# Baldwin unit success!



## Sprytle (Jan 8, 2005)

My friend Dan and I both got Baldwin tags this year. After a month of getting baits hammered with 6-8 bears on each bait this heat wave had shut down any daytime activity. Baits were still getting hit but cams showed between midnight and 4. Mon night at 7:15 I had the big girl come in. I have tons of vids of this bear. A couple on here said do not shoot a sow at all but they are bear guides so I can see their point of view. She came down the hill and I picked the middle of the middle and moved forward just a bit. I saw the lumenock zip right thru and she let out a Ummmph, and took off running into the pines as fast as she could, which wasnt very fast...lol. I waited for the ole "Death Moan" which was not heard at all but I did hear some crashing which I thought was a good sign! After a bit I got up and grabbed my things and headed up to the landowners house. My friend Dan still had yet to see a bear. We headed out and found blood right away, good blood, from both sides. It was on the ground, it was on the tree trunks, it was everywhere. She had gone about 60 yrds and rolled down into a big washout filled with dead logs and fallen trees. After gutting, there was no way we were pulling her out of there. I had brought a 2000# cable winch mounted on a plate with tree chains and a deep cell. Good Call! We moved that winch to 4 different trees and finally got her on flat ground and were able to get her in the XL jet sled and pulled her the last yards to the truck and hooked it to the hitch and up to the house. When checked at the DNR cadillac , they said she was a great one to take as this is a bear reduction hunt. 350# live weight, 275# dressed. Has a beautiful tan face with some on the ears and the full chin down to her chest. After 14 yrs of waiting Im a happy hunter and happy with the bear I shot. It should make a great mount. This was a fully self scouted, self baited hunt for 2 1st time bear hunters.

My friend Dan hunted almost all day, all week, in that heat. I salmon fished all week! I felt bad for him as of Fri morn he had yet to see a bear. He shot a small boar 120# Fri night.
100 % success in the worst weather pattern you could have had.


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## plugger (Aug 8, 2001)

Beautiful bear!


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## Steve (Jan 15, 2000)

Nice job and nice pictures. Thanks for sharing. I hope to have the same amount of success when I finally draw a tag.


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## hommer23 (Nov 20, 2012)

Congratulations on the great bear.


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## Wild Thing (Mar 19, 2010)

Fantastic Smyrtle! Congrats on a great hunt and good shooting as well for both you and your buddy.


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## giver108 (Nov 24, 2004)

Nice bear. I like the unique color of its face. Congrats.


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## PunyTrout (Mar 23, 2007)

Nice work Bob! Love the DIY success.


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## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

Great job man! Biggin!

Unfortunately my suspicions were confirmed for the taxidermy question... no more bears for him.


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## Waif (Oct 27, 2013)

Whoa sprytle!
Congrats on a biggin.
And to your friend for scoring too.


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## Bucky81 (Jan 13, 2012)

Awesome Bear. Congrats.


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## chuckinduck (May 28, 2003)

Awesome job. Very pretty coloring on your bear.


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## NancyJ (Sep 2, 2008)

very bright and unusual markings on muzzle and ears. thats going to make a great rug ! congrats on the great hunt !


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## cmueller302 (Jan 30, 2007)

Awesome bear I've been following your adventure and was anxiously waiting the conclusion. Great job!


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## BVW (Jul 25, 2002)

congrats !!!


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## srconnell22 (Aug 27, 2007)

Congratulations, Sprytle! That is a big sow! 

Harvest choice is a personal opinion. It is houndsman in general that avoid killing sows. Not just guides. 

Glad to see you had a successful season.


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## Tunaman (Apr 17, 2006)

I wish you would have got that big problem bear. But any bear that you take off watchdocs property is a good bear. Congrats


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## Sprytle (Jan 8, 2005)

Tunaman said:


> I wish you would have got that big problem bear. But any bear that you take off watchdocs property is a good bear. Congrats


 
Thanks. I think we had had the problem bear in a few times before the season. He's a real good boar, but with the heat we took what we could get! I shot the only bear I saw and Dan shot the only one he saw. If it would have been a normal year, 60's during the day and 40's at night we could have been choosy as I think we would have had multiple bears going. Bruce is a great guy with a great piece of property and a lot of bears...


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## stickbow shooter (Dec 19, 2010)

Steve said:


> Nice job and nice pictures. Thanks for sharing. I hope to have the same amount of success when I finally draw a tag.


