Thanks. It was a fun hunt. My bear was very smart and only came down slowly at very last light. He was alpha enough, I think, to keep other bears away from his bait...so I would sit there for hours with nothing going on until he was ready to come to the bait. I think he probably set up somewhere behind it and watched it for a long time each evening before moving. Then he would stay behind the barrel or tree mostly and offer very little to aim at. He was pretty smart. There were no other bears on camera there except another big one wth scars on his head. I never saw him in person. Other bait sites had lots of traffic but I preferred my setup with big mature bears only even though I saw far fewer bears than most of the hunters.
The next time, I will take a lighted reticle scope instead of iron sights and something with a little more punch. I don't have a 35 Whelen but that would be perfect...also the 338 Win mag would be good. I will probably take a 375 wth 300's to be sure I get an exit from any angle and bigger holes. Previous black bears I've taken were with 30-30's and 7mm mags.
The next time, I will take a lighted reticle scope instead of iron sights and something with a little more punch. I don't have a 35 Whelen but that would be perfect...also the 338 Win mag would be good. I will probably take a 375 wth 300's to be sure I get an exit from any angle and bigger holes. Previous black bears I've taken were with 30-30's and 7mm mags.
