MY 2008 BLACK BEAR HUNT

This hunt was a bear hunt in the state of Montana. This is my journal entries from the hunt. I was hunting with my long time friend Brian Allen. He operates an electrical company here in Arizona. We were hunting with Rick Wemple Outfitting. This was my first ever guided hunt and I was ready to go.
10/1/08
6:00 PM: It's go time! 18 hours to Montana. After several trips back and forth from Brian's house to shop we are off. No sleep needed just Gatorade, sunflower seeds, and Doritos. Crank up the radio and lets roll!!!!
10/2/08
6:30 AM: Drove all night long. Brian and I cramped into my Toyota Tacoma (AKA the Princess truck) and we didn't get a lick of sleep. We saw a ton of deer driving through southern Utah. The Princess truck almost got a redneck hood ornament. Four point of course. We are here in Salt Lake City at the Cracker Barrel. They have just what is needed for the next 8 hours of fun filled drive time. I need caffeine!
8:30 AM: Meeting Jared to grab some rain gear and the video camera. After hooking us up with some new hats he hooked us up with a full tank of gas. Luckily it was my turn to fill up so I didn't argue at all. I've been awake for 28 hours straight now. I think I see flying objects (is that a good or bad thing?) 3:00 PM: Idaho! We are getting close. We stopped at Salmon Idaho for a quick bite to eat. Note to self NO MORE DRIVE THROUGH BURGERS!!! I will be paying for this later. The trees are changing colors here and the river is running right next to the road. This is a huge jump from the cactus and sticker bushes of Arizona. I think I could learn to love this place. But on to Montana!
6:00 PM: Montana, we meet at last. Now for a quick unload of the gear and we are off to check our rifles. Rick our outfitter and guide told us a great spot to sight in the guns. The motel we will call home for the next 5 days looks nice. More deer spotted on the way into Montana this evening. I can't wait till the morning. 9:30 PM: All my gear is out and ready to go. For this hunt I will be wearing my Kings Desert Shadow Camo. I will carry all my gear with King's Core Hunter day pack. I took this pack out in Arizona and it worked great. Now is time to see how it does in the back country of Montana. I'm not sure how much sleep I will be getting tonight, but I hope morning comes fast.
10/3/08
6:00 AM: Day 1 of the hunt. It is finally here! I was up at 5:30 ready to go. Actually with the train wreck Brian calls snoring ALL NIGHT, I was surprised I slept at all. Note to self, EAR PLUGS are needed! Rick said he would be here at 6:30 to pick us up. He told me his hunters he was with the last few day missed a bear. Then he got them in on it again and they didn't shoot because they were playing with there gear. Hopefully I can put the El Whappo on one today.
7:00 AM: We just arrived at the orchards Rick has been telling us about. In the 40's some settlers of this area came up on this mountain and started planting apple trees all over. Now they grow wild everywhere and the bears love them. The hike in is about a quarter a mile up. It looks like Rick likes to get there quick. He hasn't stopped walking since he got out of the truck. This guy is a mountain goat.
7:30 AM: We just walked up on some whitetail deer. These whitetail are a lot bigger than our Arizona Couse deer. There are apples all over the place. 10:00 AM: There is bear sign everywhere. I can see were the bear have climbed into the trees for the apples. It looks like they sit at the top of the trees and eat apples up in the trees all day. Rick really knows the area well.
4:00 PM: Haven't seen a bear yet. Rick told me about a trail he wanted me to walk down. I think I took the wrong trail. The 1 mile loop has turned into 8 miles. I have been walking for a several hours and it looks like it is making a big circle back to were I started. My feet are jacked up! I have got to get new boots. Mole skin is calling my name.
7:30 PM: We gave it a great run today. We didn't see anything yet. Rick feeds us at a local restaurant next to our motel. The food is awesome. After a quick stop at the store for some ear plugs and some mole skin it is off to bed for me.
