gillettehunter
AH ambassador
Sometime around a year ago I heard about Wells Creek and their black bear hunts. They are rather cost effective and I thought that was exactly what my 2 sons might be interested in given their current life situations. My oldest, Robert, jumped all over it and started chatting with Rob. In the end it was just Robert and I going bear hunting.
Wells Creek's lodge is about 1 1/2 hrs from International Falls, MN so around a 14 hr drive for us to get there. We drove to IF on the day of August 21st and spent the night there. Got to camp around mid day the 22nd. There was a short meeting for the group and then we were taken to our blinds which were re-baited when we were shown their location. Then off to town for licenses and boat permits so we could use the camp boats. Town is around 45 minutes each way.
Wells Creek has around 65 active bait sites that they bait every other day. Game cameras on many if not most of the sites. Each hunter is assigned a bait site that has a shootable bear coming in. They have both ground blinds and tree stands. Tree stands are less comfortable, but have better scent control. I chose a ground blind and Robert told them either and wound up in a tree stand. We weren't paying for an individual guide. At this operation they provide bait, blind or tree stand and bear recovery help plus food. We would drive ourselves to our blind and back to camp each day. We decided if a bear was big enough and whether to shoot or not. The price reflects this.
They also provide meals. Good food. First night was ribeyes. Another meal we had a turkey dinner with dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy and dressing. Other meals included pulled pork, roast beef and lasagna. Fresh pies or cobbler with ice cream for dessert. Gonna gain and not lose weight hunting with them.
One of the added perks is that the cabin is on a lake. Boats, motors and gas were provided. Robert and I caught good numbers of fish. We went out several days and caught walleye, pike and smallmouth. I caught my personal best smallmouth that went just over 4 lbs on a hand scale.
Most hunters in camp would take it easy in the morning and go to their stands around 3 PM and sit until dark around 8:30. Come back and eat and then go to bed. Robert and I fished the first couple of mornings and had a good time. Camp had 16 hunters. The week before us also had 16 hunters. Both weeks they had 12 bears go home with successful hunters. Plus a couple lost from archery shots that didn't go where intended.
On this hunt I took my Scorypd crossbow. Robert took his first rifle a .270 Win. Most hunters in camp were archery or crossbow hunters. As such the baits are usually 13-20 yds from the stand. Up close and personal! No need for binoculars to judge a bears size. My crossbow is now around 6 yrs old and I need someone to look at it It's starting to throw a bolt off target at any sort of distance occasionally. Had me a little nervous. My bait was 13 yds away so that made feel a lot better about my lack of consistent accuracy.
First day had 6 hunters kill bears. Robert and I saw nothing. Weather was pretty warm and that didn't help with daytime bear movements. Day 2 was the same for Robert and I. 3 more bears for the camp. On the 3rd day when I picked up more bait for my site I found some bear attractant spray in the bait shed and thought that was a good thing to try. My 3rd day had a lot more activity.
Started with a cub coming in. I swear my daughters German shepard is bigger than that cub. Likely just kicked off by mom to fend for himself. He came in 2 times and looped behind my stand likely smelling me in the process. In the blind a thermacell is needed to keep the mosquitoes at bay. Plus my scent control is basic at best.
Next was a Pine Martin. He came in a couple of times. I had also been seeing camp robber jays as well as blue jays. Those were around as well. I'll post some pics from my phone after I type this out. Next I caught a glimpse of a bigger bear to the left and behind me. It worked its away around me and I next saw it between me and the road. Then I lost sight of it again. I could actually catch a glimpse of vehicles as they drove by. So I was maybe 100 yds from the road. This bear then came from downwind which was behind the blind and walked past me to the bait.
Wells Creek uses mostly candy as bait. Primarily made up of Valentines candy hearts. Also some sugar coated gummies. This 2nd bear was bigger and had a white blaze on its chest. I still felt that it was under 100 lbs live weight so I passed on it also. A couple of bears of this size were taken by the camp. There was also a 320 lb bear taken. If you go, don't expect to see a 400 lb plus bear. Could happen, but..........
Wells Creek normally moves you to a new blind if after 3 days you haven't had a shot. Robert hadn't yet seen a bear. As I left this first stand I pulled the game camera card to look at. Back at camp there was a good bear coming in earlier on my bait. Day 4 Robert and I decided to change it up a bit. We got up at 5:15 am, ate breakfast and left at 6 am and headed back to our blinds. I had the cub come in again but nothing else. We sat until noon and then headed in to eat. Robert saw nothing.
We went to new blinds probably 35 miles away from where we had been hunting for the evening sit. Again we saw nothing except a few ravens. The morning of the last day Robert and I got up early and headed back to our original blinds. We both took fresh bait. At my site there wasn't a single piece of candy to be found. So I re-baited and sprayed more spray .
My setup in my ground blind consisted of a chair and I have a tripod with my crossbow attached to the tripod via an arca plate. This reduces movement in the blind trying to get ready to shoot. Plus it's more stable. I set it up so I can lean back in the chair and simply slide forward when I'm ready to shoot. At 11 am in walks a bear. My mind instantly said bigger and no cubs in sight. I slid forward and the bear walked past the bait. What the heck! It's supposed to stop so I can take my time.
