July 21, 2025 • 54 mins
What sets apart a dedicated bear hunter from someone just hoping to get lucky? The answer lies in understanding the intricate chess match between predator and prey.
Diving into part four of our bear hunting series with expert Heather Aldrich, we unpack the strategic mindset required for consistent success. Heather shares her preference for being an "ambush predator," carefully selecting locations based on thorough scouting rather than random "hope hunting." She explains how different hunting methods—from ambush setups to spot-and-stalk approaches—can be effective when matched to the right conditions and bear behavior patterns.
One fascinating technique Heather shares is "leapfrogging" trail cameras to track bears that appear nocturnal in one location but may be active during daylight hours elsewhere. "We'll back down the trail till we get to the point where he's in daylight," she explains, offering a practical solution to a common hunting challenge. She also discusses predator calling strategies, including carrying a simple "mouse squeaker" that can prompt a bear to turn broadside for a better shot opportunity.
The conversation shifts to post-harvest considerations, covering everything from approach techniques for downed bears to proper field dressing and hide preparation for taxidermy. Throughout, ethical hunting practices remain central: "It's way better to let a bear walk than to ever wound them," Heather emphasizes, highlighting that responsible hunters prioritize clean, humane harvests over simply filling tags.
Whether you're new to bear hunting or looking to refine your approach, this episode provides practical insights from someone who's spent countless hours studying these fascinating animals. Ready to elevate your bear hunting strategy? Listen now and discover how preparation, patience, and adaptability create hunting opportunities that others miss.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to the Blacktail Coach Podcast.
I'm Aaron and this week, partfour, bear hunting with Heather
Aldrich.
Okay, so now let's talk about Ijust put it as methods for
hunting.
So how are you?
And from my context of huntingblacktail and understanding and
(00:21):
being new to hunting, so thesets, which is what we do, but
there are guys who do spot andstalk, Yep, and then there's
guys who just glass clear cuts,Sure, and so thinking and there
might be other forms, but howare you hunting?
Is it from sets?
Is it glassing clear cuts, Isit spot and stalk or is it all
(00:44):
of them?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
So as one of my friends would say, it's all the
things.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yeah, all the things.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
So, again, it's adapting to the animal in that
time of year.
So I, if I had my perfect world, would be an ambush predator
all the time.
I love to do that.
So I'll set up and it could bea ground blind, but a lot of
times I'm too lazy, so I'll justbrush myself in and, you know,
make sure my outlines broke upand I'll sit on the ground and
(01:10):
wait for him, Based on how Ihave done all the scouting, like
we've done all the math aheadof time, we're not just picking
a random spot in the woods, soI've got a reason for why I'm
sitting there.
That's one way.
There is some places that againbecause I've done all the
scouting.
Okay, well, I know he's goingto come across this particular
area and maybe there's a bigopening and I can glass and I
(01:31):
can see he's going to comethrough here, right.
So that's a place I could siton, stand with a long-range view
and be able to shoot.
When I say long-range, you know200, 300 yards, yeah you know,
two, three hundred yards, yeah,and then glassing.
That might be more springtimefor me because usually by August
, whatever I've long sincepicked my spot in the woods that
(01:51):
I'm sitting.
There are a lot of people whodo do the glassing in the fall
and there's nothing wrong withthat.
You'll pick them up on the foodsources.
So, but in the springtime,because they're moving so much
and maybe I couldn't get in todo some of the homework I like
to do before the hunt began, I'mgoing to try to pick them up in
the topography, moving through,okay, if it is too dense a
(02:14):
habitat, which a lot of timesthe places I'm hunting are.
Then I carry glass with me, mybinoculars, to be able to tell
what kind of animal it is right,yeah, is that a sow?
Is that a boar?
Is it a boar that I'minterested in, et cetera.
So, not as much glassing thattime and then spot and stalk.
That is, you know, you've doneall the math and you've glassed
(02:35):
one up and I'm going to go tryto get to him.
Now, hopefully, you've doneyour math, where if you've seen
the bear, you know how to get tohim.
That's not something you wantto figure out when you see your
quarry.
So you've done all this workand and you're like, oh, that's
the bear I want.
But now you don't know how toget to that ridge or that closed
road or that whatever, whereverit is that you glass them up.
(02:56):
So you need to make sure youknow your unit really well and
how to access the differentparts of it and how you would
get in and out of a specificarea.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Especially considering.
So you hit your target and he'sthree, four hundred yards away,
but next ridge over and you gotto drag him out.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, you better know how you're getting him out.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
So, yeah, understanding limitations,
physical limitations andeverything like that, yeah, it's
very important.
Physical limitations andeverything like that, yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
It's very important, not just the limitations of
yourself, but the limitations ofyour firearm or your bow or
whatever it is that you're using.
Yes, important, important math.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Yeah, okay, as we started talking about this, I
realized I've gone along on abear hunt once and it was just,
it was glassing like from oneridgeline over to the other and
we did have access andeverything, but it was just.
That was my one experience inSouthern Oregon going for a
spring bear hunt Yep, and kindof glassing.
(03:58):
And then I always get, oh hey,you want to go hunting bear, but
you have to put in for it.
Yeah, I think it's a draw.
Yeah, and when they, when theyask me, when you have to do that
I'm not thinking about bear andyeah, maybe, and then oh, yeah,
I can't yeah, you missed themissed the deadline I've missed,
I've missed the window, andthen it's like well, do I want
(04:20):
to just go along for the rideand just kind of see things and
stuff?
So is spot and stockpotentially.
So we talk about guys who dospot and stock for deer is you
know, the downside is you'respreading your scent everywhere
through the woods and you haveto worry about being quiet and
(04:42):
being able to move withoutgetting spotted Exactly without
being seen yes, but it is.
There are people who areincredible at it.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Yes.
So my husband is one of thosepeople who's a really, really
good deer hunter and he does thespot and stalk.
He's phenomenal at it, and hecan get right in there and take
his buck, whereas, again goingback to what I said earlier, I'm
(05:18):
an ambush predator.
I love to sit and wait for atargeted animal to come by.
I think back to thesatisfaction portion of I've
studied him.
And how begin?
It's so thick a habitat.
Where do they begin?
They don't know, and it's notsomething you just suddenly walk
into and hope.
It's not hope hunting.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
I can hope.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah, I made a decision to sit here because of
these factors and I have a goodidea of the return rate on those
because of the math that I'veput into it and the studying.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Yeah, and you know you talked about before, about
the chess match between you andthe bear, and you know Dave
refers to it's putting thepuzzle together.
Yeah, and you get this pieceand this piece and this piece
and the final piece is thatyou're harvesting that target
(06:11):
and we do targeted bucks.
You know to the point where wename them, we name our sets and
it's funny because you know I'lltalk about a particular buck
that I might be going after andit might be a while, but I had
guys walking up at the sportsmanshow and they'll talk, they'll
tell me about, oh yeah.
So have you have you spottedlike one of my bucks, anakin?
(06:33):
Have you spotted anakin yetthis year?
And it's like, and it's at firstit kind of huh, oh yeah, I
guess I do mention that on the,on the podcast quite a bit.
So in one of them it was aparticular about a year and a
half old buck that was apalmated three point.
Oh geez, so I'm not going tohunt him until he's mature.
(06:56):
So there's four and a half.
So, yeah, I'm watching him formultiple years.
Yeah, but it's that chess match, yes, of like.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Okay, I know which pieces are where and yeah, yeah
then going for the king yes, andand, and that factors into our
setup too.
So, as a bear hunter in thefall, we know our other seasons
open up.
It's not just bear, so you'regoing to have the barrage of elk
hunters and deer hunters andthey factor into where I set up
(07:25):
because they're moving pieces onthe board, so you have all of
them moving.
You have the the target bearmoving and you have to figure
out how he's going to respond totheir encroachment on his area.
What's he going to do?
And that goes back to thescouting of.
Well, I know where hissecondary area is.
Yeah, okay.
Where he might shut down to.
(07:46):
I have a question a lot frompeople who say well, I've got
this bear on camera and he'sobviously nocturnal.
That's the standard answer,right?
Well, I can't find him, so he'snocturnal.
Well, my answer to that is yes,he's nocturnal in that spot.
So move your camera right andtry to pick him up sooner in the
(08:09):
environment when the bear's inhyperphagia.
He's not nocturnal, only he'sup 20 hours plus.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Well, yeah, sleeping two to four hours a day.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
So you know that you're in an area where he's
nocturnal, so that's not an areayou can pick him up.
Is it part of his habitat?
Sure, it's part of his range,but you're just in the wrong
spot.
Try to get him somewhere else.
So again, failure is not anoption.
We just need to find anotherway to look at the problem and
how do I solve it, and comeabout it a little bit different
direction and leave that camera.
(08:36):
That's your control group,right?
Because, I know he's there atthat time and then start
branching out into other areasthat he might go to and you can
pick him up.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
And one of the tricks that we use and we actually
just mentioned this with one ofthe guys in our coaching is we
start, we leapfrog cameras, Sure, and we'll back down the trail
till we get to the point wherehe's in daylight.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
And using that method .
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Exactly, exactly.
So I think it's important toalways have enough cameras
deployed.
And and there's no, again it'sback to that universal answer.
I don't have an answer for howmany cameras to a specific area,
it's topography.
Yeah, maybe I can fit twocameras in, maybe there's a
hundred.
If I was a very rich andwealthy person, maybe I'd run
(09:23):
100 cameras, you know.
But I try to keep, like I said,that control group off to one
side.
Maybe it's a long ways off, butI'm trying to make sure I know
his boundaries.
So that I can.
I can get that particular bear,or, you know, sometimes their
boundaries are softer.
It just depends on what'shappening, where they might go a
(09:45):
little bit different than youexpected them to, and so, having
placed those we'll call themthird cameras or fourth cameras
that are not in the best placeto soak them, you're going to
have some information that youwouldn't have had otherwise, and
you can put that on thechessboard and go gotcha.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
It's really interesting hearing all of this
because it's like, oh okay, thisis a lot of the methods we
already use and the same thingwith, you know, creating sets.
Yeah.
And trying to bring them in andgetting them to daylight.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Now can, and I'm thinking about and I know you
can't bait bear- no, you cannot.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
And we.
Not in this state.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
no, we are.
We do not bait in the state ofWashington.
Yeah, to be clear about that,wdfw is listening.
But are there?
Is there anything like lures orattractants that wouldn't be
considered bait?
Or maybe they are consideredbait in the realm of bear that?
You can use that mightmanipulate their behavior.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
So the first thing I would say is there are lots of
products yes, they are not legalin the state of Washington Okay
Meaning to use.
You could probably purchasethem and bring them back from
Idaho or Wyoming or something,but you cannot use them.
So the state defines.
This is Washington.
State now defines baiting asanything that attracts a bear.
That includes scenting, so,like a sow in heat.
(11:11):
You can't use that here InIdaho, sure you know?
You just have to use it aroundyour registered bait site.
You can't just deploy itwilly-nilly through the woods.
They frown upon that kind ofactivity, can't imagine why.
So that state?
Yes, you could use drags, lureset cetera, but you can't use
them here in Washington.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
State Okay, so just absolutely nothing.
That, quote unquote manipulatestheir behavior.
Correct, to make them thinkthat something's happening there
, okay, so that again, thatwould make things a little
trickier Because you can'tmanipulate their behavior.
But if you're finding wherethey're at the right habitat and
(11:51):
food source, and all that, well, if you're ambush hunting over
a food source, well, you didn'tput it out.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Right.
So that's not baiting, that's anatural topography.
They're going through the woodsand they're eating.
I'm not putting apples out forthem, kind of a thing.
Yeah.
They're coming to huckleberriesand they're eating them or
(12:39):
barrel as part of your test forjudging a bear size, right
that's?
People have a really hard timewith judging bear size.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Dave actually went to Manitoba and he said okay, he
was showing me pictures.
If it's standing by this barrel, it's a 300 pound bear.
If it's standing by this barrel, it's a 400 pound bear.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Right, yeah, and it helps you a lot with with chance
.
