# Who's ready?



## Joe Brandon (Jun 28, 2017)

Been fine tuning equipment and walking around my club just a little. I could not be more ready. We are just over 3 months from opening day!


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## PappyHoel (Jun 28, 2017)

Don't walk too much :


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## Joe Brandon (Jun 28, 2017)

PappyHoel said:


> Don't walk too much :



Right! Hey you off Monday?


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## FMBear (Jun 28, 2017)

Bow season cannot get here soon enough.  Finding some good sign with mating season coming full swing.


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## Joe Brandon (Jun 29, 2017)

Nice!!!!!


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## Dana Young (Jun 29, 2017)

Joe I know you are ready but in my opinion if you spend too much time in your prospective hunting grounds the bear will move out on you. if I was going to get out right now I would just drive or walk roads looking for  looking for slides and tracks. as season gets closer then investigate those areas you found sign in as acorns start to drop after you find climbing and feeding sign back out and don't go back till you are ready to hunt that area.
I already know more areas than I can possibly hunt so my work is done till I narrow the area down in bow season or the week before. 
Not trying to be smart just trying to help.


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## Killer Kyle (Jun 29, 2017)

I came out of the womb ready! I've been covering a lot of ground lately and keeping an eye on things. Saw a small loner in a food plot Monday evening. He/she was laying down eating, winded me, stood up on it's hind legs to look around for a minute and then bolted. It was in a place that I don't bear hunt, so I'm not concerned about spooking it. 
Me and jBoggs did a long route a few weeks ago. We started finding bear scat that was 100% acorns. I started cutting open red oak acorns, and we were finding them still green inside. Smelled fresh like they fell off the tree yesterday. It was on a flat full of red oaks and tons of feeding sign. They are STILL eating on last year's acorns. With the mild winter and the bears feeding on acorns all winter long, we are gonna have some bonafide porkers killed this year. I'm eager to see some straight larders hitting the dirt. I've seen 18 bears so far this year, and the sightings will soon become more frequent as I start checking food plots and trying to survey the bears. September cannot come soon enough!!


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## T-N-T (Jun 29, 2017)

I hope your fat bear theory is right Kyle. That way I can call you to help me drag, cut and pack out!


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## PappyHoel (Jun 29, 2017)

Joe Brandon said:


> Right! Hey you off Monday?



I'm off but it will be a mud hole out there.  But the Bears will have left fresh tracks.  Good time to go.


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## jbogg (Jun 29, 2017)

I can't wait!  I have some spots I found last year but never got to hunt, but like Dana said I will wait until Just before the season opens to go in and look for climbing sign. In the meantime I am still exploring some new areas at different elevations to have a few backup plans in place.  Don't forget to get after some hogs once small game opens.  I have been wearing out my new smoker with my last one.  Good stuff!


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## Joe Brandon (Jun 30, 2017)

Dana Young said:


> Joe I know you are ready but in my opinion if you spend too much time in your prospective hunting grounds the bear will move out on you. if I was going to get out right now I would just drive or walk roads looking for  looking for slides and tracks. as season gets closer then investigate those areas you found sign in as acorns start to drop after you find climbing and feeding sign back out and don't go back till you are ready to hunt that area.
> I already know more areas than I can possibly hunt so my work is done till I narrow the area down in bow season or the week before.
> Not trying to be smart just trying to help.



Yes sir absolutely I agree with you and will take your advice and stick to established road beds. Your experience is always welcome to me! Thank you!


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## PappyHoel (Jun 30, 2017)

Joe Brandon said:


> Yes sir absolutely I agree with you and will take your advice and stick to established road beds. Your experience is always welcome to me! Thank you!



He's the bear hunting man.  Good advice.  Text incoming joe


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## whitetailfreak (Jun 30, 2017)

I believe this is your year Joe.


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## Joe Brandon (Jun 30, 2017)

whitetailfreak said:


> I believe this is your year Joe.



I appreciate it CensoredCensoredCensored. And I hope your right. You have really been a good mentor to me the laat couple of years so I'm  gonna try to put all those PMs and text together and make it happen!!!


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## Bucky T (Jun 30, 2017)

I'll be up after the small game opener scouting and looking for a pig.

Saw a nice boar (bear) while turkey hunting this year.


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## Killer Kyle (Jun 30, 2017)

T-N-T said:


> I hope your fat bear theory is right Kyle. That way I can call you to help me drag, cut and pack out!



I'll volunteer Joe Brandon for those duties!!! Joe Brandon, you just got volenTOLD!
haha!


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## Joe Brandon (Jun 30, 2017)

Killer Kyle said:


> I'll volunteer Joe Brandon for those duties!!! Joe Brandon, you just got volenTOLD!
> haha!



