Idaho Bear Hunt

Danny and I just returned from Idaho for a spring bear hunt. A good friend of ours does very well in this area, and typically sees many bears. He pointed us to the spot on a map, so we packed our stuff and headed up. We had never bear hunted before and had no idea really what we were getting in to. But that is part of the adventure that I enjoy so much.

Well, the bears must have heard we were coming because we only saw two the entire trip (our friend usually sees between 10-15 a day). No matter, I got to spend time in the wilderness with my brother, camp out, view all sorts of wildlife, and see a part of the country that I had not yet seen. We had a great time.

I will definitely plan on going back next year. The temperatures were painfully hot, especially for this time of the year. I would imagine that the bears went totally nocturnal and/or moved to a different elevation. Hopefully next year we will have better luck!

Here are a few pictures from our trip:

 

 

 

 

 

We used a raft to cross the river. This enabled us to hunt a lot more country as the road stayed on only one side.



An example of the type of hikes we were doing daily. On this particular hike we spent the night 1/4 of the way up. We did see a very large bear up on this mountain as we were going in. He never did show back up.

A lovely camping spot.

As we were glassing I spotted this elk about to cross the river. The video is really nothing special but it shows the kind of country we were hunting in, and it was very enjoyable for me to watch this elk swim the river that morning. Sights like these are what makes hunting special.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent A LOT of time behind our binos. Danny had to take his shoes off and relax after an excruciating hike.
 

 

Danny nearly stepped on a grouse before she jumped up. We left quickly so she could return to her nest.
 

The only bighorn we saw the whole trip. One, lone ewe.
 

A Few More Turkeys

We got out for one more trip to Nebraska. I knew the hunting would be tough as the shotgunners had been after them for a few weeks, but boy...it was TOUGH! It was the first time that I have ever been skunked in Nebraska.

I hid under a thick cedar tree with my leafy shirt on and called in a few jakes. The largest was 25 yards away from me, and had no idea I was in the vicinity until an arrow passed through his feathers. I was livid with myself for missing. 

This set up produced a 7 yard shot. Unfortunately it did not produce a bird. My buddy Paul was set up here, and he gave off a few of the softest yelps he could muster. 15 minutes later a few jakes showed up. Any loud calling would make every gobbling turkey in the country shut up.

 

I was so confident in this set up that I took pictures of it counting on this being the last thing a turkey saw. Unfortunately all the turkeys stayed on some private land about 1/2 mile away.
 

Colorado Turkey Hunting:

Danny had shoulder surgery a few months ago. He cannot shoot his bow but that doesn't stop him from getting out and hunting and scouting new country. Last week Danny made a 10.5 mile hike according to the GPS, and in that hike he turned up two gobbling turkeys. They were on him so fast that both toms busted him.

Yesterday Danny went up with our good friend Andy. They saw a group of about 30 bull elk. A few of them looked like they are going to be dandies!

 

 

Like the previous week, they heard some gobbling but not much. There just aren't many turkeys in this area. Early in the morning they called in a gobbler from at least a 1/2 mile away. He hung up at 50 yards and they weren't able to close the deal.

After a big hike they were heading back to the truck and spotted a group of 5 jakes. The jakes were unresponsive to calling, so they circled wide and ambushed them. Two shots later Danny and Andy doubled up on mountain birds. 

Danny put in over 20 miles of hiking to kill these turkeys.

Danny and I are heading to Idaho in three days for a spot and stalk bear hunt. We have never been up there and are going completely on our own. A good friend pointed out a few drainages on a map and said there are bears there. We'll see! Be sure to check back because at the very least I count on having some great pictures of beautiful country.