Minnesota’s Zone 31 produces 560-pound bear as state hunters find average success early

While spending Minnesota’s Sept. 1 bear-hunt opener watching a bait in Bear Permit Area 31, it was unusually quiet as Laura Gaulke, of Cloquet, said she’d seen only a squirrel and a grouse. So when a big black bear strolled up to her bait after shooting hours ended, it made sense why the area was seemingly serene.
“I think he pretty much owned it (the area). [There were] no wolves, and in northern Minnesota, not to see or hear wolves is unreal,” Gaulke said.
After seeing the size of the bear, Gaulke walked out of the woods. She returned the next day and waited for the big bruiser to materialize again.