And then it also allows forthat extra time where you can a
hundred percent verify yes,allows for that extra time where
you can 100% verify yes, I'vegot a sow, or yes, I've got a
boar, or maybe the cubs finallybumbled in, because they can
take a little bit sometimes toshow up with mom and I'm always
watching, especially if I thinkit's a sow, and to make sure
(13:18):
there's no cubs with the animal.
So that's one of the reasons Ilove the idea of baiting is we
are trying, as a bear hunter, totake a specific bear from the
population.
This allows for the futurerecruitment.
So if I take an aged boar out,I know there's going to be more
(13:39):
cubs that live that year becausehe's not killing them right, or
some of the three tofive-year-old bears, because
it's been proven that they'llcome out of hibernation.
They'll go dig up younger bearsand kill and eat them.
So all that's happening.
And so you take those olderboars out and, yes, the younger
boars will grow up and they'llbecome older boars.
But that's what we're lookingfor and so I absolutely am for
(14:03):
baiting.
I know there's a lot of andI've heard it over the years of
people who are anti-baiting.
Well, that's not hunting and itis a type of hunting and I
think we need to be careful, ashunters, that we support one
another.
We all have our different andpreferred methods.
If it's a legal method, then Ihave nothing to say against it.
If it's legally allowed, like inthe state of Idaho they allow
baiting.
I have nothing to say againstit.
(14:24):
If it's legally allowed, likein the state of Idaho, they
allow baiting.
I have nothing against that.
They also allow hounds.
I have nothing against that.
Again, it's that selectiveharvest.
They are going to tree a bearand they'll know what they've
got.
Right, you can look it over andyou know exactly what you've.
And I mean, they're not evenput their hounds on a sow with
cubs, so let's just take thatout of the equation.
The houndsmen are good at whatthey do, right?
(14:45):
They know what they're on.
So when they set their dogs out, it's not.
That always makes me mad whenthe anti-hunters oh, the
houndsmen, you know the poorsows, they're not doing that,
they're not doing that.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
And kind of making the idea of, oh, they're just
releasing a pack of dogs to ripthis animal apart.
No, and that's not what'shappening at all.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
No, no, no, definitely not.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Because, well, no, it's because they want to
actually harvest that particularanimal.
Correct, If it's the animalthat they want.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Correct.
And I think as you go along andgrow as a hunter you start
becoming, because at first it'swell, I just want that first, so
you might take for deer, I tooka spike.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Yeah, nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
And but well, next year I don't want a spike, I
want something bigger.
Right, Then I want you know,then, once I have a mature buck,
I want a mature buck that hasthis attributes Sure, once I
have a mature buck, I want amature buck that has this
attributes.
Sure, you know, we haveactually one of the guys on our
team.
He wanted a big regress forkedhorn.
That was his trophy.
(15:53):
And now he wants to actuallyfind a regress back to a spike
black tail, if that exists.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
But that's half the fun is finding out.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Finding out and, yeah , the work that you put into it
and then, yeah, it's a lot of.
It is the satisfaction of justpicking up skills over the year
and learning your animal,especially if you have a target
bear yes, I've learned that.
Animal, yes, and the greatersatisfaction that comes from
(16:26):
that, and I think that's why wedo a lot of sets and things like
that.
It's because I've watched thatand we can't do minerals anymore
, but you know.
Sure.
Before it was like I did what Icould to maintain the health and
everything of that particulardeer because I wanted to harvest
that deer.
Yeah, x number of years later.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
I think there's a satisfaction, but I also think
there's a huge appreciation foran animal that you've studied
for a really long time and whenyou finally lay hands on them
and you're running your fingersthrough the fur, there is a huge
appreciation to me me, anywaysof how valuable this animal's
life is.
(17:07):
And you know, I took it and I'mgonna do my dead level best to
use every part of that animal toprepare it and not allow
wastage of any kind.
It means a lot to me becauseI've studied him and and I know
how he moves and the things thathe does, and so a huge, huge
(17:27):
appreciation in that moment.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
What about calls Predator calls.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Predator calls a lot of fun Just plain fun.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Is it legal in Washington?
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Okay, yeah, you can predator call Now?
Can, At least for now, Givethem a couple of weeks right Now
?
Can, At least for now, Givethem a couple weeks right?
Speaker 1 (17:46):
So what kind of calls predator calls are you using
for bear, and do they work?
Speaker 2 (17:52):
So yes, yes they do.
I kind of laugh a little bit.
I sometimes feel like predatorcalls are like fishing lures.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Yeah, yeah, I'm just saying so.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
There's a lot out there, and sometimes it's not
the lure's fault.
So any call we get, we need tobe proficient with it.
And but when I say proficient,it's not just the sound coming
from it, meaning we want tosound like whatever animal we're
(18:23):
trying to imitate.
But I have noticed sometimesthat for predator calling it's a
great thing for the kids, andif you have an old coyote that's
been called to a million timesand he's heard the same old
rabbit, right, he's like oh,that's a cottontail in distress,
I'm going the other way, right.
He knows it's a call, but yougive that same call to a kid and
(18:45):
he doesn't blow it, right.
I mean, it's the weirdestnoises you ever heard.
And that coyote will come inbecause you've piqued his
interest, because it's sodifferent, and so that kind of
thing happens.
So I may not necessarily be thebest caller in the world, I may
not sound exactly right, butdoes it work Good enough?
And a lot of times so, I carrya mouse squeaker with me, so if
(19:08):
I need a bear to turn maybe I'mtrying to get him broadside or
something I'll hit my mousesqueaker and that's just enough
to pique his interest and havehim turn for me so I can get
that broadside shot.
So I always carry one of those.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
And it's called a mouse squeaker.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
It's just a mouse.
It's just a little mouse.
It sounds like a mouse.
It's kind of a rubbery thing.
You squeak it.
Okay, Some people put it ontheir rifle.
I just keep it in my pocket andthen I can kind of bump it with
my elbow.
So I'm not making a lot ofmovement right.
I'm just trying to get it tomake a noise so that I'm still
in my position of shooting.
That I've just moved a littlebit to hit the squeaker and
(19:43):
he'll turn and I get my shot.
That I needed.
Lots of people predator, callfor bears in the fall.
It's a really good method oftake and you know, it's just
like anything else that you'recalling in, be it a coyote, a
cougar, bobcat, whatever.
It's just fun.
It's just fun.
You may have lots of times wherethere's nothing right, there's
(20:09):
zero, you got nothing.
And then that one time that itworks, you're like whoa.
Now you're hooked for life.
I have seen bears that theywere videoed because they could
care less and it wasn't openseason, we were just playing.
So we're calling and calling,and calling.
That bear's just looking at uslike that's nice.
This is zero response, likeflatline.
So I think it can be again anindividual type thing, but it's
really effective in the springtoo, when the calves are
(20:29):
dropping.
Okay.
I'll go into a place like thatwhere I expect the cows to come
in and have their young, andthat's a great place, unless, of
course, you have a grizzlypopulation and then it wouldn't
be calling, so you might get thewrong bear.
Yeah so.
I am careful when I say Ipredator call.
There are places I do notpredator call unless I have seen
(20:51):
the bear.
Meaning I'm seeing the blackbear and I'm trying to get some
kind of behavior from him.
Meaning I need him to turn or Ineed him to stop or something
like that.
In fact I shot a boar a coupleof years back.
I took my son out with metrying to get him his first bear
, and we'd seen seven bears thatday and it just wasn't coming
together for him.
Bless his heart.
And I was annoyed because I'm aparent, right.
Yeah.
(21:12):
And I'm like this is aphenomenal day.
In the woods We've seen sevenbears and the last was a set of
a boar and a sow together andI'm trying to get him on him and
I'm realizing he's he's notdoing it.
So the sow sees us as I'm outof here, so she's hauling the
mail.
I mean she's going for it andthe boar starts to take off and
he's starting to pick up steamand so I couldn't reach any of
(21:35):
my calls.
So I'm just barking at him likeI would a coyote real loud,
sharp bark, and he couldn'tstand it and he stops and when
he stopped he stopped broadsideand I shot.
So I'm looking at my son andhe's like what the heck mom?
I'm like what the heck son.
You know how many bears are wegoing to let go today?
So predator calling is veryeffective, but again it needs to
be.
You need to be careful.
I mean you're predator calling.
(21:56):
So, you're saying.
I'm a food.
We're careful of what's in theenvironment, what's my backdrop,
what's around me.
I like to have the topographyset up where I'm working with
the animal, as opposed to I'mtrying to force a certain
(22:19):
behavior.
That doesn't necessarily work.
You're fighting too many things.
So I'm trying to watch where'smy wind, currents, what's the
temperature, what's the weatherdoing, what other predators are
in the area, and then theblowdowns or the bushes or the
what have you.
Are they going to impede himwhen he comes in, or are they
(22:41):
going to be too tall where hecame in?
And now I can't take the shotbecause he's obscured, or his
vitals are obscured by somethingthat's, in my way, perfect
world.
You know he's going to circleand he's going to come in
broadside to me.
That's what I want.
So it's a lot of darn fun.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
If you've scouted an area and you're doing an ambush
hunt do you ever cut in shootinglanes?
Speaker 2 (23:06):
No, I don't need to.
I am, so I don't have that kindof time.
I wish I could.
I think about those things allthe time.
You know, it'd be really niceif I cut a lane right there
right.
And then the world comes in.
I'm like I got to get back towork.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
So you know, I know people who do, and it's really
interesting to watch.
I am always watching the woodsitself and how are the animals
traveling through it.
And so one year my area burnedand it burned pretty bad and I
put all this time and effortinto it.
(23:40):
And now bear season's open andI'm in an adjacent area.
Well, I got to use all thethings I know to try to find a
bear, but I don't have any ofthe math behind it no cameras,
no idea.
So I'm going into an area blind, and so I put all my rules into
effect, things I would normallydo and I found a place to sit
where, okay, he's going totravel through here and he's
(24:01):
going to head to this foodsource.
Well, I thought I had scoutedall the darn trails.
Well, I missed one, and that'sthe one he came in on so I could
kind of see the bear, but itwas just his top line.
There's no shot opportunitythere.
So I was really irritated withmyself because it's like doggone
it.
I missed that one and that'sjust the way it goes.
(24:21):
So it's harder when I don'thave all the math behind me that
chess game, because I wasmissing part of the data, right.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Okay, yeah, and that's so one of the Dave talked
about, based off of someresearch he'd done or some study
, that basically the averagehunter to kill a mature buck is
basically it's a three-yearprocess Because it's oh, I
(24:50):
missed that last year, but now Iknow for this year and.
I can do this or this, Hunting anew spot myself last year, and
realize now I know for this yearand I can do this or this,
hunting a new spot myself lastyear and realize, oh okay, so
they didn't all come in from oneparticular area.
There's another spot where theycome down and come into my set.
Oh, I probably should havemaybe dropped a couple branches
(25:12):
to cause them to have to walk ina certain way.
Right when they'd walk inbroadside.
So there's certain things andyou know a lot of ours.
We do create shooting lanes,but a lot of our guys do archery
and it's just necessary.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Absolutely vital.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
But it's like a two foot by two foot window, yeah,
and so you are absolutelydependent on that animal coming
in correctly, or else it'sforget it yeah because you have
a little tiny window, and that'sit now do you primarily a rifle
?
Yes, for years.
Okay, have you ever done anymuzzleloader or archery anything
(25:49):
for for bear?
Speaker 2 (25:51):
no, it's not broke.
Don't fix it, I don't know'tknow, it's just my rifle is like
my arm to me.
Yeah.
I've used it.
It's just my I don't know.
I guess I can get stuck in ruts.
It goes back to the adaptingthing.
I'm good with that particularrifle.
I use it all the time and I'mvery comfortable with it.
I don't have to think aboutthings really.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
Yes, yes, with it, I don't have to think about things
really.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
Yes, it's just so rote to me and it's just not
that I don't like the othermethods, it just I haven't seen
an advantage to it.
If that makes sense now, ifthere was a season, let's say
that they opened up and theysaid well, this is muzzleloader
season only, you bet your betgonna be out there with a
muzzleloader, right, yeah?
Or if that's archery only, andI will be out there if it gives
me more opportunity at adifferent time of year with a
(26:38):
different tag, I'd be on that100%.
