Jerrod’s First Black Bear
By: Joel Johnson
After a disappointing 2010
campaign Jerrod wanted to put
all the trials and missed
opportunities behind him.
These included a faulty rifle
scope
which
caused
a
complete miss on a great boar
that he had his heart set on.
With only four days allotted
for 2010, the 2011 hunt was
going to be different.
Jerrod and my daughter
Jackie made sure they were in
camp the day before we were
able to start baiting. They
assembled tree stands, mixed
the baits and loaded the truck
for an early departure the next
morning. That evening we sat
by the campfire and had a fish fry prepared from walleyes I caught the day before.
Dawn rolled in a bit too early for the duo that was worn out from the activities from the day before. A
quick breakfast of cold cereal and we were off. We were able to do four stands a day and after day two we
were complete and set for the season opener. The kids left mid afternoon for the eight hour trip back to
Milwaukee, WI. But unlike the previous year were involved from the start and had much to talk and dream
about for the next few weeks.
My routine is pretty simple and as the weeks flew by, trail cam photos sent and many phone
conversations I had Jerrod primed. His Grandpa’s rifle which is a Ruger M77 in 300 Win Mag had a new
scope on this year and with
quality time at the range he
was ready to go. I also had a
tag and Jackie was to oversee
my hunt and to make sure the
camp was run properly.
Sitting around the campfire
the evening before the opener
Jerrod had his first shot at
what stand he was going to
take. He had good bear
coming in on the Cedar Stand
which he missed the big one
on the year before. My cousin
Chet, Jerrod’s dad was going
to the Hole Bait and Jackie
and I where headed for the
Raspberry Patch bait. Jerrod
and Chet had early activity on
both their stands so they were headed out before first light. Jackie and I were going to bait the extra baits
that our friends were going to use the following week.
A quick breakfast, packed lunches and we were all off. There is very patchy cell service in this part of
Northeast Minnesota so we had no communication until we met at camp at the end of the day. That day
Chet shot at and missed a boar, late hitting one of the logs used on the set. Jackie and I had multiple bear in,
but we did not have a on a large boar that stayed in the brush. However Jerrod had three large bear pacing
back and forth grunting at each other and it appeared to be a stand off as none were willing to expose
themselves.
Everyone hit the hay early, right after dinner, as we were going out at first light to make sure Chet did
not hit the bear. Once the lanterns went out all we did was talk about the previous day’s activity. We were
all up very early the next morning. As the coffee perked on the wood stove, Jerrod and Jackie got the bait
loaded. Once it was light enough to see we headed to check on Chets bear. After a thorough search of the
area we were glad it was a clean miss. We baited the site as Chet was going to try it again. Jerrod headed
the 3 miles to his set, and Jackie and I went back to camp as our bear were hitting late in the afternoon.
Jerrod baited his site, climbed into his stand and prepared for the evening hunt. The time passed quickly
as he video taped the action going on below him. There were bears in and out of the bait the entire
afternoon but nothing mature enough to even think about. Late in the afternoon wolves could be heard
howling in the distant woods. Around 6:30 P.M. he could here something moving in the brush 20 yards to
his left, a good bear stepped out just long enough for Jerrod to get the camera on. Just as the camera was on
him and focused the bear slipped silently back into the brush he came from. With his heart pounding and
refocusing the camera on the bait it was just a couple of minutes until the big boar reappeared. He wanted
to get his harvest on video in the worst way, so care was taken on as keeping quite as possible and his
movements slow and to a
minimum. As the bear stepped
into the opening, Jerrod looked
him over and decided it looked
to good to pass on so he
steadied for the shot. The
previous years miss flashed
before him as he squeezed the
trigger. The 180 grain bullet
hit him high in behind the
shoulder. The bear spun
around on the report of the
rifle and made for the thick
cedars behind the bait. He
could hear crashing and
moaning almost immediately
and knew that was it for the
bear.
Jerrod was out of that tree
and hit the ground like a bolt
of lightening, throwing caution to the wind he sprinted the fifty yards to where the bear was standing when
shot. Jerrod noticed a large amount of blood at the spot of the shot. Jerrod only had to follow the blood trail
about 30 yards to where he found his trophy piled up and motionless. It was not long until he heard his
dad’s truck working its way to him. We later laughed until we cried; Chet backed the truck in as far as he
could then listened to the radio while Jerrod struggled to drag his bear the 300 tough yards to the truck.
When he finally made it he had to bark at his dad to help load it. Back at camp he already had the bear
hanging, weighed and gutted when we rolled in. Jerrod was standing in the middle of the lane opposite of
his trophy with smile a mile wide. A very nice bear whether you’re first or your last a great memory and a
great adventure. We will talk about this hunt for years to come.
Top photo left to right; Jackie, Chet and Jerrod
Middle photo left to right; Chet, Jerrod and Jackie
Bottom photo left to right; Chet and Jerrod