I know it was on the news throughout most of the country that Florida was having it's first Black Bear hunt in over 22 years. That is a bit misleading. Since the 1970's only a very few counties allowed Black Bear hunting. Well, the FWC fought hard to get this quota hunt up and running. They had court battles virtually up to the last minute. 320 bears were allotted for the entire state. They broke the state into 7 zones. Only 5 zones were allowed limited numbers on the quota. There were 3,778 bear tags sold at $100 a piece across the state. I purchased one since we had seen about 9 different bears on out 1,700 acre parcel. These were all legal size bears. Our sister club next door is 1,900 acres and they had seen 10 different bears. We compared pictures and culled out duplicates. 1 bear was 700 lbs minimum and 1 was 450 lbs. All throughout bow season that is all I saw.....bears! We are overrun big time.
Bear "season" opened last Saturday morning (10/24/15). I went to my stand and saw exactly NOTHING. Not a mammal anywhere. Saturday evening I went to a different stand and was blanked again. I called the Bear Hotline and discovered 3 of the 5 Bear Management Units tagged out on day 1!!! My area was still open. So, Sunday AM found me on stand chomping at the bit. I did see 2 does, but no big black fuzzy creatures. I was starting to lose my optimism. Nevertheless, I went to a spot one of my friends had seen several bear the evening before. I set up early to make sure there was no lack of effort on my part. I had my CVA Optima rifle stuffed with 110 gr of Blackhorn 209. Topped with a 250 gr Barnes T-EZ. I also had my S&W 5" 629 loaded with 240 XTP's over a stiff load of 296. We were allowed to use center-fire firearms for bear, but I wanted to be legal if a nice buck or hog showed up. My plan was to use the .44 mag for any bear up to about 40 yds. Anything over that I would use the CVA. I was watching the clock as the sun started to ease its way towards the West.
At 6:20 PM I said to myself, "you have 40 minutes of shooting light left" as I was in some pretty tall timber. My hopes were slowly ebbing. Exactly 5 minutes later, at 6:25 PM I glance to my right..........and there he is!!!! The adrenaline started pouring in and I really had to concentrate to keep under control. You see, taking a Bear has been very high on my bucket list for many years. I thought I would have to go to Maine, of something like that, to realize my dream. Well, I had ranged the area earlier and knew the Bear was at about 85 yds. I was in a stand 16' in the air with limited movement. Well, the Bear was on my right. So, I had to contort my 6' 4" body up there to make the shot as I am right handed. I did this and got the scope on the Bear. Darn, I must need a new scope as my crosshairs were vibrating! It couldn't be me! I breathed deep and waited, as the Bear was facing me. Then, it slowly started turning to it's left. I waited until it went just past broadside and gave me an ever so slight quartering shot. I easy-squeezed the trigger and the shot broke. It took a second or two for the smoke to clear and I could see that the Bear bolted straight away into the VERY THICK BOO-BOO we have here in Florida. The adrenaline dump took over and my hands were visibly quaking. Frankly, if that ever ceases to happen then I need to change sports. I love it! It took 3 solid minutes to tie my rifle to the rope to lower it to the ground. I eased down and out of the stand. I know I needed to give at least a half hour before try to find my Bear. I eased over to where it was standing at the time of the shot, .44 mag in hand, and simply glanced around. I saw the tracks where it bolted away but couldn't see much else. You see, I have very bad colorblindness.
I walked the other way about a 1/2 mile to the borrowed 4-wheeler and headed back to camp. When 2 of my fiends arrived back in camp they immediately came over to me. Everyone knew I had shot as we clearly mark on a map where we will be for safety reasons. It was pitch black by then. So, they climbed on their 4-wheelers and I followed in my pick-up as far as I could go. Then I climbed on 1 of the bikes and we proceeded to the spot. With flashlights cranked up they could immediately see the blood. We started the slow process of tracking a Bear into the thick brush of Florida. After about 20 minutes we had only covered about 50 yds. But we had blood. Then.......it stopped.....no blood......just that quick. My friend Frank saw the line of blood we trailed was pretty straight. So, he continued on that path while we stood at the last blood spot. After an agonizing 30 minutes Frank shouts "I got blood!" We hurried to him as quick as the briars and brambles would allow. Laying in front of him WAS MY BEAR!!!! Before doing anything else, I took my hat off and knelt down. I said a HUGE prayer to God in thanksgiving! Then the cheers and back slapping commenced. My friend Wayne's traditional chest bump about knocked me over. It was quite a labor of love getting my Bear out to where we could put it on a 4-wheeler.
i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv34/bigmgus3/Black%20Bear%201_zpsaxb6tsxi.jpg
My Bear is a She-Bear
i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv34/bigmgus3/Black%20Bear%2013_zpsmxylzbod.jpg
225 Pounds
i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv34/bigmgus3/Black%20Bear%205_zpsjx1rv3cy.jpg
Ursus Americanus Floridanus
I am so PLEASED that I got my bucket-list Bear.....and in my home state. One of only 298 taken statewide in over 22 years. 1 of 298 taken out of 3,778 hunters! 1 of the less than 8% of successful Bear Hunters in Florida! How could I not be ecstatic? I really do not want this to sound like a brag-fest. I was simply blessed....no 2 ways about it. I couldn't help but share with you all my joy. Thank You for be so patient with my rambling. I am also sad my good friend Luis didn't get one. He had to head back to make it to work and missed the last evening where he might have been successful too.