Then it makes sense to me.
Yeah.
But right now the opportunitiesare good enough.
With where I'm at, you know,I've got spring hunts and I've
got fall hunts and a good amountof time for both.
What's the closest you broughtin a bear to harvest?
Too close, a little too close.
(26:58):
So I radioed my husband onetime and I said I've just shot
the most beautiful bear ever.
And he says, well, can you seehim?
Because that's the firstquestion, right, can you see?
I'm looking at my feet going,yep, I can see him.
I said, target, angry, target,very angry.
So I had shot this blonde bearand he I was between him and his
cover and he came right at meand it's not like he's coming
(27:19):
for me, he's coming for hiscover and I'm in his way.
So, yeah, that was.
That was a little too close.
Oops, and that's how you learn.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Yeah, Because it's thinking about our archery
hunters that are listening.
Who will go archery bear hunt?
Sure you have to.
You just have to be closer.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Yes, you do.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
And the same thing with deer.
It's one thing to have gonehunting or shot at a deer at 100
yards, 200 yards, 300 yards,but when you see the biggest
buck of your life and he's 10yards away.
It throws you as far as and wetalk about mindset a lot yeah,
being ready for that situationbecause of buck fever.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Right.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
And I imagine it would be the same thing with
bear.
You're going to get bear fever,you know.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
There are people who do.
I'm one of those weirdindividuals that's outside of
the norm.
I do not get excited until mytag is notched.
When my tag is notched, boy,you got to give me 10, 15
minutes because I fall apartLike I'm no good for nothing for
a while and then I'll dress thebear out.
Right, I'm just, I got my bear,but before that, just it
doesn't even factor in.
I'm thinking about all thethings making sure the shot
(28:28):
placement's right, I'm watchingeverything that's happening and
making sure the follow throughis there and all the things you
should do.
But once that's down, oh mygosh, what a mess, total mess.
Now, you know, members of myfamily, they're not that way.
They're like you know, and I'mlike breathe, you know, do your
things, you know what you'resupposed to do, follow your
steps.
(28:48):
And so I do admire the archeryhunters.
You know my son's a really goodarchery hunter.
He's sneaky.
I like to say you get that fromyour mother.
Yeah, so you got to be sneaky.
But you know, I think it's areally cool way to go out and
hunt and see the world.
(29:09):
And you do have to be verycareful in shot placement, just
like anything else.
But again, it's just adifferent way to do the same
thing.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Is there a time of day that you found that?
So, actually, having talkedthrough all this, it depends on
everything else but-.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
Yes, no, there are specific times of day that are
really good.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
Mornings, evenings, or do you do all day sits when
you go out and up out beforedark or before light.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
So it really depends on the kind of barram hunting
and how he moves through thetopography and the time of year.
So there are certain ones thatthey just move at oddball times
and I've been real, real good atgetting into them.
And there's other ones that arevery, very consistent in how
they go through the life and soyou know they might be the
(30:01):
consistently just before dark,coming into the opening that
I've been waiting for him in,and so I know there's no point
in sitting there all day becausehe'll only be there, you know,
just before dark.
And or there's there's areasthat they'll travel through.
This one boar he would go bythe camera consistently, you
know in the morning, not thesame day, but in the mornings
(30:23):
he'd cruise by.
So I know that's an area thatI'm going to go hunt in the
morning and and let's say, let'ssay he goes by the camera on a
wednesday, well, I know I'mgoing to go out, I'm going to
hunt tuesday, wednesday,thursday and try to get that
bear, because he's not going tobe, you know, they don't have
watches, but sometime during themorning.
I know he's going by and it'sbased on his food and how he's
traveling through theenvironment, but times of day.
(30:45):
I have noticed over the last fewyears it to be very
inconsistent, meaning there'sone spring where you could bet
your bottom dollar.
At 4 pm you were going to seebears.
It was just like clockwork 4 pmthere was bears everywhere.
And this spring same unit no,there wasn't a bear to be seen.
At 4 pm, they were not out.
(31:06):
But at 10 am, like clockwork.
And it's very interesting howthey'll change.
The reasons for that.
I'm not entirely certain.
It's one of those things Iwould like to look into and
understand them better.
Why are they so specific in aspecific area at these specific
times?
It's very, very curious to me,because there's no thing where
(31:27):
you can say, okay, well, it waswind, it was temperature, it was
food.
I mean, I can't put my fingeron why they made that change,
but they did and it's the exactsame unit.
So we're not talking about thedifferences in topography like
east side and west side of thestate.
It's not like that.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
And then the weather's relatively the same.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
The same.
So there's no factor.
You can say, okay, that's thething.
But in the fall I likeafternoons.
I know a lot of people huntearly morning and evening and
those are great times, but Ilike the afternoons.
So if you ever go out hunting inthe fall for deer or elk,
(32:07):
you'll hear the woods come alive.
In the morning, right,everybody's getting in their
trucks and they're driving totheir spot where they're going
to go hunt, and it's just loud,right.
All that movement.
There's a tremendous amount ofmovement and as a predator
hunter I pay attention to soundsand waves of things.
So there's this wave ofmovement and sound going through
the woods as all these trucksfire up or ATVs or pick
something, right, and they go totheir spot and they sit and
(32:31):
it's kind of quiet for a while,so that 10 o'clock mark becomes
good, right, because the bearsare going to cross the road and
they know everybody's alreadyleft the camp.
It's a great time.
Or if you're a bear, that's amarauder, it's a great time to
go check out the tent.
So there's that.
And then in the evening right,it's that same movement people
(32:57):
going out to their standsthey're usually a lot of them
are back in their, their tentsor their campers, whatever for
lunch, and so there's a time inthe in the afternoon that 2 pm
to 4 pm mark where the woods arequiet and there's no one
driving around or walking aroundor whatever, and consistently I
see bears at that time becausethey've they've patterned us and
figured out this is a greattime to go do whatever it is
they want to go do.
Because not?
Speaker 1 (33:17):
everybody's moving around.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Right.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
Right, okay, so to wrap things up, post-harvest.
So you've got your bear on theground, and so last year, having
got my first buck, I have thisthing laying on the ground in
front of me.
I'm like now what?
Yeah, now, what do I do withthing laying on the ground in
front of me?
I'm like now what, yeah?
Now, what do I do with?
Speaker 2 (33:37):
this.
Now the work begins.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
So you know it was, and because no cell service, I
had to drive.
Actually, I had to drive aboutthree miles away to get to where
I did have cell service.
And then I'm texting yeah, Igot a buck down, what do I do
and who's available?
My nephew had to actually comeout and help me with getting
(34:01):
them out of the woods andeverything.
So you know, some people mightneed to prep it for taxidermy,
you know, or, if anything,getting it ready for the butcher
, and I know a lot of peopleactually do their own.
Yes, but some people, yeah,it's, it's going to the, to the
(34:21):
butcher.
But what, as far as, what doyou need to do for right, like
the immediate first thing andI'll ask about is so, after you
shoot, how long are you waiting?
And I'm thinking about thisbecause, especially with archery
and, like I said, a lot of ourguys are archery you don't want
(34:44):
to immediately go after you puta bullet.
Or even if it is rifle, youdon't immediately want to go
running towards wherever this isDefinitely not.
Because if you've just woundedit now, you're picking a fight,
yeah.
So how long are we waitingbefore we go looking?
Speaker 2 (35:02):
So those are all really good questions and I base
it on the individualcircumstance.
Okay.
So the first question is canyou see the bear Right?
If you can see the bear, you'rehome free and that's a good
thing.
So if you can't see the bear,right, if you can see the bear,
you're home free and that's agood thing.
So if you can't see the bear,and you know you've made a good
hit and you're in really densetopography habitat, I will wait,
(35:27):
and I'm not, you know, itreally depends.
I try to listen and I'm gettingolder so it's harder for me to
hear as good as I used to.
But I try to listen and I'mgetting older so it's harder for
me to hear as good as I used to.
But I try to listen for acouple things.
One is do I hear the sound ofmovement in the brush like you
hear them running off?
Right, because you'll heartheir, their fur on the bushes.
Sometimes you hear a death moan.
(35:48):
It's it's not very often justokay, it's that air escaping the
lungs and everybody's so famous.
Oh, I gotta hear the death moan.
I've shot so many bears and Ithink I've heard it twice.
You know Okay.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
So yeah, it's just one of those.
So Dave films his hunt and theone I just said.
He went up to Manitoba.
He did get that and they gotthat on camera or on film
because it was off camera.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
Right and so, but that's, these guys lit was test,
(36:31):
had to hear this.
Okay, you may hear it, you maynot, especially if you're
getting old and deaf, like I am.
So I'm listening for thosethings any kind of sound of
movement.
And if you've got Now, if I'vegot somebody with me, right that
I'm mentoring, I'm asking themthe questions what did you see?
What did it look like?
Did you do follow through?
Did you do this, did you dothat experience with what I saw
(36:57):
as I'm watching them take theshot right To see if we're
conflicting or we're seeing thesame thing, and then I'll know
where to start looking orwhether we need to give it a few
minutes, and most of the timethat half an hour mark is good.
If it's marginal, then I wouldwait a lot longer.
And now you've got trouble, so.
So I've always said it's waybetter to let a bear walk than
(37:18):
to ever wound them.
We, we don't want to do thatanyways, that's, that's not,
yeah, not an ethical shot it'snot ethical, it's not.
You know, it's not nice to causesuffering.
We don't want to do that.
So if you're having trouble andyou can't settle down, then we
let the bear walk.
That's, that's my role, likesome of the people I've had with
me.
They get target panic and theyjust need to look away and then
(37:40):
you bring them back to it andnow they can do the job.
But it's that recognition of.
I have an issue here don'tsqueeze the trigger right and
being able to look at things andso don't take a bad shot.
Let's start there, right, andthen, if it is a good shot but
it's just really dense habitatand you want to give some time
(38:02):
just to be safe, that half anhour mark's really good and most
of the bears that I've had tolook for they had expired.
But you know, when you're inthat really thick junk, I mean
it's terrible.
You don't want to be crawlingon your hands and knees with a
bear that's not dead right,because you're looking for blood
or any kind of sign a brokenlimb turned over leaf, whatever
(38:27):
it is you're looking for and toget the sign of what has
happened.
So we want to treat them verycarefully and then let's say, we
do see the bear.
I always approach from the backline, not from his paws or his
head, because you know those aredangerous weapons.
There's nothing more dangerouson the planet than a dead bear.
Right, we want to make surehe's dead.
(38:48):
You don't just go poking andgrabbing a bear.
That's not a good thing at all.
They are dangerous animals, sowe need to be careful.
And then you know, let's, let'ssay everything's perfect world.
We found him really quickly and,and now I'm going to start to
break him down into, into the,the food and the, the hide that
I'm going to keep.
(39:08):
So some things that I thinkabout with that is what's the
weather like today?
If it's hot, I want to getthings going as fast as I can.
You want to get that hide offand that meat cooling down,
especially on our fall bearsthat are more fatty.
(39:29):
You want to get it cooling downquick.
Do I have to pack him out?
Or is this I can, you know,pack him a little ways and get
him to a road kind of a deal?
If it's a pack out situation,you're going to try to get rid
of as much bone as possible.
You don't want to pack him whenyou have to right, so I might
debone it right there.
And the other question I haveis am I in grizzly habitat?
Yeah, because I just rang thedinner bell, yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
So in those cases, a lot of times one of us is
working on the bear and one ofus is standing guard, just for
safety, and I've heard that alot when you're in grizzly area
that, yeah, one person isprepping everything and one
person is standing guard.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
And we're not doing like we're not, messing around
Like we're not, and I'm going totake the bear down to a certain
degree and throw them on ourpacks and we're going to get out
of there Because, yes, you'verang the dinner bell, so there's
an audible sound to thegrizzlies, but also they have,
just like the black bear, anincredible sense of smell.
So they're going to smell thecarcass, right, and so you need
to, you need to not be lingeringforever.
(40:30):
Get the job done, get yourstuff and get out.
You know the job done.
Get your stuff and get out.
You know, be careful, and it'speople can freak out because, oh
, it's grizzly terrible, and youknow they're trying to go too
fast and cut themselves with theno, just slow down, be
deliberate, just do the jobright.