Instead I swing the crossbow as its walking and press the trigger at 12 yards, I head a thwack as the bolt hits a tree after going through the bear. The bear runs perhaps 25 yards and then stops for a second. Then walks away from me. When It stopped I could see what looked like foamy blood coming out of the entrance side. No death moan. Just the incessant hum of the mosquitos and the call of a jay. I texted Rob that I had hit a bear. His reply was to stay put and they would be there shortly to recover the bear.
At 11:30 I grabbed my chair, backpack and extras and hauled them to the road. Back at the blind I reloaded the crossbow and went to look for blood. Instead of blood I found my bear stretched out under a bush! Dead as could be. Maybe 60 yds from the bait. Robert showed up and then Rob. Pictures and then Rob gutted the bear. The bear was rolled Into a jet sled and it was a short pull to the truck.
At camp we took a few more pics and weighed the bear. 164 lbs dressed so around 200 live weight. A little above the Ontario average size. Then the bear was skinned and several hunters pitched in to debone the meat and get into freezer bags. Maybe 2 hrs to skin and bone the meat. Into the freezer everything went. Bears are skinned and boned next to the shower house. Had plenty of hot water each time I showered.
Robert went out again that night and saw nothing. The morning I killed my bear he had a sow and a cub come into his bait. My bear was a sow. Ontario has you send in a tooth for aging so I'll get an age later. Guess in camp was 8-10 yrs old. The next morning we went into town to fill out our hunt reports and get the documents to bring the bear across the border. No issues coming back. Not even a request to look at Roberts rifle or my bear. Going into Canada was relatively hassel free also.
All in all it was a good hunt. Robert was one of 2 to not see a shooter bear. 2 bears were hit with arrows and lost. Apparently about the same for the first group. So roughly an 88% shot opportunity among the 32 hunters this year. At $2600 that seems pretty good.
If asked if I would go back the answer is yes. In fact both Robert and I have decided to return. My other son is hopefully joining us. There were only 3 things that bugged me. First is the long drive. Can't do anything about that. No AC and it was warm most days until the last one. They have fans in the rooms and run a generator all night to power them. So i just have to suck it for that. There are usually 4 hunters to a room with beds that are made of wood. Most have no box springs. The pad on my bed was old. Wells Creek leases the cabins and had requested new pads. The ones there had seen better days. Next time I'll have a quality air mattress to use. All in all a good no frills hunt that has a very good success rate. We enjoyed the hunt. Likely start hunting mornings first day next time I go. Then fish after the bear hunt is done.
Bruce
Wells Creek's lodge is about 1 1/2 hrs from International Falls, MN so around a 14 hr drive for us to get there. We drove to IF on the day of August 21st and spent the night there. Got to camp around mid day the 22nd. There was a short meeting for the group and then we were taken to our blinds which were re-baited when we were shown their location. Then off to town for licenses and boat permits so we could use the camp boats. Town is around 45 minutes each way.
Wells Creek has around 65 active bait sites that they bait every other day. Game cameras on many if not most of the sites. Each hunter is assigned a bait site that has a shootable bear coming in. They have both ground blinds and tree stands. Tree stands are less comfortable, but have better scent control. I chose a ground blind and Robert told them either and wound up in a tree stand. We weren't paying for an individual guide. At this operation they provide bait, blind or tree stand and bear recovery help plus food. We would drive ourselves to our blind and back to camp each day. We decided if a bear was big enough and whether to shoot or not. The price reflects this.
They also provide meals. Good food. First night was ribeyes. Another meal we had a turkey dinner with dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy and dressing. Other meals included pulled pork, roast beef and lasagna. Fresh pies or cobbler with ice cream for dessert. Gonna gain and not lose weight hunting with them.
One of the added perks is that the cabin is on a lake. Boats, motors and gas were provided. Robert and I caught good numbers of fish. We went out several days and caught walleye, pike and smallmouth. I caught my personal best smallmouth that went just over 4 lbs on a hand scale.
Most hunters in camp would take it easy in the morning and go to their stands around 3 PM and sit until dark around 8:30. Come back and eat and then go to bed. Robert and I fished the first couple of mornings and had a good time. Camp had 16 hunters. The week before us also had 16 hunters. Both weeks they had 12 bears go home with successful hunters. Plus a couple lost from archery shots that didn't go where intended.
On this hunt I took my Scorypd crossbow. Robert took his first rifle a .270 Win. Most hunters in camp were archery or crossbow hunters. As such the baits are usually 13-20 yds from the stand. Up close and personal! No need for binoculars to judge a bears size. My crossbow is now around 6 yrs old and I need someone to look at it It's starting to throw a bolt off target at any sort of distance occasionally. Had me a little nervous. My bait was 13 yds away so that made feel a lot better about my lack of consistent accuracy.
