I知 tagged out!!
What an amazing week!! For me, this was a trip that won’t soon be matched.
I’m primarily a Fraser Valley hunter, and was getting pretty pumped for the local spring bear season. But when circumstances warrant, it’s always nice to change things up a bit.
With recent news that a lifelong friend and hunting companion would be traveling abroad for education and likely moving down to the US, we started hatching a plan to travel somewhere for one last great bear hunt.
We set our sights on Vancouver Island, based on intel gathered from a successful elk draw the previous year. We chose a secluded little spot, teeming with wildlife and endless scenery.
We only had a limited window between his classes, so the week of April 29 was to be the timeline for this trip. I was a bit worried, being further north, things wouldn’t be green enough for the time of year, but it didn’t matter since this was the schedule.
All loaded up I headed out Monday morning for the 12:45 ferry. The drive up the coast was amazing, and much to my surprise, things were indeed looking pretty green. Was making pretty good time until a motor vehicle accident shut down the highway and left us stuck for a couple hours. My 2 buddies driving up from Victoria were an hour ahead of me, and managed to miss the delay.
I arrived at dark, thankful to see the camp already setup. A quick wood run and some much needed whiskey and it was about time to hit the hay. We made a plan to get up early, have a solid breaky and then cover a ton of ground the next day.
Day 1: Up and at em by 8am. Get a big feast of bacon, eggs and sausage. Of course, the essential Carolann’s and coffee to start the morning right. We agreed to be back at camp by 3pm to share info, and plan for the evening hunt. With this, did one last look at the mapbook, and I went one way on my quad, and they went the other.
I covered a lot of area, logged about 100k on the machine. High and low elevations, main roads, overgrown trails and power lines. Really getting to know the lay of the land. Lots of fresh greens around, a few promising areas with fresh sign and scat. With midday sun topping around 22*, there was just nothing much moving. I headed back to camp to meet buddies. They had a similar day, but actually spotted some bears in a couple different spots.
We ate, and had a rest, then back on the road round 4:30. I decided to hit a spot they saw the first bear, and they went to another area where had spotted a couple others.
I wasn’t more than 4km off the main road up a spur when I spotted a black blob on the road edge. He bolted into the trees, and I cruised past and stopped at the bend of the hairpin. I killed the motor and decided to just sit and be quite. I’ve known bears to spook for a short time, but then re-emerge to continue feeding. My gut was right.... I heard some branches cracking, and he popped out on the low side of the road, about 75yds in front of me. I was just sitting patiently waiting, and he had no idea I was even there. Had lots of time to set up the shot, downhill and slightly quartering away I let one fly.
The bear jumped as if stung by a bee, and tumbled just off the road. There was total silence. No crashing, no moaning, nothing. I waited 15mins to catch my breath and calm down a bit, then headed down the road to where I last saw him. There he was piled up under a tree just a couple feet away. I was so excited, then realized his size, and thought, “Shit!! How am I gonna load this guy on the atv by myself?”
Good thing I had all kinds of rope and ratchet straps handy. Really wish I had my snatch block. I could barely move the damn thing, and had to winch him up to the road to get him gutted. After that, I could still barely lug the back legs onto the rack. Took me an hour to muscle that beast on the machine.
Completely drenched with sweat and tired as hell, I started making my way back to camp. Grinning ear to ear, I couldn’t wait to roll in with this thing strapped to the back and start the celebration. Get back to camp bout 10:30pm and I can hear all this commotion. Wouldn’t you know it, a day one double header. There they were, bear hanging on the gambrel, hard at work skinning what looked like a 300lb boar.
We were totally pumped. Amazing harvest for the first day out. I helped them out finishing up the work. By now it was close to 2am, and we were totally beat. Opted to let mine hang overnight and skin/butcher in the morning. Was only 1* overnight, so it made for some quick cooling of the meat.
Up by 9am, I quickly got going with my bear. Had it taken care of and packed in the meat cooler in a couple hours. We were still pretty tired, so decided to just have a camp day to rest. Had a bunch of drinks and enjoyed the day, topping it off with a delicious bear heart stew. Field to table, there’s no other way.
Day 3: With both of us still having a tag each, it was time to see if we could make it happen again. We both headed back to the general areas we were the previous day. I bumped a real big guy just a couple km from camp, estimated he was over 400lbs. He bolted quick, not to be seen again.
Thought I’d go check out my gut pile, and as expected, it was completely gone. Hung around that area till it was almost dusk, then slow rolled back. Spooked a couple smaller bears along the way, not really shooter material. Also seen one mid size in the 250lb range, but almost too dark to see, just continued back to camp. Buddies saw a sow with cubs and a couple non shooter bears as well. Another great day out, and since we already had meat in camp, the pressure was kind of off.
Day 4: Knowing we were packing up to leave the next day, I had decided that I’d take any legal bear that I saw, just to further fill the meat tote. Hit a couple new spots during the day, loaded with elk sign, but they didn’t show much promise for bears. Went back to camp at lunchtime to eat and then hit the road again round 5:30pm. The magic hour in the spot I had been the last 2 days proved to be consistent.
I came around the corner and saw one of the smaller bears from the previous day. Decided I’m gonna take this guy and fill my second tag. He slowly walked into the tree line, more curious than scared. I grabbed my rifle and tip toed into the bush. Was a bit of cat and mouse for a half hour as he headed down hill and was continually obstructing my shot with branches. Now about 400 feet from the road, he finally exposed his vitals. Inside of 50yds, I shoulder the ought six and pumped him right in the boiler room. Another bang flop. Luckily this guy was under 200lbs, cause I had to drag him up a steep incline back to the road.
Both bears dropped within feet of the shot with perfect double lung. The smaller guy I took the top off the heart as well. Very fulfilling to cut 2 tags in 3 hunting days. In the end, buddies didn’t fill the second tag, so just save it for fall. Amazing trip with memories that will last for a lifetime. Final count, saw 15 bears, over 100 elk, a handful of deer, 3 pine Martin and a shitload of grouse. Will be keeping this location under my hat, and definitely visiting again.
Last edited by plumberjustin; 05-10-2019 at 01:23 PM.
Huntin, fishin, and lovin every day.
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