But you, you got to be carefulwhere you're at.
If there's no pressures, notime pressures, then then I
might do a little more work inthe field than I would normally.
(40:51):
Maybe I'll take the paws outthere, so I don't have to carry
them.
It just depends on what kind oftime of day it is.
Are we just before dark and Ineed to get out?
Well then, I'm not going to dothat fine work there.
I'm going to take them apartand put them on my back and go.
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (41:17):
So what kind of?
And for multi-state,everybody's got different rules
about what they need to do asfar as maybe what kind of
samples that biological samplesthat they need, or transporting
right bare cross-state lines orparts hides whatnot so.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
So there's a lot to that and it goes back to
educating ourselves.
So when we go to a new state,what are their rules.
And then, even if you've been inwashington a years, right, you
check the rules every year tosee if there's any changes.
You know, god forbid you misssomething.
So if the state classifies themas a furbearer, then there's
(41:47):
some different rules attached tothat.
So, like Idaho, they seal thehide.
You have to take it in, have itinspected.
Take it in, have it inspected.
They seal the hide and they'regoing to take the tooth sample
from it, which Washington justmade a mandatory rule that we
have to turn in the teeth of ourbiological samples.
That just happened this year.
It's in the rigs.
I checked it to make sure Iknow they were voting on it, but
(42:07):
they did actually.
It did actually become rule.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
So all of the teeth or just one of them?
Speaker 2 (42:12):
No, just the one behind the canine.
Okay, so you'll have to get atooth sample and envelope and
turn it in.
They're pretty easy to take outreally.
I've done a lot.
So when you've got your beardown, you're going to put a
stick in his mouth so you canget those tooth samples out
later.
Really important, so that Imean, if he rigor mortis sets in
(42:33):
, you got a heck of a timegetting that tooth out.
So put some kind of littlestick in his mouth to keep the
jaw propped open so you can getthat tooth out, oh, okay.
Some of the states it's notmandatory, but they ask for on
the sow that if you take a sowthat you turn in the uterus and
ovaries.
I'm not sure what they'restudying for that, but that's
just one of the things thatthey're asking for.
(42:55):
It just again, it depends onthe state.
Just make sure you read theregulations.
I have people all the time thatsay could you come to a seminar
and would you tell us the rules?
No, I won't tell you the rules.
You are personally responsibleto know the rules for the state
you're in.
You know not that crazy ladythat hunts pears all the time
said I could do this.
You know you are responsible toread and make sure you know
what you're doing.
Speaker 1 (43:16):
And so we get a lot of those questions too.
Well, what's especially nowwith the CWD?
What can?
I do with that and I you knowmy stance is what I've told.
Everybody is like look, theyhave unlimited resources to come
after you if you've broken thelaw.
Do you have unlimited resourcesto defend yourself, then you
better know what you're doingand err on the side of caution.
(43:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:39):
A lot of states require evidence of sex that's
pretty standard anymore to beattached to the hide.
Some states do not require youto take the meat out, which
whatever.
I have very deep thoughts aboutthat.
Speaker 1 (43:52):
What do you mean?
Take the meat out, they're afur bearer so you can hide.
Speaker 2 (43:55):
You can.
They're a fur bearer, so youcan shoot them and take just the
hide and leave the meat.
Oh.
I know.
Speaker 1 (44:01):
Yeah.
That's not true in Washingtonstate just to work clear yeah,
you have to take, you do.
Speaker 2 (44:05):
And then you should.
That's just my own personal.
You know bear is delicious itis.
I don't understand thiscomputer everything anymore.
(44:30):
I like paper.
Paper's good, it always works.
So anyhow, that's a wholenother thing.
The next thing that shouldhappen is prepping of the hide,
because you're going to break itdown into meat, but you want
the hide cut in an appropriateway, so before you've even left,
long long before you found ataxidermist that you like and
you've talked to them and you'veasked them how do you prefer to
(44:52):
receive a hide, and becausethey're different in how they
want things, and so I'm going totalk to them and and getting a
feel for that particulartaxidermist and how they want
that hide to come to them, andthen they might have some
specific, you know, do this, dothat for the type of mount that
I wanted, and I'll take thatinto the field.
(45:12):
I've been working with the sametaxidermist for a long time and
he does an excellent job onbears, and so I know what I need
to do for him.
Speaker 1 (45:22):
But I'll go in.
Feel free to mention his nameif you want to drum up some more
business for him.
I'm okay with that, yeah.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
So yeah, that's Steve with Washougal Taxidermy.
Okay, and the poor guy.
You know, I'll bring him a bearand I kind of want a rug but
not a rug.
So I've taken a lot of bears,okay, so now I hang them by
their nose because, there's onlyso much wall space so I'll hang
them by their nose.
But basically what I want is arug without it being rugged.
(45:50):
I want the prep work that theyput into a rug, meaning the hide
is stretched, it's blocked outback to its original size after
tanning, the lips are turned,the ears are turned right side
out, so there's any trimmingthat might need to be done.
So it's a clean, nice look andthen it's more of a softer tan
so it can hang and not be likecardboard.
(46:11):
You know, yeah, yeah.
But without the felt behind itand the sewing and all the
things.
So that's how I have a lot ofmine done, but that's a lot of
prep work.
There's a lot of work in that.
So there's that.
When you look at a bear, Ithink it's really important if
you've never ever cut a bearever to go online and look at
some of the videos that are outthere.
There's a lot of good ones.
(46:32):
It'll give you a really goodidea of how to make the cuts.
They're odd creatures and itwould seem like it's, you know,
a simple thing, but it's not.
And I see a lot of badly cutbears online and I just cringe.
I just have to look away.
Like don't look at it becausethey just cut it wrong.
So educating yourself.
The best world is to havesomebody in the field with you
(46:56):
that's done, a lot of bearers,that can show you the right way
to cut them.
If I'm going to do a shouldermount, then I'm going to cut
along the spine area so thatthey can.
So that's where the height isthe thickest right.
Okay so they're going to be ableto make that look really clean.
If you cut the belly like youwould for a rug, that's where
the hide is the thickest, right.
Okay, so they're going to beable to make that look really
clean.
If you cut the belly like youwould for a rug, that's the
thinnest part on the bear andthat's going to be harder for
(47:18):
them to hide the seaming thatthey're going to have to do.
Speaker 1 (47:21):
Oh, that's interesting Because, yeah, as a
novice myself, I would justassume that you would cut along
the belly.
Speaker 2 (47:28):
Yeah, that would be a rug mount and you want your
cuts as square to each other asyou can get.
That way, when the bear is laidout for the rug, he will be
symmetrical.
It's really important.
If you're off a little bit,then they may have to trim, they
may have to cut and sew to puther back together again.
It just depends on the peopleyou're with and how
(47:51):
knowledgeable they are.
The other things that make ittough, because I'm a
perfectionist.
I just am Like I've got enoughbears now that I know what I'm
doing and I want it perfect andI'm very hard on myself if it's
not perfect.
But there's no flat ground,right, like I don't know about
most people, but when I'm out inthe woods there's no perfectly
(48:11):
flat spot to work on this darnbear and so you're trying to get
square cuts and he's rollingaround and you know, and it's
steep and and yeah, and you'retrying not to lose your, your
witness here, and and people arelike it's okay.
I'm like no, it's not exactlyperfectly straight, you know,
especially if it's someoneelse's bear, and I've taken them
out and it's their first bear,I want it absolutely perfect for
(48:32):
them so they can get the bestmount possible.
So those are all importantthings.
And heat I'm always concernedabout heat when it comes to meat
.
I don't care whether it's adeer, an elk, a bear, whatever.
You want to get that meatcooling down, and so we're
getting it packed out.
Maybe I will try to bundle itwhere it's on my backpack, but
(48:53):
it's not.
It needs to be cinched down.
So it's on there, not going tocome off.
But you want air to be able toget to it, so I don't want to
wrap it in the center ofsomething, right?
So all that heat is caught inyour backpack, your day pack,
whatever.
I want it to help dissipate, soI try to put it to the exterior
(49:13):
of the pack so wind or whatevercan help cool them, cool me down
as we're walking out, hikingout.
And the same with the hide.
You don't want any, any kind ofropes or ties or whatever that
could rub on the nose and andleave a bald spot on your bare
hide.
You know, just being cognizantof things like that and being
careful.
And then I myself can take theskull out and the paws and you
(49:34):
know I'll take it down to thelast knuckle there, it's not a
problem.
But I do not turn the lips andI don't turn the ears because
those are really really advancedsubjects.
I would call them and I don'tfeel competent enough and I am
enough of a perfectionist that Idon't touch them.
I know better, because I willbe really upset with myself, but
they're not exactly perfect.
So, and there's nothing wrongwith that Getting it to your
(49:57):
taxidermist, they can do that.
Finish work.
Your face on a bear hide willbe some of the first places to
slip, so you want to make sureyou get the skull out.
Let it cool down.
I bring a little portablefreezer with us and a generator
so that I can cool that hidedown as quickly as possible, and
the same with the meat and keepit fresh and in good working
(50:21):
order.
I'll call it.
You don't want, I don't wantthe meat to freeze.
Right then and there right.
It needs to age, but I want itcold, especially when it's 90
degrees out.
You know you don't want anybone rot or anything like that.
So I'll cut the bone out andput it in there, and then you
know if you're going to freezethe bear.
Really important, make sure youdon't try to salt it first.
(50:42):
I don't know what the thinkingis.
What do you do when it's icyoutside?
Right, you throw salt on thedriveway.
Don't salt your bear and thentry to freeze it.
Don't do that.
Speaker 1 (50:53):
I've actually never heard of that.
Speaker 2 (50:55):
So, and it doesn't matter whether you're going to
salt it or you're going tofreeze it, you want to get as
much of that fat off as you can,because it just holds that heat
into the flesh.
So I try to get and the fat isa precious resource, too right
that you can render it down, soright that you can render it
(51:21):
down, so I'm not just chuckingit like a like a heathen oh, but
I want it off the hide.
Speaker 1 (51:23):
so, and that hide for you render it down, for we'll
call it lard for and boot greasemaking biscuits, all the things
, okay, so, and I think that wassomething that I've wondered in
the past and I didn't thinkabout writing it down is the
gaminess?
I?
You know, I would have thoughtbear fat, probably gamey.
Speaker 2 (51:36):
You want to leave it, but no, okay, it's a prized,
prized position.
People make lip balm out of it,they make hand lotions, I mean
there's all kinds of things youcan do, yeah.
Speaker 1 (51:48):
Okay, resource, use everything.
Speaker 2 (51:50):
So you know on, on the spring bears, you're
probably not going to get much.
You're just not because they'recoming out of the den pretty
underweight, but in the fallthey're they're chock full of it
okay.
Speaker 1 (52:01):
Well, I think I think we've covered it three a little
over three hours worth ofcontent here.
So, yeah, hopefully we've goteverybody at a place where they
can have a good start for bearhunting.
But thank you very much forcoming on.
Besides the sportsman shows,you always do seminars there.
(52:23):
You're at Puyallup and Portland.
Are you at any others?
Speaker 2 (52:28):
Not for sportsman shows.
Okay.
We, you know, I'll do seminarsfor different places, it just
depends on what's coming on.
People ask me to come speak forthem, and so I'll go.
I'll go talk to them, but youknow, the ladies camp and the
kids camp that the Yowls put onis something that we always go
to, but year round, you know,we're in the shop building tents
(52:49):
or we're out hunting.
That's what we do.
Speaker 1 (52:51):
Okay, if somebody wanted to.
Actually because we've hadpeople from hunting clubs, local
hunting clubs what's the bestway to reach you?
Speaker 2 (53:09):
They can email me at Heather that's H-E-A-T-H-E-R, at
bravotents, T-E-N-T-S dot com,and depending on what time, of
year and stuff it is.
Speaker 1 (53:13):
if I'm not busy, I'll come talk to them.
Yeah, If you're contacted inspring.
Speaker 2 (53:17):
Yeah, good luck.
Speaker 1 (53:23):
Because that was one of the things where I emailed
and I think it had been a coupleof weeks, hadn't heard anything
and Dave looked at me.
