My Last time out was 2 weeks ago and was a total cluster #$%@. Debilitating gout, unplanned clothed swim, blown trailer tire, blown trailer leaf springs and got busted by my target bear. So Thursday I headed back in with the canoe (3 miles each way for 6 miles total paddle) to re-bait ahead of the weekend. Trailer was still busted so hence the canoe. Paddle in was not too bad as the wind was at my back but the paddle out was brutal - 3 miles of 25 to 40 mile per hour head wind with the occasional cross wind thrown in. Solo with an empty 17 foot canoe made it interesting. I have a system for rating difficulty and it is based on beers required per mile. This paddle was a 3 on that scale which is as bad it gets - any worse and you are too drunk to paddle. Only sheltered portion was at the put-in:



On Friday I decided i wanted to fix the trailer so spent the day tracking down parts and getting it trail ready. Figured it wouldn't hurt to give the bears a day to get back on the bait as it had been completely empty for 2 or 3 days.



Saturday i headed out in the boat (beautuful day out) with the climber and headed to the bait. I'll be honest - I have never used a climber before in my life (mid 50s now - figured too old for that chit) and this one was still in the box after 7 years in the garage. It is a Summit Viper and once i got the hang of it I quite liked it. Ended up about 18 feet off the ground. Very comfortable, safety harness was also comfortable and enough room for me. I kept the gun case up there with me and it worked nicely as a table to eat/drink, put the thermacell on it, also worked better as a shooting rest than the cross bar on the climber. I also hoisted my knapsack up and hung it beside me in an adjacent tree. Spent 7 hours in that thing and was never uncomfortable (although pissing was a bit of a challenge).






The gun case table (orange/black thing is my SpotX satellite texter/emergency beacon - makes the wife happy when off-grid solo):



Pack in adjacent tree (totally accessible from climber):



So sat in the climber from 230 pm to last light. At 520 pm a juvenile came in solo and spent about an hour working the bait. At about 700 pm momma and the 3 cubs came in for an hour. Momma is a tank and if i see her next fall she may come home with me. I watched her and she was comfortably eating bait off the top of an upright 55 gallon drum without having to raise her front feet off the ground. So no bear this spring but just submitted my report and over this years spring hunt i saw 7 bears (3 of them were the cubs). Time to start planning for the fall.

Sounds like a great time in beautiful county even if a bear didn't come home with you. Cant wait for the fall report

Good luck in the fall.

Great read as always. Beautiful country up there.

Thanks for the adventure!

Always enjoy the pics and story!

Thanks for posting it up!

Great read and pics. Thank you!

You ever try a double bladed canoe paddle? It's all I use when I'm paddling solo. 9 foot Mohawk with the magnum blades and drip rings to keep the water off my hands.

lets hope is better this fall

Gorgeous country. Lots of things to learn from

Only ever used a double on the kayak. Will have to investigate that option. My kayak double is too short for the canoe.

Well crap, I was hoping one of those big boars would’ve shown up. Looking forward to the fall experience!

What an amazing view from your tree stand. You are doing it right sir.

beautiful area for sure

Very nice. I'm too mid 50s and still enjoy hunting off a climber. I too like to hoist my backpack and either attach to neighboring tree or have it tied off climber for easy access to contents. Great adventures and stories...I continue to look forward to them.