2010 - Goebels Bag Bears
Bernie and Rhonda Goebel each shoot nice bears north of Floodwood.
September 21, 2010 • Voyageur Press
Bernie Goebel shot quite the bear north of Floodwood on Friday, September 3 using a bow and arrow. It weighed in at 267 pounds field dressed. Bernie said that it has a green score of 19-1/4 inches, so it should make it into the Pope & Young record book.
Two days later, Bernie’s wife, Ronda, also shot a bear that weighed in at 252 pounds field dressed. Ronda took her bear on September 5.
Bernie and Ronda run Four Rivers 3D Archery near Cedar Valley north of Floodwood. “It is the second time we both drew tags, but the first time we both had a successful bear hunt,” said Bernie who enjoys archery hunting with the family.
The hunt turned out to be extremely successful. Both shot bears that were bigger than any other year, bow or rifle.
Bernie has been bear hunting since he was 12 years old. He talked about the most challenging part of the hunt. “It is very difficult to get the bear to come in during daylight,” said Bernie, who shot his bear with only six minutes left of legal hunting. “Sometimes the trick is to play games with the bear by changing the bait to create competition. If bears are competing, one will come in earlier.”
When it comes to baiting, Bernie and Ronda do have a couple of recipes that seemed to be the ticket this year. “We buy expired bread and dip it in chicken fryer grease,” said Bernie. “It smells like KFC.”
The next day, the bears get a much different treat. “Cookie dough and popcorn,” noted Bernie. “It is popcorn and cookie dough one day, bread and grease the next. It is important to find out what the bear likes.”
The Goebel’s had several trail camera pictures of both of these bears. “These were the ones we were after,” said Ronda.