Kind of bummed, very pissed off

[yotehunter]

Im new to this board but have lurked here awhile. I went on a black bear hunt last weekend with a friend of mine that runs hounds on bear and lion.
To make it short we tree'ed a very nice bear about 2 hours into the hunt. The problem was my friend would not get out from under the tree and I didnt want to shoot with him under there. He stayed under until the bear jumped (fell) out of the tree and took off. We chased that bear for 6 more hours and it never tree'ed again.
I was very pissed at the time, The entire time we chased that bear I could only think we could have been dressing it now and on our way home.
I think my friend felt bad because he is taking me out again next weekend. This time I told him I will count to 3 and then im shooting so he better not be playing stick tag with the bear under the tree. ( thats what he was doing with the first bear we tree'ed).

 

[Calif. Hunter]

Thanks for posting your tale. Yeah, I'd give him the same warning!

 

[MarvB]

Tag??

Sounds like your buddy needed a You're It! upside the head with your gun butt.

...better luck next weekend and welcome to Moosie's Digs

 

[Tobey]

Yotehunter
When you count to 3 and shoot I hope your buddy has all his hounds tied back out of the way.The quikest way to get a good hound killed is just start shooting when you get there.When I got thousand's of dollors worth of hounds under A tree no one shoots till I say shoot.

 

[yotehunter]

The hounds were tied up, the only thing not tied up was my friend.

 

[Nut]

Well then, tie the friend up first?

 

[Elkhunter]

Good luck on the next outing.

 

[Big Sky]

Well had you shot that bear I imagine it would of cured your buddy from playing under the tree. Wounded or dead bears falling on one's head tend to have that affect on people. Would of made some great video!

 

[MrRee]

I don't see the "sport" in that kind of hunt. Shooting bear out of a tree is to me like spearing fish in a barrel.

To me the sport is to scout the area, sit up where you THINK it might travel and get it on the ground! Dogs only come into play if you are tracking one that had a bad hit and would die anyway. They are to find the wounded bear only, at that point, if it is up a tree, I would question the shot and give the bear a fighting chance.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Tobey]

If your good enough to stalk A bear and wound it you sould be able to find it on your own without A hound.

 

[Casey Richardson]

Well I might as well piss someone off. You're buddy has the time and money into the dogs and if he chooses to let the bear run I think that is his call. I often have people hunt with me for lions and my personal feeling and rule is a female lion will never be taken over my hounds, often this has made a hunter mad when I won't bend and they are looking at a lion in the tree. The way I look at it is this, that is a lion (in your case a bear) that you would have never seen without his dogs, so you really didn't miss out on the bear but had the chance to enjoy seeing it and enjoy the chase. There is a possibility that your buddy didn't want you to shoot the bear so his way of handling the situation was to poke the bear out. MrRee, I agree, the hunt is not in the shot but the pursuit, planning, training, and experience, whether you are baiting, still hunting, or putting a hound on the ground. A bear or lion that is shot out of tree is not a challenging shot, but then again neither is a ten yard shot out of a tree stand or ground blind. The challenge is locating the track, having well trained dogs, making the race in tough country, definately not the shot. I believe a true bear hunter harvests his bear with a knife. LOL Happy hunting, Casey

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 11-06-2003 21:20: Message edited by: Casey Richardson ]</font>

 

[Kevin D]

So how much did you have to pay your friend to take you out hunting with his dogs?? Because I have to agree with Casey, unless you are a paying client, you have no say in where, if, or when the bear gets taken......and only then with the dog owners consent. If this was a freebie or a gas money type hunt have no gripe, my friend. Like Tobey said, a houndsman has too much invested in his dogs to let relative rookies manage their hunts.

 

[MarvB]

I definately agree with everyone that says- "His hounds his call" but I kinda (probably wrong

) got the feeling that the dogs were tied back and his buddy was screwing around....??Stick Tag??? Still waiting for that one to be explained.

...lots of time, money, and training in those hounds....

