Garden State Outdoors Kickoff

SPEAKER_01 0:00

This is the Garden State Outdoors and Podcast. Built on early alarms, muddy boots, and stories that only the woods can write. New Jersey is one of the most underappreciated states in the outdoors. And little do they know what it really holds. From hard-earned public land deer to waterfowl, predators, and everything in between. This state produces more than people give it credit for. Now let's dial in with the men and women around the state of New Jersey who live this life every day. In New Jersey, excuses don't survive. Only the grinders do. Alright, everyone, what's up? We are back for another segment of the Field Notes. And holy cow, we had a busy week here in New Jersey. It was our Archery Bear Week segment A. And we are joined by no other Mr. Only Bose himself, the great African safari hunter, turned Bear Hunter. Welcome, welcome back to the show. It's been a while. Of course. It looked incredible.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

Well, it was terrible. I mean, I really don't want to ruin it for everybody that's listening, but I mean, I sat out in the stand for six straight days, didn't see anything, and you know, I ate tag soup this year.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

Yeah, I mean, we that that's why we got you on. We we wanted to uh to give the the listeners here a boring episode and somebody who just can't kill anything. So that that's exactly why you got the right guy, bro. I don't know what

Daily Bear Harvest Numbers Breakdown

SPEAKER_01 2:05

to tell you. Well, before we get into the boring week of of bear hunting with with Chris and him not seeing anything and just wasting his time and everything like that, we're gonna give you a daily harvest update brought to you by I gotta give American Mike from Back Damn Productions a great shout out. He kept us informed on Instagram every every day. Um, so on uh oh wait, for some reason we don't have day one. Okay, day one there. We had in zone one, 31 harvest, zone two, 25, zone three, 28, zone four, twenty-three, and zone five with three. That and that was something we were talking about. If you know, for you guys who are not in Jersey, like zone five usually has one a year, usually it's like one, and I I heard it's like the same guy, and everything like that. So there was three on opening day. Sounds like the bears are are definitely moving. Um either that or he found two friends, or yeah, yeah, he means uh crazy, crazy, crazy. Uh in total 100 110 for day one. Um day two was zone one, twenty one, zone two, seventeen, zone three, nineteen, zone four, twelve, and zone five with two, making the total five over. Listen, I don't know. I don't know. The bears are are are moving for sure down there. Um, giving us the total obviously 71. And then day three, which was was that the rainy day, or was no Thursday was the rainy day, or was that Friday?

SPEAKER_00 3:50

No, Wednesday it rained.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Was it Wednesday? Yeah, Wednesday, midday it was it was pouring. So we had 10, 14, 19, 5, and 0 with the 48. And then we had you're right, you had um day four, which was 1420, 22, 22, and then zero, bringing the number back up to 78 for the day. Um, and then we had which was a slow day, which I think was a rainy day. Was no, I think Friday was the rainy day. Friday, I think, poured all day. And we had like a yeah, I think Friday poured all day. Um, we had 10, 5, 5, 1, and 0. Only 21 bears killed that day. And then the last day, which was a really windy day, I've never had success. A lot of the guys that were on windy days are are always rough for for bear hunting. We had 11, 10, 8, 4, and 1, given number 34. Um, for those of you guys yet again who don't

Weather And What Moves Bears

SPEAKER_01 5:00

know, on Thursday started our muzzle odor part of the season. So Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday here in Jersey, it's bow hunting only. On Thursday, Friday, Saturday, it's bow and muzzle loader as well. Um correct, Mike, that was that was brand new this year, if I remember correctly, right? No, no, they that's been it's been like that for the last couple years. Has it actually no? It's been like that since since the beginning, since they brought the archery um hunting for for bear back in right before the the last year that they had it before we got the ban. Um, it was bow and then muzzle loader. Um, it's always been muzzle loader, but I you know, I don't I know guys muzzle loader, obviously muzzle loader hunt and everything like that. I'd be pretty interested to see kind of like the the number breakdown. Um, if they could give us what how many people harvested with with the muzzle loader and everything like that. But um, it's been a thing. I just I don't know. I I never really thought of too many people use the muzzle loader. I mean, obviously, definitely people are, but I feel like there's just a lot of diehard bow hunters. Um, and if anyone saw, I think um Would you say that those are guys that are using only bows? There you go. Look at that. Um, yes, those guys were using only bows, everybody. Um shout out to only bows. Um, but yeah, I I I don't know. I know Merrick and Mike shot one with the muzzle loader. Yeah, um, the last 15 minutes. Buzzer beater. Um, one buzzer beater bear. Uh, for those you don't know, he shot it right in the head. Uh um dropped it right in its tracks. Um and then yeah, just like a overall, like a pretty good week. Um, I was on bears basically 24-7. I mean, the first hour I had a bear at 10 yards and it just caught me off guard. So what basically happened? I get in, I get set up, we're hunting, and my phone goes off. And it's one of the, you know, one of the guys, and he sh thought he shot a bear. So, you know, you're you're like, oh, okay, like cool. Like, you know, you start texting, like, all right, am I gonna have to get down? Am I gonna have to go help track? Am I gonna have to go go, you know, drag and you're get you're getting all the details, so you're on you're on your phone and everything like that. Um turns out he forgot to uh to set his uh his sights and change the site, and he shot right over the back. Um, but I guess in between that time, a bear popped out right in front of me. So when I looked up, there he was, couldn't grab my but where I was and where the bear was, I couldn't make a dash. Like I tried as slowly as I can to reach for the bow, everything like that. By the time I grabbed my bow, he was already heading off, and he was on a a course at that point. So, you know, I got some footage and everything like that. Um, that's why you should not be on your phone, ladies and gentlemen. Even if somebody kills something, uh do not be on your phone the first hour of opening day for any season. Um and then yeah, like we just went from there, saw a bear uh in the afternoon. Um, had another opportunity at um at a bear on Wednesday or third whenever whenever the day was. So we we were on them. One of our team guys he shot one camp. There was a bunch of bears shot and everything like that. Um, overall, just a really, really great bear season. Weather was was pretty great for the most part, besides the rain and the and the wind. And um, yeah, I mean, I love bear hunting. I think it's one of the best things of of the year, um, and something I look forward to. And I know Chris now is on two two boat uh two bears and and everything like that. And you know, it's just a great time. I wish Jersey would change things up a little bit. Um, you know, I mean, maybe give us a little more time to hunt them at this this point of the season because I think you're looking at I think the total yet again was only 300 and what was it? Um it was a low number, 362 less this year than last year. Yep.

