# First Bear Baldwin Unit



## william thompson (Aug 8, 2016)

After putting in for 14 years i decided to put in for the famous Baldwin Unit. A buddy of mine referred me to Darren Kamphouse from Marion, MI. He runs baited hunts and hunts with dogs.
Our typical day started at 6 am. We checked baits and drove the roads looking for fresh tracks. After a fresh track was found Darren and his team would determine if the the bear was big enough to pursue. Sometimes the dogs would let us know if a hot bear track was near. 
That said, we hunted the first weekend near Kalkaska. We treed 2-3 smaller bears and I saw my first bear on stand the first night. We believe he was in the 175-225 lb range.
Between the first and second weekends the baits dried up near Kalkaska so we decided to hunt near Cadillac. Again we treed 2-3 smaller bears and I hunted on stand in the evenings. The evening hunt was rough as the temps were in the 80s. Did not see a.near on stand. The trail cams showed us the bears were moving after dark. A buddy of Darrens called him and said they just took a big bear. They appeared about 30-45 minutes later with an absolute toad. It dressed at 470 lbs and I knew I was in the right place.
Third and last weekend rolled around and Darren wanted to stay the course near Cadillac and it payed off in a big way. We met at 6 am. Checked baits and the call came over the cb. We found a great track so we went over and met of of Darrens buddys. He had a great track located. We went over and the dogs didn't seem interested indicating a not so hot track. To keep this from turning I to a journal we finally caught up with the bear around 11:15-11:30. He treed quickly found a spot to punch a shot through the canopy and shot him. The bear reacted and Darren wanted another one in him. I had a shot at his neck in front of shoulder and squeezed. That shot killed him instantly. He dressed out at 390 lbs. Estimated live weight 450 lbs.


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## william thompson (Aug 8, 2016)

I forgot to Thank Darren, Keith, Zeke and Sabrina for all of their hard work. If you guys are still hunting in another 13-15 years I will definitely enjoy another hunt. Great group of people.


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## BaldwinHunter (Oct 4, 2016)

Sounds like a great hunt! Congrats!


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## pike man (Feb 21, 2006)

Congratulations on a great Bear !


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## srconnell22 (Aug 27, 2007)

Congratulations again, bud! Great to see it all come together. You were in great hands with Darren and his team.


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## william thompson (Aug 8, 2016)

BaldwinHunter said:


> Sounds like a great hunt! Congrats!


Thank you it was awesome.


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## william thompson (Aug 8, 2016)

pike man said:


> Congratulations on a great Bear !


Thank you


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## Sprytle (Jan 8, 2005)

Congrats on the bear! Thats Awesome.


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## old graybeard (Jan 19, 2006)

Congrats!


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## william thompson (Aug 8, 2016)

Sprytle said:


> Congrats on the bear! Thats Awesome.


Thank you sir.


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## william thompson (Aug 8, 2016)

old graybeard said:


> Congrats!


Thank you.


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## dkamphouse (Nov 29, 2016)




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## dkamphouse (Nov 29, 2016)

It was a fun hunt Bill and glad it worked out!! Was one of the toughest yrs I've seen in a while to find the big boys but patience paid off and he made a mistake and came out of hiding!! Lol


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## Wild Thing (Mar 19, 2010)

Nice bear - congrats!!


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## Firefighter (Feb 14, 2007)

Fantastic!


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## Sprytle (Jan 8, 2005)

Awesome! Great Bear & Pics!! Congrats again to all involved!! 

Just wondering...How far was the chase??


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## dkamphouse (Nov 29, 2016)

That one was pretty short.. was about a 2 mile cold trail picking on and off trails and in the dry dead leaves then two dogs located him bayed for about ten minutes and he busted 80 yards to a tree!! Don't think he wanted to play in the heat either it was about 85 degrees by then..lol


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