Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

The Beast’s of the North woods. Behaviors, Hunting Stories, Pictures, Tactics, Q&A.
  • Advertisement

HB Store


dan
Site Owner
Posts: 41586
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2010 6:11 am
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HuntingBeast/?ref=bookmarks
Location: S.E. Wisconsin
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby dan » Wed Sep 28, 2022 9:17 pm

ihookem wrote:I hunted 3 days on opening weekend and then hunted the last weekend for Wisconsin bear with bait. I saw 1 bear for a few seconds other than that we didnt see a bear . I went to bait on Labor Day weekend and came back Tuesday and there was nothing left of the bait. Tuesday we rebaited . Everything looked really good. We come to hunt on opening day ( Wednesday) and the bait was not touched. I was really puzzled. We only saw a deer opening day, and a darn big one too . The second day we didnt hunt due to wind , heat and the wind direction was not in our favor . We decided to not burn the stand out just to sit one day but we did go in to rebait, just to find it now did not get hit for 2 days. We hunted 3rd day, ( Friday) in the pouring rain. We did see a bear for just a few seconds. It was a very big bear and it was tall. It never came in. We decide to leave an hour and a half before closing cause the weather was only getting worse and raining harder all the time. We were soaked right through our rain gear. by 5;45pm. The next day was much better for wind direction and weather. We hunted again ( Saturday) and the bait got hit over night to find a bear came in @ 5 AM. My son and I decided we did the right thing by leaving. We did not want to have to look for blood in the pouring rain. On Saturday we hunted till dark and didnt see anything at all. We decide to go home and give the stand a rest. I cam back 11 day later to find the bait all gone and bear activity seemed pretty good. I rebaited on Thursday morning and thought I would do well. The bait did not get touched as of Saturday afternoon. I decided to call it off and not hunt Sunday at all. I figure if they were not hitting at night, they likely would not come in the daytime. My season ends tomorrow and I am done . It was the worst bear hunt our camp ever had. We always saw at least a bear the 1st few days except one time and that was 1995 when I hunted 5 days before seeing the 1st bear. It seemed if it could go wrong, it did. About 10 minutes before we saw a glimps of the bear , a big tree fell and crashed right behind us. I was grateful it did not hit us cause we could have been killed very easily. I am somewhat sure this is why the bear paced back and forth 10 min. after the tree crashed. Nothing went right on this hunt. One hunt , I looked at my bolt action to find the bolt half opened. The last day , 1 hr before close I remembered I forgot to put a round in the chamber. The day we decided not to hunt , ( the second day) We went fishing . We come back to camp and my son decided to check the trail cam in the yard . We look through to find a nice bear on the cam while we were fishing. We walked all over that yard back and forth to the river . We think it may have come around cause we grill steaks a lot, and my son caught an 18 3/4 " smallmouth and we kept it. He tossed it in the woods about 30 yds from the trail cam. It is very strange that a bear would come in the yard with all our scent at 10:40 AM to boot. Very strange bear hunt. It is sad that I am 59 now and may very well be my last bear hunt in Wisconsin. My son gets a tag next year if he wants to . I did catch a 39" musky while jigging for smallmouth however, and my son caught is biggest smallmouth . We did catch quite a few smallmouth in the river though. I still think this stand is a very good spot, however, as we all know, you can think you have the best spot in the area and it just does not pan out. I did have more bear activity I ever had though.

You could look at unit C or E to get tags more often so you can still hunt bears. For me its fun to get out of the box and hunt new areas. Others like the idea of the same camp. But 9 or more years is a long time to wait. Im in C this year and I can still hunt. I may hunt tomorrow or Friday.


Ol Split ( ) Toes
500 Club
Posts: 675
Joined: Fri Aug 26, 2016 3:10 am
Status: Offline

Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby Ol Split ( ) Toes » Thu Sep 29, 2022 1:39 am