Lol hey man I would be glad to help!!


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## T-N-T (Jul 1, 2017)

I am at a strong disadvantage living 5 hours away from my favorite bear hunting hill.

I put in a ton of work in a few days every year when I head up. But it's a slow learning curve...  


Scouting isn't as bad as opening up gates for wma hunts.  I get there, walk to spots I know from past years or from help I receive from friends who live close by.  But I find hot spots that are dead as a doornail all of a sudden from traffic.  Folks riding with their windows down and gun in lap....  People are lazy.


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## Killer Kyle (Jul 1, 2017)

Windows down and gun in lap? Don't pass judgment on the way I hunt man!!
Haha nah, I cover a lot of ground. As much or more than most I suppose, but it sure is sad to see what I've got in the freezer to show for all that work! Not a lot! It is a big learning curve. I'm still learning too. But it sure is a heck of a fun process. I'd hate to see what this beer gut would look like if I hunted private property!!!


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## buckeroo (Jul 1, 2017)

Cant wait!!!


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## Killer Kyle (Jul 2, 2017)

buckeroo said:


> Cant wait!!!



Buckeroo....where on Earth have you been man? I haven't heard from you in AGES!!!
You never text, you never call, you never come around anymore. You've seemed so......distant lately. 
Been ghosting your boys in the bear forum. I see how it is!!!


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## T-N-T (Jul 4, 2017)

Killer Kyle said:


> Windows down and gun in lap? Don't pass judgment on the way I hunt man!!
> Haha nah, I cover a lot of ground. As much or more than most I suppose, but it sure is sad to see what I've got in the freezer to show for all that work! Not a lot! It is a big learning curve. I'm still learning too. But it sure is a heck of a fun process. I'd hate to see what this beer gut would look like if I hunted private property!!!



I haven't seen you in close to a year
Wait till you see my beer gut....


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## Bkeepr (Jul 4, 2017)

Hoping to get one this year!   It's on my bucket list.


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## Cwb19 (Jul 4, 2017)

Seen a couple during Turkey season so I been ready since Turkey season ended


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## whitetailfreak (Jul 4, 2017)

I've seen 8 or 9 since March. If Joe don't kill one this season, I'm gonna bring him to my neck of the woods and put one in his lap


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## Ptothec (Jul 5, 2017)

Have any of you guys ever tried calling for bears?  Is that more of a spring tactic that doesn't apply to us since we don't have a spring season?


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## Joe Brandon (Jul 6, 2017)

whitetailfreak said:


> I've seen 8 or 9 since March. If Joe don't kill one this season, I'm gonna bring him to my neck of the woods and put one in his lap



Let's keep our fingers crossed I get one!!!! That being said I owe you a dinner so we can hopefully hang out one day this Fall either way!


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## Killer Kyle (Jul 6, 2017)

Joe Brandon said:


> Let's keep our fingers crossed I get one!!!! That being said I owe you a dinner so we can hopefully hang out one day this Fall either way!



Put whitetailfreak on your "bear recovery crew" list in case you smoke a giant. You won't know how much of a friend you've got until you make that call to your buddies! Haha! It'd go something like this:

YOU: "Dude, I just smoked a bear. Can you come give me a hand?"
FRIEND: Sure man, how big is the bear?"
YOU: "It's hard to say. I don't know, I'm thinking maybe four hundred?"
FRIEND: "Joe. Joe. Joe? Hey Joe, are you there?
YOU: "Hey man, I can hear you. Can you hear me?"
FRIEND: "Joe. Hey. Hey Joe. I....you're....hear..service....breaking up....."

*beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppp


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## whitetailfreak (Jul 6, 2017)

Kill the 130 pounders and let the bigguns go is my motto


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## ripplerider (Jul 7, 2017)

They eat better too. A young bear is pretty much my favorite wild game to eat. I usually hunt alone and have passed up several big bruisers cause I knew I couldnt get them out before they sploild. I'm not about wasting meat. I need to get a dragging (or toting) list going. Who wants to be on there?


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## ripplerider (Jul 7, 2017)

Ptothec said:


> Have any of you guys ever tried calling for bears?  Is that more of a spring tactic that doesn't apply to us since we don't have a spring season?



I have tried it a couple of times with no results. I think its more a spring tactic. It might just work in a year when acorns are scarce.


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## whitetailfreak (Jul 7, 2017)

Bear hunters best friend


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## Killer Kyle (Jul 7, 2017)

whitetailfreak said:


> Kill the 130 pounders and let the bigguns go is my motto



Freak, I LOVE this picture!! It reminds me of the one in Kephart's "Our Southern Highlanders". This classic method of toting bears kind of pays homage to bear hunters past. You should put that picture in a frame!!


