Wow, didn't realize it had been that long since I've been here; I see my last login was in Sept. First of all, thanks again for all the replies.
I ended up choosing the 38-55, at least until I got to the hunting area; the guy that baited for me really recommended something with a scope to get a few more minutes of shooting time, since the bears had been hitting really late in the day this year. End up using the .270 Featherweight I brought with also. Right/wrong I don't know, but I'm a rookie and was looking for any advice.
The first night out, a sow and three cubs came to my bait twenty minutes after got to my stand. I got to watch them for over an hour. They decided to come back right when I was leaving my stand, "trapping" me for forty minutes or so. And yes, for a quick moment, I KNEW that the twig my pack rubbed on as I walked out was the mama bear attacking me from behind
The next morning, I got invited to ride along on the bait run. I learned more about bears from this fellow in a few hours than I ever could have read.
That afternoon, I headed to a different stand, about a mile walk into the woods. I was disappointed to see that the bait had already been hit, but decided to stay anyway. Just before dark, a nice bear wandered into what was left of the bait. After what seemed like a heart-pounding eternity, I was finally able to get a shot. He dropped instantly, but rolled back into the trees before I could shoot again. I could hear what I hoped were his last few breaths, so I didn't think he went far. I've heard stories from a few guys about going after wounded bears in the dark that made my hair stand up; now it was my turn! Of course the bulb in my Surefire decided to go burn out while I was tracking him. I had to stumble back to the stand and grab a spare light from my pack. When I finally found him, he had traveled maybe thirty yds from where I shot him. It ended up taking til one a.m. by the time help was rounded up and we got him to town.
He weighed 343 field-dressed, so I would say maybe 400 lbs live weight?
Had a great trip to the woods of northern MN. Spent the next two days catching walleye & northern with a friend that has a cabin up there.
Unfortunately, the night before I was going to head home, my 16 y/o daughter rolled her car while driving home from her volleyball game. It made for a long seven hour drive home. She is fine now, physically anyway, but it has been a long road. Things are finally getting back to normal around here. We are thankful that God spared her life that night.
Anyways, didn't mean for this post to get so long, but just wanted to let you all know how my hunt turned out. I will be applying for a bear license again this year, only this time with my kids! And hopefully, there will be some levers used!
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"Yep, (spits), I got my bahr this year with my "thutty ate fiddy fi"..."