Season Rules Bow And Muzzleloader

SPEAKER_01 9:40

It's and they you know they oh they look for a target and they're doing a whole management thing and and everything like that. They look for a target. Um, I think like the minimum was like 500 for the first, like what they want to be at, I think, for for this week is 500. We fell well well short of that. Um and you know, yet again, like it's tough if you only have six days of bear hunting. How many guys are taking off all week? Not many, most people are still working and everything like that. And then you have a let's just say Friday, you had the whole rainy day. Most people probably didn't get out in the woods. Um, you had um the rainy day. So the rainy day where it rained all day, you had 21 bears only shot, and then the really windy day, you only had 34 bears. So you really look at it, you only had those three days, those four other days of decent hunting, you know what I mean? And you can't hunt over bait like we know, you gotta be a hundred yards away, away from bait and everything like that, which brings down the success of harvesting bears and and everything like that. So I don't know. It's I would like them to start maybe one week early if they're gonna change anything. And we're talking about this a camp. And I wonder what you would have to think about this quick, Chris. The do it one week early that first week, archery only, six days archery only, and then instead of having the December season, you do it then the next week, and then you could do like the muzzle loader and the shotgun, and you know, the archery, and just have it all in those two weeks because you would probably get to your number and your quota.

SPEAKER_00 11:28

Well, here's my thoughts on it after after kind of studying a little bit. I think that the season should be two weeks earlier, and I I'm with you that it should be for two consecutive

Management Debate Bait And Timing

SPEAKER_00 11:40

weeks. Um, I I don't like that Jersey has the rule um that during the shotgun season it's shotgun only, it's not any sense.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

Um and and real quick, Chris, I because I don't know how much you know of it, it's during six days, and anyone for out of state during six day for deer, you can kill any, you could kill two deer with any weapon. So you can and you can claim it under. So if I'm going out to bow hunt and I'm using my six-day firearm tag, I can use my bow, but I cannot bear hunt with a bow during that time. It makes absolutely no sense. It kind of goes all also, my opinion, with the baiting, too. You can hunt deer over bait, but you can't hunt bears over bait.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

But yes, yeah, and I, you know, in New York, it's it's any, you know, during bow season, it's bow season. During rifle season, if you want to go out with a bow, you want to go out with crossbow, you want to go out with a muzzle loader, whatever, whatever you want, go ahead. It's the regular season, it's all there is to it. Um, we can't bait in New York. Um, I think honestly, the the answer is for Jersey, if they want to get the numbers up, I think you know you're right about that. You can hunt deer right at you could sit right on top of a moultry feeder with a tree stand for deer, but for bear, you have to be a football field away. To me, that doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. Um I I really think that if they were, you know, and I get it, there's a lot of anti-hunter sentiment in New Jersey, especially when it comes to the bear hunting, but allowing hunters to hunt over bait, um, it's definitely going to increase success rates. Um, those harvest numbers are gonna go way up. I think hunting uh a little bit earlier would definitely help increase um increase success rates, uh, making the season maybe a little bit longer, even if it's you know, even like we were talking about putting them back to back, um, but also allowing that only, you know, or uh any implement during the rifle season, because the property that I hunt on, it's it's private property. I can only hunt there with a bow. Um so that even if I wanted to go out during the late season, I I have to find one of my other spots. The the spot that I sit at regularly, I can't hunt that property with anything but archery equipment. So that kind of puts me out of the late season. Um, and I don't think I don't think that's conducive to good conservation management because the amount of the, I mean, let's face it, the amount of bears that were taken this year during segment A are going to be repopulated this winter, if if not more. We we definitely didn't, you know, bridge the or uh or or cross that threshold. And I don't think during the firearm season, you know, they're gonna put up great numbers. Usually during the firearm season, they're putting up less numbers than the archery season. So I, you know, it kind of a dismal harvest this year. And I think the bear population is is going to rise next year, and and the unless changes are made in the legislation, I really don't think that they're going to get the harvest quotas that they that they're expecting.

SPEAKER_01 15:09

I agree. Um, I definitely uh agree. And I think also like another thing for you look for the December season, too, is especially last year, you look at all the snow that we had. And I'll I'll tell you, like, I remember six days I was having, I had I think bears, I think like the first two days, two days, and then after that, nothing because I think we got hit with the snowstorm and everything like that, and we had snow out for what probably like a month and a half, two months, and everything like that. So, you know, the the the bear number also just heavily just decreases by by that time. Um, and you add it's one thing to get away with when we've been having um those warmer winters like we've we've had, and there's there's tons of food sources and everything like that. It's the same thing with deer, like you you see the deer pattern, everything like that. It's not as compact and constricted because we've been having really warm winters, but we had a really cold winter last year, and so far the predictions for this winter is supposed to be cold and snowy and everything like that again. So you are not going to hit your quota, you know what I mean. You're you're you're not, you're you're just making it, and I think yet again you're appeasing the the anti-hunters and everything like that, you know what I mean. But if you're truly looking for management, like like you were saying, and everything like that, like there are different ways to go about it. There are things that they gotta come up with and and fix this, and I think that December season is it's it's too late by then. Um, and also yet again, if you're doing management like hunting over bait, like most states do, unless you're a no baiting state like a PA. PA just has no baiting no matter what you do, but they have, I think you could chase bears for at least like a month, month and a half. You know what I mean? Anyone from PA, please. I think that's what it is.

SPEAKER_00 17:27

We can't bait up here, but you know, our bear season is you depending on where you are in the state, like we have a pretty long bear season. So I mean, if you're out there chasing bears, and it starts early, like we can start hunting bears in September. So in reality, if you you know, if you want to get out there and chase bears, you I mean you can, but again, you're not hunting them over bait, you have to go to the bears, they're not gonna come to you. Um and ironically, both states don't have a bear problem, allegedly.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

Allegedly, allegedly. Um, I I think you know what yeah, we we have a bear problem. We have a lot of bears. I think you know, we have more bears than than PA.

