Spring Hunting Season is finally here and it’s for BEAR! This is a hunt that I look forward to each and every year. A time where the weather is fantastic, water is usually plentiful, and backpack hunting is on the agenda. I first ventured into this area about 4 years ago. Back then, I packed into this spot without ever stepping foot in it and was lucky enough to find bears! Since then, I’ve come in every year and look forward to it more and more. This would mark the first trip of the year for me, and I couldn’t wait to hit the trail.
On this hunt, I was solo, which is always interesting on the mental front. I enjoy hunting solo immensely, but there is always a tad bit of anxiety in the back of my head when doing so. Once out there though, I’m fine and generally end up having an amazing time. This was no different. After a few hours of hiking and gaining elevation, I arrived at camp. What a great feeling it was to sit down in the shade and relax for a bit. To see how the rest of the hunt unfolds, you can watch the video down below!
As I was hiking back to the truck, it was comforting to know that this was just the beginning and there was a lot of hunting to be had. What a great way to get out and stretch the legs though. Not to mention, get away from the chaos of the world right now. We are definitely living in some crazy times and I hope this whole pandemic hasn’t put too much of a damper on you or your families. Let’s not forget to get outside and enjoy Mother Nature when we can. It’s therapeutic to say the least and a break from the noise is much needed.
Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to the Youtube Channel and blog to stay up to date on Spring Hunting Season episodes and much more. This is all just getting started, and I’m so pumped to share the adventure with you all! Good luck out there and stay safe!
We are fully immersed in scouting season right now! Isn’t that exciting? Everything that we do now is laying a foundation for our upcoming season, no matter what species one might be after. This is the leg work necessary, to help ensure the highest quality hunt we can attain. It is what separates the consistently successful hunter from everyone else. Lately, I’ve been out scouting water sources for a black bear hunt here in Arizona. The hunt takes place during a dry and hot time of year, so water is key. This is going to help me eliminate water sources and key in on others. Hunting is a game of chance, so giving yourself the best chance for success is what it’s all about. Even though this hunt is focused on bears though, doesn’t mean I’m not paying attention to other critters I come across. I’m constantly scouting for next season…..this season.
Knowing what to pack, as far as food goes, for a backpack hunt is a common question among those looking to get into this. The immediate apprehension is fear of getting hungry. Folks are worried about not having enough. Then there is the what behind all of this. What kind of foods should you bring out? So, in this post, I’m going to dive right into my food bag for an upcoming backcountry hunt I have planned. While getting my stuff ready for this trip, I thought it might be beneficial to do a backcountry food bag dump. I’ll walk you through a whole day of food and also give examples of other options you might be able to take advantage of.
Who loves coffee?! I sure do and missing out on my morning, and sometimes afternoon, coffee is not something I am a fan of, haha. In light of that, one of the questions that I get asked a lot is what I do on backpack hunts for coffee. Am I bringing some cheap instant with me? Am I pre-grinding and bringing my own with a press? I’ve done all of the above. You gotta do what you gotta do in the name of coffee on hunting trips. Nowadays, things are a bit different on the coffee front for me. So, I’m going to walk you through my backcountry coffee set up!
In the video below, I take you through my stove, and how it works. I also lay out the kind of coffee I’m bringing with me. Dark Timber Coffee has been a huge improvement in my coffee game in the field! Not only is it super easy, it is DELICIOUS! You’d be doing yourself a disservice by not trying this stuff out. That is of course if you’re a coffee lover like me.
I hope that this video helps elevate your coffee game on your hunts! If you have any questions about any of this stuff, please feel free to reach out. I’m happy to help and explain anything more that needs explaining. To learn more about backcountry hunting, check out the recent book I wrote called “Becoming a Backpack Hunter: A Beginner’s Guide to Hunting the Backcountry.” And if you dig the videos, I’d super appreciate if you hit SUBSCRIBE on the Youtube Channel to stay up to date with future videos. Thanks for watching and until next time, good hunting!
Gosh, I just love getting new bows, hahaha. This year I’m shooting the new Prime Black 5 and I am super psyched about it. Great draw cycle, feels great in the hand, and holds awesome. This bow build is one that I feel extremely confident in for 2020.
Spring Hunting Season 2020 is trucking right along here! Each week that goes by is another one closer to opening day of spring bear! Goodness gracious I can’t wait for that. In the meantime, doing these small scouting trips has really been helping fill the void. And now we sit with Episode 4 in front of us!
