To This Hunts Home Page | 

Kirby Knackstedt
Kirby had seen 4 bears this week. The 3rd day a sow with 2 cubs came in. Kirby's tree was clawed by a bear and his treestand was bent and a piece was bitten out of the foam seat. Kirby moved to another stand. The first night a bear camE in at 8:20. It stopped 5 yards to Kirby's right but the video man could not see it yet. A vehicle noise in the distance made the bear nervous and it left. The last night a severe storm blew in and Kirby got down at 7:00 and waited in his truck to see if it would blow over. At 7:30 Kirby left the cameraman in the truck (can't video in the rain) and returned to the stand. High winds had blown down the tree next to the stand while they were in the truck. At 8:25 a bear came in and went to the bacon can, 15 yards broadside. Kirby shot the bear and it took off into the brush. Due to the rain and wind Kirby waited until morning to look for the bear. We found Kirby's bear 60 yards downhill from his stand.

Kirby's advice to bear hunters is:  Go with a an outfitter who understands bowhunters. Don't be discouraged, hang in there. I don't move around from stand to stand. Keep put and you will see a bear. Keep Trailtimers on your baits so you can pattern the times they come in and number of bears events in the area. I have a new digital trail camera made by Trail Sense Engineering and I can view the bears that are coming in right at the site