He's like she's out bearhunting, yep, and sure enough,
like two days later.
Hey, sorry for taking a while.
I was out bear hunting.
Speaker 2 (53:34):
Yep, just got back.
Yeah, so bear to put up and youknow, cut up and put it in the
freezer and all the things, soyeah.
Speaker 1 (53:41):
Great Well, again, thank you for joining us and
passing along.
We like to educate everybody onwhat they're doing out there.
And, yeah, it's made me moreexcited, for this was the first
year I was actually seriouslyconsidering bear hunting, and so
this has got me a little moreexcited towards that.
Oh, that's my job All right.
(54:02):
Thanks for joining us and we'lltalk to you again next week.
Thank you.
Welcome back to the Blacktail Coach Podcast.
I'm Aaron and this week, partfour, bear hunting with Heather
Aldrich.
Okay, so now let's talk about Ijust put it as methods for
hunting.
So how are you?
And from my context of huntingblacktail and understanding and
(00:21):
being new to hunting, so thesets, which is what we do, but
there are guys who do spot andstalk, Yep, and then there's
guys who just glass clear cuts,Sure, and so thinking and there
might be other forms, but howare you hunting?
Is it from sets?
Is it glassing clear cuts, Isit spot and stalk or is it all
(00:44):
of them?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
So as one of my friends would say, it's all the
things.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yeah, all the things.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
So, again, it's adapting to the animal in that
time of year.
So I, if I had my perfect world, would be an ambush predator
all the time.
I love to do that.
So I'll set up and it could bea ground blind, but a lot of
times I'm too lazy, so I'll justbrush myself in and, you know,
make sure my outlines broke upand I'll sit on the ground and
(01:10):
wait for him, Based on how Ihave done all the scouting, like
we've done all the math aheadof time, we're not just picking
a random spot in the woods, soI've got a reason for why I'm
sitting there.
That's one way.
There is some places that againbecause I've done all the
scouting.
Okay, well, I know he's goingto come across this particular
area and maybe there's a bigopening and I can glass and I
(01:31):
can see he's going to comethrough here, right.
So that's a place I could siton, stand with a long-range view
and be able to shoot.
When I say long-range, you know200, 300 yards, yeah you know,
two, three hundred yards, yeah,and then glassing.
That might be more springtimefor me because usually by August
, whatever I've long sincepicked my spot in the woods that
(01:51):
I'm sitting.
There are a lot of people whodo do the glassing in the fall
and there's nothing wrong withthat.
You'll pick them up on the foodsources.
So, but in the springtime,because they're moving so much
and maybe I couldn't get in todo some of the homework I like
to do before the hunt began, I'mgoing to try to pick them up in
the topography, moving through,okay, if it is too dense a
(02:14):
habitat, which a lot of timesthe places I'm hunting are.
Then I carry glass with me, mybinoculars, to be able to tell
what kind of animal it is right,yeah, is that a sow?
Is that a boar?
Is it a boar that I'minterested in, et cetera.
So, not as much glassing thattime and then spot and stalk.
That is, you know, you've doneall the math and you've glassed
(02:35):
one up and I'm going to go tryto get to him.
Now, hopefully, you've doneyour math, where if you've seen
the bear, you know how to get tohim.
That's not something you wantto figure out when you see your
quarry.
So you've done all this workand and you're like, oh, that's
the bear I want.
But now you don't know how toget to that ridge or that closed
road or that whatever, whereverit is that you glass them up.
(02:56):
So you need to make sure youknow your unit really well and
how to access the differentparts of it and how you would
get in and out of a specificarea.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Especially considering.
So you hit your target and he'sthree, four hundred yards away,
but next ridge over and you gotto drag him out.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, you better know how you're getting him out.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
So, yeah, understanding limitations,
physical limitations andeverything like that, yeah, it's
very important.
Physical limitations andeverything like that, yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
It's very important, not just the limitations of
yourself, but the limitations ofyour firearm or your bow or
whatever it is that you're using.
Yes, important, important math.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Yeah, okay, as we started talking about this, I
realized I've gone along on abear hunt once and it was just,
it was glassing like from oneridgeline over to the other and
we did have access andeverything, but it was just.
That was my one experience inSouthern Oregon going for a
spring bear hunt Yep, and kindof glassing.
(03:58):
And then I always get, oh hey,you want to go hunting bear, but
you have to put in for it.
Yeah, I think it's a draw.
Yeah, and when they, when theyask me, when you have to do that
I'm not thinking about bear andyeah, maybe, and then oh, yeah,
I can't yeah, you missed themissed the deadline I've missed,
I've missed the window, andthen it's like well, do I want
(04:20):
to just go along for the rideand just kind of see things and
stuff?
So is spot and stockpotentially.
So we talk about guys who dospot and stock for deer is you
know, the downside is you'respreading your scent everywhere
through the woods and you haveto worry about being quiet and
(04:42):
being able to move withoutgetting spotted Exactly without
being seen yes, but it is.
There are people who areincredible at it.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Yes.
So my husband is one of thosepeople who's a really, really
good deer hunter and he does thespot and stalk.
He's phenomenal at it, and hecan get right in there and take
his buck, whereas, again goingback to what I said earlier, I'm
(05:18):
an ambush predator.
I love to sit and wait for atargeted animal to come by.
I think back to thesatisfaction portion of I've
studied him.
And how begin?
It's so thick a habitat.
Where do they begin?
They don't know, and it's notsomething you just suddenly walk
into and hope.
It's not hope hunting.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
I can hope.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah, I made a decision to sit here because of
these factors and I have a goodidea of the return rate on those
because of the math that I'veput into it and the studying.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Yeah, and you know you talked about before, about
the chess match between you andthe bear, and you know Dave
refers to it's putting thepuzzle together.
Yeah, and you get this pieceand this piece and this piece
and the final piece is thatyou're harvesting that target
(06:11):
and we do targeted bucks.
You know to the point where wename them, we name our sets and
it's funny because you know I'lltalk about a particular buck
that I might be going after andit might be a while, but I had
guys walking up at the sportsmanshow and they'll talk, they'll
tell me about, oh yeah.
So have you have you spottedlike one of my bucks, anakin?
(06:33):
Have you spotted anakin yetthis year?
And it's like, and it's at firstit kind of huh, oh yeah, I
guess I do mention that on the,on the podcast quite a bit.
So in one of them it was aparticular about a year and a
half old buck that was apalmated three point.
Oh geez, so I'm not going tohunt him until he's mature.
(06:56):
So there's four and a half.
So, yeah, I'm watching him formultiple years.
Yeah, but it's that chess match, yes, of like.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Okay, I know which pieces are where and yeah, yeah
then going for the king yes, andand, and that factors into our
setup too.
So, as a bear hunter in thefall, we know our other seasons
open up.
It's not just bear, so you'regoing to have the barrage of elk
hunters and deer hunters andthey factor into where I set up
(07:25):
because they're moving pieces onthe board, so you have all of
them moving.
You have the the target bearmoving and you have to figure
out how he's going to respond totheir encroachment on his area.
What's he going to do?
And that goes back to thescouting of.
Well, I know where hissecondary area is.
Yeah, okay.
Where he might shut down to.
(07:46):
I have a question a lot frompeople who say well, I've got
this bear on camera and he'sobviously nocturnal.
That's the standard answer,right?
Well, I can't find him, so he'snocturnal.
Well, my answer to that is yes,he's nocturnal in that spot.
So move your camera right andtry to pick him up sooner in the
(08:09):
environment when the bear's inhyperphagia.
He's not nocturnal, only he'sup 20 hours plus.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Well, yeah, sleeping two to four hours a day.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
So you know that you're in an area where he's
nocturnal, so that's not an areayou can pick him up.
Is it part of his habitat?
Sure, it's part of his range,but you're just in the wrong
spot.
Try to get him somewhere else.
So again, failure is not anoption.
We just need to find anotherway to look at the problem and
how do I solve it, and comeabout it a little bit different
direction and leave that camera.
(08:36):
That's your control group,right?
Because, I know he's there atthat time and then start
branching out into other areasthat he might go to and you can
pick him up.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
And one of the tricks that we use and we actually
just mentioned this with one ofthe guys in our coaching is we
start, we leapfrog cameras, Sure, and we'll back down the trail
till we get to the point wherehe's in daylight.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
And using that method .
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Exactly, exactly.
So I think it's important toalways have enough cameras
deployed.
And and there's no, again it'sback to that universal answer.
I don't have an answer for howmany cameras to a specific area,
it's topography.
Yeah, maybe I can fit twocameras in, maybe there's a
hundred.
If I was a very rich andwealthy person, maybe I'd run
(09:23):
100 cameras, you know.
But I try to keep, like I said,that control group off to one
side.
Maybe it's a long ways off, butI'm trying to make sure I know
his boundaries.
So that I can.
I can get that particular bear,or, you know, sometimes their
boundaries are softer.
It just depends on what'shappening, where they might go a
(09:45):
little bit different than youexpected them to, and so, having
placed those we'll call themthird cameras or fourth cameras
that are not in the best placeto soak them, you're going to
have some information that youwouldn't have had otherwise, and
you can put that on thechessboard and go gotcha.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
It's really interesting hearing all of this
because it's like, oh okay, thisis a lot of the methods we
already use and the same thingwith, you know, creating sets.
Yeah.
And trying to bring them in andgetting them to daylight.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Now can, and I'm thinking about and I know you
can't bait bear- no, you cannot.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
And we.
Not in this state.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
no, we are.
We do not bait in the state ofWashington.
Yeah, to be clear about that,wdfw is listening.
But are there?
Is there anything like lures orattractants that wouldn't be
considered bait?
Or maybe they are consideredbait in the realm of bear that?
You can use that mightmanipulate their behavior.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
So the first thing I would say is there are lots of
products yes, they are not legalin the state of Washington Okay
Meaning to use.
You could probably purchasethem and bring them back from
Idaho or Wyoming or something,but you cannot use them.
So the state defines.
This is Washington.
State now defines baiting asanything that attracts a bear.
That includes scenting, so,like a sow in heat.
(11:11):
You can't use that here InIdaho, sure you know?
You just have to use it aroundyour registered bait site.
You can't just deploy itwilly-nilly through the woods.
They frown upon that kind ofactivity, can't imagine why.
So that state?
Yes, you could use drags, lureset cetera, but you can't use
them here in Washington.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
State Okay, so just absolutely nothing.
That, quote unquote manipulatestheir behavior.
Correct, to make them thinkthat something's happening there
, okay, so that again, thatwould make things a little
trickier Because you can'tmanipulate their behavior.
But if you're finding wherethey're at the right habitat and
(11:51):
food source, and all that, well, if you're ambush hunting over
a food source, well, you didn'tput it out.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Right.
So that's not baiting, that's anatural topography.
They're going through the woodsand they're eating.
I'm not putting apples out forthem, kind of a thing.
Yeah.
They're coming to huckleberriesand they're eating them or
(12:39):
barrel as part of your test forjudging a bear size, right
that's?
People have a really hard timewith judging bear size.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Dave actually went to Manitoba and he said okay, he
was showing me pictures.
If it's standing by this barrel, it's a 300 pound bear.
If it's standing by this barrel, it's a 400 pound bear.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Right, yeah, and it helps you a lot with with chance
.
And then it also allows forthat extra time where you can a
hundred percent verify yes,allows for that extra time where
you can 100% verify yes, I'vegot a sow, or yes, I've got a
boar, or maybe the cubs finallybumbled in, because they can
take a little bit sometimes toshow up with mom and I'm always
watching, especially if I thinkit's a sow, and to make sure
(13:18):
there's no cubs with the animal.
So that's one of the reasons Ilove the idea of baiting is we
are trying, as a bear hunter, totake a specific bear from the
population.
This allows for the futurerecruitment.
So if I take an aged boar out,I know there's going to be more
(13:39):
cubs that live that year becausehe's not killing them right, or
some of the three tofive-year-old bears, because
it's been proven that they'llcome out of hibernation.
They'll go dig up younger bearsand kill and eat them.
So all that's happening.
And so you take those olderboars out and, yes, the younger
boars will grow up and they'llbecome older boars.