 

[yotehunter]

OK, The hounds were tied up about 25 yards from the tree. Yes my giude is a friend of mine and it was a free be hunt to a point (it was pay back for rebuilding his truck engine). Im not mad at him, I was upset at the time because I really wanted that bear.
There was no reason for him not wanting me to take the bear. What he told me at the time and he told me again after the incident was that he just wanted to DINK with the bear alttle. Thats what upset me. Anyone who has used hounds knows its not an easy hunt. We were in 2 feet of snow going up some very steep terrain. If you think its easy then you need to stop watching TV and get out and try it. I would take following a pack of hounds over sitting in a tree stand any day. As far as it not being ethical hunting well I dont know what to say, what has more chance of getting away, something that knows its being chased or something thats just walking around and happens to walk past a stand. Its all 6 of one half dozen of the other. We shouldnt be attacking each other here, leave that to the antis. And I do know it was his hounds and his call otherwise I would have taken the bear, I had plenty of time and chance to take it I was just waiting for his go ahead.

 

[MrRee]

We all have things like opinions, noses & other things

My 2 cents is simply that you made contact with a bear, and followed it to the tree.

I call that a succesful hunt!! Sure you get no rug to put down on the floor, but would you really want one that you shot out of a tree that was chased up that tree by dogs??

To me, I would feel that was nothing to brag about. If I tracked the bear, scouted the area, and got to "out manuver" the bear on the ground, and got it in it's own territory, then I feel I have accomplished something.

To each his own, but shooting a bear in tree is not "hunting" to me. Sitting over a bait pile is not hunting either. Get off your lazy butt and find it in its own element. It can be done, just takes more work and a LOT more trying!!

 

[yotehunter]

Believe me, chasing those hounds is not easy and not for the lazy. Shooting a bear out of a tree is no different than shooting it on the ground, same results. It would be far easier to find a area and place a stand, sooner or later one will come by with the same results. I am not just after a rug I am after the meat also. Using hounds on bear and lion is no different than using them on birds as far as ethics goes. I would not bait for them. I have nothing against it and would not tell anyone they were wrong for doing it, its just not the way I want to hunt.

 

[tnctcb]

i think hunting bear with dogs is very similar to hunting hogs with dogs.the last dog hunt for hogs i was on we chased a pig for 2 hours, through briars, neck deep in water, through waist deep mud, where ever the pig goes you have to go because the dogs will and if they bay up you better be there quick.if that isnt work you tell me what is. sure the shot is easy but getting there isnt.casey it isnt a bear but i have killed 2 hogs with a knife.

 

[Big Sky]

I've hunted bears every way you can, with dogs, over bait, spot and stalk, and calling. The only thing I can say to MrRee is that he speaks without knowledge. I guarantee he does not speak from experience or he would know just how blatantly ignorant his opinion sounds. If he were to join a hound hunter while chasing bears in the Rocky mountains, even if he doesn't hunt, his opinion would change in a hurry. Then again I doubt he'd be able to hack it as it's some of the most physical hunting there is. Personally I don't care for hunting over hounds for bears, but it has nothing to do with whether it's ethical or not. Different strokes for different folks, but to so arrogantly condemn a perfectly legal way of hunting is plain foolish. In fact judging by MrRee's overall lack of post's I have to wonder if he's nothing more than a troll for some anti-hunting group. Sounds pretty PETA-thetic to me.

 

[yotehunter]

My point exactly, I dont condem any way of hunting if its leagle. We have enough trouble in this sport than to have to defend ourselfs from other hunters. If I dont like a certin way someone else hunts then I just keep quiet about it, but I would always want to learn more about it before I took my point of view.
By the way, I went on another bear hunt today, but I guess I am just lazy. I hiked about 5-6 miles of some very steep snow covered mountain sides and after 7 hours of so called easy hunting we called it a day.
Hounds do not guarrentee an easy hunt and they dont gurrentee you will get the game your after, but you will get a work out.

 

[Casey Richardson]

tnctcb,
I'm with you man!! I am gonna get a bear with a knife someday, people call me crazy but that would be the chit! Where ya hog hunting? Sounds like a kick a$$ time. Happy hunting, Casey