I've been dreaming of hunting black bear for many years. After failing to draw for a number of years, I decided to give it a go in the no-quota area. It was a 4 hour drive to the area I thought would give me my best chance. I had two baits out, but only one got hit. Thankfully it was the one I would rather have anyway. This was public land, only accessible by boat. On top of keeping hunters out, it also made for easier work for me. I drove up every weekend to rebait, and had a bear on this site within two days. Over the course of three weeks, I never saw anything huge, but I was more than happy. Not only was I getting multiple legal bears, they were coming in reliably, and well into the daylight. 8am and 4pm were the key times.
Those who say baiting isn't easy are not kidding. Between all the gas and travel time, gathering bait, setting up the site, etc. It is one of the most time consuming hunts I've done. Baiting is simply the only way you will ever be successful in this area though, so not much you can do about it. By comparison, I thought the sitting and shooting would be a slam dunk. I was half right. I couldn't leave early, so I missed opener morning. The camera showed bears had been there at both 8 am and 10 am. Just after noon, when I was ready to head out for the first sit, the wind started picking up. Howling 20+ mph, and from the south. I had my entire setup for mainly northern winds, but east or west wouldn't be bad either. I had to set up on the opposite side, the ground blind out in the open like a lump on the side of the hill. The spot I originally intended, I had brushed in heavily. To make matters worse, I forgot the thermacell, and the mosquitoes really got me. I did not see anything except a skunk come in.
Wednesday, I had a bear coming in right at 8am. I don't know if I spooked it, or just bad luck, but it ended up walking right on by, never giving me a clear shot. The wind again howling, I sat over the empty bait all day until things settled late in the afternoon. Around 7pm, I noticed a second bear coming in. When it got behind some brush, I tried to raise the rifle. I really doubt it heard or saw me, but for whatever reason, it knew something was up. After a few seconds, it turned right around, and ran back into the swamp. That night winds continued to howl 20+ mph from the SE right up until about 10:15 pm, when I noticed thunder. A quick check showed something bad was coming in. As it turned out, an intense storm from the NW was coming in at 60 mph, and collided right on top of the area with the strong SE winds. The result was a storm like I've not experienced while camping before. The wind instantly changed to a NW intense 70 mph gusts, sideways rain, nickel size hail. I took shelter in the truck. It came in hard, and just like that, was over in less than 10 minutes. The hammock made it through the ordeal just fine, and only a couple trees came down.
The next morning winds were still very strong, but had died down to the previous 20 mph or so, although this time from the west. This allowed me to set up my blind in the brushed in spot, which is better hidden, and has clear shooting lanes. I did not see anything, and at noon decided to head in for lunch, and possibly find some smelly bait to help me out. I ran into a local who hunted bears, and we got to talking. He said they can be skittish about smell, but over bait, anything can happen. It will be over in seconds. This left me with renewed confidence, and I resolved to not go near the bait to keep my scent down, and simply sit back down in the blind. The wind started to calm to more normal levels, and the sun came out. Naturally I fell asleep in the blind. I had been sitting alert since 4pm, and right at 5pm this boar came strutting in. He wasn't nervous like wednesday, he came in like he owned the place. No drama, brought the rifle up, and shot him middle of the middle. He let out a nice OOF, and sprinted about 30 yards before tripping over a log. Seconds later he let out the death moan.
I hit exactly where I intended. I was a bit skeptical about the "middle of the middle" shot, but as it turns out, that center punched the lungs, and took out a chunk of the heart. The rifle was my TC Renegade 54 caliber with hand cast round ball, the bait he was standing on was 36 yards away. The ball expanded nicely to at least 3/4", and exited the far side. The lungs fell out in chunks. Thankfully it was easy going with the game cart, only 200 or so yards to the boat. All in all, it was a great trip. They always are whenever you combine water and hunting. I hope to do it again next year.
I have no idea what he weighted, but it is similar to our deer 150-200 pounds. By comparison, I am 6'5" 320 pounds.