Please BEAR with me, 2024 is going to be full of unBEARable surprises!!!

[seeth07]

No, just thru tomorrow. Work Monday and Tuesday for both of us and then the wife will be back up for 7 days straight if needed. I'll just have friday night, sat and Sunday next weekend

 

[Treeshark]

Good luck!

 

[thusby]

I was sitting the same days as you. 85 degrees at 5:30pm, covered in gnats/mosquitos and a bead of sweat dripping off my nose.

 

[seeth07]

Hard for me to really wrap this up with how angry I am but basically IT SUCKED. I no longer am a supporter of the way WI structures it seasons and the rules and regulations around using hounds for hunting black bears. I now feel that it is completely out of hand and outrageous what happens drawn from conclusions made by my own personal firsthand knowledge and experience.

And I'm a huge dog lover, especially in regards to using dogs for hunting - I have two golden retrievers trained as upland and waterfowl dogs.

 

[thusby]

Hard for me to really wrap this up with how angry I am but basically IT SUCKED. I no longer am a supporter of the way WI structures it seasons and the rules and regulations around using hounds for hunting black bears. I now feel that it is completely out of hand and outrageous what happens drawn from conclusions made by my own personal firsthand knowledge and experience.

And I'm a huge dog lover, especially in regards to using dogs for hunting - I have two golden retrievers trained as upland and waterfowl dogs.

Best to wait for the late bait season every other year. That last week can be golden. Finding unpressured bear can be tough.

 

[seeth07]

Some numbers to help understand the frustration:

4 baits, rebaited the entire duration at least once every other day or as needed from 1 week prior to season to end
7 days of no dog use to start the season - of which we were in NM and unable to hunt.
13 Daylight instances of boars on a bait during that time.
28 Nighttime instances of boars on a bait during that time.
170 Gallons of bait used.

2 days of dogs allowed before we showed up
3 Daylight instances of boars on a bait during that time.
7 Nighttime instances of boars on a bait during that time.
0 Dogs on camera or landowners noticing dogs on private property.

10 days of at least one of us present and actively hunting, 2 additional days in there where we were not - 12 total day span.
3 Daylight instances of boars on bait - of which we were there for one of them.
21 Nighttime instances of boars on a bait
40 Gallons of bait used.
1 Boar shot at and missed
5 times dogs showed up at a bait on camera
8 times encountering trucks running dogs on private they don't have permission
2 verbal confrontations with outfitters running dogs
1 time sitting and having to resist the urge to shoot the dogs on the bait
1 phone call to a sheriff saying its not worth his time because he is too busy to deal with it

 

[Arcola]

As a WI hound hunter, I'm sad to hear about your season. @thusby is right about taking advantage of the week that hounds aren't in the woods. I too would suggest the years where sitting bait is the late season, like he did (although it looks like the first week could have been very productive had you been available). My main takeaway from your stats, is that you have some shitty outfitters in your area. I would report those guys to the DNR if it were me. Outfitters need to be held to a higher standard. There aren't any outfitters in the area we run, but there's always somebody that just refuses to follow the rules and it gives everyone a black eye. We run a tight ship and do everything we can to follow the rules and mitigate the bad publicity. It's sad when those that wont follow the rules muck it up for everyone else -especially with other hunters. The divide between our own will be our ultimate demise.

 

[seeth07]

As a WI hound hunter, I'm sad to hear about your season. @thusby is right about taking advantage of the week that hounds aren't in the woods. I too would suggest the years where sitting bait is the late season, like he did (although it looks like the first week could have been very productive had you been available). My main takeaway from your stats, is that you have some shitty outfitters in your area. I would report those guys to the DNR if it were me. Outfitters need to be held to a higher standard. There aren't any outfitters in the area we run, but there's always somebody that just refuses to follow the rules and it gives everyone a black eye. We run a tight ship and do everything we can to follow the rules and mitigate the bad publicity. It's sad when those that wont follow the rules muck it up for everyone else -especially with other hunters. The divide between our own will be our ultimate demise.

I'm guessing the area you run has a lot of public land? This specific area does not. The closest reasonable tract of public land (more than 200 acres) to run the dogs is about 15 miles away.

 

[Arcola]

I'm guessing the area you run has a lot of public land? This specific area does not. The closest reasonable tract of public land (more than 200 acres) to run the dogs is about 15 miles away.

Yes, primarily public but scattered private that we are careful to respect. Knowing that about your area only embraces my comment about reporting those outfitters. Their intent sounds pretty blatant.

 

[seeth07]

Yes, primarily public but scattered private that we are careful to respect. Knowing that about your area only embraces my comment about reporting those outfitters. Their intent sounds pretty blatant.

The one guy literally told me "the only way to get the bears off all of your baits on private is to run our dogs through to chase them off. Call the Sheriff, I don't care, he won't do anything"

 

[Arcola]

The one guy literally told me "the only way to get the bears off all of your baits on private is to run our dogs through to chase them off. Call the Sheriff, I don't care, he won't do anything"

The DNR will care.