Alot of bear hunters all around our parts here are frustrated this year, and I am one of them. Spent the day today looking for bear sign. I hoped to get over the top of the mountain and scope some clearcuts, but the weather wasn't accomodating and the snow kept me on ski's most of the time...

Saw a moose at about 35 yards, SAW a turkey, and found a nice big whitetail shed but NO bear sign. From a hunting standpoint the day was a bust {except I now know where that big whitetail lives...

}

Kickoff involved hauling the 4 wheeler in the stock trailer till I couldn't go any further, then I took the 4 wheeler till I got stuck in the snow, then I went to skis and snowshoes to the top, and then tried for the south-facing, melted-off slopes where I hoped to find sign.

Well, in the rain and blowing sleet, I found 3-feet-deep, hard-packed snow at the ridgetop, and for a time didn't need ski's or snowshoes:

But the fog and rain kept at it hard and I confess after several miles and ZERO visibility down the slopes, I gave up and started the ski trek back down to lower elevation:

My HVA and a burned-out tree stump along the trail:

Spring runoff is running hard and fast:

The weekend promises to be warm and Sonny and I might give the bears and turkeys a rest and go have a whack at the brook trout...