2020 Foss & Bolssen Bear Season

[Mike Foss]

Fisher or martin? I'm thinking fisher.

Its a fisher... those little buggers can be nasty little guys, years ago I had to pull my bear spray out on one, never sprayed him but it was close.

[Mike Foss]

Its killing me... I have family commitments for almost the next two weeks, Bryan is on his own with baiting until Sept 5th (ok we have a little help with some local friends to fill in for a couple of days). This is the first time in years that I have missed in the baiting action for this long of a period This big bear is a regular, he shows up well within legal shooting hours. These last two weeks before the season will be a nail biter, this is when things get interesting, which bears will commit to what bait stations, which baits do the mature bears feel the most comfortable at, the baiting competition is in high gear. From here on out only mother nature and the bears are in control.

[Mike Foss]

Finally one of the bigger bears shows up during daylight shooting hours , prior to this photo they have been all nocturnal, so this is good to see, maybe they are getting used too all the constant human activity around the cabin. Bryan also moved his cuddelink to this bait station, cell service area was in question but looks like its working just fine. Looks like my bear food plot is coming up good, lord knows, we have gotten enough rain. If these big mature bears stick around until season its going to be a toss up on which bait station Bryan should sit first. I had to laugh to myself we now have 4 cameras on this bait station, always nice to get different still shots and videos from different angles, also one camera is set back about 20 yards, it captures which way these mature bears usually approach the bait which is great information to have.

[Mike Foss]

The Bear Food Plot is coming in real good as far as a no-till food plot goes, hopefully by the time the season starts it will have grown another 3 to 4 inches. In the video you can see two bear trails crossing the plot going towards the bait station and in the picture you also can see a bear trail. While foilage is drying up and no longer growing I am hoping this bear plot will entice daytime activity and more bears than usually.

https://youtu.be/NrzgOQyT07U

[Mike Foss]

The bears sure do love that red clover, there in my food plot every day. Was nice to see this big bear so early, Brian spraying bacon Bear Scents llc lets those bears know its meal time.

[john1984]

Incredible pics Mike ! Thanks for sharing

[Freelance Bowhunter]

Always nice to see big bears in the daylight.

[Tripod472]

I was able to spend the weekend up at camp and bait two days in a row. After baiting the where my Cudde back cell cam is, I took it down to move it to the next bait. Bigger bear coming in. I believe Mikes previous post has the bait in the food plot video. Which he explained we now have 4 cameras there. It is nice to get pics right away instead of having to wait a week. I am pumped that the larger bears are coming in during the daytime and using the food plots.

[Mike Foss]

I have 4 cameras over my food plot and 1 on the bear bait that is just inside the woodsline on this food plot, 3 cameras are cell cameras. I received these cool photos this evening, look at the times on these photos. In the first photo the coyote is looking at this huge bear feeding at the bait station, look as the big bear looks to his right, he is looking at the coyote intruder. Notice theres another bear feeding in the food plot coyote picture. The third picture gives you a great example on how big this bear really is, I personally think he is over 400lbs, he of course is one of Brians target bears, but he is not the only big guy in town.

[Mike Foss]

I wanted to give everyone an example on how pictures can be deceiving, when I first glanced at this photo I thought wow what a big bear until I realized it was a bear that shows up on a regular basis and only weighs about 160lbs. Why does this bear look so big? she is only 5 ft away from the camera and is posing in a stretched out fashion.

[Freelance Bowhunter]

I wanted to give everyone an example on how pictures can be deceiving, when I first glanced at this photo I thought wow what a big bear until I realized it was a bear that shows up on a regular basis and only weighs about 160lbs. Why does this bear look so big? she is only 5 ft away from the camera and is posing in a stretched out fashion.

The size and shape of the head is a dead giveaway.

[Freelance Bowhunter]

I have 4 cameras over my food plot and 1 on the bear bait that is just inside the woodsline on this food plot, 3 cameras are cell cameras. I received these cool photos this evening, look at the times on these photos. In the first photo the coyote is looking at this huge bear feeding at the bait station, look as the big bear looks to his right, he is looking at the coyote intruder. Notice theres another bear feeding in the food plot coyote picture. The third picture gives you a great example on how big this bear really is, I personally think he is over 400lbs, he of course is one of Brians target bears, but he is not the only big guy in town.

The big one is a very similar size and shape to one I shot a few years ago that went 400 pounds and 21 inches.

[Mike Foss]

I think this photo is amazing, not because of the Sow with her two cubs but look at how my other trail cameras IR (video mode) when triggered lights up the area.

[Mike Foss]

#ell week is coming Years ago when I guided, the last week before the opening of bear hunting we called it #ell week, baiting up to 40 baits with just two people, for every single day rain or shine, by the end of that week I remember being so exhausted, more mentally than physically. Coming home at the end of the day didnt mean you were done yet, there were buckets & bags to be refilled for the next day, everything was timed, I tried to run it as if it was a well oiled machine. There were always breakdowns, either a ATV or vehicles, thank goodness I had a great mechanic (special treatment lol) in the area that would fix the problem immediately. Ohhhh how I long for those days to happen again, but I will take my little piece (now assisting family & friends) of the action when I can, it fulfills the emptiness of years ago. Yup....here comes my week, #ell week

[Tripod472]

It was a long weekend of baiting. Got up on Saturday and found the baits empty but the string of hot,humid weather wasn’t friendly with the big bear we were seeing daily. Hadn’t seen a big boy since Wednesday. I know from the past that they do tend to just hang out in the hot humid weather so when I woke up Sunday I was pretty happy. The heat and humidity was gone for now. And after getting home Sunday afternoon, the two baits with our target bears were visited once again by the large bruins. Brought a smile to my face.