2022 BEAR SUCCESS THREAD
Bears
Contributors to this thread:
It will be tough to break our all time record of 250 set in 2019, but we should crush last years 88 ...... post photos of those 2022 bears. outfitters are welcome to post client kills ..........and any weapon is eligible........except that airbow thing..
in 2011 we had 126
in 2012 we had 158
in 2013 we had 131
in 2014 we had 136
in 2015 we had 204
in 2016 we had 166
In 2017 we had 140
In 2018 we had 238
In 2019 we had 250
In 2020 we had 52 due to COVID impact.
In 2021 we bounced back slightly with 88
Bou I think we just eclipse 2019….. 261
Headed for Ontario with 4 others at the end of May. Hoping we will be able to contribute 5.
Hunting up in Manitoba (Desjardins) 3rd week of May. Should be able to up the total some.
Bou, if I have a hunting group of 4 but i'm the only bowsiter does bears other than mine count toward the total? I assume no but wasn't for certain.
This is not a normal bowsite elitist thread
We will count any dead bear from any human being with any weapon other than An airbow. ~99% of bowhunters have not ever been been to this site and the membership rules are pretty lax anyway
Hoping to be able to contribute to the total count. I believe I will be in camp the same week as you up at Dave's.
Pops and I are headed to Sleeve Lake Hoping to contribute 2
I was able to get an early start this year.
Dream hunt huntinelk congrats on a awesome bear.
You sure set the bar awfully high this year, Gene! Congrats again!
That is a Great pic!
Congrats again,
Robb
Now thats a bear huntinelk! Bou, whats wrong with a airbow? Its still a lesser weapon than a gun, after watching a video just now I think I'd rather use a airbow then a awkward crossbow
I'm not liking the weather forecast here in Manitoba, not good, FFS!
4 bears on the board so far! I think that one counts as 4 correct? Awesome!
we should run another contest this year. Will Carcus' annual booner be black or color phase this time around?
Color bear this year, he's due, it's been a couple since his last.
Here’s one from Kodiak last week…Hope to add a Black Bear in May.
WOW Cory, Well done is an understatement. Story please
Wow, A polar and Brown. Congrats bows. Beautiful animals
'uge Brownie!
Congrats man,
Robb
Looks like you had to go to Kodiak to escape all the snow in ND, Cory! Congrats on a monster!
Congrats on an awesome bear!!!
Great bear Cory, I was on Kodiak last fall. It's a magical place. What outfitter did you hunt with?
I’ve had a few PM’s. Here are some stats/details: Bear squared an even 10 ft. For the size of bear, the skull was on the smaller side at 27”. I hunted with FreeLance Outdoors (Lance Kronberger) on Kodiak. I had an Aliulik Peninsula tag. I was scheduled to hunt two years ago, but this hunt was one of the only ones to get cancelled from Covid. I had a couple other spring hunts last year, so we rescheduled for this year. Brown Bear on Kodiak has been a “bucket list” hunt for me since my childhood reading about these giant bears in Outdoor life. The hunt was everything I hoped it would be. Lance and his crew are awesome.
Nice bears so far guys congrats!
"we should run another contest this year. Will Carcus' annual booner be black or color phase this time around?" Not looking good this year, I cant even get my bait out due to deep snow, normally we would be hunting already!
Two dream bears to start. Well done fellas Congrats.
Great job guys,. 2 dream hunts for me. No spring bear this year. Will wait until Oct.
WOW Eric. That is a beautiful pic. Amazing
Great bear Bowjangles. Especially with a recurve! How about a story and some stats.
Nice bear beautiful coat.
Thanks fellas!
@bentstick I'm writing it up now in the "Semi-live Polar Bear hunt" thread.
bentstick, Keep up with the "semi-live polar bear hunt" thread. recap happening now.
My Montana spot and stalk bear from yesterday. His ears and muzzle were all torn up, and he was missing an eye.
Great bear CF. Must of been a real scrapper.
Brian Piper from MI with a beautiful chocolate green score 20 1/16”
Marc Goldberg NC with a last minute last day bruin 19 6/16” green score.
First day in BC with a bonus. 1 more tag to go
Wow, congrats on the wolf! I'll have a wolf tag next week in N. Alberta; would be my greatest trophy with a bow.
8 bear. More should start piling up here pretty fast
Tony Yost MI first successful hunt I think he’s hooked on bear hunting now.
Great bears fellas! Keep 'em coming!!
G5, that's a nice bear! Congrats! Looks like a fabulous day.