10/4/08
6:30 AM: Missed alarm clock this morning. Ear plugs work great! It rained last night. Extra mole skin is going to be needed. 7:30 AM: Back in the orchard today. The plan today is to work our way really slow up the hill and hope to see a bear finishing his breakfast after the storm all night. There is a ton of new sign. The bears are definitely in the area.
12:00 Noon: We have been in on a lot of whitetail deer today again. Brian and I walked up and around the orchard this morning. Brian is a lot of fun to hunt with. Every time we sit to glass he doses off. I get to whack him with a big stick to wake him up. Kind of hard to see any bear when every few minutes you hear sticks breaking over someone.
4:30 PM: We didn't get in on any bear today. Brian and I decided to go to a local church service this evening. I think we just needed a break for our blisters. Wet feet, bad boots, and Montana mountains don't mix well. Rick is working like crazy to get us on some bear. Today he walked through the thickest stream bed I have ever seen, just after it rained, to try to jump some bear to us. When he came out on the other side he looked like a half drowned alley cat. It was great.
10/5/08
6:30 AM: Rick had to wait on us again this morning. Those donuts are just to hard to walk past in the morning. Brian and I are trying to get him to show us some of Montana's deer country today. The weather looks like it is going to rain all day so we thought is would be a great day to drive up north. In other words our feet still hurt.
9:30 AM: There are deer all over these mountains. Rick knows every draw and hill out here. He knows were the deer are before we even get there. It looks like it is going to snow on us today.
11:00 AM: SNOW!!!! What is this. This Arizona boy is confused. I have made Rick stop about 20 times for filming. I recommended several times to Rick that we put the snow chains on, but he told me he likes to at least wait until the snow starts to stick to the ground before he gets them out. I questioned his sanity but he assured me we would get through it.
4:00 PM: More deer. I just saw a beautiful 3 1/2 year old buck. He was sitting right next to the road just relaxing. This would never happen in Arizona. Rick is telling us about the huge predator problem Montana's deer and elk are having. He is really passionate about hunting. He has some great stories to share.
6:30 PM: We just came across some new bear sign. It is at the bottom of a canyon with berries all over the place. It looks like a great spot to set up and glass up the sides for the bear. We just climbed up the side. We don't have very much glassing time left so we are coming back in the morning.
10/6/08
6:30 AM: After filling up on gas we are heading back up the canyon. There is just too much sign to pass up.
9:00 AM: I went up one side of the canyon and Rick and Brian went up the other. This way we can shoot across if anything is moving. These mountains are steep. Sheep country for sure. I hope they push a bear out.
11:00 AM: My wife just called and told me it was time to come home. I guess all my kids are sick and she hasn't slept for the past few nights. I told her one more day and I will come home. Can't make Momma mad. I am now on the back side of the hill. I lost sight of Brian and Rick a couple of hours ago. This looks really nice back here. Lots of sheep and elk sign.
2:30 PM: Sheep spotted! I just glassed up a group of bighorn sheep. There is 16 total. They are only about 300 yards out. I shot some great footage of them. There are two small rams in the group. Nothing huge.
5:00 PM: On the way out of the canyon I glassed up a nice mule deer buck. He was a perfect 26 inch 4x4. I would say he is about a 165 to 170 class deer. Shot more video. I just met up with Brian back at the truck. He is wore out. Rick is working his way toward us up the creek trying to push something up the side on his way. It is thick in there. I don't know if we will see him again. Still no bear sightings today. Tomorrow is our last day.
10/7/08
7:30 AM: We decided to go back to the orchards one last time. Last day of the hunt. It is go time. We started working our way up the ridge just like always. We are going to do a quick pass through and then head up north to another orchard.
8:00 AM: Rick spotted a bear!!!! I had to run a half mile up the hill to catch up to him though. By the time we got there we couldn't find him. We started down the last draw we saw him in and worked real slow with the wind in our face.
