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Day #2 -  Kirby Knackstedt Gets 'Er Done

Kirby hunted Bud's bait the first afternoon. The bait was hit and Kirby set out a digital camera and got in his treestand. Nothing happened that hunt.

The next afternoon the bait was hit again and he had 14 pictures at scattered times from 7:00am to 2:30pm. Larry Jones of Coffeen, Illinois went along to video. Kirby rebaited and lit a bacon burn and was ready to hunt at 5:00.

At 5:20 KIrby saw a bear 60 yards away in the trees. It stuck its nose up several times and smelled the bacon burn and stuck out his tongue. It approached the bait and the bacon burn began to pop. The bear "walked back the way he came from."

Kirby thought the bacon burn had scared the bear away. He got down and as he put the sterno out he heard the bear crash through the brush.

Forty five minutes later the bear returned. He came right to the bait logs and plopped down by the bacon burn and stuck his front paw in and pulled out the bacon strips out one piece at a time. When it was gone he walked to the bait and moved a log away.

KIrby whispered to Larry that as soon as the bear turned broadside he was shooting. The bear stretched his leg out and pulled another log away. This was the broadside angle Kirby was looking for and he drew, aimed and released.

Larry locked on the bear as he ran a short 15 yards and piled up in the brush, in plain sight. Larry got it all on video.

KIrby and Larry waited 15 minutes and climbed down from their stands and retrieved the bear.

Since it was still early they took their gear out to the road and drug the bear out.

They had 2 hours to go before they would be picked up. However, Fred and I drove up and we exchanged stories and looked at Larry's excellent video footage of KIrby's hunt.

KIrby Knackstedt is a veteran bear bowhunter and brings a group of hunters to Fred's camp every two years.

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