So up the mountain we go, and stop to mix a bait to freshen up my new location. Proper to leaving I slung a few arrows and felt good about my ability to put the arrow where it needed to go.

We mix up the bait in two 5 gallon buckets and make our way up to the stand. I start to think about the weather, time left in the hunt and the first blonde bear I saw on the first evening. I originally came to Idaho for a color phase Bear and imo the blondes are the prettiest ones, so I decided 100 yards from the turnoff to go back to the original stand for one last sit and to shoot the blonde bear If he came in.

So, we divert our path and go get on the 4 wheeler to get set up. We make our way to the bait and it’s been hit again. We check the trail cam and a sow and two cubs and the blonde bear both made an appearance the previous night.

We bait the hole and my guide Lucas takes a piece of bark and takes big hunks of pink frosting and slings it on the tree then tosses the bark over his shoulder. I notice it lands in an area where it’s gonna be hard to get a shot so he grabs it and throws in in the hole, but a golf ball size chunk fell off.





I get set up in my tree stand get snuggled up with my blanket and wait. There is a pretty good flowing creek flowing behind me and the sounds is pretty much all I can hear with the exception of a passing raven overhead. I send a few texts from my Inreach but otherwise the evening starts off uneventful

I knock an arrow and settle in. An hour or so later, I’m cramped up and uncomfortable and starting to get cold. Even with the blanket the wet cold cuts thru to the bone even thru multiple layers of quality gear.

I fight and fidget trying to get comfortable. I take the quiver off my bow, shove it in my pack and get adjusted propped up against the tree behind me as the light starts to fade.

Around 9:20 I catch movement from my left. I slowly turn to see a bear slowly walking out of the timber. Now I’m no bear expert but it’s obvious from the first glance that this bear is not the little bear from the first evening. He comes into a clearing about 40 yards from my stand and stops and starts sniffing the air. I’m thinking at this point it’s early in the eventing, I’ll have great light to shoot this bear in and I could have this thing done real easy like.

I’ve been told that your never gonna be able to beat a bears senses while in a stand…he knows your there, he will just tolerate you. This bear came in straight downwind of me, but made a big semi-circle and real slowly moved in towards the bait. Remember that golfball chunk of frosting that fell? Yeah, well he stops 30 yards out, right behind a limb and starts licking the frosting…..and I have no shot. He stays there for a few min when he lifts his head, turns around and runs off….

As he runs off my heart sinks. Here is where I go into full on convulsions…..my lower back muscles are going into spasms I’ve never had before and it’s to the point of significant pain. I don’t know if it’s a combination of the cold, immobile position or the bear, or a combination of all 3, but I’m shaking so hard the stand is rattling. It takes me several minutes to where I can get to a state of semi-calmness.

I check my watch and it’s 9:45 and I figure my evening is done with. I scan the woods again when I catch movement and here he comes in again, moving with a little more intention…..

So the bear is coming in and he appears to be committed... he stops and leans both paws over a log and surveys the situation. Finding it satisfactory, he hops over the log and devours the last of the lump of frosting 30 yards out then comes into the bait pile. He is cautiously looking around, and not wanting a repeat of last time, not to mention the now fading light, I decide this is gonna need to happen fast. He is slightly quartering away as I draw back, then he turns and faces me. I’m thinking he is going to turn any moment but he sits facing my direction for a few minutes ( with the Let off on modern compound bows this isn’t a major feat of strength, it’s minor annoyance at the very worst ) before finally turning slightly quartering toward me. I was told to shoot them further back than I would a whitetail, but that information escapes me at the moment. I look thru the Peep and settle the pin tight behind his shoulder as he turns broadside. Once he is broadside I let it rip at 17 yards. I see the arrow bury in what I think is the right place but I see quite a bit of arrow sticking out as he runs uphill and out of sight. To be honest I expected to get more penetration and was concerned I shot further forward than I should have when I hear some weird kind of moan from up the hill….I would try to describe it but I wouldn’t do it justice.

I radio back that I shot a bear and tell them it’s making some god awful sound…..and everyone at camp goes into celebration. They ask if I shot the blonde bear and I reply no, I shot a blonde bear but not the one I initially saw….then they really go wild. They tell me they will be right there and to hang tight.


Shortly thereafter they arrive and we start tracking into the general direction I saw it run….after 40 yards we find a blood covered arrow and 20 yards later….





This ended up being the big bear they had on camera earlier in the year but had not been seen at any bait since the end of May….they thought he was long gone. Due to the weather conditions making other baits hard to access this stand site had been hunted hard with 5 or 6 bears being taken off it this season.

Congrats on a big great looking blond bear. Enjoyed reading the bear hunt adventure.

We snap a few quick pics and devise a plan to get him out of there. Our initial plan was to skin and quarter the bear where he fell but due to the size of this bear they wanted to take him down whole for better pics and to show the outfitter.

He crossed a creek going up so we are having to cross the creek going back down, we find a downed tree close by so we drag it over, knock off any limbs and burrs and slid the bear on his belly across the creek.

We get him loaded on the four wheeler and he goes off down the hill. We get him set up and take some decent pics





It’s close to 2 am before we get back to base camp. We skin him out, get his meat in the freezer and drink a few beers, as it’s been a long night. Bear was over 400 lbs live weight and one of the biggest Color phase bears ever taken with this outfitter.





The next day we take him into the check station for a pre-molar removal and to get the hide tagged for transport. He is estimated to be somewhere around 15 years old, which is quite a few Idaho winters.

Even though the weather sucked, it was more than likely responsible for this bear coming down back to the bait. More knowledgeable folks than me think the snow had driven him back down as the elk calves were staying down lower along with lack of edible vegetation.



Thank you all for reading and I hope y’all enjoyed it !

P.S

I’ll give you a report on how the bear meat is….what little I’ve had so far has been good

Great job! Congrats. Thanks for the great trip report.

Thanks for the great story and congratulations!

Pretty bear, great hunt congratulations!

Congratulations and thank you for taking the time to write about your adventure.

Really enjoyed this! Congrats on a magnificent bear!

Good things happen to good people. Smile Brandon, smile.

Well done Compadre.

Haha….it’s 2am in this pic and I’ve been up for nearly 24 hours. That is the best I could muster

Hunt of a lifetime , thanks for sharing

Good story and a great ending.

Just curious but were you carrying a sidearm or is that allowed?

Bravo! What a bruin!

That’s a tanker!!!! Congrats again

Helluva trophy! Congratulations!

That's a great color phase bear! Thanks for sharing your adventure. Brings back similar memories for me and now I'm thinking it's time to book another hunt. My previous bear hunts have been in Canada so Idaho is now on the list.

Yes and yes. More for in the case of a curious bear coming up the tree I’m sitting in rather than fear of getting attacked.

When I wasn’t in the stand I kept it In my backpack.

Great read and congrats on a hell of a big bear

Nice. Bear hunting is fun and the meat is great. Ho to www.bear-hunting.com. They have a recipe section you can check out

Thanks for sharing your hunt!