16 of 20 Bears Down After One Week in Foss Camp

Despite nasty thunderstorms that shut down the first day of the Wisconsin bear hunt in Bayfield County Wednesday, Mike Foss reported last Wednesday that three hunters had filled tags from his Washburn camp on opening day.  More than 20 tag holders are taking stands over 30 square miles of rugged Superior country where Foss has been baiting since spring. After one week of hunting, 16 bears have been tagged.

Typically, hunters in Foss’s Northern Wisconsin Outfitters camp will reach 100 percent shot opportunity, or close to it due to his hard work and diligence in bringing bears to the bait.  Typically, the Foss camp will also see very big bears taken; up to 638 pounds in recent years and the 2014 opener was no exception.

This 405 pound boar tagged by Mark Hillman was the largest taken to date by the 20 hunters in the Mike Foss Camp in Bayfield County.  16 hunters have scored so far.

Hunter Mark Hillman dropped a 405 pound monster on Wednesday afternoon.  Foss had donated a fully guided bear hunt last year to a benefit for a child with cancer, and Hillman had won that auction. Like the other two successful hunters yesterday, Hillman used a firearm and made a perfect shot.  His brother video recorded the hunt.

The first ever chocolate color-phase bear ever tagged in a Foss camp was also brought in opening day by hunter Scott Franke.  “It’s a beautiful bear, a brown colored bear,” said Foss from camp last night.  “Probably less than one percent of the bear population has the chocolate phase color and we have never tagged one before.  Hunter John Schaetz also made a nice shot with a rifle on a 150 pound bear. That big 405 pound bear is the equivalent to a deer hunter taking a 175 class buck.

By September 10, another chocolate phase sow had been tagged, and the season tally stands at 16 bears tagged, with one unrecovered animal. Hunters used firearms and bow and arrow. 11 of the bears exceed 200 pounds with three bears over 300 pounds in addition to the 405 pound boar.  State average is about 175 pounds.  Hunters and bear weights are listed below. More to come from Foss Camp.

Mark Hillman                          405 pound boar

Bob Richardson                      344 pound boar

Chuck Wurtz                           315 boar

Jack Jarosz                              305 pound sow

Andy Schaetz                         249 pound boar

Kevin Dullinger                      247 pound (?)

Imran (no last name given)     238 pound sow

Terri Saunders                         225 pound boar

Jeremy Kruszka                       207 pound (?)

Tom Schmitzer                        205 pound chocolate color phase sow

Jarrod Erdody                         203 pound sow

Troy Wurtz                              180 pond sow

Wayne Schmidt                      150 pound sow

Dave Fure                               140 pound sow