Reality Bowhunting TV Blog

RBTV and BRO Outdoors will be hosts of the 2010 Montana Youth Bowhunter Camp. If you’ve got a child that might be  interested in this one-of-a-kind camp experience for  young archers and bowhunters, or know of someone that might be, please pass the info along.

Montana Youth Bowhunter Camp

Including: Montana Bowhunter Education Certification*, 3-D Archery,
Shooting Form & Technique, Bowhunting Skills & Tactics, Treestand
Placement, Novelty Shoots, Game Calling Clinics led by Champion Callers, Canoeing, Fishing, Daily Spiritual Challenge, and much, much more.
*(camper must be 11 years of age to be certified)

June 14 -18, 2010 Boys & Girls, ages 10-12
&
July 5 – 9, 2010, Boys & Girls, ages 13-15

Thompson Lake Camp
At Middle Thompson Lake
593 ACM Rd S, Libby, MT 59923

Read more about this camp & watch a video at http://thompsonlakecamp.com or http://brooutdoors.com

Phone: 406-293-5832 Email: thompsonlakecamp@frontiernet.net
Download registration forms online: www.thompsonlakecamp.org

Things were hot at some baits this week, while others seemed to have cooled off after quick hits in week one. Heath’s site received some pretty good activity, including one studly bear that is quite worthy of the shaft. Dave’s spot wasn’t touched since last restock. My site received very little action at the barrel, but I did have a bear on the trail camera for a few shots as he checked out the bait. He swatted my camera, knocking it out of position at midday on the 19th.  He was also at the site on the 18th from 9:00-10:00pm. Heath and Dave are heading over this afternoon to possibly make their first climb into the tree. The forecast is calling for lots of rain this weekend across the Idaho/Montana border, so we’ll see how bad a damper that puts on the hunting activity. The photo below is a view from the bait barrel at my site. I’m poundin’ from the ground this year. I set up the Double Bull the other day and brushed it in…as you’ll see at left in the photo.  It’s one of my ol’ beater blinds, so we’ll see if it can withstand the snoopin’ and stompin’ its likely gonna take from any curious bears.

I went back in to check on the bait site I put in last week and it was absoulutely smashed! It was very encouraging to see…especially with competition from other bear hunters closer than I care to have. I put a number of logs, some very large, on, in, and around the bait barrel in an effort to slow the bears down a bit as they feed. I always wire some of the larger logs to the barrel to keep it from getting rolled down the mountain when a bear attempts to empty any and all contents from the barrel. On this run, the logs were thrown from the barrel and even the wire was broken loose. Hopefully this is the work of a mature bear, and not that of an over-zealous, young punk bear. Either way, its good to be hit right from the start in the first week. See pix below in the previous blog post to see what my bait looked like prior to being slammed by bears this first week. I also hung a trail camera on this run, so there should be some trail cam photos to post here in the next week or so. Check back here often for the latest updates from bear country.

I kicked off my spring black bear efforts this past week with my first run of bear bait to my site over in Idaho. I’m continuing with a site I established last year…a short distance from where I killed a bear in 2009. I put this site in shortly after I killed my bear and immediately had new bears showing up on the trail cameras. I never had the opportunity to go back in to kill a second bear in the last week of the season, but I had a number of bears show up on the trail camera, coming in to the bait well before dark. In fact, one shooter bear continued to show up like clock-work every evening…6:15ish…it would have been money! But, time did not allow me to slip back in to that location in the final days of season.
I packed the bait barrel from my other location into the new spot, “logged” it in, and began to filll it with the tasty treats that’ll hopefully draw a few of the local bears to my location. I’ll be ground-poundin’ from the Double Bull this year rather than an elevated stand. It should make for some some exciting bear encounters at eye-level.
Bear baits used on this run included: table scraps from the last week or two, leftover cookies from church (church cookies…you know God’s gonna bless that!), dinner rolls, and hog and beef scraps. As always, I topped the bait with fry grease. The grease is without a doubt one of the key elements of my bait site. It not only seems to be irresistable to bears, but also works for you as the bears lay down a grease scent-trail as they exit the bait location. Every other bear that comes across this trail will likely backtrack to the bait location. It’s a super way to quickly draw a number of bears to your bait site. I dig or scratch a small hole in the dirt in front of the bait barrel or cache. A puddle of grease poured in this hole ensures that any bears using the bait will load up the pads of their feet with the grease/scent, and as previously mentioned, track this scent away from the site. I also hung a fresh hog head I picked up from the butcher shop to serve as an attractant as the varying winds carry this scent throughout my hunting area.
Check back here often for updates, photos, and reports on the bait site progress.

To say that the 2010 spring turkey season has been different, would be an understatement. Hunters from around the country have reported a very early spring and turkey behavior and phases being a little skewed. Still, our guys are managing to get the job done despite a tough season of chasing toms throughout the U.S.  Team  member, Sean Keleher, started the spring off right with a big Osceola gobbler in Florida and then worked double-duty to stick a huge Florida hog. Cory won the battle on a hard-fought longbeard in IL (see the story at BengeBow.com). We had another incredible opening day here in MT with Big Dave Oligee breakin’ in his new Destroyer bow on a tom that wandered in to check out the decoys. Matt and Shannon had a couple great hunts when the WA season opened, then the birds began to play hardball…like usual.

Kasey got to play camera-girl and filmed Heath killin’ a western Montana punk jake that woudn’t walk away

And the rest of us are taking what we can get with the high-pressure, limited access hunting found in the Bitterroot Valley of western MT. I’m still skunked!  Trying to find a longbeard on several farms and ranches that are infested with jakes has been strangely tough this season. I’m about to take it out on a few black bears in Idaho! In the meantime, every gopher or rock chuck that’ll stand still, is gettin’ the shaft!