But that's what we're lookingfor and so I absolutely am for
(14:03):
baiting.
I know there's a lot of andI've heard it over the years of
people who are anti-baiting.
Well, that's not hunting and itis a type of hunting and I
think we need to be careful, ashunters, that we support one
another.
We all have our different andpreferred methods.
If it's a legal method, then Ihave nothing to say against it.
If it's legally allowed, like inthe state of Idaho they allow
baiting.
I have nothing to say againstit.
(14:24):
If it's legally allowed, likein the state of Idaho, they
allow baiting.
I have nothing against that.
They also allow hounds.
I have nothing against that.
Again, it's that selectiveharvest.
They are going to tree a bearand they'll know what they've
got.
Right, you can look it over andyou know exactly what you've.
And I mean, they're not evenput their hounds on a sow with
cubs, so let's just take thatout of the equation.
The houndsmen are good at whatthey do, right?
(14:45):
They know what they're on.
So when they set their dogs out, it's not.
That always makes me mad whenthe anti-hunters oh, the
houndsmen, you know the poorsows, they're not doing that,
they're not doing that.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
And kind of making the idea of, oh, they're just
releasing a pack of dogs to ripthis animal apart.
No, and that's not what'shappening at all.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
No, no, no, definitely not.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Because, well, no, it's because they want to
actually harvest that particularanimal.
Correct, If it's the animalthat they want.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Correct.
And I think as you go along andgrow as a hunter you start
becoming, because at first it'swell, I just want that first, so
you might take for deer, I tooka spike.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Yeah, nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
And but well, next year I don't want a spike, I
want something bigger.
Right, Then I want you know,then, once I have a mature buck,
I want a mature buck that hasthis attributes Sure, once I
have a mature buck, I want amature buck that has this
attributes.
Sure, you know, we haveactually one of the guys on our
team.
He wanted a big regress forkedhorn.
That was his trophy.
(15:53):
And now he wants to actuallyfind a regress back to a spike
black tail, if that exists.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
But that's half the fun is finding out.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Finding out and, yeah , the work that you put into it
and then, yeah, it's a lot of.
It is the satisfaction of justpicking up skills over the year
and learning your animal,especially if you have a target
bear yes, I've learned that.
Animal, yes, and the greatersatisfaction that comes from
(16:26):
that, and I think that's why wedo a lot of sets and things like
that.
It's because I've watched thatand we can't do minerals anymore
, but you know.
Sure.
Before it was like I did what Icould to maintain the health and
everything of that particulardeer because I wanted to harvest
that deer.
Yeah, x number of years later.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
I think there's a satisfaction, but I also think
there's a huge appreciation foran animal that you've studied
for a really long time and whenyou finally lay hands on them
and you're running your fingersthrough the fur, there is a huge
appreciation to me me, anywaysof how valuable this animal's
life is.
(17:07):
And you know, I took it and I'mgonna do my dead level best to
use every part of that animal toprepare it and not allow
wastage of any kind.
It means a lot to me becauseI've studied him and and I know
how he moves and the things thathe does, and so a huge, huge
(17:27):
appreciation in that moment.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
What about calls Predator calls.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Predator calls a lot of fun Just plain fun.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Is it legal in Washington?
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Okay, yeah, you can predator call Now?
Can, At least for now, Givethem a couple of weeks right Now
?
Can, At least for now, Givethem a couple weeks right?
Speaker 1 (17:46):
So what kind of calls predator calls are you using
for bear, and do they work?
Speaker 2 (17:52):
So yes, yes they do.
I kind of laugh a little bit.
I sometimes feel like predatorcalls are like fishing lures.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Yeah, yeah, I'm just saying so.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
There's a lot out there, and sometimes it's not
the lure's fault.
So any call we get, we need tobe proficient with it.
And but when I say proficient,it's not just the sound coming
from it, meaning we want tosound like whatever animal we're
(18:23):
trying to imitate.
But I have noticed sometimesthat for predator calling it's a
great thing for the kids, andif you have an old coyote that's
been called to a million timesand he's heard the same old
rabbit, right, he's like oh,that's a cottontail in distress,
I'm going the other way, right.
He knows it's a call, but yougive that same call to a kid and
(18:45):
he doesn't blow it, right.
I mean, it's the weirdestnoises you ever heard.
And that coyote will come inbecause you've piqued his
interest, because it's sodifferent, and so that kind of
thing happens.
So I may not necessarily be thebest caller in the world, I may
not sound exactly right, butdoes it work Good enough?
And a lot of times so, I carrya mouse squeaker with me, so if
(19:08):
I need a bear to turn maybe I'mtrying to get him broadside or
something I'll hit my mousesqueaker and that's just enough
to pique his interest and havehim turn for me so I can get
that broadside shot.
So I always carry one of those.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
And it's called a mouse squeaker.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
It's just a mouse.
It's just a little mouse.
It sounds like a mouse.
It's kind of a rubbery thing.
You squeak it.
Okay, Some people put it ontheir rifle.
I just keep it in my pocket andthen I can kind of bump it with
my elbow.
So I'm not making a lot ofmovement right.
I'm just trying to get it tomake a noise so that I'm still
in my position of shooting.
That I've just moved a littlebit to hit the squeaker and
(19:43):
he'll turn and I get my shot.
That I needed.
Lots of people predator, callfor bears in the fall.
It's a really good method oftake and you know, it's just
like anything else that you'recalling in, be it a coyote, a
cougar, bobcat, whatever.
It's just fun.
It's just fun.
You may have lots of times wherethere's nothing right, there's
(20:09):
zero, you got nothing.
And then that one time that itworks, you're like whoa.
Now you're hooked for life.
I have seen bears that theywere videoed because they could
care less and it wasn't openseason, we were just playing.
So we're calling and calling,and calling.
That bear's just looking at uslike that's nice.
This is zero response, likeflatline.
So I think it can be again anindividual type thing, but it's
really effective in the springtoo, when the calves are
(20:29):
dropping.
Okay.
I'll go into a place like thatwhere I expect the cows to come
in and have their young, andthat's a great place, unless, of
course, you have a grizzlypopulation and then it wouldn't
be calling, so you might get thewrong bear.
Yeah so.
I am careful when I say Ipredator call.
There are places I do notpredator call unless I have seen
(20:51):
the bear.
Meaning I'm seeing the blackbear and I'm trying to get some
kind of behavior from him.
Meaning I need him to turn or Ineed him to stop or something
like that.
In fact I shot a boar a coupleof years back.
I took my son out with metrying to get him his first bear
, and we'd seen seven bears thatday and it just wasn't coming
together for him.
Bless his heart.
And I was annoyed because I'm aparent, right.
Yeah.
(21:12):
And I'm like this is aphenomenal day.
In the woods We've seen sevenbears and the last was a set of
a boar and a sow together andI'm trying to get him on him and
I'm realizing he's he's notdoing it.
So the sow sees us as I'm outof here, so she's hauling the
mail.
I mean she's going for it andthe boar starts to take off and
he's starting to pick up steamand so I couldn't reach any of
(21:35):
my calls.
So I'm just barking at him likeI would a coyote real loud,
sharp bark, and he couldn'tstand it and he stops and when
he stopped he stopped broadsideand I shot.
So I'm looking at my son andhe's like what the heck mom?
I'm like what the heck son.
You know how many bears are wegoing to let go today?
So predator calling is veryeffective, but again it needs to
be.
You need to be careful.
I mean you're predator calling.
(21:56):
So, you're saying.
I'm a food.
We're careful of what's in theenvironment, what's my backdrop,
what's around me.
I like to have the topographyset up where I'm working with
the animal, as opposed to I'mtrying to force a certain
(22:19):
behavior.
That doesn't necessarily work.
You're fighting too many things.
So I'm trying to watch where'smy wind, currents, what's the
temperature, what's the weatherdoing, what other predators are
in the area, and then theblowdowns or the bushes or the
what have you.
Are they going to impede himwhen he comes in, or are they
(22:41):
going to be too tall where hecame in?
And now I can't take the shotbecause he's obscured, or his
vitals are obscured by somethingthat's, in my way, perfect
world.
You know he's going to circleand he's going to come in
broadside to me.
That's what I want.
So it's a lot of darn fun.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
If you've scouted an area and you're doing an ambush
hunt do you ever cut in shootinglanes?
Speaker 2 (23:06):
No, I don't need to.
I am, so I don't have that kindof time.
I wish I could.
I think about those things allthe time.
You know, it'd be really niceif I cut a lane right there
right.
And then the world comes in.
I'm like I got to get back towork.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
So you know, I know people who do, and it's really
interesting to watch.
I am always watching the woodsitself and how are the animals
traveling through it.
And so one year my area burnedand it burned pretty bad and I
put all this time and effortinto it.
(23:40):
And now bear season's open andI'm in an adjacent area.
Well, I got to use all thethings I know to try to find a
bear, but I don't have any ofthe math behind it no cameras,
no idea.
So I'm going into an area blind, and so I put all my rules into
effect, things I would normallydo and I found a place to sit
where, okay, he's going totravel through here and he's
(24:01):
going to head to this foodsource.
Well, I thought I had scoutedall the darn trails.
Well, I missed one, and that'sthe one he came in on so I could
kind of see the bear, but itwas just his top line.
There's no shot opportunitythere.
So I was really irritated withmyself because it's like doggone
it.
I missed that one and that'sjust the way it goes.
(24:21):
So it's harder when I don'thave all the math behind me that
chess game, because I wasmissing part of the data, right.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Okay, yeah, and that's so one of the Dave talked
about, based off of someresearch he'd done or some study
, that basically the averagehunter to kill a mature buck is
basically it's a three-yearprocess Because it's oh, I
(24:50):
missed that last year, but now Iknow for this year and.
I can do this or this, Hunting anew spot myself last year, and
realize now I know for this yearand I can do this or this,
hunting a new spot myself lastyear and realize, oh okay, so
they didn't all come in from oneparticular area.
There's another spot where theycome down and come into my set.
Oh, I probably should havemaybe dropped a couple branches
(25:12):
to cause them to have to walk ina certain way.
Right when they'd walk inbroadside.
So there's certain things andyou know a lot of ours.
We do create shooting lanes,but a lot of our guys do archery
and it's just necessary.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Absolutely vital.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
But it's like a two foot by two foot window, yeah,
and so you are absolutelydependent on that animal coming
in correctly, or else it'sforget it yeah because you have
a little tiny window, and that'sit now do you primarily a rifle
?
Yes, for years.
Okay, have you ever done anymuzzleloader or archery anything
(25:49):
for for bear?
Speaker 2 (25:51):
no, it's not broke.
Don't fix it, I don't know'tknow, it's just my rifle is like
my arm to me.
Yeah.
I've used it.
It's just my I don't know.
I guess I can get stuck in ruts.
It goes back to the adaptingthing.
I'm good with that particularrifle.
I use it all the time and I'mvery comfortable with it.
I don't have to think aboutthings really.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
Yes, yes, with it, I don't have to think about things
really.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
Yes, it's just so rote to me and it's just not
that I don't like the othermethods, it just I haven't seen
an advantage to it.
If that makes sense now, ifthere was a season, let's say
that they opened up and theysaid well, this is muzzleloader
season only, you bet your betgonna be out there with a
muzzleloader, right, yeah?
Or if that's archery only, andI will be out there if it gives
me more opportunity at adifferent time of year with a
(26:38):
different tag, I'd be on that100%.
Then it makes sense to me.
Yeah.
But right now the opportunitiesare good enough.
With where I'm at, you know,I've got spring hunts and I've
got fall hunts and a good amountof time for both.
What's the closest you broughtin a bear to harvest?
Too close, a little too close.
(26:58):
So I radioed my husband onetime and I said I've just shot
the most beautiful bear ever.
And he says, well, can you seehim?
Because that's the firstquestion, right, can you see?
I'm looking at my feet going,yep, I can see him.
I said, target, angry, target,very angry.
So I had shot this blonde bearand he I was between him and his
cover and he came right at meand it's not like he's coming
(27:19):
for me, he's coming for hiscover and I'm in his way.
So, yeah, that was.
That was a little too close.
