Location: Outside Princeton
Time of Day: 11:45 AM or so
Equipment: Sako A7 Roughtech 7mmRemMag with Leupold VX-1
Story: I decided late Thursday morning to head out of the LML and go to a place I have seen bears in the past, so I threw some clothes and a foamie in the back of my FJ Cruiser and headed out. When I got to about Chiliwack I remembered that I should probably eat something so I stopped at the WalMart and got some staples. I arrived at "My Spot" around 3:00 PM and the wind was blowing like nobody's business, so I did what any self-respecting hunter would do- I unrolled my mat and took a nap. I woke up around 6:00 and thought, "wow I really slept, that was nice". I decided to take a little drive and saw a couple of bears. I jumped out at one point and had one broadside, but I wasn't sure it was the kind of bear I wanted to pull the trigger on as it was fairly small and I was still groggy from the nap. As night started to fall I decided I was not in the mood for sleeping in my FJ and I did something I have never done. I headed into town and got a hotel room. Thoroughly ashamed of turning in both my hunter and man card I decided to sleep in seeing as there was no wife scurrying around or kids screaming in the hall. I got up about 9:00, took a shower, and decided to head towards home around 10:00 because I was no longer fit to be a hunter having slept in a hotel and through the morning hunt. On my way out of town I decided to head up a road I hadn't been up before to do some scouting. I drove around for about an hour and then turned the FJ around and was going to head back to the Crowsnest, but I saw a little overgrown road and decided I should go for at least one hike before I went home. I have rarely road-hunted so it felt nice to take a good walk. I noticed fairly quickly that there was a bear in the area along with elk and moose so that encouraged me to continue. I followed the road until it opened up and was amazed at the amount of sign in the little meadow. I was thankful for the experience and decided it was time to head home, but then I caught a glimpse of what looked like a bit of a continuance of the road. I decided to follow it and about 200 yards in a caught a glimpse of brown lawn mower moving back and forth in a little meadow. The sun was hitting the bear just right and man did it look like a beauty. I was about 130 yards away and the bear disappeared. I thought maybe it was heading up the mountain, so I decided to proceed a little further to get a better look at it because I had a good little breeze in my face and a bit of a hailstorm to hide my approach. At about 80 yards it stuck it's head out again and I settled in to watch for a bit for cubs and to determine if it was a shooter. I watched for around 10-15 minutes and saw no sign of cubs and heard no other bears, and I decided that while it was not a giant bear it was a good bear and one that would feed my family well. Of course that is when it disappeared again and fearing it was moving away I began to approach closer. At 50 yards the bear appeared for a brief moment and was gone again. I got on my hands and knees and moved carefully for 10-15 yards until I had gotten into a position where I could see the bear around the tree it was feeding behind. I brought my Sako to my shoulder and pulled the trigger and bang the bear took off. DID I MISS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I heard the bear barrel into the bush and then silence. I searched the meadow back and forth for 20 plus minutes. I searched the bush line. NO BLOOD! DID I MISS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I calmed down and thought about the fact that I have not missed yet in my 5 years of hunting and I know my rifle is sighted in, so I thought ok, this bear stopped making noise pretty quick. Maybe it's dead back in the bush. I am a fairly new hunter and this was my first fully solo hunt, so I was a bit nervous, but I was determined to make sure this bear did not go to waste. I headed into the bush to the highest point and then zig-zagged my way in a 200 yard swoop. Then, at the bottom of the ravine I saw that beautiful brown lump in amongst a bunch of deadfall. I GOT IT!!!!!!! WOOHOOO!!!!! The bear was actually lying directly behind where I had shot from about 100 yards down the ravine. Well, now the work starts, so I positioned the bear and gutted it there and then I began dragging it out. After I caught my breath I decided the best thing to do would be to skin it in a cool low place even though it would be more difficult than hanging it. I learned a lot on this hunt and after the first side was finished the second side went much quicker as I learned to be more efficient. Then it was quickly into the back of the FJ and off the butcher for some pepperoni and hamburger. This was my first fully solo hunt and I am really thankful for the experience. I really hope our family enjoys the meat because I would love to go on another bear hunt soon!
I can't get a photo up, but it's no trophy for most of you boys
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Originally Posted by JIL_24/7
