Misc Going Ons @ Camp..

Here are just a few random pics from the past couple of weeks. Enjoy.

We just love the view from our cabin window.

Jeremiah battling the weather also.

Josie enjoying a beautiful night by the camp fire.

A great way to start a morning!

This is one of the casualties from the big storm last week.
Luckily this 200 year old tree missed all of the near by buildings.

Matt enjoying a peaceful moment at the end of a long day.

2015 Week 2 - Recap

Ok. Sorry for the long delay in getting this next post up, but our internet
service has been less than stellar this season. We are scheduled to have
all new and updated equipment, but until then it looks like we will be at
the mercy of this hit and miss system. Sorry.

Anyway, here is what you missed in a nut shell...
Last week we had a roller coaster bout of weather. We saw beautiful
sunny weather for the start of walleye season, but that drastically changed
Saturday night into Monday morning. The winds blew 40+, we had rain, sleet
and even some snow. With the temps hovering around freezing during the day
and well below freezing over night nobody really wanted to be outside. I believe
it was the worst 2 days of weather that I can remember in my 30 summers at
Black Bear. I basically did not sleep for days, because I had to constantly walk
camp and make sure things stayed safe. The boats and docks took a good beating,
we lost a few trees, and my water pipes needed to be constantly flowing or they
would have froze solid. Then, like someone flipped  switch, the weather stopped.
By Tuesday morning, there were people in town walking around in shorts!
That's just how things go sometimes.

The storm did not help the fishing for the few brave boys that were in camp.
Even though the weather stayed nice for the remainder of the week, the guys
worked hard to get their fish. They did manage (like they always do) to boat some
big fish.

This is what camp looked like Monday Morning. I had just cut the
grass in a t-shirt the day before.

The boys dressed to battle the storm.

These 2 pictures were taken 24 hours apart. 

...here are some more pics from last week...

2015 season begins!!!

We are finally back home at camp! After a long cold winter it was great to pull into Black Bear Lodge and be greeted with open water in the bay. We arrived 10 days ago and have been working around the clock to get things ready for this weekend and walleye opener. Lots of cabins to clean and repair, we installed a new and improved water system, boats and motors are getting prepped, and I plan on rebuilding the last floating dock. There never seems to be enough time to do everything no matter how many hours you put in...but that's camp life :)

The weather started off great, with temps in the mid 60's and plenty of sun. Then mother nature decided to cool things down again. We have been dealing with steady rain and wind and temps in the 40's during the day and dipping near freezing over night. There is even talk of snow in the short term forecast. Yikes.

Two nights ago Mother Nature was nice enough to cue up one of the best Northern Lights displays that we have seen in years. We sacrificed some valued sleep to lay out in the yard and watch the spectacular display. The show lasted for hours! It is truly one of the great wonders of being up north.

We did have a couple of brave souls this past week who were willing to experience a not quite operational Black Bear Lodge. They battled the less than perfect weather in order to get a crack at some monster northern pike. Mike and Nick were not disappointed...they boated several big pike, including 3-4 over the 40 inch mark. Mike ended up with the biggest fish of the week, a giant 42" pike. Not bad for his first trip!! Nick boated a couple 40's of his own, including a personal best 41.5" monster. Nice going boys!!

Enjoy some of these Pics and spread the word that the Black Bear Lodge Blog is up and running again !!!! Looking forward to seeing our wonderful guest again soon!!

The main dock is complete!!

This is a nice project to be done with and it was long over-do. I am sure it will need some tweeking as the water starts to rise and gets back to normal levels, but I built it knowing this. It is so nice to walk out to the
boats without tripping over edges and random sheets of plywood. I was hoping to have the far dock rebuilt this summer as well, but I ran out of time and money. Guess that will be next years big project...at least one of them that is.

Bill got a unique bear!

Bill had his sites on this bear after looking through some of the trail cam pics.

Although not the biggest bear seen on camera, this is a very unique one. It is 

a brown color phase bear with a white blaze patch on his chest and a blonde

mow-hawk down his back. Bill shot the bear around 7 pm. He then drove up 

the road where Mike was hunting and the 2 of them went back to field dress

and drag the bear. They were back at camp just at dark. Thanks boys for giving

me the night off! And congratulations to Bill for getting a great bear!! It will make 

a great full body mount! 

Another big project underway

Everyone seemed to enjoy the play by play of the cabin move, so I thought 

I would post some pictures of my latest project. I am finally tearing apart and 

rebuilding the walkway to our main dock. The boards and cribbing have needed

some serious upgrades for some time now. Unfortunately it is a project that is 

hard to do when we have guests that need to use the main dock. With only 2

small groups in camp this week and the water being very low, it has to be now.  

The first picture is what the walkway use to look like. The next couple of pics

show the demo and rebuilding process. I hope to have it 100 percent done by 

early this week. It will depend on the hunters and the weather. 

The Michigan Boys are done hunting

Corky with his first black bear

The "Michigan Boys" ready to drag their last bear.

Congratulations to Corky for getting his first black bear. He earned every

inch of this bear because he logged a lot of hours on stand before shooting

this one. He also showed great patience early in the week by passing on a few

bears he easily could have shot. He was also lucky enough to witness just how

curious younger bears can be. He had a small bear come up and visit him right

at the base of his stand (which was only 10 ft high). The bear spent some time 

under his stand playing with the strap which was hanging down. Corky had to 

eventually cut the strap short so the bear would move away. But with his curiosity 

not satisfied, the bear proceeded to climb up Corky's tree. Corky had to 'shoo'

away the bear before it ended up in his lap.

Thanks to the entire Michigan crew, you all did a great job on your first bear hunt!

We look forward to seeing you boys up here again soon. Maybe next time you will 

get a shot at one of those 400+ lb bears. 

Number 3 is in the book!

Tony with his first ever black bear!!

Congratulations to Tony for getting his first black bear. Determination and patience

is what allowed him to him to get this beautiful boar. Tony stuck with the same site for 

3 straight days, logging a lot of sitting time on stand. At 5 o'clock tonight his patience

paid off. And not only did he get a nice bear, he also made good points with me because

there was no need to track this bear. He dropped it just feet from his ladder stand. 

Way to go Tony!!!

Another bear down!!

Mike with his beautiful bear

Mike has been hunting this site for 3 days now. He made sure to get on stand early

this afternoon and take advantage of the cool rainy weather. He was hoping for the 400 

pounder that we have seen trail camera, but decided to take the beautiful bear after he 

came to the bait 3 different times today. I can't say I blame him. It is a very beefy boar with 

a perfect hide. The bear also has a very cool white blaze on his chest. It will make a great mount.

And the best part (for me anyway) is that he dropped the bear in his tracks. No tracking needed, 

just a 100 yard walk to the road. Awesome job Mike!! 

First bear down!!

Jeremey with his trophy black bear.

Jeremy shot his first ever black bear last night. He was hunting at a sight known 

as North Wall and had this boar come in around 7 pm. After the shot, the bear ran

only 40 yards and ended up 20 yards from his ladder stand. But, like most bears do,

this one headed for the thickest and darkest part of the area. Even though we had a really 

good idea of where he was, it still took us while to find him. With the help from the 

other boys in his group, lots of flashlights, lots of courage and patience and lots of  

crawling on hands and knees, we were able to recover the bear with no issues.

Congratulations Jeremey!