Good luck everyone, be safe out there!

Wife and I will be wandering around in Sproul State Forest and some gamelands up that way.
She loves going - she got me into hunting bears when I started dating here many years ago.  I got one my first year hunting with her and her family, so I am not too interested in getting another one unless it is a mercy kill (injured) or is something that is big enough to make the Game News!

My 12yo daughter and I passes on a mom with 2 cubs on Saturday.

Nothing sighted by my wife and I up in Sproul or the gamelands around Philipsburg.
Heard some shooting, but nothing close.  Freezing rain sent us out of the woods earlier than usual.

Tomorrow and Tuesday should be nice so it will be some nice days to be out.

Biggest bear checked in at the station we stopped at was 574.

Good luck, I have to work.

My son and I are hunting Wayne County with

3 guys. We got a 354 pounder today.
My son pushed it out. First guy hit the back leg. Second guy was about 100 yards along and he put one through the chest. My son and I tracked it and when we caught up my son put a second one in the chest.
The guy who hit the chest first tagged it.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Congrats. Nice warm day to drag a bear.

Congrats!  
It was downright hot where we were today.
No bears but pulled a dozen ticks off us today.

Back home and able to post pics.






We set up a drive on about 100 acres. Three guys took stands at the bottom of the property, my son and I went in at the top and pushed down the two sides. My son reached the bottom at about the same time I reached the nearest stander on my side - we were a few hundreds yards apart but can't see nearly that far in the woods. My son started back up alnog the small stream at the center of the property and kicked the bear into the middle stander. His shot was somewhat obstructed by brush but he took it.

The bear ran uphill toward the guy I had just seen and me. It was out of my sight (other side of a slight rise), but the guy in the stand got two shots off. The first one was into the shoulder and stopped the bear, but she recovered and got moving again.

The rest of us were at the spot within a minute or two. My son and I found blood and started tracking uphill. The other guys were having some trouble with the terrain so they were behind us. The leaves were mostly disturbed around the trail which made the tracking fairly easy. Blood was intermittent but some places there was a lot.

After about 400 yards we spotted her maybe 25 yards ahead of us. She was trying to climb a large hemlock, but she got up a couple feet and fell off. My son had a clear shot so he shot her in the shoulder. She toppled, crawled about 10 feet and died.

She had the two shoulder hits and one in the back leg (we assume from the first guy, the second guy thought his second shot was a clean miss). The first guy to hit the shoulder tagged the bear - she was clearly dying when my son and I got to her.

She was 300# dressed, 354# live. She had tags in both ears, so she was likely a bad girl. No cubs were seen.