nateNAU Report post Posted May 28, 2022 I was able to connect on this bear this morning with my 6 year old son in tow. Gun was a Smith and Wesson 29 classic hunter. 32 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nateNAU Report post Posted May 28, 2022 Real spotty service out here. Will do a better write up tomorrow 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigorange Report post Posted May 28, 2022 Awesome…especially with your son along. Congrats! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stanley Report post Posted May 28, 2022 Heck ya!!!! That’s awesome! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Roosevelt Mark Report post Posted May 28, 2022 Looks like he has been playing in the water somewhere. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zeke-BE Report post Posted May 28, 2022 Wow congrats and great time with the son 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZHunter1 Report post Posted May 30, 2022 Very cool. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eli Report post Posted May 30, 2022 Congrats, that’s awesome! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nateNAU Report post Posted June 1, 2022 We have finally settled back in at home so it time for a write up about our hunt. I have had a burning itch for a bear the last few years. I was talking to a good friend who is a guide and he pointed me in the right direction of a generally good area and a particular tank. I ran a cam there for a few years and made a few day trips to hunt it. I had many close calls, but no luck. Twice I had sows with cubs come in and more than a few times I had missed a legal bear by a day after I checked my trail cams. I knew from past years trail cam photos that this time of year a bear hits the tank at least every other day. My son finished kindergarten last Thursday, and didn't start his summer camps till after memorial day. I figured if I took Friday off and hunted with him for 4 days in a row we should have a very decent chance at a bear. I loaded the truck up Thursday morning, and when he got out of his last day of school we hit the road. We finally got to our camping spot around 10:00 and set up camp. Where the tank is, is about 5 rough miles from where we camped. Our camping location is where we javi hunt and has cell service. Gives mom peace of mind to check in at night. Friday morning we loaded the truck and headed up the mountain. We put up our pop-up blind and spent time brushing it in. Within about 2 minutes of finishing and settling in we had a young Jake turkey come in and give us a good show. When he left the tank he walked within about 3 yards of our blind. At the 15 minute mark we had a big coatamundi come in. Already I'm getting excited. I've sat this tank probably 100 hours over the past few years and in the spring/summer hardly anything comes in. It just seemed like a good day for animal movement. At the 30 minute mark I set my kid up on his i-pad and I pull out my book, getting ready for the long haul of sitting 15 hours a day for 4 days. While I am reading, I I pull my head up and scan every paragraph. This area is tight with some topography and the vegitation really shot up the past few weeks, so there are a lot of approaches a bear could take that you would see till they are right up at the tank. At the 45 min mark I pull my head up at see this bear already at the tank! I get my son's attention and he stands right over my shoulder. I told he we are going to watch and make sure there are no cubs with it. After a few minutes of watching and paying attention to see if the bear is looking around like it's looking for cubs to fallow I decide this is a solo bear. I tell him to plug his ear and get ready for a shot. The bear is a pretty, fluffy, stereotypical black bear. It is standing up on the rim of the tank drinking, slightly quartering towards up. I aim for the shoulder at 50 yards and squeeze. The bear goes stiff, and drops right in the tank. After I collect myself, we make our way to the tank. The bear sank right to the bottom and the water has no visibility in it. It took a while to finally noodle around a find it and pull in up. Not a monster, but a decent pretty sow. We tag it, head back to camp and take some pics and start cutting it up. I was expecting a long, gruelling weekend trying to keep a 6 year old happy and we were all done and finished in an hour and a half. I told my son that it can go in his room and let him pic out the taxidermy because he is always a good sport and always willing to go on any hunt with me. He decided on a bear rug which will go great in his room. Logistically, shooting a bear on memorial day weekend is not the best as I couldn't check in my bear, contact a taxidermist or a meat processor. We decided to process the bear ourselves and did breakfast sausage, brats, jerky, roasts and cured hams. So far the breakfast sausage and jerky has been awesome! 10 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eli Report post Posted June 1, 2022 Great write up and awesome story! Thanks for taking the time to share. Hunting with kids is such a rewarding/frustrating/all around good time. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
campmeat Report post Posted June 1, 2022 These are the memories he will never forget ! Thanks for sharing. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lonne Report post Posted June 1, 2022 Great job! Well done!!! Enjoy!!! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