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## livinoutdoors (Jul 8, 2017)

I like the sled, if ya strike out hunting you could always take a ride down the mountian, haha!


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## whitetailfreak (Jul 8, 2017)

livinoutdoors said:


> I like the sled, if ya strike out hunting you could always take a ride down the mountian, haha!



Done that. It doubles as a snow sled


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## whitetailfreak (Jul 8, 2017)

Killer Kyle said:


> Freak, I LOVE this picture!! It reminds me of the one in Kephart's "Our Southern Highlanders". This classic method of toting bears kind of pays homage to bear hunters past. You should put that picture in a frame!!



Kyle, I killed that bear with my m.l. off down in one of the awfullest holes I've ever hunted. There were lots of rock boulders to navigate, and it kept flipping my sled, so we cut that Hickory Pole and toted him out. I know that Kephart photo well. During his time on  Hazel Creek, Kephart lived just a mile or so from my great grandfather near the mines on Sugar Fork Creek. Hazel Creek was Kepharts "Back of beyond", but to my folks it was just home.


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## Bowhunter77 (Jul 8, 2017)

That would be a cool pic to filter it to black and white...just two men packing one out.  I just think all hunting pics look good that way. I guess I just lean towards those , maybe my age or something.


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## Killer Kyle (Jul 8, 2017)

whitetailfreak said:


> Kyle, I killed that bear with my m.l. off down in one of the awfullest holes I've ever hunted. There were lots of rock boulders to navigate, and it kept flipping my sled, so we cut that Hickory Pole and toted him out. I know that Kephart photo well. During his time on  Hazel Creek, Kephart lived just a mile or so from my great grandfather near the mines on Sugar Fork Creek. Hazel Creek was Kepharts "Back of beyond", but to my folks it was just home.



I knew your family was from that area. That's an awesome rich history steeped in Appalachia! I bought a 1934 copy of the book last year and thought about your family frequently while reading it.  I also recently bought a book called "Along the Appalachian Trail: Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee."  It is loaded with awesome cintage photos of people building (establishing) the AT, local residents, first shelters, balds, shepherds cabins, free range pigs in 1910, and a bear hunter from 1910 with a bear slung across his shoulder. Loaded with awesome pictures. Look it up if you get the time!


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## whitetailfreak (Jul 8, 2017)

Killer Kyle said:


> I knew your family was from that area. That's an awesome rich history steeped in Appalachia! I bought a 1934 copy of the book last year and thought about your family frequently while reading it.  I also recently bought a book called "Along the Appalachian Trail: Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee."  It is loaded with awesome cintage photos of people building (establishing) the AT, local residents, first shelters, balds, shepherds cabins, free range pigs in 1910, and a bear hunter from 1910 with a bear slung across his shoulder. Loaded with awesome pictures. Look it up if you get the time!



When you get a chance do a little research on "Uncle" Mark Cathey of Deep Creek. He lived on Indian Creek which is a trib of Deep Creek, and was considered by many as one of the best  outdoorsman in the Smokies at the turn of the 20th century. He was a mountain man through and through. Cathey's death was particularly fitting. 

Mark your calendar, last Sunday in June next year, I'm gonna take you with my family to a cemetery decoration at Bone Valley on Hazel Creek and show you some Smoky Mountain history at its finest. We'll cross Sugar Fork where Kephart lived and wrote "OSH". Let me know if your in.


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## jbogg (Jul 9, 2017)

whitetailfreak said:


> When you get a chance do a little research on "Uncle" Mark Cathey of Deep Creek. He lived on Indian Creek which is a trib of Deep Creek, and was considered by many as one of the best  outdoorsman in the Smokies at the turn of the 20th century. He was a mountain man through and through. Cathey's death was particularly fitting.
> 
> Mark your calendar, last Sunday in June next year, I'm gonna take you with my family to a cemetery decoration at Bone Valley on Hazel Creek and show you some Smoky Mountain history at its finest. We'll cross Sugar Fork where Kephart lived and wrote "OSH". Let me know if your in.



If there's room for one more count me in.  Would love to see some of that mountain history.


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## whitetailfreak (Jul 9, 2017)

jbogg said:


> If there's room for one more count me in.  Would love to see some of that mountain history.



Absolutely, anyone who would like to make the trip to Hazel Creek that day is more than welcome. It will be the only opportunity you'll ever have to ride a motorized vehicle( Park Service ferries vehicles across for this day) up Hazel Creek to Bone Valley after being taken across Fontana Lake by boat. That day, we decorate the Bone Valley cemetary, visit the historic Hall Cabin and cemetery, have a creekside dinner, and short Church service near where the Bone Valley Church stood prior to GSMNP days. This is all very near where Kephart lived. It's kind of a Family Reunion.


