# Houghton County Bear Season Success!



## yooperkenny (Jul 13, 2004)

My 2015 Houghton County bear hunt was relatively short but very sweet as I was able to kill a 225 lb male right at sunset on Friday 9/11

I started my bait barrel on August 10th and it saw steady activity with lots of bear sign. This time around I focused exclusively on sweets in an effort to not attract coyotes and wolves. I really loaded it up on Labor Day knowing that I’d be sitting over it about 60 hours later. 

I had my Marlin 1895 SBL 45-70 sighted in with Winchester 300 grain Partition Gold rounds, but was somewhat concerned about low light conditions with only the Ghost Ring sight. I had doctored up the front blade with some glow in the dark paint which improved things, but I made a decision at the last hour to also bring my new Model 70 in 7mm-08 which has a Leupold scope on it. The Model 70 was dialed in with Hornady American Whitetail 139 grain, and from what I read the Interlock bullet would hold up well and seemed suitable. I would sit with the Marlin at sunrise, and go to the Winchester on my afternoon till dusk sits. 

Sunrise on September 10th brought a beautiful UP September day but no morning bear activity. I sat until around 11am and returned around 5pm for the evening sit. There was little activity until exactly 1 minute of legal shooting light remained. At that time a large black object moved to the barrel and began feeding. My heart began pounding hard, clicking like a baseball card in the spokes of a kid’s bike. Trying to settle down, I quickly got the binoculars up on him and then the scope, but there just wasn’t enough light to tell head from tail.

I decided to sneak out as quietly as I could and began gathering my gear in the ladder stand which is about 55 yards from the bait barrel. He must have heard me because I heard him make a mad dash – problem was, his escape route went directly under my stand!

He was pacing just a few yards away from the base of my ladder. I yelled “Shoo Bear!” and he seemed to amble off slowly. I got down and set a new record for the quarter mile walk back to the cabin.

Friday saw another perfect UP bluebird day and I slept in a bit since I was on vacation, after all. After breakfast I took a stealthy walk to the stand, the wind in my face and rifle in hand, to see if any bears were enjoying donuts for lunch. No bears, so I walked up close enough to confirm that the barrel was still over half full and good to go.

After an afternoon enjoying the pure bliss and freedom that life at camp brings, I was back in the stand before 5pm ready for a 4 hour sit. I heard something swimming in the beaver pond behind me, and saw some movement when I looked back. Anticipating a beaver, I was surprised when a pair of otters popped their heads out of the water just a few yards from the base of my tree. Very cool sighting to add to the list of things we hunters get to see that most other folks never encounter.

Things were quiet until the exact minute the sun set when I saw movement from a large black object between me and the bait barrel. However, it was not moving towards the bait but instead was slowly working its way towards me! The bear was looking left and right, occasionally lifting his nose into the air to sniff. Could this be the bear from last night, curious and exploring to see if whatever thing he encountered last night was still around? The wind had been in my favor the entire hunt; maybe the evening thermals gave him cause to snoop around before feeding?

I slowly lifted the Model 70 up and got the scope on him just as he elevated his head and torso to look over a little knoll; I settled the crosshairs on his chest as he faced me directly head on and squeezed off a shot. The deafening stillness of the woods was broken as the shot echoed and entered right at the base of his neck and exited out his back, breaking some ribs on the way out and just missing the backstrap. I immediately racked another round and kept the crosshairs on him. He rolled over, shook a bit and died right there. 5 minutes after sunset it was over.

I was elated, shaking, and breathing like I’d just run a sprint. I gave myself a few minutes to calm down and found the bear in the binoculars to confirm he wasn’t moving. I got down and made my way over to him, making sure he was a goner. Oh Boy, now the work begins!

I gutted him out in the now dark and silent UP night and left my jacket on him to hopefully keep the coyotes and wolves away until I could return with my sled for the drag out to the truck on the road. That was a slow, steady challenge but I took my time and soon he was hanging from the buck pole back at the cabin. A few buckets of ice cold Copper Country creek water rinsed him out clean. Fortunately, temps had dropped to around 40 degrees, and the steam rolled from his chest as he hung there. I opened a cold one – KBC, what else? – taking it all in until around 2am. What a great feeling.

The next day was a blur as I broke camp, snapped a few pics, and got the bear packed with ice into the back of my truck. I needed to get him checked in with the DNR at Van Riper State Park and then on to the taxidermist in Ishpeming. I made good time, and soon my taxi was skinning him out for a rug, noting that the meat was still nice and cool, and I made my way home to hang him from the rafters in my garage. I took the neck meat and front shoulders off and got them on ice, and again fortune smiled as temps dropped into the 30s Saturday night. I was truly lucky I didn’t have to deal with the record high temps we’re experiencing this week.

By Sunday afternoon I had the backstraps and hind quarters also on ice, and now it’s just a matter of cutting and trimming every night after work until he’s all in the freezer.

That’s my story – I hope you enjoyed reading it even a fraction of what I did living it. Good Luck to everyone out there still bear hunting in da beautiful UP!


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## sourdough44 (Mar 2, 2008)

Great story! Nice job anchoring him right there.


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## beer and nuts (Jan 2, 2001)

sweet. Congrats


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## malainse (Sep 2, 2002)

Thank You for taking us on your adventure........


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## Firefighter (Feb 14, 2007)

Outstanding hunt and recap!


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## Luv2hunteup (Mar 22, 2003)

Congrats and thanks for sharing your pictures plus story.


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## old professor (Oct 26, 2008)

Great story ! Congrads on a nice bear1


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## TommyV (Jun 20, 2014)

Great story and a nice bear. I miss that part of the UP, went to school up there. Congrats!


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## Musket (May 11, 2009)

Nice story. Congrats on your hunt.


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## Vizsla1 (Jan 4, 2012)

Awesome story! I felt like I was there hunting! Congrats.


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## MallardMaster (Nov 17, 2003)

Congrats and thanks for sharing your story with us. You're a lucky hunter for sure!!


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## TVCJohn (Nov 30, 2005)

Good story and thanks for posting it up. Congrats!!


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## Nostromo (Feb 14, 2012)

Excellent write up and nice work on that bear. Rug?


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## BearMagnum (Aug 18, 2012)

Congratulations and great write up! Awesome bear!


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## GrizzlyHunter (Jun 17, 2005)

Yooperkenny,
Great job baiting, hunting and story telling. I felt like I was doing the hunting. 

"KBC, what else?"...Love it!

Thanx for sharing!


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## Busa Tom (Oct 6, 2005)

yooperkenny said:


> My 2015 Houghton County bear hunt was relatively short but very sweet as I was able to kill a 225 lb male right at sunset on Friday 9/11
> 
> I started my bait barrel on August 10th and it saw steady activity with lots of bear sign. This time around I focused exclusively on sweets in an effort to not attract coyotes and wolves. I really loaded it up on Labor Day knowing that I’d be sitting over it about 60 hours later.
> 
> ...


Awesome job & story!


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## yooperkenny (Jul 13, 2004)

Thanks everyone! I really feel like the planets aligned on this hunt, which is sweet when you only do it every 4 years or so.

Yep, gonna have a rug made; I'll post pics next year when it's done.


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## Callinalldeer (Jun 25, 2009)

Congrats,good story ,well done.


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## deepwoods (Nov 18, 2002)

Thanks for sharing all of that. Congrats on a fine bear. I can't wait till next year.


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## target-panic (Jan 9, 2006)

Great job...... Congrats!!!


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