Took a nice black bear on White Mountain Apache reservation hunt...

[BCP]

This was last month and I saw a lot of bears, sign and trail camera footage of large bears and several color phases. I took this old guy the first evening on bait. Nose to tail he was 7'9" and weighed about 400 lbs with no fat. The guide estimated he would have put on about 100 lbs when the acorns fell. Guide has been working bears for 33 years and this was in the top 10 of what he has taken size wise. They estimated it's head to be in the 21" range. Took him with a McWhorter 7 STW running 195 Bergers at about 3100fps. Perfect hide with no rubs. I would definitely recommend the guide and that area.

 

[timberjack86]

Awesome bear!! Congrats!!

 

[TN2shot07]

That’s a good looking bear, should make a heck of a rug! Which outfitter did you end up using?

 

[BCP]

Thanks. I was very pleased with the hunting operation and setup. I didn't have a good year for drawing tags but WTA still helped me find a couple of good hunts that didn't require a draw. They set me up with Tom David out of Albuquerque who has been guiding on the White Mountain Apache reservation for 33 years. Tom and his long time guide Darin had great knowledge of the area and are running 10 widely spaced out bait locations with cameras at every location. I looked through hundreds of photos, which is extremely helpful when looking for particular bears of a certain size and/or color.

One of the best things they offer is a very comprehensive orientation on judging bears using photos from their locations. They have a very good way of setting up barrels exactly the same so you can use them as measuring reference points. The photo here is of a bear that is about 7'6" to 7'9". Without that, you really are guessing as bears can fool you easily. I learned a lot about bears and baiting from Tom and Darin. Also, the food is excellent and there is an option to take a 2nd bear!

 

[BCP]

Another great thing about this outfitter is that there are a maximum of 2 hunters per week unless you make arrangements to bring more hunters in your party. If you book a 2 bear hunt, you have the full operation dedicated to you...all 10 bait sites, both guides and full focus on your success.

 

[Orionthehunter2]

Nice bear but there is no way that skull goes 21"

 

[BCP]

I was thinking more like 20" but we will see after the drying period.

 

[Honyock]

Tom David? The log looks too familiar. Hunted with him 8/2021.

 

[BCP]

That's him. How did you do there?

 

[Honyock]

Three of us hunted the first week of August 2021. My brother got a 6'6", a friend got a 7'2" and I got a 7'2".

 

[long hunter]

Congrats. on a nice bear.

 

[BCP]

That's a great week on the mountain. My only unchecked box was a big color phase bear. They have them for sure.

 

[dsagebiel]

This was last month and I saw a lot of bears, sign and trail camera footage of large bears and several color phases. I took this old guy the first evening on bait. Nose to tail he was 7'9" and weighed about 400 lbs with no fat. The guide estimated he would have put on about 100 lbs when the acorns fell. Guide has been working bears for 33 years and this was in the top 10 of what he has taken size wise. They estimated it's head to be in the 21" range. Took him with a McWhorter 7 STW running 195 Bergers at about 3100fps. Perfect hide with no rubs. I would definitely recommend the guide and that area. View attachment 451135View attachment 451134View attachment 451136View attachment 451137

Who was your outfitter? I’m looking for a hunt in this area