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## Killer Kyle (Jul 9, 2017)

whitetailfreak said:


> When you get a chance do a little research on "Uncle" Mark Cathey of Deep Creek. He lived on Indian Creek which is a trib of Deep Creek, and was considered by many as one of the best  outdoorsman in the Smokies at the turn of the 20th century. He was a mountain man through and through. Cathey's death was particularly fitting.
> 
> Mark your calendar, last Sunday in June next year, I'm gonna take you with my family to a cemetery decoration at Bone Valley on Hazel Creek and show you some Smoky Mountain history at its finest. We'll cross Sugar Fork where Kephart lived and wrote "OSH". Let me know if your in.



Count me right in! I read a short write up about that ceremony not long ago. That and the GON magazine fictional series about the turkey "The Admiral" this spring reminded me of something many of us here will appreciate. Do you remember "Paintbrush" from this forum? Ol Cliff was a master mountain turkey hunter. This past opening day of turkey season, his brother and his nephew killed turkeys on their white county property. They went straight to Cliffs grave, put the gobblers up on the headstone, and took a picture to honor Cliff. His niece sent me the picture that afternoon. I was humbled to see the honor and respect of paying tribute to our predecessors the way many old mountain families still do. It really struck a chord in my heart, and I was delighted seeing Paintbrush properly honored and remembered.


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## whitetailfreak (Jul 9, 2017)

Killer Kyle said:


> Count me right in! I read a short write up about that ceremony not long ago. That and the GON magazine fictional series about the turkey "The Admiral" this spring reminded me of something many of us here will appreciate. Do you remember "Paintbrush" from this forum? Ol Cliff was a master mountain turkey hunter. This past opening day of turkey season, his brother and his nephew killed turkeys on their white county property. They went straight to Cliffs grave, put the gobblers up on the headstone, and took a picture to honor Cliff. His niece sent me the picture that afternoon. I was humbled to see the honor and respect of paying tribute to our predecessors the way many old mountain families still do. It really struck a chord in my heart, and I was delighted seeing Paintbrush properly honored and remembered.



Sounds good, Bone Valley is a plan. That's a nice story about Cliff, I remember him well.


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## Killer Kyle (Jul 10, 2017)

Not long ago, a man who knew Cliff told me: "When you went hunting with Cliff, you didn't go walking and calling. You went in before daylight, and slipped in right beneath a gobbler on the limb. He didn't go looking for gobblers. He always knew where they were".

I sure wish I had that prowess about me!!


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## ripplerider (Jul 11, 2017)

I knew Cliff slightly a long time ago. My friends from White county, three brothers who taught me most of what I know about mtn. hunting, considered the Fains their biggest competitors when it came to deep woods hunting on Chattahoochee and Chestatee. They have tons of respect for their hunting skills.

 Whitetailfreak I'd love to be included in your trip to Hazel creek. I've always been interested in that area. I would bring plenty of food!


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## whitetailfreak (Jul 11, 2017)

ripplerider said:


> I knew Cliff slightly a long time ago. My friends from White county, three brothers who taught me most of what I know about mtn. hunting, considered the Fains their biggest competitors when it came to deep woods hunting on Chattahoochee and Chestatee. They have tons of respect for their hunting skills.
> 
> Whitetailfreak I'd love to be included in your trip to Hazel creek. I've always been interested in that area. I would bring plenty of food!



You got it. I'll touch base with you all a few months prior. We visit Bone Valley every year on the same day thanks to the NPS. The Park staff do a fantastic job making our decorationsa as easy as possible for the older folks.


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## Dana Young (Jul 12, 2017)

Cliff was my best friend. We shared many a hunt and killed lots of game . We hunted or fished every day. and worked together at night.


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## whitetailfreak (Jul 12, 2017)

Dana Young said:


> Cliff was my best friend. We shared many a hunt and killed lots of game . We hunted or fished every day. and worked together at night.



Dana, I believe with all my heart, that a lifelong huntin' and fishin' buddy is as close to brothers as two men can be without being blood. Mine is helping me pole that bear out of the mountains in the pic a few posts up.


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## Dana Young (Jul 13, 2017)

Yes I miss him Like a brother


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## jbogg (Jul 19, 2017)

Keepin it going.  I'm still ready Joe!


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## Killer Kyle (Jul 19, 2017)

I came out of the womb ready!!!


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## Kodiak629 (Aug 16, 2017)

I hear you Joe, been ready for a while. Plan on going up on Friday (opening day)and staying till Monday afternoon and maybe Tuesday. If you get that big un this season count me in on helping you out. If Im not up camping I'm just about 30 to 40 minutes away. I owe you after all your help with stands and such.

Ron


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