On Saturday the 24th of August i set up a shaker barrel bait at the back of a large beaver pond that i access by canoe with the following:
220 lbs whole corn
50 lbs black oil sunflower seeds
10 lbs molasses
10 lbs gummy worms
10 lbs party mix
A rotten log was also scented with anise, caramel and vanilla extract as a scent lure. I checked the bait the next morning before heading home on the 25th and it had already been hit - promising.
View of the beaver pond:
Bait barrel with beaver pond in the background:
Had planned to come back on labour day (the 2nd) and hunt all week but work interfered and that compressed to Wednesday to Friday. Arrived about noon on Wednesday and checked the bait. The barrel was empty and site was picked clean. The remains of the log with the call extracts:
I rebaited with half of what i initially put in on the 24th and hoped for the best. Wednesday and Thursday were a bust and Friday morning was pouring rain so went back to bed (tracking, if required, in the rain can be extremely difficult). Checked the bait Friday at noon and it had been hit hard and rain had stopped. First new sign since arriving on Wednesday. Got in the climber at 4 pm Friday afternoon. In the past all my bears except one have been taken with the rifle. Decided to give the Xcalibur a go this year instead. Climber is about 20 feet higher than the barrel (9 feet due to elevation rise and 11 feet up the tree) so the shot angle is pretty steep but due to the setup at this spot the bear often gives a nice exposed broadside shot pretty quickly. View down the shooting lane from the climber:
At 5:16 pm a yearling boar came in. Being as this was my last day (Friday) available i waited for him to give me a shot and then launched a bolt at 5:22 pm. Shot was 24 yards quartering away slightly with near side front leg extended forward. To compensate for downward angle aim point was slightly higher than middle with exit point projected to be offside low and just in front of arm pit. He jumped when hit ran about 20 yards and went down in sight with the typical death moan. This is 8 yards further than any i have ever shot with the rifle but i was happy with result.
Bolt as found with good blood. Bolt setup is an Excalibur/Easton Proflight tipped with a 125 grain fixed blade Montec G5:
Bear as found approximately 120 to 130 lbs - was hoping for the big guy but ran out of time:
Shot ended up catching both lungs and the heart. Heart showing slice across bottom lobe:
Total recovery time was 2 hours from trigger pull to locate (saw it go down so this was easy), recover, dress, get back to and load into truck. Weather was intermittent very light drizzle and 10C.
2024 Fall Bear - Wrapped it up
