Annual fall camp on public land in Western Maryland.
This year I was camping from Tuesday through Saturday, and my brother Chris had drawn a bear tag and added my friend Evan and myself as co-hunters on the tag. I would have preferred to camp at a more western WMA we frequent, but I had some obligations back home that necessitated a closer camp with good cellular access.
The camp this year would consist of my brother's camper, fresh from our Idaho elk trip, and my 12x14 foot wall tent nestled against the backdrop of changing fall foliage.
Attendance this year was light. Camp attendees included my brother, Dan, and I. That is all that could come. Needless to say, I had plenty of food during the week!
The hunting pressure during the week was heavy. I was constantly running into rifle toting bear hunters. I walked up 3 feet from one fellow before I got his attention. One morning I headed a mile in before light to get to the end of this road to hunt. My bother talked to two older bear hunters that arrived later and they stated they were going to head down that same road. My brother warned them I was set up all the way at the end. Well, the one guy went ahead and set up there anyway. Unbeknownst to me for most of the morning he was on the ridge about 80 yards behind me! He would have quickly shot a bear out from under me and probably didn't see me. I spotted orange when I was repositioning later and move smartly away. Maddening, but that is public land.
Despite the hunting challenges, it was still a fun camp. I did have a nice doe pass within 50 yards of me one evening, but that is still a good poke with a traditional bow. Dan and I enjoyed the campfire and thought about maybe moving to another area next year to escape the pressure.
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