I shot the last and smallest one. Mine was the only one that was under 19” green
I shot the last and smallest one. Mine was the only one that was under 19” green
Just got back from our annual spring bear camp out. Three days of crap weather, late spring half as many black bear as usual and twice as many grizzlies. The grizzlies are literally eating all the blacks. Saw no yearling cubs and only two new ones.
We managed to kill eight bears with most off us electing to shoot just one tag. Still lots of time to hunt local.
Another seasoned killer.
Another seasoned killer.
Good bear.
Good bear.
This young guy has never shot so much as a grouse before.
Learning how to pop the noggin out of the hide. He also got a curse put on him by a self proclaimed gypsy woman screaming at him for killing the bear! That was a first for us and kinda fun.
Learning how to pop the noggin out of the hide. He also got a curse put on him by a self proclaimed gypsy woman screaming at him for killing the bear! That was a first for us and kinda fun.
So he tops it off with a double header!! He was pretty pumped to be in bear camp!
Another young guy dumps a cranker. Biggest head of the trip.
This was a long, lanky and belligerent sob. Squared 7’ 2". They chased him around for quite a while to get a shot. He wouldn’t run far and he wouldn’t tree.
And Double Header’s Dad kills his share every year.
We figure we saw over thirty grizzlies and no cubs. It's a great denning area and they concentrate on the valley bottom right away. But the shear number was ridiculous! We had one big boar circle about thirty yards under us as we were skinning and he moved off about fifty yards and waited for us to finish. I’m sure he was on the carcass as soon as we were out of sight.
The 536#
The 536#
The 514#
The 514#
Great pics ambush. Enjoy seeing quality pics of dead bear. I haven't hunted spring bear in Canada for years but sure enjoyed it. Only fall bear in MN. Took 2 people last fall. A 14 year old incredible young lady and a nother middle aged lady. The 14 year old shot a 514# and the lady shot a 536#. Both within a mile of each other. 10 and 11 years old. The girls skull Was20 3/16 .the ladies was 20 7 /16. I'm incredibly blessed as I have 2 adjacent landowners that own about 7 miles of riverbottom and allow me (and only me) to play in their sandbox. 7 bear over the past couple years over 20" with one going 21 9/16. All dried skulls.
Didn't weigh this one but my guess is 650ish. 19 years old. Skull was shattered (bullet) so could not be scored.
Dang it! Went back to see if I posted things proper and I failed miserably! Drinking beer and posting on the net sure can foul me up! None were taken in 2022. Sorry fellas (blushing)
As always, Rod and his crew produce! Nice work!
Dave Clark PA wanted a color phase for a life size display mount for his taxidermy shop.
Dave Butler NJ 85 years young. He also wanted a color phase bear and there is lots of them around this year.
Rob… NJ guys rock eh? Eh… that’s Canadian for huh?
One of the guys ran back up for a quick evening hunt. Paid off.
19 7/8
19 7/8
20”
20”
19.1
19.1
19 7/8
19 7/8
20 1/4”
20 1/4”
345# Green Lake Saskatchewan.
Carrot River Saskatchewan
Carrot River Saskatchewan
My best bear so far.
My best bear so far.
Saskatchewan 5/19/22. Green score 20 1/16” and weighed 371.
Manitoba…406 lbs. Pushing 20”… Some great bears guys…
Manitoba, 300#. It was good to be back in Canada in the spring!
Thanks to the outfitters that post in this shared thread
Would love to see all bears land here even if they Also land in a promotional thread for just that operation
I agree. Some big boars should be hitting the dirt soon.
Beautiful bears guys and wolf
Right at 6’ average boar for our area. Couldn’t resist after 12 hours on stand and getting ghosted by the brown bears who vacated the area a few days ago.
Andy was our last hunter to tag out for our spring hunt. I’ll be posting all our bears over the next few days.
Our longtime friend Bill and repeat client of over 20 years.
Bob’s a repeat client of many years and harvested a great looking cinnamon colour bear.
Repeat Client Floyd with another Manitoba bear added to his collection
Repeat client Linda with another P&Y added to her collection
Lynn didn’t waste any time in her hunt. 3 hrs in and she shot another bear at over 19”.
I too my wife on her first bear hunt this year. On her 3rd evening, this big boy came in. Green score of 19 14/16"
Beautiful bear Kyle. Congrads to your wife. Do you have a front on pic? Darren
Hey Darren, here is the front pict
That is a beautiful color bear Kyle. Your wife is spoiled now! Good for her! I'm guessing that is up north. Were you guided or set it up yourself?
