kidso

Awesome bear Cody! Hope I can get one out of central Arizona now! How much did he weigh?

Chalk another bear up to the southern unit hunters!

Great bear! What unit did you whack him in? P.S. Did you have fun skinning and packing him out in just 3 hours?

Not bad for a TUESDAY!!! Now, where is the story of the hunt? Is that a spring archery bear from 2011?

Those central units are my favorite units to hunt bear. They are found in about every mountain range in them. Find the remote and rugged canyons with food and water and you'll find the bears.

Put your cam in exactly the same spot and lets see if that elk and blonde bear return this year!

Its interesting to see how "regular" they can be in their patterns, but he'll only be doing that as long as his food source is still available in the area. I hope you get him this weekend. I have a buddy checking my trail cams for me. I hope to have a bruin or two on film as well!

Anyone else going out next weekend for the EARLY OTC spring bear hunt? A nice chance to do some shed hunting while keeping any eye out for fresh bear sign post-hibernation.

Sounds like you have a pretty good opportunity there to fill your OTC tag. Is the bear hitting the water around the same time frame when he does make his visits? Or are his times all over the place?

He used the "Mighty Atom" electronic caller.

I like the color phase on that guy. I love how you have cut out the bear to avoid showing the fence that surrounds him at the Phoenix Zoo! Are you planning on a tree stand or ground blind? How far away are you planning to put it from the water source?

Details buddy! Did you call him in, spot and stalk, or sit water? How far were you shooting? What color phase was he? What time of day did you meet him? Thanks!

Buddy of mine was out Thursday and Friday calling and glassing in 23. No response and no new spring sign spotted yet. It should start picking up in two weeks after the OTC hunt closes.

I heard 109,with all but 3 of them being called in electronically. The man knew his stuff! It was a great seminar.

Darren, Is that an animal skull that all the critters are checking out?

I was so excited, I went yesterday to the seminar....only one week too early!!! Hyperwrx you posted the notice too soon!

Reed Peterson was "the one" for me, so this will be the "two."

First choice selected, unit 9 cow tag, October rifle hunt!

I had my first choice picked, the Unit 9 October cow hunt!

Leaving tomorrow for three days. Will be calling for lion tomorrow and checking trail cams I set back in October. Hopefully they are still there and have survived the winter! Calling for bear on Friday and Saturday. Will report back when home. I kind of doubt the bears will be out, but it should be fun to preview the area before the archery draw bear hunt opens. RETURNED from the field. Glassed miles of bear country and checked water holes and trail cams, but no scat, tracks, pictures, or any other sign of bears that have left their spring hibernation locations. I'm sure a few boars must be out there, but I came across no fresh sign. Oh well, it great exercise and beautiful views!

thanks kieth!! i just sent scotty the part of the hide that was needed to do the shoulder mnt and had a buddie of mine tan the rest for me... not to sure what im going todo with the rest of the hide yet but im sure all think of something cool... Cody, what measurements did your skull ultimately score? And did you ever measure the length of your bear?

Here is my bear rug from the recent spring archery hunt, and my twin girls, of course!

Thanks everyone. Its been a busy four months raising the twins, which has kept me out of the field, but that is life in the family. It will come back my direction two-fold as they get older! However, I am gearing up for the spring bear season. The good wife is giving the green light on that hunt. I can't wait to get out and have two trail cams to pull from last fall. Hopefully I'll have some nice bears on film to stalk.

Very nice Cody. I like the length of the shoulder mount, it gives it more character than a shorter head mount. On a mount like that, do they tan the entire hide, or just the portion of the cape that is utilized for the mount?

Usually after the spring OTC bear hunt.