8:30 AM: I spotted the bear. He is 120 yards below us working through the trees. I whistled at Rick to get his attention. The only problem was I got the Bear's attention also. The bear spotted us and started heading down the draw. I didn't have time to find a rest so I knelt down below the trees and let some led fly. I did the El Whappo on the bear. I hit him right behind the shoulder. Then he turned on the after burners. After about 25 yards he piled up. I was jumping up and down like a school kid that got out on summer break and extra month early. My first bear, on my first guided hunt with my great friend Brian and my new good friend Rick. As soon as we got to the bear the rain started again. It is going to be a cold hike out. Boy was it worth it! 10:00 AM: After an attempt at pictures we all grabbed a side and started up the hill. It took us awhile but we made it. I don't know who was more happy Rick or myself. My bear was down, and at the truck. This is were the guided hunt part really pays off. Rick sent Brian and I back down the hill to hunt for Brian a bear, while he took care of the dirty job. I could get used to this. Ever since I was old enough to hold a knife, I have been gutting and skinning animals with my Dad. I think even he would appreciate this. 3:00 Pm: The rain never stopped. We met Rick at the bottom of the hill and he brought the truck down to us. We were done. We didn't get Brian a bear but we still had a blast.
Now for the pack up and drive home. We need to stop off in Utah to show the bear off a little but most of all to thank my great friend Jared Nichols. Without Jared, Brian and I would never been able to be here. Thanks Jared. I also want to thank Rick Wemple Outfitting. Rick will do whatever it takes to get you on the game you want. He also has elk, deer, moose, goat, sheep, antelope, lion and other big game hunts available. To contact Rick go to outdoorsman.com and click on the outfitter link. You won't regret it.
On this hunt I used the Kings Camo Desert Shadow. The fleece jacket that I used made the rainy days easy to hunt in. Not only did it keep me warm, but pretty dry also. The camo blended in great. Even though it was the Desert Shadow and not the Mountain camo I was still able to blend perfect. I had deer walking right up to me withing yards and never saw me. It really made me a believer of quality camo. The rain gear made the heavy rains feel like a walk in the park.
My backpack, the Core Hunter by King's, made my life easy. I carried a full pack the entire trip. The Core Hunter is one of the most comfortable packs I have ever used. My guide was also really impressed with it. A good pack makes all the difference in a great hunt and fun hunt to a miserable hunt. I was walking up, or crawling up, some of the steepest mountains I have been on. The pack hugged to me, was balanced great, and didn't make me sweat like a stuffed pig. I can't say enough about the pack.
I can't wait until my next hunt with Rick Wemple Outfitting. They made the entire trip fun and comfortable. I have heard horror stories about hunters going out with guides and life being miserable for 5 days. I can honestly say I would recommend Rick Wemple Outfitting to any hunter for any Montana big game. Thanks again to both Jared and Rick.

Whisper Creek Youth Bows

Whisper Creek Youth Bows I was about 3 or 4 when my Dad gave me my first bow. A bear re-curve that he had in his closet for as long as I could remember. I would sneak into his room and try to figure out how to put that "way to short" string on it. I was bound and determined to get it on and show Dad that I was ready to go out and shoot with him. Once he taught me the proper way to string the bow without decapitating myself or getting whacked in the nose I was on a roll. The problem was that my Dad had this awesome bow with these cool wheels on the ends and he didn't have to put that stupid string on it every time he wanted to shoot. Not only that, but his was CAMO! Unfortunately there was no bow that was anything like my Dad's bow that would fit me, let alone not "build character" as my Dad would say, by whacking me in the face when I tried to string it. It wasn't until I was 10 when I could finally pull back my Mom's bow and hunt with Dad. The bow was nowhere near my size, but I wasn't going back to getting whacked for anything.
Fast forward a few years and I found myself in a very familiar place. I have two sons. Isaac age 11 and Austin age 6. At the age of 3 I gave both of them the same "whack you in the face" bows I had when I was their age. They would come out and shoot with me every day. I saw the same wants and pains in their faces as I did with myself when I was their age.