First day had 6 hunters kill bears. Robert and I saw nothing. Weather was pretty warm and that didn't help with daytime bear movements. Day 2 was the same for Robert and I. 3 more bears for the camp. On the 3rd day when I picked up more bait for my site I found some bear attractant spray in the bait shed and thought that was a good thing to try. My 3rd day had a lot more activity.
Started with a cub coming in. I swear my daughters German shepard is bigger than that cub. Likely just kicked off by mom to fend for himself. He came in 2 times and looped behind my stand likely smelling me in the process. In the blind a thermacell is needed to keep the mosquitoes at bay. Plus my scent control is basic at best.
Next was a Pine Martin. He came in a couple of times. I had also been seeing camp robber jays as well as blue jays. Those were around as well. I'll post some pics from my phone after I type this out. Next I caught a glimpse of a bigger bear to the left and behind me. It worked its away around me and I next saw it between me and the road. Then I lost sight of it again. I could actually catch a glimpse of vehicles as they drove by. So I was maybe 100 yds from the road. This bear then came from downwind which was behind the blind and walked past me to the bait.
Wells Creek uses mostly candy as bait. Primarily made up of Valentines candy hearts. Also some sugar coated gummies. This 2nd bear was bigger and had a white blaze on its chest. I still felt that it was under 100 lbs live weight so I passed on it also. A couple of bears of this size were taken by the camp. There was also a 320 lb bear taken. If you go, don't expect to see a 400 lb plus bear. Could happen, but..........
Wells Creek normally moves you to a new blind if after 3 days you haven't had a shot. Robert hadn't yet seen a bear. As I left this first stand I pulled the game camera card to look at. Back at camp there was a good bear coming in earlier on my bait. Day 4 Robert and I decided to change it up a bit. We got up at 5:15 am, ate breakfast and left at 6 am and headed back to our blinds. I had the cub come in again but nothing else. We sat until noon and then headed in to eat. Robert saw nothing.
We went to new blinds probably 35 miles away from where we had been hunting for the evening sit. Again we saw nothing except a few ravens. The morning of the last day Robert and I got up early and headed back to our original blinds. We both took fresh bait. At my site there wasn't a single piece of candy to be found. So I re-baited and sprayed more spray .
My setup in my ground blind consisted of a chair and I have a tripod with my crossbow attached to the tripod via an arca plate. This reduces movement in the blind trying to get ready to shoot. Plus it's more stable. I set it up so I can lean back in the chair and simply slide forward when I'm ready to shoot. At 11 am in walks a bear. My mind instantly said bigger and no cubs in sight. I slid forward and the bear walked past the bait. What the heck! It's supposed to stop so I can take my time.
Instead I swing the crossbow as its walking and press the trigger at 12 yards, I head a thwack as the bolt hits a tree after going through the bear. The bear runs perhaps 25 yards and then stops for a second. Then walks away from me. When It stopped I could see what looked like foamy blood coming out of the entrance side. No death moan. Just the incessant hum of the mosquitos and the call of a jay. I texted Rob that I had hit a bear. His reply was to stay put and they would be there shortly to recover the bear.
At 11:30 I grabbed my chair, backpack and extras and hauled them to the road. Back at the blind I reloaded the crossbow and went to look for blood. Instead of blood I found my bear stretched out under a bush! Dead as could be. Maybe 60 yds from the bait. Robert showed up and then Rob. Pictures and then Rob gutted the bear. The bear was rolled Into a jet sled and it was a short pull to the truck.
At camp we took a few more pics and weighed the bear. 164 lbs dressed so around 200 live weight. A little above the Ontario average size. Then the bear was skinned and several hunters pitched in to debone the meat and get into freezer bags. Maybe 2 hrs to skin and bone the meat. Into the freezer everything went. Bears are skinned and boned next to the shower house. Had plenty of hot water each time I showered.
Robert went out again that night and saw nothing. The morning I killed my bear he had a sow and a cub come into his bait. My bear was a sow. Ontario has you send in a tooth for aging so I'll get an age later. Guess in camp was 8-10 yrs old. The next morning we went into town to fill out our hunt reports and get the documents to bring the bear across the border. No issues coming back. Not even a request to look at Roberts rifle or my bear. Going into Canada was relatively hassel free also.
All in all it was a good hunt. Robert was one of 2 to not see a shooter bear. 2 bears were hit with arrows and lost. Apparently about the same for the first group. So roughly an 88% shot opportunity among the 32 hunters this year. At $2600 that seems pretty good.
If asked if I would go back the answer is yes. In fact both Robert and I have decided to return. My other son is hopefully joining us. There were only 3 things that bugged me. First is the long drive. Can't do anything about that. No AC and it was warm most days until the last one. They have fans in the rooms and run a generator all night to power them. So i just have to suck it for that. There are usually 4 hunters to a room with beds that are made of wood. Most have no box springs. The pad on my bed was old. Wells Creek leases the cabins and had requested new pads. The ones there had seen better days. Next time I'll have a quality air mattress to use. All in all a good no frills hunt that has a very good success rate. We enjoyed the hunt. Likely start hunting mornings first day next time I go. Then fish after the bear hunt is done.
Bruce
