# Bear camp



## Fool'em (Sep 29, 2016)

First night in bear camp last night

Got baits out in Saturday
Sunday morning 0-2 on hit so far. Little rain last night probably didn’t help.


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## chuckinduck (May 28, 2003)

Nice camp. Hopefully things change for you 


Sent from my iPhone using Michigan Sportsman


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

Good luck!


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## sourdough44 (Mar 2, 2008)

Good luck.


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## Callinalldeer (Jun 25, 2009)

Good luck and hunt the wind.


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## Fool'em (Sep 29, 2016)

Have very little service here at camp. Ran to town for gas and a few supplies. 
So far dad and I have 4 active baits out of 6. 
Sow and cubs on one of the 4 but 3 have good bears. One bear (the one I want) is all blinged out. He’s got a necklace and earrings in both ears. Looks like a 3-4 yo bear. 

Now it’s back to camp to cook a couple trout I caught this morning and prep for this afternoons hunt.


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## LTH (Nov 14, 2017)

Maybe I missed it but what area are you hunting in? How many guys/Tags in camp?


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

Fool'em said:


> Have very little service here at camp. Ran to town for gas and a few supplies.
> So far dad and I have 4 active baits out of 6.
> Sow and cubs on one of the 4 but 3 have good bears. One bear (the one I want) is all blinged out. He’s got a necklace and earrings in both ears. Looks like a 3-4 yo bear.
> 
> Now it’s back to camp to cook a couple trout I caught this morning and prep for this afternoons hunt.


At camp with dad, what I wouldn't give for another opportunity for that. 
Someday, I pray.


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## Callinalldeer (Jun 25, 2009)

Nice trout for lunch. I want a trout pond on my property. Did you find out what wind is good for each site?


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## Fool'em (Sep 29, 2016)

Callinalldeer said:


> Nice trout for lunch. I want a trout pond on my property. Did you find out what wind is good for each site?


We are in hilly terrain. It drives you nuts with the wind direction. Our 4 active sites we have it figured out which winds work the best. The other 2 are new sights and I’ve got a pretty good idea how the wind will move thru there. 

My best bait has a bear coming in at about 8 pm the last 2 nights but I can’t sit because the wind is wrong. 

Tonight I’m sitting a bait where we had a yearling in last night. I just hope he is in earlier tonight. Wind is good so if he is a no show I can get out undetected. 

Wind is everything. No point sitting when the wind is wrong. All you do is let them know your there.


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## Fool'em (Sep 29, 2016)

LTH said:


> Maybe I missed it but what area are you hunting in? How many guys/Tags in camp?


Western UP

Dad and I in camp right now. My 2 brothers and one nephew are supposed to be here Thursday. I think only one bro has a tag this year but he may not even hunt. 
I’ll probably take my nephew out on Friday and maybe sat evening for a sit, that is if I don’t have a bear yet. 

Some folks do deer camp, we do bear camp.


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## Tilden Hunter (Jun 14, 2018)

Fool'em said:


> We are in hilly terrain. It drives you nuts with the wind direction. Our 4 active sites we have it figured out which winds work the best. The other 2 are new sights and I’ve got a pretty good idea how the wind will move thru there.
> 
> My best bait has a bear coming in at about 8 pm the last 2 nights but I can’t sit because the wind is wrong.
> 
> ...


Wind is tough to play while bear hunting, because often as not they want to approach the bait from downwind.


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## Callinalldeer (Jun 25, 2009)

99% of the time bears come in from down wind.


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## Tilden Hunter (Jun 14, 2018)

During bear seasons my predominant winds are from the south or west. The south works out great for me, but the west means I have to be watching 360 degrees.


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## Fool'em (Sep 29, 2016)

First bear of camp 2019
NF land in less than a week. 

Got him quartered out and on ice last night at camp.


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## FrankB (Dec 28, 2006)

Very nice, congratulations! Sounds like you have a great camp, that's what really counts.


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## Fool'em (Sep 29, 2016)

Late night last night breaking down the bear at camp. Tailgate made a suitable table for the job.
Checked in this morning in Baraga and now I’m looking for lunch.
Headed home in the morning.


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## Fool'em (Sep 29, 2016)

Lunch!


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## Fool'em (Sep 29, 2016)

Dad said I’m nuts when I jumped in the river last night at midnight to clean myself up. 

I pitty the poor fish downstream


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## bluealaskan (Sep 18, 2011)

Congrats !!


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

Some guys have all the fun

Congrats!


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## Hondaxr (Jan 25, 2004)

That's great!

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## pike man (Feb 21, 2006)

Congratulations !


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## Callinalldeer (Jun 25, 2009)

congrats,fantastic eater.


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## Fool'em (Sep 29, 2016)

Wrapping up the last of the bear. 
Happy with the system to get him cooled. Hunting in 80 degree temps has some challenges you have to be prepared for. 
Very happy with the small yearling bear. Bout the right size for eating and definitely helped with extraction. Carried him fireman’s style about 3/4 mile out to the truck. Any bigger and I would have been quartering in a swamp at night. 
Ready to eat him right now! Only the hide and skull to work yet.


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## Fool'em (Sep 29, 2016)

Never tanned a bear before. Supposedly it’s tough to get right. 
Should be a good challenge. 

Got the head and paws skinned out. 
So far it’s fleshing like a giant green ****


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## Waif (Oct 27, 2013)

Fool'em said:


> Never tanned a bear before. Supposedly it’s tough to get right.
> Should be a good challenge.
> 
> Got the head and paws skinned out.
> ...


That ain't your wife's ironing board you're using for a fleshing beam....?


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## Fool'em (Sep 29, 2016)

Waif said:


> That ain't your wife's ironing board you're using for a fleshing beam....?


Lol
As nice as the fur shop is I don’t want to have to move in. 
I just wish I could get her to iron clothes. 

Got about half fleshed tonight. I’ll finish it tomorrow night and get it salted.


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

I did one for a guy and sent it to Moyles. Turned out pretty good.


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## Fool'em (Sep 29, 2016)

2nd bear from our camp came saturday night. Dad called me this morning to tell me he got about a 180 lb boar last night. He said he got turned around and spent an extra couple hours on extraction. ha ha, I’ll have some fun with that at future camps. 

Hopefully some pictures to come.


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## Stubee (May 26, 2010)

Great story!


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## Callinalldeer (Jun 25, 2009)

congrats,love the story. your happy were happy.


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## Fool'em (Sep 29, 2016)

With tanning I don’t always know how a hide is going to turn out until it comes out of solution and dries about 75%. Some end up being better than others. I’ve been more consistent with the last few batches and so far this bear is turning out perfect. 
He is about 75% dry and the first breaking turned out great. Skin will be a nice soft white and once the fur is cleaned in the tumbler it will really pop. 









The bear tanned just like a ****, sometimes on the large **** I end up fighting the grease in the skin so I ran an extra degreasing cycle and that made all the difference. Should be ready for the final break, thinning and a tumble in a couple days. I could speed it up and be done tonight but there is some risk of damaging it when I do that so I’ll just take my time.


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