Originally Posted by
Hugh Mann
Congrats man, I just got my first bear yesterday, no record breaker, but I'm happy.
Yep. Spotted about 750m away, across a flooded field. Walked up to 180 metres, wind at our backs but the bears (there were two) did not give a damn about us. Picked the bigger of the two and waited for him to come broadside and fired, bang-flop, not a twitch. We waited around for 15 minutes while we watched to make sure he was dead. The other bear hung around for a good while before leaving itself.
Back at the truck I see movement and take a look back through my binos. This thing was trying to climb its ass up the hill behind it! Stumbling like a drunk, so I knew he was hit good. Mark it on the gps and drive down to a bridge to cross the river. Still have to pack the gear and wade across nut deep, glacial cold water, hike 20 minutes or so to the site. Get organized, and we head up the hill, looking through the deadfall and brush for tracks or a body. Found him laying across a fallen log about 100m up the hill, staring right at me. I was so close I could hear his very laboured breathing. Between him not running away and the shape of the head I knew it was the one, unfortunately I had to put a second round into him, he rolled off the log and died.
Field dressing while my buddy scouted for an access road via gps so we wouldn't have to drag him across the aforementioned nut deep glacial water. He found one 1.6km away that led 4.4km to the truck, so he takes most of the equipment, and takes the short way back through the nut deep, glacial water(which was now chest deep as he found out to his misfortune), while I, with half the bear stuffed into a backpack, the other half strapped over top proceeded to pack the 130+lb carcass 1.6km to the road.
Worth. Every. Minute.