ihookem wrote:I hunted 3 days on opening weekend and then hunted the last weekend for Wisconsin bear with bait. I saw 1 bear for a few seconds other than that we didnt see a bear . I went to bait on Labor Day weekend and came back Tuesday and there was nothing left of the bait. Tuesday we rebaited . Everything looked really good. We come to hunt on opening day ( Wednesday) and the bait was not touched. I was really puzzled. We only saw a deer opening day, and a darn big one too . The second day we didnt hunt due to wind , heat and the wind direction was not in our favor . We decided to not burn the stand out just to sit one day but we did go in to rebait, just to find it now did not get hit for 2 days. We hunted 3rd day, ( Friday) in the pouring rain. We did see a bear for just a few seconds. It was a very big bear and it was tall. It never came in. We decide to leave an hour and a half before closing cause the weather was only getting worse and raining harder all the time. We were soaked right through our rain gear. by 5;45pm. The next day was much better for wind direction and weather. We hunted again ( Saturday) and the bait got hit over night to find a bear came in @ 5 AM. My son and I decided we did the right thing by leaving. We did not want to have to look for blood in the pouring rain. On Saturday we hunted till dark and didnt see anything at all. We decide to go home and give the stand a rest. I cam back 11 day later to find the bait all gone and bear activity seemed pretty good. I rebaited on Thursday morning and thought I would do well. The bait did not get touched as of Saturday afternoon. I decided to call it off and not hunt Sunday at all. I figure if they were not hitting at night, they likely would not come in the daytime. My season ends tomorrow and I am done . It was the worst bear hunt our camp ever had. We always saw at least a bear the 1st few days except one time and that was 1995 when I hunted 5 days before seeing the 1st bear. It seemed if it could go wrong, it did. About 10 minutes before we saw a glimps of the bear , a big tree fell and crashed right behind us. I was grateful it did not hit us cause we could have been killed very easily. I am somewhat sure this is why the bear paced back and forth 10 min. after the tree crashed. Nothing went right on this hunt. One hunt , I looked at my bolt action to find the bolt half opened. The last day , 1 hr before close I remembered I forgot to put a round in the chamber. The day we decided not to hunt , ( the second day) We went fishing . We come back to camp and my son decided to check the trail cam in the yard . We look through to find a nice bear on the cam while we were fishing. We walked all over that yard back and forth to the river . We think it may have come around cause we grill steaks a lot, and my son caught an 18 3/4 " smallmouth and we kept it. He tossed it in the woods about 30 yds from the trail cam. It is very strange that a bear would come in the yard with all our scent at 10:40 AM to boot. Very strange bear hunt. It is sad that I am 59 now and may very well be my last bear hunt in Wisconsin. My son gets a tag next year if he wants to . I did catch a 39" musky while jigging for smallmouth however, and my son caught is biggest smallmouth . We did catch quite a few smallmouth in the river though. I still think this stand is a very good spot, however, as we all know, you can think you have the best spot in the area and it just does not pan out. I did have more bear activity I ever had though.

I think you have your dates wrong.. The season does not close until Tuesday October 4th for bait sitters. With the little warm up coming this weekend bears should be moving!!! Bait it, and sit as many days as you can, never go by what your camera is telling you, especially hunting with a rifle. Just because it doesn't have a picture or your bait isn't hit doesn't mean you couldn't get a shot at a bear!! Get on up there and shoot a bear!!
ihookem
500 Club
Posts: 1124
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 2:18 pm
Location: Allenton , Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby ihookem » Thu Sep 29, 2022 5:52 am

YOU ARE RIGHT! It doesnt end today, it ends a week later. I will try to get back up there. As for Dan, I was thinking the same thing. AT 59 yrs old, if I wait 10 yrs, I might not even have the strength or ability to go. I sat on the last day and came to realize , this might be my last bear hunt of my life. All my life I thought I had forever. Now, no so much. We will see how work goes . if I can get a few days off , I will go. I work with a few guys doing remodeling. I am the only carpenter and if I am not there, the whole job stops and noone makes money. Also, as for even more going wrong this season. I was so tired I could hardly walk at a decent pace. I could not stop coughing and was breathing hard. I was sore all over and realized I had a flu of some sort. It went away when I got on the stand and coughed very little on the stand. Almost everything went wrong this hunt.
Ol Split ( ) Toes
500 Club
Posts: 675
Joined: Fri Aug 26, 2016 3:10 am
Status: Offline

Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby Ol Split ( ) Toes » Thu Sep 29, 2022 7:25 am

ihookem wrote:YOU ARE RIGHT! It doesnt end today, it ends a week later. I will try to get back up there. As for Dan, I was thinking the same thing. AT 59 yrs old, if I wait 10 yrs, I might not even have the strength or ability to go. I sat on the last day and came to realize , this might be my last bear hunt of my life. All my life I thought I had forever. Now, no so much. We will see how work goes . if I can get a few days off , I will go. I work with a few guys doing remodeling. I am the only carpenter and if I am not there, the whole job stops and noone makes money. Also, as for even more going wrong this season. I was so tired I could hardly walk at a decent pace. I could not stop coughing and was breathing hard. I was sore all over and realized I had a flu of some sort. It went away when I got on the stand and coughed very little on the stand. Almost everything went wrong this hunt.