Oops, and that's how you learn.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Yeah, Because it's thinking about our archery
hunters that are listening.
Who will go archery bear hunt?
Sure you have to.
You just have to be closer.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Yes, you do.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
And the same thing with deer.
It's one thing to have gonehunting or shot at a deer at 100
yards, 200 yards, 300 yards,but when you see the biggest
buck of your life and he's 10yards away.
It throws you as far as and wetalk about mindset a lot yeah,
being ready for that situationbecause of buck fever.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Right.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
And I imagine it would be the same thing with
bear.
You're going to get bear fever,you know.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
There are people who do.
I'm one of those weirdindividuals that's outside of
the norm.
I do not get excited until mytag is notched.
When my tag is notched, boy,you got to give me 10, 15
minutes because I fall apartLike I'm no good for nothing for
a while and then I'll dress thebear out.
Right, I'm just, I got my bear,but before that, just it
doesn't even factor in.
I'm thinking about all thethings making sure the shot
(28:28):
placement's right, I'm watchingeverything that's happening and
making sure the follow throughis there and all the things you
should do.
But once that's down, oh mygosh, what a mess, total mess.
Now, you know, members of myfamily, they're not that way.
They're like you know, and I'mlike breathe, you know, do your
things, you know what you'resupposed to do, follow your
steps.
(28:48):
And so I do admire the archeryhunters.
You know my son's a really goodarchery hunter.
He's sneaky.
I like to say you get that fromyour mother.
Yeah, so you got to be sneaky.
But you know, I think it's areally cool way to go out and
hunt and see the world.
(29:09):
And you do have to be verycareful in shot placement, just
like anything else.
But again, it's just adifferent way to do the same
thing.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Is there a time of day that you found that?
So, actually, having talkedthrough all this, it depends on
everything else but-.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
Yes, no, there are specific times of day that are
really good.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
Mornings, evenings, or do you do all day sits when
you go out and up out beforedark or before light.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
So it really depends on the kind of barram hunting
and how he moves through thetopography and the time of year.
So there are certain ones thatthey just move at oddball times
and I've been real, real good atgetting into them.
And there's other ones that arevery, very consistent in how
they go through the life and soyou know they might be the
(30:01):
consistently just before dark,coming into the opening that
I've been waiting for him in,and so I know there's no point
in sitting there all day becausehe'll only be there, you know,
just before dark.
And or there's there's areasthat they'll travel through.
This one boar he would go bythe camera consistently, you
know in the morning, not thesame day, but in the mornings
(30:23):
he'd cruise by.
So I know that's an area thatI'm going to go hunt in the
morning and and let's say, let'ssay he goes by the camera on a
wednesday, well, I know I'mgoing to go out, I'm going to
hunt tuesday, wednesday,thursday and try to get that
bear, because he's not going tobe, you know, they don't have
watches, but sometime during themorning.
I know he's going by and it'sbased on his food and how he's
traveling through theenvironment, but times of day.
(30:45):
I have noticed over the last fewyears it to be very
inconsistent, meaning there'sone spring where you could bet
your bottom dollar.
At 4 pm you were going to seebears.
It was just like clockwork 4 pmthere was bears everywhere.
And this spring same unit no,there wasn't a bear to be seen.
At 4 pm, they were not out.
(31:06):
But at 10 am, like clockwork.
And it's very interesting howthey'll change.
The reasons for that.
I'm not entirely certain.
It's one of those things Iwould like to look into and
understand them better.
Why are they so specific in aspecific area at these specific
times?
It's very, very curious to me,because there's no thing where
(31:27):
you can say, okay, well, it waswind, it was temperature, it was
food.
I mean, I can't put my fingeron why they made that change,
but they did and it's the exactsame unit.
So we're not talking about thedifferences in topography like
east side and west side of thestate.
It's not like that.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
And then the weather's relatively the same.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
The same.
So there's no factor.
You can say, okay, that's thething.
But in the fall I likeafternoons.
I know a lot of people huntearly morning and evening and
those are great times, but Ilike the afternoons.
So if you ever go out hunting inthe fall for deer or elk,
(32:07):
you'll hear the woods come alive.
In the morning, right,everybody's getting in their
trucks and they're driving totheir spot where they're going
to go hunt, and it's just loud,right.
All that movement.
There's a tremendous amount ofmovement and as a predator
hunter I pay attention to soundsand waves of things.
So there's this wave ofmovement and sound going through
the woods as all these trucksfire up or ATVs or pick
something, right, and they go totheir spot and they sit and
(32:31):
it's kind of quiet for a while,so that 10 o'clock mark becomes
good, right, because the bearsare going to cross the road and
they know everybody's alreadyleft the camp.
It's a great time.
Or if you're a bear, that's amarauder, it's a great time to
go check out the tent.
So there's that.
And then in the evening right,it's that same movement people
(32:57):
going out to their standsthey're usually a lot of them
are back in their, their tentsor their campers, whatever for
lunch, and so there's a time inthe in the afternoon that 2 pm
to 4 pm mark where the woods arequiet and there's no one
driving around or walking aroundor whatever, and consistently I
see bears at that time becausethey've they've patterned us and
figured out this is a greattime to go do whatever it is
they want to go do.
Because not?
Speaker 1 (33:17):
everybody's moving around.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Right.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
Right, okay, so to wrap things up, post-harvest.
So you've got your bear on theground, and so last year, having
got my first buck, I have thisthing laying on the ground in
front of me.
I'm like now what?
Yeah, now, what do I do withthing laying on the ground in
front of me?
I'm like now what, yeah?
Now, what do I do with?
Speaker 2 (33:37):
this.
Now the work begins.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
So you know it was, and because no cell service, I
had to drive.
Actually, I had to drive aboutthree miles away to get to where
I did have cell service.
And then I'm texting yeah, Igot a buck down, what do I do
and who's available?
My nephew had to actually comeout and help me with getting
(34:01):
them out of the woods andeverything.
So you know, some people mightneed to prep it for taxidermy,
you know, or, if anything,getting it ready for the butcher
, and I know a lot of peopleactually do their own.
Yes, but some people, yeah,it's, it's going to the, to the
(34:21):
butcher.
But what, as far as, what doyou need to do for right, like
the immediate first thing andI'll ask about is so, after you
shoot, how long are you waiting?
And I'm thinking about thisbecause, especially with archery
and, like I said, a lot of ourguys are archery you don't want
(34:44):
to immediately go after you puta bullet.
Or even if it is rifle, youdon't immediately want to go
running towards wherever this isDefinitely not.
Because if you've just woundedit now, you're picking a fight,
yeah.
So how long are we waitingbefore we go looking?
Speaker 2 (35:02):
So those are all really good questions and I base
it on the individualcircumstance.
Okay.
So the first question is canyou see the bear Right?
If you can see the bear, you'rehome free and that's a good
thing.
So if you can't see the bear,right, if you can see the bear,
you're home free and that's agood thing.
So if you can't see the bear,and you know you've made a good
hit and you're in really densetopography habitat, I will wait,
(35:27):
and I'm not, you know, itreally depends.
I try to listen and I'm gettingolder so it's harder for me to
hear as good as I used to.
But I try to listen and I'mgetting older so it's harder for
me to hear as good as I used to.
But I try to listen for acouple things.
One is do I hear the sound ofmovement in the brush like you
hear them running off?
Right, because you'll heartheir, their fur on the bushes.
Sometimes you hear a death moan.
(35:48):
It's it's not very often justokay, it's that air escaping the
lungs and everybody's so famous.
Oh, I gotta hear the death moan.
I've shot so many bears and Ithink I've heard it twice.
You know Okay.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
So yeah, it's just one of those.
So Dave films his hunt and theone I just said.
He went up to Manitoba.
He did get that and they gotthat on camera or on film
because it was off camera.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
Right and so, but that's, these guys lit was test,
(36:31):
had to hear this.
Okay, you may hear it, you maynot, especially if you're
getting old and deaf, like I am.
So I'm listening for thosethings any kind of sound of
movement.
And if you've got Now, if I'vegot somebody with me, right that
I'm mentoring, I'm asking themthe questions what did you see?
What did it look like?
Did you do follow through?
Did you do this, did you dothat experience with what I saw
(36:57):
as I'm watching them take theshot right To see if we're
conflicting or we're seeing thesame thing, and then I'll know
where to start looking orwhether we need to give it a few
minutes, and most of the timethat half an hour mark is good.
If it's marginal, then I wouldwait a lot longer.
And now you've got trouble, so.
So I've always said it's waybetter to let a bear walk than
(37:18):
to ever wound them.
We, we don't want to do thatanyways, that's, that's not,
yeah, not an ethical shot it'snot ethical, it's not.
You know, it's not nice to causesuffering.
We don't want to do that.
So if you're having trouble andyou can't settle down, then we
let the bear walk.
That's, that's my role, likesome of the people I've had with
me.
They get target panic and theyjust need to look away and then
(37:40):
you bring them back to it andnow they can do the job.
But it's that recognition of.
I have an issue here don'tsqueeze the trigger right and
being able to look at things andso don't take a bad shot.
Let's start there, right, andthen, if it is a good shot but
it's just really dense habitatand you want to give some time
(38:02):
just to be safe, that half anhour mark's really good and most
of the bears that I've had tolook for they had expired.
But you know, when you're inthat really thick junk, I mean
it's terrible.
You don't want to be crawlingon your hands and knees with a
bear that's not dead right,because you're looking for blood
or any kind of sign a brokenlimb turned over leaf, whatever
(38:27):
it is you're looking for and toget the sign of what has
happened.
So we want to treat them verycarefully and then let's say, we
do see the bear.
I always approach from the backline, not from his paws or his
head, because you know those aredangerous weapons.
There's nothing more dangerouson the planet than a dead bear.
Right, we want to make surehe's dead.
(38:48):
You don't just go poking andgrabbing a bear.
That's not a good thing at all.
They are dangerous animals, sowe need to be careful.
And then you know, let's, let'ssay everything's perfect world.
We found him really quickly and,and now I'm going to start to
break him down into, into the,the food and the, the hide that
I'm going to keep.
(39:08):
So some things that I thinkabout with that is what's the
weather like today?
If it's hot, I want to getthings going as fast as I can.
You want to get that hide offand that meat cooling down,
especially on our fall bearsthat are more fatty.
(39:29):
You want to get it cooling downquick.
Do I have to pack him out?
Or is this I can, you know,pack him a little ways and get
him to a road kind of a deal?
If it's a pack out situation,you're going to try to get rid
of as much bone as possible.
You don't want to pack him whenyou have to right, so I might
debone it right there.
And the other question I haveis am I in grizzly habitat?
Yeah, because I just rang thedinner bell, yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
So in those cases, a lot of times one of us is
working on the bear and one ofus is standing guard, just for
safety, and I've heard that alot when you're in grizzly area
that, yeah, one person isprepping everything and one
person is standing guard.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
And we're not doing like we're not, messing around
Like we're not, and I'm going totake the bear down to a certain
degree and throw them on ourpacks and we're going to get out
of there Because, yes, you'verang the dinner bell, so there's
an audible sound to thegrizzlies, but also they have,
just like the black bear, anincredible sense of smell.
So they're going to smell thecarcass, right, and so you need
to, you need to not be lingeringforever.
(40:30):
Get the job done, get yourstuff and get out.
You know the job done.
Get your stuff and get out.
You know, be careful, and it'speople can freak out because, oh
, it's grizzly terrible, and youknow they're trying to go too
fast and cut themselves with theno, just slow down, be
deliberate, just do the jobright.
But you, you got to be carefulwhere you're at.
If there's no pressures, notime pressures, then then I
might do a little more work inthe field than I would normally.
(40:51):
Maybe I'll take the paws outthere, so I don't have to carry
them.
It just depends on what kind oftime of day it is.
Are we just before dark and Ineed to get out?
Well then, I'm not going to dothat fine work there.
I'm going to take them apartand put them on my back and go.
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (41:17):
So what kind of?
And for multi-state,everybody's got different rules
about what they need to do asfar as maybe what kind of
samples that biological samplesthat they need, or transporting
right bare cross-state lines orparts hides whatnot so.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
So there's a lot to that and it goes back to
educating ourselves.
