It sure was a busy weekend in my neck of the woods! Being the only resident on my forest management road which is a three mile dead end, I can hear cars coming from half a mile away. Saturday we had at least three groups of shooters across my driveway, tuning up their grouse hunting skills with skeets. We also had a couple of folks putting out bait piles for black bears. Bear hunting season in MN starts Sept. 1. and lasts through mid Oct. Hunters are allowed to put out bait piles to lure the bears out of the woods, otherwise they may never find them.

I had a nice guy come up the driveway yesterday that thought I was Randy the previous owner. I told him I purchased the property back in April and they haven’t updated the plat books yet. He was just informing me that he set out a couple bait piles across the road and was wondering if I had seen any bears. I haven’t seen one since the beginning of May when I moved in, that bear took out two bird feeders and put a big scratch in the side of my shed. I asked him how bear cooks up and he said it’s way better than venison! I’ve never had it but sure would like to try it! I told him that he could drop off the carcasses here if he wanted since he just threw them away. The dogs would love to have some bear bones for sure.

I went for a walk later that evening at sunset and heard Toivo barking up something fierce just before I got back. He had the whole kennel barking at something, even Helena. I assume it was a bear, they seem to be on the move now getting ready for winter. Now we just need to spot some deer. I’ve maybe seen half a dozen on the road since I moved in. All the deer seem to be closer to town where they know they are safe!