So when Isaac turned 7 I started really looking for the "starter bow" for him. I started going to every sporting goods store in town. I found several nice bows but not one that would be anywhere close to fitting a kid his size. Every bow I found started at 22" draw length. That wouldn't work for a his 15 inch draw. I found a little cheap bow at one store that had a 19 inch draw. At least it was CAMO! That was a plus for him. The problem was even at fully pounded the bow couldn't get the arrows anywhere near the target. It was very frustrating for him. After a year of shooting with this every Dad's worst fear started to take place. My son didn't want to have anything to do with shooting anymore. The frustration of not having a bow that would fit him was driving my son into becoming a Xbox, TV, and anything else that was handy, kid. I needed something to get him excited again.
That is when I discovered Whisper Creek Archery. I was talking to a good friend of mine about the problems with youth bows when he told me about Whisper Creek's line of youth bows. I went straight to outdoorsman.com and looked the bows up. Sure enough there it was, the answer to my prayers. The Panther by Whisper Creek. I ordered one right away not knowing if I was going to get another cheap throw away bow or the real deal.
The Panther was perfect. Not only would the draw work but it is a complete package for a young hunter. To say the least Isaac has become a hunting and shooting fanatic. He is out there every day shooting again. The Panther's draw length adjusts from 17" to 27". The legal draw weight to hunt in Arizona is 40 lbs. The Panther covers that with weight adjustments of 20 to 50 lbs. The bow has the new Kings Camo pattern on it making it perfect for the woods. The bow also comes with a fiber optic sight, quiver, rest and arm guard. From a bow that is in the $250 range, you get a lot for your money. The best part is that I can adjust everything myself on this bow without a bow press. The draw length can be adjusted with a quick change of a couple of screws. It took me all of 5 minutes to put the bow together and set it up for Isaac.
After my son received his bow he started telling all his friends about it. There is a young man in my neighborhood that just turned 16. He was one merit badge away from getting his Eagle Scout award. After talking with Isaac, he wanted a bow bad. I made a deal with him that if he would finish his Eagle Scout, I would get him his own bow and take him out on his first archery hunt. He was so excited that within a few months we were ordering his first bow. Something to note here is there is almost a foot and a half difference in height between the two boys. The Panther covers both boys with room to grow! That is unheard of in the archery world. So what happens when the two older boys get there bows? That's right, Austin my 6 year old jumps on the band wagon. He started begging for a "Daddy bow" just like Isaac has.
Whisper Creek also makes a bow for even younger shooters, the Phantom. The Phantom is just right for the little guys. It comes with a draw length of 14" to 24", and a draw weight of 10 to 25+ lbs. The best part is that it looks just like brothers only a little smaller. The price on the Phantom is in the $160 range. The bow comes with a full package including a quiver, arrows, sight, rest, and arm guard. Everything Austin needs to get rolling. I didn't have to spend any more money on all the extras like I would with a normal bow. That made Mom happy.
If I could improve the bows, I would add or change only a few things. First I would change all the servings on the string. They are not served with a quality serving string and wear out very fast. Putting a string loop on fixes this. Next I would recommend that all set screws be made of better quality. It doesn't take much to strip these out.
Since I first found out about Whisper Creek, I have brought 4 kids into the archery hunting world. They were all great kids before, but now they are hooked on the outdoors. In today's world I can't say enough about that. If our kids aren't getting involved then our future for the hunting goes out the window.
All and all I give Whisper Creek's line of youth bows a thumbs up. Finally a company came out and gave us something that will actually work for our kids and get them in the spirit of the hunt. I know I will be looking forward to my daughters getting their first bows. My oldest daughter is 3 and she has already told me that I have to get her a "princess bow" just like her brothers. I wonder if I can get Kings Camo in pink?