So when we go to a new state,what are their rules.
And then, even if you've been inwashington a years, right, you
check the rules every year tosee if there's any changes.
You know, god forbid you misssomething.
So if the state classifies themas a furbearer, then there's
(41:47):
some different rules attached tothat.
So, like Idaho, they seal thehide.
You have to take it in, have itinspected.
Take it in, have it inspected.
They seal the hide and they'regoing to take the tooth sample
from it, which Washington justmade a mandatory rule that we
have to turn in the teeth of ourbiological samples.
That just happened this year.
It's in the rigs.
I checked it to make sure Iknow they were voting on it, but
(42:07):
they did actually.
It did actually become rule.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
So all of the teeth or just one of them?
Speaker 2 (42:12):
No, just the one behind the canine.
Okay, so you'll have to get atooth sample and envelope and
turn it in.
They're pretty easy to take outreally.
I've done a lot.
So when you've got your beardown, you're going to put a
stick in his mouth so you canget those tooth samples out
later.
Really important, so that Imean, if he rigor mortis sets in
(42:33):
, you got a heck of a timegetting that tooth out.
So put some kind of littlestick in his mouth to keep the
jaw propped open so you can getthat tooth out, oh, okay.
Some of the states it's notmandatory, but they ask for on
the sow that if you take a sowthat you turn in the uterus and
ovaries.
I'm not sure what they'restudying for that, but that's
just one of the things thatthey're asking for.
(42:55):
It just again, it depends onthe state.
Just make sure you read theregulations.
I have people all the time thatsay could you come to a seminar
and would you tell us the rules?
No, I won't tell you the rules.
You are personally responsibleto know the rules for the state
you're in.
You know not that crazy ladythat hunts pears all the time
said I could do this.
You know you are responsible toread and make sure you know
what you're doing.
Speaker 1 (43:16):
And so we get a lot of those questions too.
Well, what's especially nowwith the CWD?
What can?
I do with that and I you knowmy stance is what I've told.
Everybody is like look, theyhave unlimited resources to come
after you if you've broken thelaw.
Do you have unlimited resourcesto defend yourself, then you
better know what you're doingand err on the side of caution.
(43:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:39):
A lot of states require evidence of sex that's
pretty standard anymore to beattached to the hide.
Some states do not require youto take the meat out, which
whatever.
I have very deep thoughts aboutthat.
Speaker 1 (43:52):
What do you mean?
Take the meat out, they're afur bearer so you can hide.
Speaker 2 (43:55):
You can.
They're a fur bearer, so youcan shoot them and take just the
hide and leave the meat.
Oh.
I know.
Speaker 1 (44:01):
Yeah.
That's not true in Washingtonstate just to work clear yeah,
you have to take, you do.
Speaker 2 (44:05):
And then you should.
That's just my own personal.
You know bear is delicious itis.
I don't understand thiscomputer everything anymore.
(44:30):
I like paper.
Paper's good, it always works.
So anyhow, that's a wholenother thing.
The next thing that shouldhappen is prepping of the hide,
because you're going to break itdown into meat, but you want
the hide cut in an appropriateway, so before you've even left,
long long before you found ataxidermist that you like and
you've talked to them and you'veasked them how do you prefer to
(44:52):
receive a hide, and becausethey're different in how they
want things, and so I'm going totalk to them and and getting a
feel for that particulartaxidermist and how they want
that hide to come to them, andthen they might have some
specific, you know, do this, dothat for the type of mount that
I wanted, and I'll take thatinto the field.
(45:12):
I've been working with the sametaxidermist for a long time and
he does an excellent job onbears, and so I know what I need
to do for him.
Speaker 1 (45:22):
But I'll go in.
Feel free to mention his nameif you want to drum up some more
business for him.
I'm okay with that, yeah.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
So yeah, that's Steve with Washougal Taxidermy.
Okay, and the poor guy.
You know, I'll bring him a bearand I kind of want a rug but
not a rug.
So I've taken a lot of bears,okay, so now I hang them by
their nose because, there's onlyso much wall space so I'll hang
them by their nose.
But basically what I want is arug without it being rugged.
(45:50):
I want the prep work that theyput into a rug, meaning the hide
is stretched, it's blocked outback to its original size after
tanning, the lips are turned,the ears are turned right side
out, so there's any trimmingthat might need to be done.
So it's a clean, nice look andthen it's more of a softer tan
so it can hang and not be likecardboard.
(46:11):
You know, yeah, yeah.
But without the felt behind itand the sewing and all the
things.
So that's how I have a lot ofmine done, but that's a lot of
prep work.
There's a lot of work in that.
So there's that.
When you look at a bear, Ithink it's really important if
you've never ever cut a bearever to go online and look at
some of the videos that are outthere.
There's a lot of good ones.
(46:32):
It'll give you a really goodidea of how to make the cuts.
They're odd creatures and itwould seem like it's, you know,
a simple thing, but it's not.
And I see a lot of badly cutbears online and I just cringe.
I just have to look away.
Like don't look at it becausethey just cut it wrong.
So educating yourself.
The best world is to havesomebody in the field with you
(46:56):
that's done, a lot of bearers,that can show you the right way
to cut them.
If I'm going to do a shouldermount, then I'm going to cut
along the spine area so thatthey can.
So that's where the height isthe thickest right.
Okay so they're going to be ableto make that look really clean.
If you cut the belly like youwould for a rug, that's where
the hide is the thickest, right.
Okay, so they're going to beable to make that look really
clean.
If you cut the belly like youwould for a rug, that's the
thinnest part on the bear andthat's going to be harder for
(47:18):
them to hide the seaming thatthey're going to have to do.
Speaker 1 (47:21):
Oh, that's interesting Because, yeah, as a
novice myself, I would justassume that you would cut along
the belly.
Speaker 2 (47:28):
Yeah, that would be a rug mount and you want your
cuts as square to each other asyou can get.
That way, when the bear is laidout for the rug, he will be
symmetrical.
It's really important.
If you're off a little bit,then they may have to trim, they
may have to cut and sew to puther back together again.
It just depends on the peopleyou're with and how
(47:51):
knowledgeable they are.
The other things that make ittough, because I'm a
perfectionist.
I just am Like I've got enoughbears now that I know what I'm
doing and I want it perfect andI'm very hard on myself if it's
not perfect.
But there's no flat ground,right, like I don't know about
most people, but when I'm out inthe woods there's no perfectly
(48:11):
flat spot to work on this darnbear and so you're trying to get
square cuts and he's rollingaround and you know, and it's
steep and and yeah, and you'retrying not to lose your, your
witness here, and and people arelike it's okay.
I'm like no, it's not exactlyperfectly straight, you know,
especially if it's someoneelse's bear, and I've taken them
out and it's their first bear,I want it absolutely perfect for
(48:32):
them so they can get the bestmount possible.
So those are all importantthings.
And heat I'm always concernedabout heat when it comes to meat
.
I don't care whether it's adeer, an elk, a bear, whatever.
You want to get that meatcooling down, and so we're
getting it packed out.
Maybe I will try to bundle itwhere it's on my backpack, but
(48:53):
it's not.
It needs to be cinched down.
So it's on there, not going tocome off.
But you want air to be able toget to it, so I don't want to
wrap it in the center ofsomething, right?
So all that heat is caught inyour backpack, your day pack,
whatever.
I want it to help dissipate, soI try to put it to the exterior
(49:13):
of the pack so wind or whatevercan help cool them, cool me down
as we're walking out, hikingout.
And the same with the hide.
You don't want any, any kind ofropes or ties or whatever that
could rub on the nose and andleave a bald spot on your bare
hide.
You know, just being cognizantof things like that and being
careful.
And then I myself can take theskull out and the paws and you
(49:34):
know I'll take it down to thelast knuckle there, it's not a
problem.
But I do not turn the lips andI don't turn the ears because
those are really really advancedsubjects.
I would call them and I don'tfeel competent enough and I am
enough of a perfectionist that Idon't touch them.
I know better, because I willbe really upset with myself, but
they're not exactly perfect.
So, and there's nothing wrongwith that Getting it to your
(49:57):
taxidermist, they can do that.
Finish work.
Your face on a bear hide willbe some of the first places to
slip, so you want to make sureyou get the skull out.
Let it cool down.
I bring a little portablefreezer with us and a generator
so that I can cool that hidedown as quickly as possible, and
the same with the meat and keepit fresh and in good working
(50:21):
order.
I'll call it.
You don't want, I don't wantthe meat to freeze.
Right then and there right.
It needs to age, but I want itcold, especially when it's 90
degrees out.
You know you don't want anybone rot or anything like that.
So I'll cut the bone out andput it in there, and then you
know if you're going to freezethe bear.
Really important, make sure youdon't try to salt it first.
(50:42):
I don't know what the thinkingis.
What do you do when it's icyoutside?
Right, you throw salt on thedriveway.
Don't salt your bear and thentry to freeze it.
Don't do that.
Speaker 1 (50:53):
I've actually never heard of that.
Speaker 2 (50:55):
So, and it doesn't matter whether you're going to
salt it or you're going tofreeze it, you want to get as
much of that fat off as you can,because it just holds that heat
into the flesh.
So I try to get and the fat isa precious resource, too right
that you can render it down, soright that you can render it
(51:21):
down, so I'm not just chuckingit like a like a heathen oh, but
I want it off the hide.
Speaker 1 (51:23):
so, and that hide for you render it down, for we'll
call it lard for and boot greasemaking biscuits, all the things
, okay, so, and I think that wassomething that I've wondered in
the past and I didn't thinkabout writing it down is the
gaminess?
I?
You know, I would have thoughtbear fat, probably gamey.
Speaker 2 (51:36):
You want to leave it, but no, okay, it's a prized,
prized position.
People make lip balm out of it,they make hand lotions, I mean
there's all kinds of things youcan do, yeah.
Speaker 1 (51:48):
Okay, resource, use everything.
Speaker 2 (51:50):
So you know on, on the spring bears, you're
probably not going to get much.
You're just not because they'recoming out of the den pretty
underweight, but in the fallthey're they're chock full of it
okay.
Speaker 1 (52:01):
Well, I think I think we've covered it three a little
over three hours worth ofcontent here.
So, yeah, hopefully we've goteverybody at a place where they
can have a good start for bearhunting.
But thank you very much forcoming on.
Besides the sportsman shows,you always do seminars there.
(52:23):
You're at Puyallup and Portland.
Are you at any others?
Speaker 2 (52:28):
Not for sportsman shows.
Okay.
We, you know, I'll do seminarsfor different places, it just
depends on what's coming on.
People ask me to come speak forthem, and so I'll go.
I'll go talk to them, but youknow, the ladies camp and the
kids camp that the Yowls put onis something that we always go
to, but year round, you know,we're in the shop building tents
(52:49):
or we're out hunting.
That's what we do.
Speaker 1 (52:51):
Okay, if somebody wanted to.
Actually because we've hadpeople from hunting clubs, local
hunting clubs what's the bestway to reach you?
Speaker 2 (53:09):
They can email me at Heather that's H-E-A-T-H-E-R, at
bravotents, T-E-N-T-S dot com,and depending on what time, of
year and stuff it is.
Speaker 1 (53:13):
if I'm not busy, I'll come talk to them.
Yeah, If you're contacted inspring.
Speaker 2 (53:17):
Yeah, good luck.
Speaker 1 (53:23):
Because that was one of the things where I emailed
and I think it had been a coupleof weeks, hadn't heard anything
and Dave looked at me.
He's like she's out bearhunting, yep, and sure enough,
like two days later.
Hey, sorry for taking a while.
I was out bear hunting.
Speaker 2 (53:34):
Yep, just got back.
Yeah, so bear to put up and youknow, cut up and put it in the
freezer and all the things, soyeah.
Speaker 1 (53:41):
Great Well, again, thank you for joining us and
passing along.
We like to educate everybody onwhat they're doing out there.
And, yeah, it's made me moreexcited, for this was the first
year I was actually seriouslyconsidering bear hunting, and so
this has got me a little moreexcited towards that.
Oh, that's my job All right.
(54:02):
Thanks for joining us and we'lltalk to you again next week.
Thank you.
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