We left Merritt heading to Revelstoke at 05:00 Saturday morning, we had to be back Monday night as we both had to work first thing Tuesday morning. The weather forecast was calling for showers most of the weekend but we had rain gear and a positive attitude. We knew we would like be early on this hunt but being our first time in the area we figured we would get a good idea of the lay of the land and return in a couple weeks if schedules lined up.
My buddy's draw was on the East side of Revelstoke lake. The plan was to hit the valleys and glass the south facing slopes. We reluctantly spent the majority of the day in the truck hitting the main roads and trying to come up with a plan. It seemed the further north we went the more snow we had. We returned to one of the first main valleys which we knew had a road closure at the 15km mark. We planned on parking the truck at the road closure mark and hike in from there, the snow would keep the truck at the 3km mark. we pitched our shelters by the truck Saturday evening and came up with the next days plan.
Sunday morning we headed east along the road, we packed some basic food and supplies. over the next few hours we would be continuously taking off the snowshoes and putting them back on etc...this was the same with the rain gear..We had all types of weather hit us. If it wasnt raining then the sun would come out followed by mosquitos.
We picked up bear tracks in the snow around the 6-7 km area, they looked a day or two old and were on top of some snowshoe tracks that were also heading up the valley(sorry dude..). The road we were heading up was on the North side of the river and we glassed both side along our way, we came across a couple separate med size black bears that were feeding and didnt even notice us. Around the 8-9 km mark we came across really fresh tracks which looked like the same ones we already saw but fresher.
Hard to describe the feeling I had when following tracks this size and this fresh, you definitely become more aware of your surroundings, daydreaming and wandering thoughts are put on the back burner. We had discussed where the best shot on a Grizz would as far as trying to anchor it or vital shot etc..the distance and situation we felt would dictate that.
We hit just past the 13 km mark just after 4pm We were on a dirt patch of the road and I was glassing the next section of snow 150 yds in front of us and saw the tracks which looked like they veered off the road to the left.I just started telling my hunting partner but realized his attention was focused on something in the bush to our left. He no sooner raised his rifle and quickly chambered a round, I followed suit and cleared my rifle of my gun bearer and chambered one as well, I could just see a black image inside the bush when suddenly he fired a round, I saw the massive head and right leg (claws) in the air. A second shot followed and the bear let out a loud moan/roar for a few seconds and all went quiet..this all happened in a few very short and heart pounding seconds. We both kept rifles pointed at the bears location but we couldnt see it now as it was in a small depression. We picked up and tossed some rocks towards its location to see if it was going to charge..nothing happened and after throwing a few more we decided to make an approach. He slowly headed up towards the bear while I covered from the road (hey its his draw...lol). I heard him shout some happy obscenities and I made my way up.
The Grizz was dead and we could start to relax a bit. I ranged the shot at 39 yds...Earlier when I was glassing ahead he heard a shwoosh or something to that effect to out left, thats when he raised his gun and chambered a round as he has about 10' in front of me to my left and had clear view of the bear which was broadside looking at him, where I saw just a bit from my spot. Even dead the size of the bear felt intimidating, I couldnt believe the size of its head and claws. the frist shot broke its spine which must of been the reason it collapsed. we were lucky with that shot as there wasn't a lot of room between us and the bear. We finished gutting and half the skinning just after 8pm.
We came up with a plan to start the 10 km hike back to camp and return in the morning. we kept the conversation loud on the hike back, the stars were out and the snow on the mountain tops was incredible. We even had an avalanche across the valley from us come down and could hear the rocks hitting each other clearly. We reached camp just before midnight and had a bite to eat and hit the sack, we were done.... We made the hour drive to town and grabbed chains for my truck. we were able to get the truck to the bear which saved us from having to worry about packing it all back. (He wanted and took all meat including the ribs). we wondered on the drive in if any animals would have bothered it but there wasnt even a bird around when we got to him. we finished the skinning and quartering and had it all loaded in my 3/4 ton. We made it back home around 10 that night.
Want to thank Colin and Trev for there in put and help on this hunt, really appreciate it guys.
afterthought: Whenever I come home from a successful deer hunt my dogs go crazy smelling my boots/pants, when I got home Monday night they greated me at the door with tails wagging and when they caught the scent their tails went down and they wanted nothing to do it..or be near me...
-Bear was shot with a 300 using 180 gr Partitions
-underwear was cleaned with baby wipes.......
thanks for reading...Rob
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Originally Posted by Rattler
