Diary of a Wisconsin Bear Guide 7-15-2012
By Mike Foss
Northern Wisconsin Outfitters welcomed another youth hunter this past week. Mitch Hamm and his youngest son, Peyton Hamm, 12, of Tomahawk, Wisconsin trekked a few hours North to help out. We set this bear hunt adventure up a few months back and decided I would not set up Peyton's tree stand or bear bait station until they arrived. Peyton's father wanted his son to experience the whole package from start to finish.
This is the third bear hunt booked by the Hamms with Northern Wisconsin Outfitters (NWO). Five years ago Mitch Hamm hunted with NOW and his oldest step son, Kyle Grube hunted with us in 2011. Both tagged very nice bears. Now it’s youngest son, Peyton’s turn.
Weather is still hot but cooling down some at night. It hasn’t rained for a few weeks now and the mud holes are finally drying up. We did have trouble accessing some areas by ATV. Speaking of mechanical difficulties, I’m having trouble with legs cramping up That tells me I’m going to have to drink more liquids.
Had to laugh while viewing Cuddeback videos and pictures. We had a big bear sleeping on the bait. Looks like he wasn't going to share his meal with anyone.
In the evenings I started to make final detail phone calls to the hunters. What firearms; bow or gun will be used, make sure they know safety harness is required, are they left or right handed, any concerns on their part etc. The phone calls give me a better understanding of each individual hunter and what they expect of me and NWO.
As we said in an earlier posting, bear hunting is not deer hunting. Most of our hunters are drawing a kill permit for the first time after an average eight year wait. They will need more tutoring to feel comfortable when scaling the tree to their stand in two short months.
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| With a transferred bear tag from his Mother, 12 year old Peyton Hamm along with Father Mitch Hamm get comfortable and visualize in their bear stand what it will be like during the big hunt just over a month away. | A big bear sleeps using a log as a head rest on one of the many Mike Foss bait stations. Looks like he is unwilling to share his meal with anyone…or anything. |
Until next week, have fun in the Great Outdoors.
Mike