Good luck, and on a side note the later in the season you shoot one the more beautiful there coat is!!!
ihookem
500 Club
Posts: 1124
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 2:18 pm
Location: Allenton , Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby ihookem » Thu Sep 29, 2022 7:27 am

How many years does it take to get a tag for zone C , E or F. I have land in the middle of Shawano co. It is too open and populated but I can stay there on our families land . I am thinking about some spots already.
Mike Foss
500 Club
Posts: 1411
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 9:40 am
Status: Offline

Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby Mike Foss » Sat Oct 01, 2022 4:34 am

Anyone headed out this weekend?
Elite
500 Club
Posts: 1022
Joined: Sat Jul 27, 2019 3:28 am
Status: Offline

Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby Elite » Sat Oct 01, 2022 5:33 am

I will be but not sure which bait to sit. One hasn’t been hit yet per my cell cam.
Mike Foss
500 Club
Posts: 1411
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 9:40 am
Status: Offline

Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby Mike Foss » Thu Oct 06, 2022 2:49 am

Ok guys maybe this should be a totally different thread but tell us if you were successful or not, your experience’s and what you will do different next etc
Elite
500 Club
Posts: 1022
Joined: Sat Jul 27, 2019 3:28 am
Status: Offline

Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby Elite » Thu Oct 06, 2022 3:48 am

Mike Foss wrote:Ok guys maybe this should be a totally different thread but tell us if you were successful or not, your experience’s and what you will do different next etc


First year bear hunting and I was unsuccessful. In fact I didn’t see one bear. The only “opportunity “ I had was a bear that was coming in on 9/24 and caught my thermals that were pulling east and to a low bowl. I didn’t have success on a different bait either. This bait was only hunted twice, once by the landowner who killed opening day, and by me last night. I baited this spot every other day and never got a bear on camera.

I thought the spot I picked out was dynamite. Huge swamp to the west about 200-250 yards away, on private, never been bear hunter before, and my bait was placed on tiny ridge that ran mostly east to west. I learned that my thermals killed the spot as I didn’t expect a bear to come from said direction when I had an “opportunity “. I shifted to the other side of small ridge so my thermals would pull south. This worked most of the time but I still never saw a bear. I tried a different access route, too.

I have a better understanding about why it’s important to have multiple bait sites. With two toddlers at home and deer hunting being my passion, however, I didn’t have the time to balance it all. I wanted to do it myself and get the experience since I’ve never done it before. I would look for flatter terrain in the next 5-7 years…
Mike Foss
500 Club
Posts: 1411
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 9:40 am
Status: Offline

Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby Mike Foss » Thu Oct 06, 2022 4:27 am

Elite wrote:
Mike Foss wrote:Ok guys maybe this should be a totally different thread but tell us if you were successful or not, your experience’s and what you will do different next etc


First year bear hunting and I was unsuccessful. In fact I didn’t see one bear. The only “opportunity “ I had was a bear that was coming in on 9/24 and caught my thermals that were pulling east and to a low bowl. I didn’t have success on a different bait either. This bait was only hunted twice, once by the landowner who killed opening day, and by me last night. I baited this spot every other day and never got a bear on camera.

I thought the spot I picked out was dynamite. Huge swamp to the west about 200-250 yards away, on private, never been bear hunter before, and my bait was placed on tiny ridge that ran mostly east to west. I learned that my thermals killed the spot as I didn’t expect a bear to come from said direction when I had an “opportunity “. I shifted to the other side of small ridge so my thermals would pull south. This worked most of the time but I still never saw a bear. I tried a different access route, too.

I have a better understanding about why it’s important to have multiple bait sites. With two toddlers at home and deer hunting being my passion, however, I didn’t have the time to balance it all. I wanted to do it myself and get the experience since I’ve never done it before. I would look for flatter terrain in the next 5-7 years…

Thanks for your response but it sounds like a good spot you had, Your next tag I would go right back there and bait it again, maybe move it a little bit, you have to remember every year, your spot can and will be different from the last. Yes have at least on a minimum of 3 bait stations. Good luck chasing whitetails
ihookem
500 Club
Posts: 1124
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 2:18 pm
Location: Allenton , Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby ihookem » Fri Oct 07, 2022 10:28 am