SPEAKER_00 18:11

Um I mean, arguably New Jersey has the the highest black bear density in the country.

SPEAKER_01 18:18

It's between us and North Carolina, for if I'm not mistaken. Um, but we are the smallest of the states. You know what I mean? So it's a it's a really and you look at it too, that's only half the state because there's none in South in South Jersey. There are maybe like there's maybe like one or two, like I've heard there's like one or two or like a few in the pine, but there's no hunnible bear population in South Jersey. Um, so you're really looking at the the top portion of of the state that holds, and especially Sussex County, that holds a lot of these of these bears and and everything like that. Um but yeah, I mean, I don't know. It's I think uh you're you're gonna hear us complain, and everyone's gonna hear us complain for years and years and years and years. Do I think anything's ever gonna really change? No, unfortunately. You know what I mean? But we also have to be lucky enough that we do have a bear season just at all in New Jersey, yeah, compared to what we had to deal with a couple years ago when they when they banned it and then realized this isn't smart and how dangerous of a of a situation this is, and and everything like that.

SPEAKER_00 19:35

So no, I I I would agree. And I, you know, listen, it's not like they're not gonna continue building in New Jersey as long as that they're gonna keep putting houses and developments in areas where these bears live, it's the they there's only so many places the bears can go. And it unless you really want to control the population to where it's it's sustainable and not just safe for humans, but safe for the bears, um the something really needs to change at at a legislative level. And I, you know, I kind of agree with you. I think it'll get worse before it gets worse.

SPEAKER_01 20:15

I agree. I I I definitely agree. Um, what what is it so like

Prep Stress Baiting Cameras And Clients

SPEAKER_01 20:20

for for your experience? And um I know you're you're hunting alongside with Rob and everything like that, and you guys are are doing kind of what you're doing. So when does your I feel like we we went over maybe this a little bit last year, but you know, what'd your preparation look like this year? Like when did it start for you? Um and and everything like that for for your upcoming season.

SPEAKER_00 20:44

So this year was a little bit tough, and you know, uh as we've spoken about, like Rob and I do a little bit of guiding. Um, again, like we don't we don't take clients, we don't take money. It's usually the people that we're taking out are first-time hunters, veterans, women, kids, things like that. Like we're not we don't guide because we want to make money and we don't charge people for this. Really, it's just it's about getting people out there and and hoping that they have a good time. Um, so again, this year we, you know, we were able to to get a couple people that we brought out. We ended up um I brought out one of my friends. Um he he's he's a young kid and and you know, I I hunt with him pretty regularly, and he'd never been bear hunting in Jersey. So it was a good opportunity to get him out. Um, we also brought out a father and daughter. Um, she's in high school, and he really, you know, he'd never been bear hunting. It was something that his daughter wanted to do, so we agreed to take them out this year as well. Too. Um this year it was tough. Uh, you know, Rob and I both had a lot on our plates. Um, so baiting was we we really didn't get out as much this year as we have in in previous years. Um Not to mention, as we were leading up to the season, it was just repetitive weekends of heavy rains, heavy rains, heavy rains, heavy rains. And really, I think that that kind of affected us because you know, if we're free on the weekends and that's when we can go out and we're setting up five, six, seven different spots, it's you know, you're looking at almost a whole day's activity. If it's raining that whole time, I mean, you're you're finished. You're not getting out there and putting bait out because the bait's gonna be soaking wet and the bears aren't gonna want to eat it. So it really wasn't until the ear, like just before, you know, I would say a couple weeks before the season that we were actually able to get out and really bait with any any kind of intensity. Um and we did we were able to set up five spots, we were, you know, we had cameras out, and we were able to, we were able to start making a plan. Uh, it was it was tough. Um, and you know, towards the end, Rob ended up his schedule wouldn't let him hunt. And I mean, it was terrible that Rob couldn't get in the woods this year, but I mean, you know, I'm gonna do what I can to make sure he's out there next year and slams a good bear. But you know, our our preparations this year were minimal at best. Um you know, like I like I said, there was there was a lot of you know, life got in the way, weather got in the way. It it was it was tough in the weeks leading up to bear season. Um, I I was all you know I I I work pretty, you know, pretty hard. I'm currently building brand new subway tunnels in New York City. So I I really could only take like three days off.

SPEAKER_01 23:48

Gosh, building New York, you need to stop building New York. That place just needs to fall apart already.

SPEAKER_00 23:53

Hey, listen, it pays the bills. What can I say?

SPEAKER_01 23:55

It does pay the bills. So you can go to so you can go to Africa and Alaska and all of that.

SPEAKER_00 24:00

As long as the checks keep coming, I'll keep doing whatever they tell me to do. But um, you know, I was only able to take three days, you know, to dedicate three days off for this. So really, you know, it was kind of crunch time coming into the to the weeks and even days before the season, really getting things set up and ready to go. Um, so yeah, all right, like I said, all right, it was it was kind of stressful uh coming into the season. We you know, didn't really know what to expect. And I said, Hey, we're we're gonna go out and we're gonna give it our all. Um, the clients that we took out, I you know, they were very appreciative. You know, they they just kind of wanted to get out and have a good time. We told them, listen, like we're gonna, we're gonna set you up, we're gonna do our best and and let's see what happens. Um, the forecast for opening day was supposed to be rain, which you know wasn't uh, you know, it it didn't look good. I mean, I said, screw it, I shot my bear last year in the middle of that nor'easter. So I you know, that's what I told them. I said, listen, you it could happen. Like, I'm not saying that if you know, if it's raining, don't go because I went out, it was raining.

SPEAKER_01 25:10

You just never know. It's hunting, and you never you just never know. It's hunting, like anything could happen. Yes, it's not ideal, especially for bears and everything like, but you shot a giant. Like, I feel like we had a couple, a lot, a couple of good bears shot last year in the in that rain, uh, in that northeastern and everything like that, too. So it it can happen.

