Bear Season 2013

My 7 year old son accompanied me to camp this weekend for the first day of Bear Season. It was his first hunt. We got a little bit of a late start and hit major traffic on the way, so we didn't arrive at camp until about 9:30 on Friday night. After getting the heat going, we snuggled into the sleeping bag. Saturday morning we awoke and had breakfast. Temperature was around 22 degrees. I was surprised how many hunters were out early. We hunted an area along a clear cut first. Saw a few buck scrapes and rubs, but no bear sign. We were hoping one of the camps would drive the clear cut. By 9:30-10:00, we realized that wasn't going to happen. We headed east to the area where I was hunting turkeys two weeks ago. We ran into several hunters from other camps. We did find a lot of deer sign, bear sign, and turkey sign. However, we didn't see anything. At around 3:00, the Northwest winds began howling and the snow moved in. Suddenly we were cast into a winter wonderland as the snow began blowing. We decided to get down off the top of the ridge and walk back towards the truck. By the time we got back to camp, the ground was covered. The temperature was dropping fast, but it felt great in the camp. After a nice dinner, we drove up to the top of the mountain so we could get a cell signal. I've been an avid Nebraska fan since I was 9 years old. There aren't many of us in PA. Today was a big day since the Huskers were playing PSU. In fact, I passed up a $30.00 ticket to go to the game. My son and I painstakingly watched updates on my phone as the game went into overtime. When Nebraska scored the winning field goal, I'm sure any deer or bear in the area probably heard us yell. After calling home to let the family know we were ok, we drove back down to camp. After a small snack, we snuggled into bed. We could hear the wind howling outside. The sky was crystal clear and the display of stars was beautiful. We awoke around 7:30 this morning. We could tell that the temperature inside the cabin had dropped considerably. Outside it was 9-degrees. There was enough snow on the ground to make for a winter scene. We probably would have heard a lot more shooting yesterday, if the ground had been snow covered. After eating breakfast, we cleaned up camp and got everything ready for the opening of deer season next weekend. My son did awesome on his first-ever hunt. It was a true test for him and he weathered the weather quite well. I'm still concerned about the deer herd up North. I haven't seen a live deer in the woods while hunting since the opening day of bear season 2011....two years ago.