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There have been several interesting topics of conversation on the various archery web sites regarding the game camera. I found the Moultrie Game Spy 4.0 on sale and decided to give it a try. This camera seemed simple to use and understand and I set it up in a favorite location that I had seen game in the past few years. I checked the camera almost every day and found that it had captured numerous whitetail deer (all does and fawns) and determined that this location had deer activity primarily during the first hour of daylight and then again around midnight. It should be noted for those that hunt by moon phases that during the time of our hunt, there was no moon.

I saw my first black bear on Saturday morning while resting my sprained foot in camp. A young bear of 100 pounds or so walked into the trail near the camp around 11:00 a.m. and moved on through the woods after giving me a long look. The next sighting of a bear came the very next evening during the last hour of daylight when a gorgeous chocolate colored bear pushing 350 pounds was spotted feeding on berries in a clear cut some 250 yards away. The steep terrain, waning daylight, and swollen ankle convinced me to leave that one alone regardless of its rare color phase for this part of Washington. As Chris and I were driving back to our camp, we encountered another young bear strolling down the middle of the road not far from camp.

Two days later I checked out a mountain side popular with bears because of the Rose Hips berry crops found there.

I arrived just at daylight and within an hour, a rather large black bear appeared just below me at about 300 yards away. The morning thermals pushed my scent directly to its nose and I marveled at its size when it stood on its hind legs looking in my direction and trying to gain a better smell and view point. The large bear dropped to all four legs and made a hasty retreat followed by two cubs who struggled to keep up with mom.