SPEAKER_00 25:32

And I s and I saw a bunch of bears that day, like in the rain, in the wind, everything. And I'm I'm not gonna say that maybe that helped because there was really no way for the bear to smell, like it wasn't just a gentle breeze that could carry your scent. It was like your scent was here and gone, and that rain was keeping scent down, and it was I honestly, I think it was actually pretty good bear hunting conditions, in my opinion, because it the rain was cold, so obviously they'd want to get up, they'd want to eat something. Um there were breaks in the rain where they would cut, you know, they're animals, they live in the rain. They don't they're they're gonna come out, but if there's a break in the rain, they're definitely gonna come out and try and eat something. So, you know, that was my mindset going in. If it's gonna rain, I'm going out and bringing my rain gear. We've done it before, we'll do it again. Um, so leading up to opening day, you know, we had got everything ready. Everybody knew where they were gonna be sitting. Um the one kid that that uh that I was bringing out, I I, you know, I drove him down, I dropped him off at his spot, then I would proceed to my spot where I sat. I was kind of um, and I'm not gonna tell everybody where I hunt, but I'm a zone three hunter. Um, and I was kind of situated in the middle of of the people that we were that I was taking out. Now, again, Rob wasn't wasn't with us, so it was kind of on me to to make sure everything was good. So I was situated. Um, we're kind of on like this six-mile stretch, and or yeah, it's kind of like a six-mile stretch, and I'm sitting right uh in the middle between the two clo, you know, the two groups of clients that are two miles down the road in either direction. Um so yeah, so that was that was leading into

Opening Day Bears Up Close

SPEAKER_00 27:20

opening day. Uh, you know, got into the stand opening day. It was, you know, I expected rain, no rain, no, you know, I didn't end up having to put my rain gear on. And it it was it was actually quite a nice day, which was kind of a surprise. You know, it's really like the forecast flipped like somewhere in the middle of the night and and took me by surprise.

SPEAKER_01 27:43

I feel like the last three years of bear season, opening day has always been crappy, and it's always been like a really shitty thing. Um, we got it on Sunday, which for for me, I'm so sick and tired of setting up my tent or camping or whatever in the pouring rain, and it was just absolutely pouring. Um, but it was nice that we actually opening day was not shitty like it was supposed to be shitty. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:15

So I, you know, I was able to stay in contact with everybody. Everybody, you know, was all right. I'm set up, I'm good, we're all good. Um, and I and I actually had a I I think I had the least action out of everybody on opening day. I had a very, you know, this is this is where I get into the all right, no shit. There I was. I was in the mountains of Limpopo. It was me and my rifle and my trusty, you know, my trusty PH is with me. I have my knife in my hand.

SPEAKER_01 28:43

No, but you have your you have your spoon in your hand.

SPEAKER_00 28:46

I have my rusty spoon in my hand, and I'm ready to take the Cape Buffalo between the eyes. So, you know, I I I'm kind of trying to stay in contact, and and everybody was was kind of seeing bears. The the the father-daughter, they uh, you know, they were they saw a ton of bears and they were having a which was great. I'm glad that they were able to see a lot of bears. Um, the kid that I was with, he had one come in uh early in the day. It it you know, he couldn't really get uh a size on it because it was kind of a little bit in the distance and kind of skirted around him. So, but at least he was seeing something. I had a very quiet day, opening day. It wasn't until um probably about three, I will I want to say like two, three o'clock uh when the first bear came in. He was probably a hundred and fifty-pound bear. He really was he wasn't big, um, but he he came in, he came right in front of me at 10 yards. Um and again, I I didn't reach for my bow. He wasn't the bear I was looking for, and I just started I started taking pictures of him. That was it. Just got some video, got some photos, and it was nice to see something. So then we were all, you know, kind of sharing back and forth. And later in the day, I had a pair of cubs come in, and you know, for anybody who's not a bear hunter, um, being being up close and personal with with bears is it's a totally different experience than bear hunting or uh deer hunting. It's you know, they're they're just cool animals to watch, and it's just it's it's an almost indescribable feeling, like just watching them. And one of the things that I like is is seeing the little bears, like the little cubs came in and they were playing with each other. They came around, they were sniffing the area, and I I they probably caught wind of me at some point because the wind was swirling a little bit and they pushed they pushed off into the swamp. Um, but it was cool. I got some cool pictures, I got some cool video, and sometimes, you know, I it's like I've told people some of my best times hunting. I I've never reached for a weapon. Um, like one of my most memorable times, waterfowl hunting. I never picked up my shotgun. I was sitting, I was sitting on a marsh behind a log, smoking a cigar, and I had I had a flight of geese come in and I just picked up my phone, just started started videoing, started taking pictures of the of these geese on the sunset. And that's to me, that's what it's that's what it's about. It's not about the harvest, it's about kind of enjoying you know, enjoying nature. This that's what I'm out there for.

SPEAKER_01 31:24

So I I think uh real quick, but you know, like you're saying, like bears, like yeah, it's hard to describe what it's like just watching them. Um they're such a unique animal, like, and yeah, it's for a somebody who doesn't hunt them and you you hunt, it's yeah, it's nowhere even close to like your experience when a deer comes in or something like that. Um don't get me wrong, I love seeing deer. I love watching deer. I love when fawns come in in that early year and they're you know, you could tell that they're a young deer because they're they got the zippies and they're running all over, and but I don't know, with bears, it's there's this some of them are big, some of them, so there's this this black fur ball kind of. I honestly I always tell people I want to jump down and just give it a really big hug and cuddle it because they are I love I love their their their fur. It's it's crazy. They're also they're this unique animal that is net New Jersey's number one, you know, probably animal predator. I mean, and black bears, if anyone knows, black bears are not used to being the number one predator anywhere. Back a long, long time ago when we had wolves and and uh mountain lions and everything like that, bears were not the top of the food food chain. Here they are the top of the food chain. Um and it's just like this unique thing where yeah, they really have they just walk through the woods and they're it's just such a unique experience, and I mean, just an animal I love to to hunt, and like you said, like it's just cool just filming them or just seeing them and and stuff like that. And it's not all it's not about always killing, and the best hunt is not always about killing, like you know, I I was drawn back on my bear, and I think he either caught my wind or just saw me drawing back, and yeah, I could take that as oh like damn, I didn't kill him. But I was like, you know, it this week was just successful because I was on bears, you know, with no bait, just just pure just me going out, scouting, finding sign and hanging hunt style, and I was on bears 24-7, and that is a win, and just getting that opportunity just to even see that bear and everything like that was just a just a great experience that I'm so happy about.