Cool bear, Kyle! Great picture too. Congrats to both of you
Our group of 7 saw 75 bears this week in NB. Probably averaged only 5 guys on stand each night. We saw some absolute monsters too. My father killed his first bear. A nice 257# Boar. I took my 3rd with a recurve at 254#.
Good stuff, Leo! Congrats!
Wow Leo, squeezing Alaska for all it's worth!!. Great bears!
Forgot how much fun it was to watch bears do their thing!
Been too long for me since I killed one in MT. Off to Idaho next!
Congrats all some dandies. Kyle that color phase is spectacular.
No CanApp needed, another Western US chocOlate.
My Saskatchewan archery bear from a couple days ago. By far my biggest bear ever, and my second contribution to this thread for the year.
What a tank. Did you get a weight?
Great Bears everyone! I had a incredible week in Manitoba at Stickflingers with Ryan, Parker and Chris. One of the hardest working group of guides I have been around. We went 10 for 13 my week with a couple misses and one not recovered unfortunately. I believe almost everyone saw a color phase as well. Great operation and I can’t wait to do it again one day.
Another Stickflingers success story!
First sit, second bear to come in. After watching him for an hour he gave me a perfect opportunity. He squared 7’2” and we green scored his skull (with calipers) at 20 13/16”.
Another 7 footer was taken the first night as well. Camp was on fire this week!
I can’t say enough good things about the Stickflingers crew. Ryan, Parker and David are all first class folks with a treasure trove of bear hunting knowledge between them. I’m heading back up in ‘24.
Here’s another angle of his melon head.
Alaska 2022
Alaska 2022
We ran baits for a little over a week in Alaska. This area usually is crawling with bears. This year they were very scarce. Definitely not a big bear but I managed to sit long enough to fill a tag.
Congrats to everyone, sadly I will not be adding to this thread this year, almost though
Congrats on some more great bears, guys!
I shot the wrong brown bear after a close call with a much bigger one, but a fun hunt last night introducing Zach to Alaska Bear baiting. Was a blast and it’s his turn tonight looking to punch a black bear tag.
My son's Alberta color phase bear. 18 3/4"
My sons boar with TSI in New Brunswick.
My sons boar with TSI in New Brunswick.
Made the move up to Alaska a couple weeks ago and just got settled in! I couldn’t ask for much more of a “Welcome to Alaska” party than getting to tag along with Trevor for the weekend! Just an added bonus to get to punch a tag on a bear!
That didn’t take long! Congrats, Zach!
Christened the V3X in New Brunswick with TSI.
We had many Bowsiters in camp which made for a great camp and week.
Went to Saskatchewan then right to Manitoba…was hoping to take a colored bear but lost control early on both hunts… lol
Two brown bears from this spring
Cole Wallitz with Mike’s Outfitting in Alberta.
Cole Wallitz with Mike’s Outfitting in Alberta.
Cole with his 19 11/16 skull, 6 ft 11 in square hide, 305 lb bear.
Louis Spillman with Mike’s Outfitting in Alberta
Louis Spillman with Mike’s Outfitting in Alberta
Louis with his 20 0/16 skull, 7 ft 4 in, 305 lb bear.
Mike if you put all yours on here we'll be loaded down! Need those Pice Acres bears as well, Chris.
Not the biggest bear but one heck of a trip with some fellow bowsiters at TSI New Brunswick
Thanks Bou’bound, but I love to see the pictures of all the hard working do it yourself hunters on this thread! I hate to overwhelm it with a bunch of outfitter kills.
Jason of Kansas...
Jason of Kansas...
These hunters deserved getting their pictures posted on this thread... Semi guided means they worked hard, especially this year for their animals. Congrats to all who post on this thread!!
As Bou Bound said, post away Outfitters, we all enjoy seeing your trophy animals!!
Glen of MICHIGAN...
Glen of MICHIGAN...
Brian of Michigan...
Brian of Michigan...
Well said Mike, I agree. I love the outfitter threads but I also like a thread for DIY hunters. *Edit* I should say Bowsite members regardless of guided or DIY.
Steve of wisconsin...
Steve of wisconsin...
Casey of N Dakota...
Casey of N Dakota...
Brandon of MN.
Brandon of MN.
George N Mexico...
George N Mexico...
Mr Shreiber of Wisconsin....
Mr Shreiber of Wisconsin....
R.J., there are hundreds of thousand of hunters that click on Bowsite.com a day. Pretty well all my customers click on Bowsite.com weekly. They (lurkers) are all part of the Bowsite community!! Not just the regular posters...