In this episode, I’m joined by my good buddy Skyler. Skyler has absolutely no experience bear hunting at all, so this was pretty fun for me to take him out. He’s what you’d call a “deer guy.” His passion for desert mule deer are almost a mirror image of mine for black bears. He’s an addict, and I totally get it! Skyler will spend all summer trudging through the desert, dodging rattlesnakes, all in the name of mule deer. With that being said, Skyler has been super interested in getting his toes wet on the bear front. And what a better way than coming out on a morning scouting trip?
We hike down into an area that I have been this season already, yes. However, we are trying to find a different branch of the same water source. The plan is to find that water and place a cam on a good looking pool of water. As it gets warmer out, the bears should start crawling in to cool off. Indeed, we found the spring. What we didn’t expect, was that we’d forget the straps and cables to the trail camera…
Yeah, you heard that right. Luckily, I had some bungee rope and regular rope in my truck. This was gonna be fun, haha.
Hope you enjoyed another spring hunting season episode! Things are only going to get better as it heats up, and I can’t wait. Another year of bear hunting! Don’t forget to like and SUBSCRIBE to the YouTube channel if you are digging the videos. This way you can stay up to date with future content. Until the next video, stay safe, and good luck out there!
Here are previous episodes if you haven’t already seen!
Backpack Hunting is filled with rich experience and the origin of many potent memories, no matter who you are. It’s a kind of hunting that isn’t for everyone, but the one’s that do cherish it, seem to live it. They thrive on the unknown and beauty that falls before them on their trips. Landscapes that are more unseen than seen. Then there are the challenges that come along with hunting the backcountry. These are things like rough country, carrying everything you need on your back, and just the general practice of living in the dirt. Another challenge though is just finding somewhere to hunt. This is especially true when coming from out of state and heading into a spot that you’ve never been before. One of the ways that I “E-Scout” is by utilizing maps to my advantage, and more specifically, topographic maps.
Here’s another spring hunting season video to keep the train rolling! I’m so stoked that I drew this tag. It’s bringing me into some areas that I haven’t stepped foot into for years. Last time I had the tag though, my strategy was mostly spot and stalk. This time, I’m mainly focusing on water sources. So my scouting throughout the pre-season is really just going to be about finding somewhat remote water sources that I can potentially ambush hunt a bear on. I’m not used to this, but trail cameras will be super helpful for this hunt. Not only do I just have to find a water source, but the water needs to be huntable. Meaning that there needs to be a spot for me to set up and wait for a thirsty bruin to come in.
So, I wrote a book! This has been a project I’ve been working on for the past year and a half and I’m so excited that it’s finally ready to be seen. The book is called “Becoming a Backpack Hunter: A Beginner’s Guide to Hunting the Backcountry.” From the title, I’m sure you can gather what it’s about, but let me give you the skinny on it and why I decided to write this in the first place.
Alright! Another spring hunting season is right in front of us and I’m am so excited to share it with you! I drew an archery spring bear tag right here in my home state of Arizona for 2020. If you’ve followed any bit of what I do, you know how much of a bear nerd I am. They are without a doubt my favorite species to hunt. Pair that with another love of mine, bowhunting, and I’m a pretty happy guy. My tag is good for May-July and scouting has already begun!
Being that this hunt takes place during a fairly dry part of the year down here, the plan is to focus on water. Over the next few weeks I’ll be checking out various water sources and placing trail cameras on them to monitor any beary behavior that may or may not occur in the area. Bears just love their water. They’ll swim in it, play in it, sleep in it, and obviously drink it. I’d look at this as sort of an achilles heel of the bear this time of year.
In this episode, I head down into a brand new area to a spring. Right from the get go, I was a little apprehensive of placing a cam here. The spring is fairly close to a trail, but after further investigation, I just couldn’t pass up placing a cam. It offered a great potential setup for an ambush with a hill right above the spring looking down. Would be a nice way to potentially take a bear over that water source.
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At the time of putting the cam up it was late February. Like I say in the video, I really have no urge to check that camera until April most likely. Maybe even May. It needs to get hot and dry for those bears to consistently be smashing the water. Once it does, there can absolutely be multiple bears hitting the same water source throughout the whole day, not just in the morning and evening. So, now we wait. Until then, I’ll be out checking out some new areas and getting excited for the coming spring hunting season!
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