SPEAKER_00 33:59

Yeah, it's again like like we said, it's it's indescribable. If you if you haven't done it, I mean it's if you're looking for something new, this is this is it. Maybe give it a shot. And I I'm pretty sure anybody who who willingly gives it a shot and goes into it with an open mind is gonna be hooked. Yep, 100% agree. So I guess getting into the end of the day, so you know, we get out. I you know, the the cubs ended up coming back in a second time, so I was able to get even more footage, which was kind of nice. They left, it ended up being a quiet evening after that. Um I got out, I went and picked up uh the kid that I was with. I was in contact with the with the father-daughter, and they they were ecstatic. They saw tons of bears, had tons of video, tons of photos. They had a they had an absolute blast. Um, so we kind of ended day one with you know, I don't want to say like with without anything, uh everybody was able to see bears. We, you know, we all kind of walked out of the woods with just, you know, okay, they're moving, we're seeing stuff, let's let's get it tomorrow. Um, we started the day out again, day two,

Quiet Sits Saddle Pain And Doubt

SPEAKER_00 35:20

and everybody went in with an open mind. And it was, you know, again, it was another, it was another nice day. It was a little bit warmer than uh than Monday, which was it wasn't, you know, not terrible. I'd prefer to, you know, I'd prefer to be a little bit chillier. Um, but it was it was fine. The the kid that I was with, he had a good bear come in, probably two, maybe 250, um, and was was within range, and he got great video of it, decided to pass on it. So I uh you know he sent me a video and I I sent it to Rob, and Rob's response was why didn't he shoot it? It's like what was he thinking? And I even said the same thing. I'm like, that was kind of a decent bear, man. Like, you probably, you know, probably should have pulled the trigger on that. He's like, No, I'm looking for something a little bit bigger. Um, I'm okay with it. I said, All right, as long as you're okay with your decision, that's that's fine. I mean, you had bear, you had a bear, a decent bear 20 yards away from me. You can't ask for anything better than that. Um, the father-daughter pair, again, they were seeing they were seeing some bears, they were up close and personal, probably 10, 15, 12 yards. They they had them all around their blind, so they were having a good time. Chris, however, was not having a great time. It was such a lonely day the second day that I didn't even start seeing squirrels and chipmunks until about two o'clock in the afternoon. It was it was basically the only like the only company I had was the occasional airplane that would fly over, and I'd be like, oh, okay. Uh I guess I'm not alone down here. So it like I didn't, you know, I was I'm a saddle hunter, and you know, I like saddle hunting because you know, I'm a disabled vet and I have all kinds of back problems and knee problems, but saddle hunting keeps me in the stand longer. Like if I feel like I can a little more comfortable, but when you're in the saddle for 14 straight hours, it hurts.

SPEAKER_01 37:36

Like there's nothing you can do to make that feel yeah, all the all day sits in the saddle is yeah, no matter what, there's just a point where your body's like, no, this is enough. I'm done.

SPEAKER_00 37:51

So, you know, it was getting later in the day, and I'm I'm really hurting at this point. I you know, the day before I forgot my knee, I forgot to put my knee pads in my in my pants. So I went the whole day, and I could just like the second day I put I remembered to put the knee pads in my pants, but my knees were just like sore from the day before. So even with the knee pads, I'd be like, oh, this hurts. So even just taking a rest for a few minutes was painful. So the day continued to be absolutely quiet. Um I I kept sitting and I'm thinking to myself, I'm like, listen, like I just want this day to be over with at this point. Like, I'm really starting to hurt. I just kind of want to