Dan Wiegand with Mike’s Outfitting in Alberta.
Dan Wiegand with Mike’s Outfitting in Alberta.
Dan with his 20 8/16 skull, 7 ft 8 in hide, 420 lb colored bear in a light snowfall in the early part of the season.
Wow, Waterfowler! That’s awesome
Chris of Wisconsin...
Chris of Wisconsin...
Jesse from Michigan...
Jesse from Michigan...
Nate Kissella with Mike’s Outfitting in Alberta
Nate Kissella with Mike’s Outfitting in Alberta
Here is Nate with his 405 lb, 20 0/16 skull bear with a 7 ft 6 in square hide.
Seth of Wisconsin...
Seth of Wisconsin...
Another successful Wisconsin Hunter...
Another successful Wisconsin Hunter...
102
Thanks Mike and Chris. Well done all.
Doug my first ever bear Client got it done on the first night his group of 4 went 100% on bears
Doug my first ever bear Client got it done on the first night his group of 4 went 100% on bears
Father and son harvested their bears the same evening
13 yr old with his first bear
This man from Hawaii sat through a hail storm, but in the end he was rewarded
Mr. Lange and his sons...
Mr. Lange and his sons...
Jacob from Missouri
Jacob from Missouri
John of Wisconsin...
John of Wisconsin...
And another…. This one was trying to eat my other bear.
Manitoba 2022
Manitoba 2022
There have been some really good bears killed this year. Congrats to everyone who had a successful hunt. I had a great hunt with Canadian Wilderness Outfitters in Manitoba and took a 20"+ beauty.
114 ( 85 posted right side up and 29 upside down) they all count though.
My buddy Troy shot this hunting with us this year. Great fun and beautiful weather. Not.
Wanted add to our number. Some great bears this year
Haha. I’m sure Randy has no idea where that photo came from. Randy and Troy shot great bears. Mine is just a nice color phase.
I don’t have a hat photo.
I don’t have a lot of good success photo’s because I stink at it. Good hunting partners seem to be helping.
Chris of Missouri....
Chris of Missouri....
Gene of W.Virginia...
Gene of W.Virginia...
Mr. Carlson...
Mr. Carlson...
Mike Bader with Mike’s Outfitting in Alberta.
Mike Bader with Mike’s Outfitting in Alberta.
Here is Mike with his 390 lb chocolate boar with a 20 6/16 skull bear and a 7 ft 6 inch hide.
George from N. Mexico...
George from N. Mexico...
Adam Millburn with Mike’s Outfitting in Alberta
Adam Millburn with Mike’s Outfitting in Alberta
Here’s Adam with his 20 1/16 skull bear, 6 ft 10 inch hide and weighing 300-350 lbs, couldn’t get him weighed down in the river valley.
Nice bears Geese, Ron and Twa! Yea, someone needs a new hat!
Some nice bears! Randy, Ron, Troy, Jim W, etc! Good job!
No photo but I arrowed the 88th black bear I saw this spring on Tuesday morning. Spring season closes tonight so I let one pick me and shot it (we like the meat) when it walked into my glassing spot.
Ok curt firvyou we will make an exception and count it without photographic evidence.
Up to 124
Rob, Kent, and Greg thanks for the hard work. Much appreciated . Got to spend a week with the Bowhunter crew. What a great group to share a camp with, what a hoot.
Mike McNeilly with Mike’s Outfitting in Alberta
Mike McNeilly with Mike’s Outfitting in Alberta
Here’s Mike with his shiny coated 350 lb, almost 7 foot, almost 20 inch head bear! (6 ft 11 and 19 15/16, so close, dang it!)
John and his Spring 2022 Bear.
John and his Spring 2022 Bear.
Chad and his Spring 2022 Bear.
Chad and his Spring 2022 Bear.
George Fall 2022.
George Fall 2022.
Aaron and his 2022 Fall Bear.
Aaron and his 2022 Fall Bear.
Ontario
Ontario
Manitoba
Manitoba
Young lady from Wisconsin got it done
Young lady from Wisconsin got it done
Mike Rose.... Fall 2022
Mike Rose.... Fall 2022
Cody Quetone... Fall 2022
Cody Quetone... Fall 2022
Mn opens September 1st and ends Oct 15. I have no desire myself to hunt till the last 2 weeks. I passed on a couple 500lbs+ bear last year (spot n stalk) because it was just so warm I didn't wanna deal with it.
Good luck fellas.
Nice Bear Mike, Congrats,
16 Year Old Jake got it done!! Fall 2022
16 Year Old Jake got it done!! Fall 2022
Bob and his Boar!! Fall 2022.
