29 May Castle Creek Outfitters' First Spring Black Bear Hunt of 2018 May 29, 2018By Camden Powell Announcements, General Information, Guided Hunts, Idaho Black Bear Hunts Black-Bear-Hunts, Guided-Hunts, Spring-Black-Bear-Hunts 0 This last week (May 13 - 18) was quite a milestone for us here at Castle Creek Outfitters. It was our first hunt since George, Caleb, and myself bought the business! So naturally we decided to send our undisputed best, most capable, freakishly talented, and unbelievably humble guide in to handle this grand first step. I was honored. The week started like all others: at The Bent Rod. It's where we grab all of our last second gear and meet the hunters we will be spending the week with. From there it's a short 2-hour drive to the trail head. Then we hop in the 5-ton truck to make it across the river and head into camp. For the next 5 days, it's all bear bait, horses, and beautiful Idaho mountains. As some of you know, bear hunting over a bait can often involve a lot of sitting around and not a lot of getting bear opportunities, so it takes a level of discipline and patience to make a hunt fun and successful. The hunter had that in abundance. After sitting on bear baits for 4 days without so much as an oversized opossum to get our hearts racing, I never even heard a negative word from him. That's what a truly experienced hunter looks like. It was a wonderful attitude that lent itself to success when finally, on the 4th day, we had a hit on the game camera. It was a massive, beautiful, color phase black bear. And boy was he a looker; a big jug-headed, 6-foot boar! Now we had something to be excited about! But with only one day left, a lot rode on this last hunt. We decided to head out at 1 p.m. with nothing to lose, but a deep-seated, somewhat unjustified, belief that this was going to come together. First thing we did, when we made it to the bait, was to do our best to throw some scent around like confetti. We figured a few pounds of chocolate coffee creamer, 3 scent sticks, and a great deal of cherry sugar would do the trick. Well sure enough our sent stick sacrifice paid off. Just before 6 p.m. a brown blob started sliding across the sage. The hunter knew what to do. With a perfect shot, he took out both the lungs and sure enough, we found the bear less than 80 yards from the bait. Bear down! I couldn't have planned it better if I was the one making the rules. The only thing better than getting a big bear is getting to earn him. There's no handouts in this country, and things don't always come together, but when they do it's a thing of beauty. I don’t know if there really is such a thing as a perfect hunt, not in my mind at least. But maybe that's part of what makes it so beautiful. You are always getting better and even when everything is done right, it still may not come together. But I believe success without the possibility of failure is a hollow victory. And it's in those moments of doubt that the best hunters stand out, by mindset alone, and cause a subtle change that often dominoes into a very different end-result. It's how some hunters seem to just “get luckier.” If there was a theme for this last week, I think that would be it. The hunt is what you make it, and I can say with great pride, this hunt was a huge success. “I'm a DIY hunter for the last 25 years and booked my first guided hunt with Castle Creek. They did a great job having the hunt match what I was looking for and provided access to places I could never reach on my own. Great horses/mules, scenery was amazing, warm tents and food was great, this hunt was just what I needed and look forward to hunting with them again.” CCO's First ClientMay 2018 Related Posts Idaho Spring Black Bear Hunting The application deadline for Idaho controlled-hunt, spring bear tags is February 15. Fortunately for all of us, most Idaho black bear tags are sold over-the-counter (OTC). This includes tags for units 28 and 27, where Castle Creek and Wild Idaho Outfitters conduct their bear hunts. The reduced-price or “wilderness tag” is good for all of Unit 27 and those portions of Unit 28 within the Frank Church Wilderness, as well as within most designated wilderness areas in the state of Idaho. Cure Cabin Fever with an Idaho Spring Bear Hunt The first day of spring is officially here! It has been a long time coming and it can mean only 1 thing: Idaho Spring bear hunting season 2023 is literally only days away! With this winter feeling like it has been the longest winter in the history of all mankind…at least here in Challis, Idaho, cabin fever is running rampant, and we are ready to get out, start setting bear baits, shoeing horses and mules, riding colts, setting camps and simply enjoying watching mother nature come back to life after a long winter’s siesta. Castle Creek Outfitters Welcomes Joe Cavanaugh: Our New Blog Writer If you hadn’t already noticed, Joe’s been writing our blogs since the January 31st post. Cavanaugh comes to us with a wide range of experience in the outdoors, and he’s also a graduate of Boise State University, with a BA in English/writing. He worked professionally as a copywriter for Bass Pro Shops before joining us, and his book The Jungle Hunter was published by Safari Press in 2000 (now out of print). Cavanaugh started guiding big game hunts in Idaho in 2013, and he will be guiding for Castle Creek Outfitters and Wild Idaho Outfitters this year, full time. Spring Bear Drop Camps With Idaho’s 2021 spring bear season beginning this week, we are grateful that we are pretty much booked up on our guided hunts, but new for 2021, we are offering spring bear drop camps for those DIY hunters who to prefer the challenge of hunting on their own and more of the spot and stalk element of bear hunting. This is a more affordable option over guiding, puts you in charge of your own schedule and may just be the ticket for that pent up wintertime cabin fever! Idaho Controlled-Hunt Application Period for Elk, Deer, Antelope, and Fall Bear Opens May 1st The tag application period for Idaho controlled-hunt elk, deer, pronghorn, and fall bear tags opens May 1 and runs to June 5. Idaho does not use a bonus/preference point system for controlled hunts. As a result, hunters have the same odds of drawing a tag the first year they apply as they do any other year. A Couple Spots Still Left for this Spring Bear Season The weather has been unseasonably warm and dry this year and the water level on the creek has been pretty steady helping us avoid the radical highs of a “normal” spring runoff, bears are active, and we got ‘em on camera. We are looking forward to a productive spring bear season and have just a couple spots still available for June. So, if you don’t have any concrete spring hunting or fishing plans and can get away on short notice, contact us about dates and times for an Idaho spring bear hunt with us! Comment (0) Comments are closed.