it on the spot to help everything cool down quickly.


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## mjohnson1979

awesome bear great job


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## GrizzlyHunter

*







Saturday* - Here’s a pic of the “bait-sitter’s” bear.


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## GrizzlyHunter

*Sunday - *Temps were predicted to be in the low 80’s and sunny. It would be a hot day for bear hunting.

The first trail camera we checked had a very nice boar on it. But we did not have first dibs on the bear so it would be the other hunter’s choice to pursue it or not. Because it was such a nice bear the decision was quick and easy...she would pursue it. We would have too! The trail cam showed that the bear had left the bait only a couple hours before we arrived. The dogs were gathered and let loose at the bait site. In no time they were hot on the bear’s scent trail and bellaring like crazy. It’s a very exciting and addicting sound. The dogs were heading to another trail road, so the hunters and guide jumped in their truck to try and intercept the bear. When they arrived they were able to get video of the bear crossing the road with the dogs right on him. They bear crossed the road into he bush, turned around and charged the dogs back onto the road and it was all caught on video. At least one of the dogs was injured during that scuffle. It was a crazy sight! After that the bear turned and continued into the bush headed for a huge swamp.

Later the bear bayed up and the dogs had it surrounded. But, after another scuffle the bear took off again. Then he went right into the swamp. Nobody had boots tall enough to keep the water out. It was a really thick, wet swamp with lots of black mud. After another run the bear finally bayed up between two large boulders. There was no back way out once he went in. He was able to turn around and face the dogs. But the dogs seemed to know not attack him head on. The bear then lunged out at the dogs and then retreated back into his small cave. His body was submerged in black muddy water except for his head and front shoulders. Again he lunged at the dogs and then retreated. Because the 7-8 dogs were literally in his face barking like mad he would not leave the safety of his black hole. The hunter had to lay down on the ground to get a shot. She shot once but couldn’t tell where she hit him. She was shooting an open sighted 12 gauge with slugs. The guide told her to shoot again. When she did the bear literally dropped into the black mud and died instantly. The 2nd shot was into his forehead. They had to crawl down into the bears mud and water filled hole, reach into it and pull it out. The guide, the hunter, his husband and dad were all covered in black mud from head to toe.

The bear had traveled almost 3/4 of a mile before he made his last stand. He ended up being 785 yards from the closest trail we could get to by truck. We dressed him at the kill site. He was thoroughly soaked and covered in black mud. Later he weighed 272 lbs dressed, which put his live weight around 320 pounds.










Fortunately the guide had some other friends in the immediate area who came to give a hand. We had about 7-8 guys trade off while dragging the bear almost 1/2 mile back to the nearest truck.

Here you can see the shot that put him down. You can also how much the direct sun combined with a windy ride back to camp dried out his fur. 










He had a large frame and huge front paws. A very nice bear no doubt. It turns out the first shot was in the chest and was a killing shot if given a little more time. But with that many dogs and a wounded bear the guide wasn’t about to take any unnecessary chances. I would agree with him.


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## Sprytle

Wow! Congrats!! Very nice (muddy) bear!!


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## Tilden Hunter

stickbow shooter said:


> That's one old bear , I bet it was fun.


Keep us posted when you finally get the age on that one.


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## GrizzlyHunter

Tilden Hunter said:


> Keep us posted when you finally get the age on that one.


Absolutely will do.


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## Waif

Congrats to your son GrizzlyHunter!
Quite a bear.
And adventure.


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## william thompson

dkamphouse said:


> Awesome bear!! I knew Darrell would give ya a awesome hunt!!


Very nice bear. Hey Darren how is the season going for You?
Bill T


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## GrizzlyHunter

Thank you all for the nice words and comments. It was a GREAT hunt that my son and I will remember forever. He has now caught the big game hunting bug which is AWESOME.

Later this weekend I’ll try my best to finish posting the rest out our hunt.

Again, thank you to all. This is a great forum to share our outdoor experiences and also to learn from others.


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## dkamphouse

It’s going really good Bill I’ll post some pics after the weekend!!


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## old graybeard

How did I miss this?!? Congrats to your son on an awesome bear! How exciting.


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## GrizzlyHunter

old graybeard said:


> How did I miss this?!? Congrats to your son on an awesome bear! How exciting.


Ha Ha! Thank you. It was a hell of a hunt for him, and for me too! This truly was one of the best hunts of my life. And I didn’t even have a license.

I knew you would check in sooner or later, but it’s always good to hear from you. You were busy guiding a young lady to her 5th consecutive buck...and a dandy too.


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## Wiretime

Congrats to your son, awesome bear. Is it just me or is that bear missing his tongue?


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## GrizzlyHunter

Wiretime said:


> Congrats to your son, awesome bear. Is it just me or is that bear missing his tongue?


Thank you!

LOL...no, he's not. But good observation on your part.

The guide stuffs a stick into their mouth so when rigor mortis sets in the jaw is open to make it easier for the DNR to place the tag in their jaw.


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## GrizzlyHunter

I called our taxidermist today to ask about the skull. She measured it and said it comes in at 19-12/16”. It should easily make it into the CBM book. She aged it at around 18 years old. The DNR will give us a more accurate age in April.


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## Blaze

Great bear hunt, and great pics....you truely made many memories. Tell your son congratulations, and congratulation to you for raising a fine young man!


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## GrizzlyHunter

Blaze said:


> Great bear hunt, and great pics....you truely made many memories. Tell your son congratulations, and congratulation to you for raising a fine young man!


Blaze,

Thank you for the kind words. He’s a fine young man. He must get it from his Mom.  And we have another wonderful son two years younger. He’s attending MSU at the Broad School of Business. I can’t wait for his bear hunt!


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## GrizzlyHunter

Today we took my son’s bear skull to Outdoorama to have it scored by the CBM organization. It takes 18” to make the CBM Book, and 20” to make the Boone & Crocket Book.

When the gentlemen scored his bear skull I thought he might have made a mistake when he scored it at 19-1/16 “. I had watched him measure his calipers and write down what I thought was a different measurement. I asked if I could borrow his calipers and measure it myself (I didn’t want to tell him I thought he made a mistake). When I did I showed him my length measurement which was 1” different than his. He was shocked at his error. He apologized and immediately remeasured it for a corrected score of 20-1/16” which easily qualifies it for CBM and also just squeezes past the Boone & Crocket minimum. It’s a “Booner Bear!”

It was a fun day!


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