The 20 Minute Standoff And Shot

SPEAKER_00 38:40

go home, go to bed, and just like lay flat for a while because I just need to stretch out. And it gets to, I'll tell you, uh, so I'll tell you the exact time, just so I'm not lying to you about this. Um so it's just about five o'clock. It's like 4 50 at this point. And I look over to my right and I see I see black coming through the brush, and I see the the head, I see the the little ears and the big head. I said, okay, this is a good bear. Let me get ready. So I shift over and I get I kind of get into a shooting stance where if I if I'm gonna take him, I've got a good field of view. If he walks through, I I should just be able to pick up my bow and let him have it. So he comes at me and off to my right where I'm sitting, there's you know, I didn't trim any of the trees over here because I wanted that cover. So if they come in front of me, I I have a huge, you know, a huge lane to shoot, but I can also hide behind my tree and swing the saddle around and still maintain cover. But over here, if I trimmed all this brush, I'd be open. So I left all these branches, and this is where I've been sitting for a few years, and it's worked out so far. This bear decided to come right at me on my right hand side. I said, Okay, here we go. Great. He stopped at like 15 yards from me and just stops. And he's like, not even looking at me, he's like looking at the base of the tree that I'm in. So I'm looking down at him. I said, Okay, well, you know, what are we gonna do? And it seemed like he sat there for like five minutes, just staring at the base of my tree. Like, all right, what are we gonna do here? What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do? And then he starts to turn, said, All right. I should probably preface this whole story that because it was gonna rain on Monday, I opted not to bring any of my video equipment. Usually I would have, you know, two GoPros and my my you know camcorder out there, and I would film everything. And this year I kind of said, it's gonna rain. Let me not bring anything. I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna go out and hunt. Let me enjoy the hunt for me. So this bear begins to cut across, and he's he he seems to know where every bush is because he's just like just staying behind cover the whole time. And he's only at about 15 yards, too. So he said, All right, as soon as he steps out, there's a clear, there's a little opening, and I'll have a clear shot. As soon as he steps there, I'm gonna help I'm gonna let him have it. So I pick up my ball while he's behind a bush, I get ready. He takes one step out, I start to draw back, he takes another step out. I'm about halfway back, and then he turns and is facing directly away from me at this point. So I'm like, ah, great. All right, so I let down and he starts walking away. So when he stepped into the clearing, he decided to turn 90 degrees from me and just walked directly away from me. So I hung my bow up, I pulled my camera out, and I started filming him walking away. And I was like, oh man, this is this was it. This was my this was a decent bear. This was gonna be my one opportunity for this season. Now I gotta watch him walk away. Great. So I'm filming him, I'm watching him walk into the thick stuff, and then just as he gets into the thick stuff, he like stops and like sits up, and he's sitting on his, you know, he's sitting on his ass with his leg, you know, his hands in the air. I'm like, God, at least this is a cool video, but I'm still kind of pissed that this guy walked away. I mean, whatever. So I'm sending the video to to Rob. I send it to the kid that I'm with, and I'm like, all right, you know, at least I had a bear come in. It's it's getting later in the day. It's like 5 15 at this point when he walks off. So I'm like, okay, you know, I got like an hour's hour and change left in hunting. Like, at least I saw something. I didn't get totally skunked today. So the next hour goes by. Again, no squirrels, nothing. Um, at this point, I'm thinking to myself, all right, let's just get this day over with. Hopefully, one of the other, you know, one of the other spots, they'll score, and at least we'll, you know, we'll drag a bear out at some point tonight. It's it it was six, and now I don't want to lie to you again, so let me check the time on this. So it was six oh five, and I look up and this bear starts coming back to me. The big one, and he could and he's coming right back facing directly at me from where he walked directly away from me. Said, okay, great. So I pick up my bow. I'm like, as soon as he comes in, he's and he turns broadside, I'm gonna let him go because it's gonna be like a at max a 30 yard shot. He starts coming in, starts coming in. I'm like, all right, great. Then he turns, makes a 90 degree turn at a bush, and now he's skirting in the brush, basically around me at like 30, 35 yards. So I hang my bow up because he's starting to walk like where, you know, I kind of sit in this little And he's walking like he's gonna, like he's gonna exit. Said, okay, great. So I pull out my phone again. I start filming him as he's walking away, gets to the gets like right to the entrance of where this funnel goes, um, and he stops. And he starts like just scratching himself, decides to turn around and start coming back. So I put my phone away, I grab my bow again, and again, he's like coming in just a little bit closer this time, but still manages to find every single bush. So there's absolutely zero shot for me. I'm like, okay, great. I'm sitting here with my bow in my hand, like ready to go. And he just he's just toying with me at this point. So he starts, he starts to walk away again. He goes back into the brush. I'm like, all right, but he doesn't like go far, he just kind of like goes into the brush and like stops. So I hang my bow up. The kid that I was with, he texts me. He said, Hey, just let you know, let me know when when you're gonna start packing up so I can start packing up. And I said, Hey, that bear came back. Um, this is gonna end one of two ways. Either I'm gonna sit here until he dies, or I know he is completely out of the area. So he was like, All right, man, like get after it. So I'm waiting, I'm waiting. The bear starts coming in again. Now he's a little bit closer, he's probably 25 yards, 20 yards, but still managing to find every single bush. And I have absolutely zero shot. So I grab my bow again, I'm waiting, and it then he decides to finally come in. Comes straight at me. So he comes in, he's like 10 yards now, stops behind the one tree between me and him. There's this one thick pine tree that's got it's it's a dead pine tree, it's just a stick, but he stops right in front of me and he decides to start clawing at the tree, and he's like smelling it. I'm like, if I it like if you move a couple inches to either side of this tree, I'm gonna drill you in the chest. Like it's it's gonna happen while you're standing up. I don't care. So I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready. Then he jumps, you know, jumps back down to his feet, starts to walk off again. Hang my bow back up for the third time. And now I'm now I'm kicking myself. I'm like, dude, you like if you're gonna go, just go so I can go home. Or if you're gonna come in, come in. Like, let's get this over with. So he starts walking off, gets to about 40 yards, stops, scratches his ears, turns back around, starts coming back to that tree again. So I said, okay, let me pick up my bow for the last time. Pick up my bow. I get into shooting stance, I'm ready to go. And he stops again behind that tree. So all that's all that's out, and he's at 10 yards now, is his head and his ass, and his and his vitals are completely covered by the tree. I said, you know, of all the places you had to pick to stop, that's it. Like uh, you know, I've got tons of clear clear space here. I've got tons of shooting lanes, and you haven't walked in any of them. So I said, All right, I'm gonna wait. I'm just sitting there, I'm trying, I'm just trying to breathe, trying to just remain calm. And then you just I see him put his head back down to the ground, so I knew he was gonna start walking again, and he takes two steps forward, and I said, All right, gotcha. And I to be honest, he was 10 yards away, so I don't even know if I was looking through my peep sight. I settled my 20-yard pin a little lower on him, middle of the middle. I think I checked my peep sight and just let him have it. Was able to connect with him at 10 yards. So I saw the Luminoc go through him. I heard the heard the crow heard him run. He's doing this half moon, so he runs back out to about 40 yards, he runs back into the bush, and I can I can hear him crashing through the brush as he's running, and he's kind of going in this 180-degree arc back to my right hand side, and I hear him ball up. So I heard him crash. I didn't hear the death, the death growl, but I heard him ball up, and I said, There's you know, that was it like that was him stop. Like he balled up, he's probably you know 40, 50 yards off to my right. I heard it, we're good. So I hang my bow back up. Finally, I look down, I don't see my Luminarch. And I'm like, all right, hold on. I saw it go through him,