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Bear "season" opened last Saturday morning (10/24/15). I went to my stand and saw exactly NOTHING. Not a mammal anywhere. Saturday evening I went to a different stand and was blanked again. I called the Bear Hotline and discovered 3 of the 5 Bear Management Units tagged out on day 1!!! My area was still open. So, Sunday AM found me on stand chomping at the bit. I did see 2 does, but no big black fuzzy creatures. I was starting to lose my optimism. Nevertheless, I went to a spot one of my friends had seen several bear the evening before. I set up early to make sure there was no lack of effort on my part. I had my CVA Optima rifle stuffed with 110 gr of Blackhorn 209. Topped with a 250 gr Barnes T-EZ. I also had my S&W 5" 629 loaded with 240 XTP's over a stiff load of 296. We were allowed to use center-fire firearms for bear, but I wanted to be legal if a nice buck or hog showed up. My plan was to use the .44 mag for any bear up to about 40 yds. Anything over that I would use the CVA. I was watching the clock as the sun started to ease its way towards the West.
At 6:20 PM I said to myself, "you have 40 minutes of shooting light left" as I was in some pretty tall timber. My hopes were slowly ebbing. Exactly 5 minutes later, at 6:25 PM I glance to my right..........and there he is!!!! The adrenaline started pouring in and I really had to concentrate to keep under control. You see, taking a Bear has been very high on my bucket list for many years. I thought I would have to go to Maine, of something like that, to realize my dream. Well, I had ranged the area earlier and knew the Bear was at about 85 yds. I was in a stand 16' in the air with limited movement. Well, the Bear was on my right. So, I had to contort my 6' 4" body up there to make the shot as I am right handed. I did this and got the scope on the Bear. Darn, I must need a new scope as my crosshairs were vibrating! It couldn't be me! I breathed deep and waited, as the Bear was facing me. Then, it slowly started turning to it's left. I waited until it went just past broadside and gave me an ever so slight quartering shot. I easy-squeezed the trigger and the shot broke. It took a second or two for the smoke to clear and I could see that the Bear bolted straight away into the VERY THICK BOO-BOO we have here in Florida. The adrenaline dump took over and my hands were visibly quaking. Frankly, if that ever ceases to happen then I need to change sports. I love it! It took 3 solid minutes to tie my rifle to the rope to lower it to the ground. I eased down and out of the stand. I know I needed to give at least a half hour before try to find my Bear. I eased over to where it was standing at the time of the shot, .44 mag in hand, and simply glanced around. I saw the tracks where it bolted away but couldn't see much else. You see, I have very bad colorblindness.
I walked the other way about a 1/2 mile to the borrowed 4-wheeler and headed back to camp. When 2 of my fiends arrived back in camp they immediately came over to me. Everyone knew I had shot as we clearly mark on a map where we will be for safety reasons. It was pitch black by then. So, they climbed on their 4-wheelers and I followed in my pick-up as far as I could go. Then I climbed on 1 of the bikes and we proceeded to the spot. With flashlights cranked up they could immediately see the blood. We started the slow process of tracking a Bear into the thick brush of Florida. After about 20 minutes we had only covered about 50 yds. But we had blood. Then.......it stopped.....no blood......just that quick. My friend Frank saw the line of blood we trailed was pretty straight. So, he continued on that path while we stood at the last blood spot. After an agonizing 30 minutes Frank shouts "I got blood!" We hurried to him as quick as the briars and brambles would allow. Laying in front of him WAS MY BEAR!!!! Before doing anything else, I took my hat off and knelt down. I said a HUGE prayer to God in thanksgiving! Then the cheers and back slapping commenced. My friend Wayne's traditional chest bump about knocked me over. It was quite a labor of love getting my Bear out to where we could put it on a 4-wheeler.
i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv34/bigmgus3/Black%20Bear%201_zpsaxb6tsxi.jpg
My Bear is a She-Bear
i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv34/bigmgus3/Black%20Bear%2013_zpsmxylzbod.jpg
225 Pounds
i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv34/bigmgus3/Black%20Bear%205_zpsjx1rv3cy.jpg
Ursus Americanus Floridanus
I am so PLEASED that I got my bucket-list Bear.....and in my home state. One of only 298 taken statewide in over 22 years. 1 of 298 taken out of 3,778 hunters! 1 of the less than 8% of successful Bear Hunters in Florida! How could I not be ecstatic? I really do not want this to sound like a brag-fest. I was simply blessed....no 2 ways about it. I couldn't help but share with you all my joy. Thank You for be so patient with my rambling. I am also sad my good friend Luis didn't get one. He had to head back to make it to work and missed the last evening where he might have been successful too.
