Guide Foss Can Bear-ly Stand Broken Ankle
Dedicated Bear Guide Mike Foss broke his ankle in a pick-up basketball game recently, just when his scouting and first teaser baits of the young season were already drawing in some monster bears reminiscent of the legendary Snaggletooth.
Mike Foss’s early scouting has already put him on bears that he believes will be 400 to 500 pounds by September over 2000 new acres of private land.
What’s a monster bear? Over 400 pounds already, with a Foss prediction that some will be at more than 500 in September. Remember this is the guide who put a hunter on a 638 pound boar a few years ago (I helped pull that critter out) and annually has clients registering bears weighing in at the 400 to 500 class. He knows the animal.
The guide says one mark of a large old bear is a defined crease in his head.
No worries though. Foss is putting off necessary surgery until after the September season. Anyway, if he stays out of the woods, who else is going to give all those hunters working 30 square miles of Bayfield County 100 percent shot opportunity? Not many can like Mike can. I’ve watched Mike’s field work for almost 10 years now and I will be there again in September. It’s something to see.
When he came across defined prints on a well- worn trail that made adrenalin shoot through him, Foss placed his compass next to the track for the reader’s comparison.
Read Foss’s weekly Blogs under “Bear Hunting” on this website, and read too his article in the upcoming July-August issue of On Wisconsin Outdoors. For now, though, we’ll just post some of the bear photos Foss is capturing as he baits new stations and places stands. With 1000 additional DNR harvest tags expected for Zone D, the guide went out and received permission to guide on an additional 2000 private acres.
These photos give the reader a glimpse of what is lurking out there. Foss, a 6-foot, 245 pound man, sprays bear scent in the first photo on a sapling. The same camera captures a boar working the same tree a day later.
“Kill those bears.” One northern farmer with destroyed crops said to Foss in granting that permission.
I am on my way to cover the Bob Ellis Rowtrolling Classic June 14, Wisconsin’s most unique musky tournament in honor of my late uncle and National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Famer. DNR Big Game Biologist Kevin Wallenfang will again MC the Classic. Kevin and crew always do a great job putting the entire Classic together and their time invested simply because they appreciate the sport and Bob is appreciated too.
Don’t forget to plan for DeerFest August 8-10 at Washington County Fair Park in West Bend. See the DeerFest ad in our current May-June issue and upcoming July-August issue for speakers and highlights.
Don’t forget to pick your On Wisconsin Outdoors up at any Kwik Trip store in Wisconsin and any of 44 Wisconsin Menards stores. Look in the Menards camping aisle. Look too for Kwik Trip Outdoors contests and you may find yourself in the field or on the water with the true Wisconsin experts in the months ahead. You can also connect with OWO on Facebook.
Thank you for connecting with On Wisconsin Outdoors. Shoot straight.
Dick Ellis