Blood Trail Recovery And Broadheads

SPEAKER_00 48:30

I heard him, I heard him yell, I heard the shot connect, and I don't see my Luminarch. What's going on here? So I get my wits about me. I text, you know, I text the kid. I was like, hey, I just shot that bear. Give me a few minutes to like to to calm down, then I'll pack up, I'll come pick you up, and we'll get a game plan together. So I'm sitting there, I call Rob, Rob's not answering. I was like, Oh, so I'm gonna have to drag this thing out by myself, like this is gonna be a problem. So I said, All right, I gave it a few minutes. I didn't hear anything from him moving around. So I said, Let me let me pack up quietly. I packed up real quietly, I got down, I went to go find my arrow, picked up the arrow, the Luminoch was at ended up just being broken completely off. And okay, makes sense, makes sense. Picked up the arrow, smeared in blood, good long blood from from tip to tip, gave it the quick sniff. There was no guts on it, said great, stuck it right in the ground, backed out. And at that point, when I got to my truck, I was able to talk to Rob. I talked to the kid and I said, Look, I shot that bear, I know where he went. Um, I I you know I think we're gonna recover this bear here in a little while. Let's and he was a pretty good bear. The way I described it to Rob was, you know, this is the size of the bear you shot like two years ago. He's he's a good sized bear, so we're gonna need, you know, we're gonna need the big sled. My my bigger gut sled probably isn't gonna cut it. We're gonna need the monster sled, and uh he's in the swamp, so obviously I'm gonna need help. So I backed out, I go picked up the kid. I told him, like, hey, let's go get dinner. Uh you know, I was able to talk to the father and daughter. They were telling me about their day. They were like, Yeah, you know, we saw a bunch more bears. We ended up seeing a hunter, and he said he shot a bear. So I think that kind of ruined it. But you know, we saw bears. It was like, oh, great. Well, I just shot one, I shot a pretty decent one. So if you guys, you know, if you want to come be a part of this, I'd love to have you guys come down. We'll we'll get a couple slices of pizza real quick. We'll wait for Rob and then we'll we'll go recover. So they came down, they were they were super happy to be a part of it. Rob ended up coming, and then it was like, okay, let's go, let's let's load up, we'll go back to the spot, go get the bear. Um we all we all got back there, we got right in there, showed them the air. I was like, here you go. It was like, yep, this is this is this should be a short track. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we started, we started up. Um, and for anybody that that does bear hunt, just just a tip. Like, I'm I'm usually a very big fixed blade guy, and you'll hear me talk about fixed blades all the time. When I'm bear hunting, I want to open them up so they leak as much as possible. So I do, you know, I'm not gonna lie to anybody, I do use expandables when I'm bear hunting, um, simply because I want that massive cutting surface. I want to I want to open them up, I want a good blood trail. And you know, this is the this is why, because we were able to follow up on my bear. Um, I would say people maybe tracking in the dark for if I told you 20 minutes, I might be lying. It might have been 15 minutes. Um, it was a fairly easy blood track. We were able to find blood, good blood all the way, and then we ended up finding the bear exactly where I heard him ball up, and he was he was kind of laid up on a bush like this. So it was you know, it was cool. We were able to get him, we got him down, we were able to take some pictures, and and he had, you know, it was it was a cool experience having everybody there. I know, you know, Rob was happy. Um I I I think the group that I was with was was happy to be a part of it. And I mean, I was super happy because it was it was a good bear. He's you know, he's got a good, good big head on him. Um, he had a good coat on him, it was a good clean shot, double lunged him, um, and and he went down pretty quickly. So, you know, I uh again, I really can't take anything away from that. That was a very memorable hunt. Um, I'm sorry I lied to everybody in the beginning and told them that I didn't shoot.

SPEAKER_01 52:48

But you know, I mean if you followed me on they already knew about it, so two things love a dinner on only bows. So I know those guys must have been happy. Pizza on on only bows. I know how he rolls, so jealous, jealous. Um two how like when you're when you're in that situation, like man, it's gotta be so frustrating. It's just like you pick up the bow. Oh no, he knows he's just stopping. You put down the bow, pick it up, pick it up, put it down, pick it up. Like you must have thought so many times that your hunt was like over, like, oh, all right, like this bear just walk like is walking off, like, and he just kept coming back and coming back, and it kind of like and I don't know a hundred percent how how your setup looks like, you know what I mean, but usually like that, like the bear wants to be there, he knows maybe something maybe is a little off, you know what I mean? Like, hmm, but not enough where they're they're spooked where it's like, all right, like he's so indecisive, like, okay, keep going back and forth, keep going back and forth. But he wanted he wanted to be there. And it just like it's gotta be frustrating, just as like your your adrenaline goes up, your adrenaline comes down, your adrenaline goes up, your adrenaline comes down. Like it's it's not a uh it's not an easy situation, but shooting a bear at 10 yards definitely makes it a lot easier of a uh of a situation.

SPEAKER_00 54:26

Yeah, I well that whole encounter took place over about 20 minutes. Like this was not a short endeavor. This this lasted for a lot, like this guy toyed with me for a long time. Um, so it yeah, it it was extremely frustrating, and you know, I I'm not gonna say, Oh, I've hunted around the world, I've hunted in Africa, I've done all this, so I understand what it's like to be. No, this was probably one of the most frustrating hunts that I've ever had. Um and I think it was because I I was you know, I was well prepared to take him at any moment, and it's he just never gave me that opportunity chance. Almost as if that he it's almost as if he knew and was just like, Yep, yep, I can do this, I could do this, I could do this, whatever. You can't shoot me. And then I I'm sure, you know, I I do carry a spray bottle with some with some sweet smelling spray. I'm not gonna give anybody my recipes or you know, the little the little secrets there, but I you know some of the stuff that I spray out, it is very sweet smelling, so I imagine that's probably what he was looking for, and that's why he was kind of moving around. I that probably contributed to him like moving around the area. It was like, oh, I can smell it, and then he would walk away and oh, I don't smell it anymore. I gotta go back over here. Where is this? Like, you know, there's obviously something to eat over here, but now you know, moving forward, I know what I'm gonna do. I'm just gonna go dump that right on the ground right in front of me, so it's not smelling in the air, it's right where I need them to be. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 56:10

Makes make makes sense, makes it makes it uh the whole process a lot easier and everything like that. But um, man, I mean, yeah, bear hunting is just like one of those things. It's it's incredible. Wish the season wish we still had some more time and everything like that in the season, but well, wait, Mike.

Check Station Confusion Weight And Meat

SPEAKER_00 56:30

You know, the the frustrating part of this hunt didn't stop there. I'm not finished yet. Oh god, oh god. So we ended up getting them out. It took, you know, there was four of us, there was, you know, four of us and the and and the girl there. The four of us were able to kind of work in shifts to drag them out. So we got him out. It really wasn't all that bad. And by the time we got him out, the check stations were closed. So I said, All right, so we're gonna have to bring them back tomorrow. So we ended up going back to camp and we said, okay, we'll set out first thing in the morning. We ended up icing them down and we'll set out first thing in the morning. So we're right there when the check station opens. So we went to the check station. It's like an hour plus drive. We hit a bunch of traffic. Which one did you go to? The one where we had the archer, your archery shoot. It's close.