I didn get a bear this year. Everything that couls have went wrong seemed to . I picked a spot 120 yds from a good size river and a swamp to the north. I had it being hit very hard on the Saturday of Labor Day when I went to bait. I Come back the day before season ( Tuesday ) and it was all gone. I re baited Tuesday to come back opening day ( Wednesday ) to find it not being hit. That was very strange and never happened to me before. We sat Wednesday ( opening day) in 81 degree weather . It was hot . We see no bear. The next day we decide not to hunt due to the strong wind and bad S.E. wind blowing into the swamp and to the bait. On Friday , it was windy and getting to the stand it starts to drizzle, then starts to rain,, then starts to rain hard. . It was 58 degrees, but in about 2 hours we were really soaked. The rain gear did not do well. We had a tree fall down 20' behind us, and I was grateful it didnt hit us . We would have been likely dead or hurt very bad and no doubt would have knocked us out of the tree. About 10 min. after that , we see a bear, and it was bigger than any bear I had seen. It would not come in. We wait about 1 hour and gave it up. We were really cold and it was also windy to make it worse. The next day , we hunted again , and saw nothing but the bait did get hit at 5 AM. We were somewhat encouraged but we didnt see anything . It took 3 1/2 days for a bear to hit the bait and that was at night. We decided to go home and give the place a rest. I didnt come back the next weekend but did come back the next Thursday . The bait was gone with some day hits. The first 3 hunts were totally summer time hunts. The next 3 hunts had a much more fall/ autumn hunt and I liked it much more. I hunted 3 more days and didnt see anything and decided hunting one more day had little chance . I was actually mad about the whole thing cause I kept this river front property for our bear tags and not much else cause the deer numbers are so dismal. I worked on the cabin Sunday morning and went home. On the second day that we decided not to hunt,,, we went fishing . While we were fishing on a lake down the road a bear came into the yard. Hardly a doubt one of the bears I had been baiting. We got it on the cam so we know it was there, likely looking for the 18" smallmouth bass my son filleted and threw it in the woods and also cause we eat steak and burger almost every night and smelled the grill and some bait too. I wonder , why would it come right into the yard? We walked up and down that trial to the river 10 times in the last few days... My son did however catch an 18 3/4" smallmouth and I caught a 39" musky jigging for smallmouth. Nice fish .. There was very little for gun shots, just a few the first day and it was very calm . It was the only gun shots we heard , however we know many use bows. I am not sure just what happened. We never went 6 hunts without seeing a bear.,,, ever. This is in Price and Sawyer co . and the bear numbers are quite high. Even if a few were shot, it does not explain this. Many say its the acorns. There were acorns , but we were near soem bur oak trees. There is not much for acorns in many square miles of us. However, I imagine there are "oak ridges" somewhere . There was almost no berries anywhere . I saw many dying on the vine and very little for mushrooms cause it was very dry this year in this area.
ihookem
500 Club
Posts: 1124
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 2:18 pm
Location: Allenton , Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby ihookem » Fri Oct 07, 2022 10:44 am

ihookem wrote:I didn get a bear this year. Everything that couls have went wrong seemed to . I picked a spot 120 yds from a good size river and a swamp to the north. I had it being hit very hard on the Saturday of Labor Day when I went to bait. I Come back the day before season ( Tuesday ) and it was all gone. I re baited Tuesday to come back opening day ( Wednesday ) to find it not being hit. That was very strange and never happened to me before. We sat Wednesday ( opening day) in 81 degree weather . It was hot . We see no bear. The next day we decide not to hunt due to the strong wind and bad S.E. wind blowing into the swamp and to the bait. On Friday , it was windy and getting to the stand it starts to drizzle, then starts to rain,, then starts to rain hard. . It was 58 degrees, but in about 2 hours we were really soaked. The rain gear did not do well. We had a tree fall down 20' behind us, and I was grateful it didnt hit us . We would have been likely dead or hurt very bad and no doubt would have knocked us out of the tree. About 10 min. after that , we see a bear, and it was bigger than any bear I had seen. It would not come in. We wait about 1 hour and gave it up. We were really cold and it was also windy to make it worse. The next day , we hunted again , and saw nothing but the bait did get hit at 5 AM. We were somewhat encouraged but we didnt see anything . It took 3 1/2 days for a bear to hit the bait and that was at night. We decided to go home and give the place a rest. I didnt come back the next weekend but did come back the next Thursday . The bait was gone with some day hits. The first 3 hunts were totally summer time hunts. The next 3 hunts had a much more fall/ autumn hunt and I liked it much more. I hunted 3 more days and didnt see anything and decided hunting one more day had little chance . I was actually mad about the whole thing cause I kept this river front property for our bear tags and not much else cause the deer numbers are so dismal. I worked on the cabin Sunday morning and went home. On the second day that we decided not to hunt,,, we went fishing . While we were fishing on a lake down the road a bear came into the yard. Hardly a doubt one of the bears I had been baiting. We got it on the cam so we know it was there, likely looking for the 18" smallmouth bass my son filleted and threw it in the woods and also cause we eat steak and burger almost every night and smelled the grill and some bait too. I wonder , why would it come right into the yard? We walked up and down that trial to the river 10 times in the last few days... My son did however catch an 18 3/4" smallmouth and I caught a 39" musky jigging for smallmouth. Nice fish .. There was very little for gun shots, just a few the first day and it was very calm and they were several miles away . It was the only gun shots we heard , however we know many use bows. I am not sure just what happened. We never went 6 hunts without seeing a bear.,,, ever. This is in Price and Sawyer co . and the bear numbers are quite high. Even if a few were shot, it does not explain this. Many say its the acorns. There were acorns , but we were near soem bur oak trees. There is not much for acorns in many square miles of us. However, I imagine there are "oak ridges" somewhere . There was almost no berries anywhere . I saw many dying on the vine and very little for mushrooms cause it was very dry this year in this area.
ihookem
500 Club
Posts: 1124
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 2:18 pm
Location: Allenton , Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby ihookem » Fri Oct 07, 2022 10:46 am