Bob and his Boar!! Fall 2022.
Bowsiter (LURKER) Papa Jacks, and his Boar. Taken with his Howard Hill Bow and Arrows. Fall 2022.
Bowsiter (LURKER) Papa Jacks, and his Boar. Taken with his Howard Hill Bow and Arrows. Fall 2022.
Tim Raabe and his Boar... Fall 2022
Tim Raabe and his Boar... Fall 2022
Evan Westlake.... August 30th 2022
Evan Westlake.... August 30th 2022
Fall Bears starts August 15th here...
Great nice bears!!!!! Congrats
Tom of Illinois gets his Boar... August 31rst 2022.
Tom of Illinois gets his Boar... August 31rst 2022.
Jim Morris and his Boar... Sept. 5th 2022.
Jim Morris and his Boar... Sept. 5th 2022.
Bowsiter (Lurker) Craig Beckman. Sept. 7th 2022.
Bowsiter (Lurker) Craig Beckman. Sept. 7th 2022.
Booner Contender... Craig Beckman of Mn. Shot at Vermilion Bay Ontario.
Great to see all these bears in one thread. Congrats to all of you guys ! One more animal I regret never hunting.
Donna with her PB with a lanky .6'10 squared. The video is unreal, I got the death moan in video.
Noah with his first fall bear at 6'2 squared and his smallest bear. The video also turned out really well, the shot at impact was amazing!
Troy with his first ever archery bear. 6'3 squared. The hunt will be aired on Wild TV next year under the banner "Non-Typical Nation."
Congrats on the bears.....are ya able to load up the vids?
Zee with his first big game kill ever, a lanky 6'9. I measured it 3 times to be sure.
Mike with his first bear. Quality pictures are very important, at least in my opinion. Pictures in the general area where the animal fell almost always turns out better than back at camp or at the "photo spot." I'll be doing a video on taking quality trophy photos soon. Take the time in the field you'll appreciate it way more. A head lamp works wonders for those night time photos. Play with the angle of the light and see what works best.
Case in point. Not a night time pic, but a solo pic. A tripod helps tremendously. I had many compliments on this pic asking who took it for me. I wish I could have someone there, but when solo make sure you are prepared. Pictures help preserve the memory.
Chocolate Phase Colorado Bear
Chocolate Phase Colorado Bear
Da boys
Da boys
Hunting a Colorado wallow for Elk with Flat Top Adventures (Forest Bows) and this beautiful, big Chocolate phase Bear came in to water. 30 yard broadside shot to the lungs and he fell right over. Dream hunt. Dennis Razza and Lenny Wood also got their first archery bull elk. We did a drop camp.
155. Keep coming they ain’t hibernating yet
No Bear yet but here's his wolf. Karl Hoeppner of Wisconsin.
No Bear yet but here's his wolf. Karl Hoeppner of Wisconsin.
This bear was killed by a friend of mine in NB last week. Bigger bear got on it and ate it before recovery the next morning.
Wow! That bigger bear must have been VERY hungry, Boreal!
Trapped this one in Maine
11 years of trying to kill a bear on my NY ground. Was tearing up my cornfield.
11 years of trying to kill a bear on my NY ground. Was tearing up my cornfield.
My first Bear from my New York property on opening day. Took 11 years to kill one on my land! They liked my corn plot and I had them figured out after lots of scouting Pretty thrilled to kill a bear on my own ground coming into my food plot.
Nice job Pat! Has to be very rewarding!!
510lb color phase bear my daughter got 9-17 in Arkansas
510lb color phase bear my daughter got 9-17 in Arkansas
Finally, have been waiting for this scenario for many years. Fresh snow, an open tag. Gonna put some miles on this morning and try to catch a big track.
Did not cut any tracks this morning so I switched gears for deer this evening. Made it 4 minutes in my first sit.
This is my son Kurt’s bear he was in the corn 657 lbs on scale biggest bear I ever skinned.
Holy smokes, Alexis! What a toad!
Wow Alexis!!! That is a biggun. Congrats to your son. I hope ya charged him full price!!
Family is alway free John don’t mind skinning one like that.
Little early season color phase.
Alexis....ya I know...I was just having some fun. If you want to adopt another son....I know someone. :-) That is a heck of a bear. It might be the heaviest I've seen posted here???
I think there has been bigger John, was told today one was killed not far from here 815 lbs, and was sent a pic of one from Wisconsin 775 lbs anything over 500 r rare enough.
Tell Kurt I had my eye on that bear!!