Failure is the best teacher - post your botched hunts and what you learned

Hardly_Hangin

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Sep 6, 2021
Messages
162
Howdy all, searched theough the other pages and didnt find a thread on this so I thought I'd start one for educational purposes to the new bear hunter and general entertainment through storytelling. Ive been trying to kill a bear several years now but this is the first year ive really gone all in and focused on them, and its been a blast. I hunt eastern deciduous forest but this one is applicable anywhere.

I scouted with bow in hand 2 weekends in a row up high but never found the sign i was looking for - moved down in elevation and found all of the acorns and all the bears there with them last saturday. The next day went back to the sign i found and sat in my hammock seat on the ground in the afternoon. A blue tick hound came through chasing a 4pt which i almost shot but couldnt get it to stop. I thought the sit was ruined but about an hour later i heard a big commotion about 100 yards to my right on the next ridge over. Sounded like a big animal. I stand up and with my binos see a big patch of black shifting through the thick stuff and I grabbed my bow and started puttin on the mohican sneak. I eased over to him and got within 60 yards but he had gotten above me on the ridge still hading away from me, so i pulled out my grunt tube (has adjustable o-ring, i had pre set to fan bleat) and started distress-ish calling as best i could, and beleive you me that joker turned on a dime and started back down the hill! He didnt come on a string but more zig zagged, taking his time munching on akerns all the way to me. At 20 yards he walked into an opening and i shot - arrow hit a limb and deflected, soared clear over his back. But he didnt stop coming. I reached for another arrow but realized I LEFT MY QUIVER BY MY CHAIR. My foot started shaking like crazy. He zigged and zagged one more time and was 10 YARDS AWAY FROM ME locked on to me. I stood up and said get bear and he just looked at me. I yelled at him and he bolted up the hill

It was crazy. Key takeaways are hunt the sign, the hunts not over till your out of the woods, and for crying out loud take your quiver on your stalks lol
 
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