How many points do you have Steve ?


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## stickbow shooter (Dec 19, 2010)

Congrats on a beautiful bear. I really like the markings, you don't see that everyday.


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## Lumberman (Sep 27, 2010)

Congrats again. Still bummed I missed your phone call. 

270lbs dressed is a good one by almost anyone's standards!!


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## dkamphouse (Nov 29, 2016)

Nice job guys!!


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## Sprytle (Jan 8, 2005)

Thanks all! I would love to start putting in again but that would put me at about 65 if the point count doesnt come down. The getting the baits going & running up and baiting twice a week was the hard part so when I get the next one Ill just call you dk!!


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## old graybeard (Jan 19, 2006)

Out standing hunt! Congrats on getting it done on a great bear! It has to be very satisfying doing it all on your own.


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## dkamphouse (Nov 29, 2016)

It is a lot of work.. I'm ready to back to work and catch up on sleep..lol


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## deepwoods (Nov 18, 2002)

What a pretty bear. She is a BIG GIRL! Congrats to you Sir.


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## Hunter1979 (Feb 26, 2008)

Great write up and even better bear!! That's awesome, congratulations on a DIY monster.


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## Callinalldeer (Jun 25, 2009)

Congrats those huge bears are the ones feeding on fawns and caves.


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## limige (Sep 2, 2005)

Congrats on your success, there sure is a lot of bears around this year


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## Firefighter (Feb 14, 2007)

Beautiful bear! Congrats!


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## Biggbear (Aug 14, 2001)

That's awesome! That bear will make a great mount. Of all the bear mounts I've seen I've never seen one with that much color on the face.


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## itchn2fish (Dec 15, 2005)

Way to go, Bob! All those years & now all of that extremely tough work really paid off for both you & Dan! Wow, she's a beeeeeg-gurl!!!!! Great story & pictures. Thanks for bring all of us along!!! I was sweating my ball$ off just reading this!!!Woooooooooooooot!!!!!!!!!


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## MISTURN3 (Jan 3, 2012)

Nice bear. Really unique. Next year in Baldwin for me I hope!!


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## Sprytle (Jan 8, 2005)

MISTURN3 said:


> Nice bear. Really unique. Next year in Baldwin for me I hope!!



I hope so too! Next year should be a banner year if the weather cooperates and has halfway normal temps. I dont believe that even 40% of the DNR's expected harvest was accomplished with the heat wave last week. They just did not move in the daylight. Some might have found success if they hunted down in the swamp where they were spending the day. Good luck MISTURN3!!


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## 7Wings (Jul 24, 2011)

Beautiful bear. She is a huge SOW. Did they take a tooth to test her age? If so....please let us know.


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## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

7Wings said:


> Beautiful bear. She is a huge SOW. Did they take a tooth to test her age? If so....please let us know.


I believe they always take a tooth. But if its the same case as for my bear, you have to follow up on their website to get the results.


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## Sprytle (Jan 8, 2005)

Yep. Took a tooth and a pretty heavy hair sample. The DNR guy said you have to follow up in the spring on their website with the seal #.


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## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

Sprytle said:


> Yep. Took a tooth and a pretty heavy hair sample. The DNR guy said you have to follow up in the spring on their website with the seal #.


no seal # needed in my experience. I think it was my name or DL. Definitely was something I knew off the top of my head but don't remember exactly what. I know, that sounds odd lol


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## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

Just checked... You can use your DL (customer ID for the license).

Sample number is another option... I assume that is the seal number? Never wrote mine down so I don't know for sure.


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## aph (Oct 21, 2002)

Dumb question from a newbie to bear, but could you tell it was a sow before letting it rip? thanks.


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## Sprytle (Jan 8, 2005)

aph said:


> Dumb question from a newbie to bear, but could you tell it was a sow before letting it rip? thanks.


Yes I knew it was a sow. I have 30 or so trail cam vids of this bear also it is fairly easy to tell the difference. Boars are built differently. They are stocky with a bigger wider head and bigger shoulders. When hunting if you get a back view you can usually see a boars sack hanging. All of the vids that I have of her, she was always alone, never had any cubs or any other bears with it.


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## Tilden Hunter (Jun 14, 2018)

aph said:


> Dumb question from a newbie to bear, but could you tell it was a sow before letting it rip? thanks.


Here is a link to an excellent primer on the topic.
https://richardpsmith.com/product/field-judging-black-bears/


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