SPEAKER_01 57:34

Which day was this? Because it's only open on the first day and then the last day of the season.

SPEAKER_00 57:40

Yes, which is not in the book. So I didn't know that. So I went there and I got the kid with me because he he wanted to help me out. So we went to the check station, looked in the book. Okay, the one that we normally go to at like what is it, Fish Pond Road or whatever it is. Set it up. So we went to that one. We were like, okay, let's go to this one. It says it's open. We get there, there's no check station. One of the land management guys was like, Oh, yeah, it's only open on opening day and Saturday. I'm like, it would have been nice if they would have put that in the book because then I wouldn't have come here. He's like, Yeah, you got to go all the way to Pequest. That's the next closest one. Oh, you went to Pequest? So I ended up having to drive another 40 minutes out of the way to go check the bear in down there. Yep, finally get him checked in.

SPEAKER_01 58:30

You should have told me. I was right there.

SPEAKER_00 58:34

I wouldn't have gone with you. I didn't want to ruin your hunt, man. Oh, please. It was bad enough. I went already driving all over. So I spent half the day in the truck trying to get my bear checked in. Finally, go get it checked in. Now we're able to actually go home and take care of the bear. We end up going home. We he ended up weighing just a shade under 300, which kind of shocked us all because there were. I mean, that bear definitely was a big bear. So I think their scale might not have been properly calibrated. I don't know. And the reason that I say that is when we when we got him home, we skinned him out, we got all the meat off them. The deboned meat that I brought to the butcher was 80 pounds of meat. The head and the hide were definitely heavier than a 45-pound plate at the gym. And lifting the intake, because I didn't gut them, like I did the gutless method, taking the intact carcass with the entrails in it and putting it into my garbage can definitely was heavy. So I'm like, something's not the math, isn't mathing here. We sat here and we tried, well, like we wrote it all out. We're like, there's yeah, there's no way that scale was correct. But the official live weight was just a shade under 300. Um, he did have a big a big ass head on him, which is great. He's gonna make it great now. Um, and I did get 80 pounds of meat that's at the butcher right now, and it's gonna taste great when it's sitting in my fridge. Yes, it is, yes, it is. So, yeah, it was a frustrating three days of bear hunting for me, uh, although it was successful, which is great. Um and yeah, I can't wait to do it again next year, and hopefully, uh hopefully we'll have a few more successes next year to be able to talk about. Maybe we'll get together.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:27

Yeah, hopefully, listen. And

Final Tips Meat Taxidermy And Invite

SPEAKER_01 1:00:30

then when you guys go to the check-in station, you'll hit me up and I'll I'll get with you guys and you know go to the check-in station with you guys because I'm somewhere always there in in that area, literally in those areas of that both those places that you just mentioned as I'm I'm in in those areas and everything like that. I'm always up at camp. So next year, I already know this. I got a freaking wedding in between bear season. I am so not happy about about it. Bianca's gonna be in the wedding, so I'm kind of in Schutz Creek where there's nothing I can do about it. So I gotta try to kill a bear Monday or that Tuesday, or when I come back after the two days at the wedding. So um it's tough, though.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:17

It's tough.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:18

Those first two days are what matter. It's those are the two best that you know, by far the best, best days. So I'm just gonna be focusing on on those and everything. But yeah, we got we gotta get Dave out there to hunt some bear. I I don't know if you'd know what to do. He would I would I think I think I would sacrifice myself from from hunting just to film that whole encounter. Like, I think I wouldn't even film the bear. I think I would just film Date and just see what Dave does in the tree with with the bear. I would I would definitely love to see that. But uh, brother, it's it's always a pleasure getting you on. You, me and Dave are gonna have to sit down and do an episode one of these days. We're gonna have to go and do hopefully we can get you guys back at the game dinner. You guys have been missing out the last couple years. It's not the same without it. Two, you've missed the last two years. Damn, has it been that long? Yeah, yeah. I we haven't we all haven't been around each other, yeah, in probably the last two years, because that's the last time you guys went to the Great American outdoor show, too.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:32

Damn, you just you gotta you just gotta come up and drink at the house one day. That too, as well.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:38

And we and you're really you're really not that you're really not that far. And and you didn't even have me on for my Africa episode this year. I listen, this year was a uh I've been so backed up too with with doing stuff. There's a lot of things I did not do for episodes and everything like that. Hopefully, we can get back into our normal rotation of things and everything like that, but it's been crazy. I'm actually in the process, Bianca and I were packing right now, so we're moving on Friday, and then um, and then I started a new job in the next couple weeks, too, as well. So it's been a crazy, crazy thank you, thank you. But listen, everyone, we hope you guys enjoyed this episode. If you do not hunt bears, we highly recommend to hunt bears. If you have any questions, please hit one of us up. We will gladly show you the ropes and stick you in the right direction to hunt bears, whether it's Jersey or any other state, it does not matter. Bear hunting is absolutely amazing, it's a great time.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:46

It's not as hard as it seems, and everybody thinks you're crazy because you're in the woods chasing these bears. It's it's not that crazy.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:53

It's the hardest part is dragging out. Have a team with you, have a system, yeah. Have have a lot of good people, have self-service. Yeah, if people owe you favors, that's when you I save all my favors for bear hunting. Oh, you owe me a drag, cool. I'm calling you. You owe me a diss, um, I'm calling you. Um, and also if you're up against the fence about eating bear, I've it's one of my favorites uh meats to have. It's amazing. I know Chris loves it, um, and everything like that. So it is great. You will enjoy it. Oh, the other thing, bear tax it dermy is expensive. So it's not that bear is done. Oh, this, yeah. Well, I forgot. Listen, I forgot who we're talking about. This guy travels to Africa and does all these big hunts.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:48

So yeah, listen, for for a half-mount bear, not much more than than a white-tailed shoulder mount.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:55

It's it's not bad. It's not my white tail shoulder mount cost me five hundred and something dollars. Just to get this bear tanned cost me the same price. All right, we gotta get you a different tax, German. We'll talk. All right, everyone. We'll check you guys out next time. We hope you guys enjoyed this episode.