Nov 11, 2021
Missouri opened its first bear season this year in what turned out to be a tightly regulated hunt and a very competitive draw. Kelsie Wikoff was one of the hunters who drew a tag. This week we talk about how you hunt an area you've never been to for a prey you've seldom ever even seen. For Kelsie, it involved frequent scouting trips, trail cams, and talking to lots and lots of people. The verdict? She harvested one of Missouri's first black bears early in the season.
4:00 Growing up in a small town... like, 350 villagers kind of small
6:00 Missouri's first ever bear season
11:00 From drawing a tag to creating a hunt plan
13:00 How do you hunt a new-to-you area for a prey you've seldom ever seen? Talk to people; set up trail cams
14:00 Differentiating individual bears in trail cam photos
17:00 Waiting in a tree stand for three days before seeing THE bear
20:00 After the shot... bears aren't a bloody harvest due to their fat content
22:00 Bear fat soaps for your bridesmaids, anyone? Lip balms?
24:00 A scary bear run-in in Alaska
28:00 Finding your bear after the shot and safely approaching it
31:00 Bear fleeing bear... right into your tree stand
32:00 Being surrounded by ducks before shooting light... #magicinthefield
35:00 Geese executing a barrel roll
36:00 Watching your kids harvest their first deer
37:00 Mentoring a new hunter
41:00 Dog-on-vacation blunders, followed by hunting-pheasants-without-a-dog blunders