ihookem wrote:
ihookem wrote:I didn get a bear this year. Everything that couls have went wrong seemed to . I picked a spot 120 yds from a good size river and a swamp to the north. I had it being hit very hard on the Saturday of Labor Day when I went to bait. I Come back the day before season ( Tuesday ) and it was all gone. I re baited Tuesday to come back opening day ( Wednesday ) to find it not being hit. That was very strange and never happened to me before. We sat Wednesday ( opening day) in 81 degree weather . It was hot . We see no bear. The next day we decide not to hunt due to the strong wind and bad S.E. wind blowing into the swamp and to the bait. On Friday , it was windy and getting to the stand it starts to drizzle, then starts to rain,, then starts to rain hard. . It was 58 degrees, but in about 2 hours we were really soaked. The rain gear did not do well. We had a tree fall down 20' behind us, and I was grateful it didnt hit us . We would have been likely dead or hurt very bad and no doubt would have knocked us out of the tree. About 10 min. after that , we see a bear, and it was bigger than any bear I had seen. It would not come in. We wait about 1 hour and gave it up. We were really cold and it was also windy to make it worse. The next day , we hunted again , and saw nothing but the bait did get hit at 5 AM. We were somewhat encouraged but we didnt see anything . It took 3 1/2 days for a bear to hit the bait and that was at night. We decided to go home and give the place a rest. I didnt come back the next weekend but did come back the next Thursday . The bait was gone with some day hits. The first 3 hunts were totally summer time hunts. The next 3 hunts had a much more fall/ autumn hunt and I liked it much more. I hunted 3 more days and didnt see anything and decided hunting one more day had little chance . I was actually mad about the whole thing cause I kept this river front property for our bear tags and not much else cause the deer numbers are so dismal. I worked on the cabin Sunday morning and went home. On the second day that we decided not to hunt,,, we went fishing . While we were fishing on a lake down the road a bear came into the yard. Hardly a doubt one of the bears I had been baiting. We got it on the cam so we know it was there, likely looking for the 18" smallmouth bass my son filleted and threw it in the woods and also cause we eat steak and burger almost every night and smelled the grill and some bait too. I wonder , why would it come right into the yard? We walked up and down that trial to the river 10 times in the last few days... My son did however catch an 18 3/4" smallmouth and I caught a 39" musky jigging for smallmouth. Nice fish .. There was very little for gun shots, just a few the first day and it was very calm and they were several miles away . It was the only gun shots we heard , however we know many use bows. I am not sure just what happened. We never went 6 hunts without seeing a bear.,,, ever. This is in Price and Sawyer co . Wisconsin and the bear numbers are quite high. Even if a few were shot, it does not explain this. Many say its the acorns. There were acorns , but we were near some bur oak trees. There is not much for acorns in many square miles of us and most are along the river cause bur oaks like a little lower ground and that was a plus for being 100 yds from the river . However, I imagine there are "oak ridges" somewhere . There was almost no berries anywhere . I saw many dying on the vine and very little for mushrooms cause it was very dry this year in this area.
ihookem
500 Club
Posts: 1124
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 2:18 pm
Location: Allenton , Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: Whose bear hunting Wisconsin this year?

Unread postby ihookem » Sat Oct 08, 2022 1:15 pm

And next year I am going to continue to bait even without a kill tag . I like to see bears. I will take some pictures of them. I dont need a bear. I am very disapointed that I didnt even see one except for 5 seconds.


  • Advertisement

Return to “Bear Hunting”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 16 guests