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Thread: Kamloops Spring Bear

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Posts
    326

    Kamloops Spring Bear

    Had a great day last Sunday, starting and ending the day with bears! I'd done a long bike-packing ride the prior weekend and decided to try stretching the knees out after giving them a few days rest. I grabbed my bike and set out for Goose Lake Road from Hwy 5A, a beautiful spring ride through rolling ranch land and then up into the timber before connecting to Lac Le Jeune road. About 2/3 of the way through Goose Lake Rd I came around around a sharp corner into a climb and startled a very large black bear that must have been feeding on the side of the road. Both of us caught off-guard, I was now closely chasing a huge blackie up the road on my bike before he veered off the road, clambered through the barbed wire fence and hustled off into the trees. What a way to start the day! The rest of the ride was uneventful, then we packed up the kids and took off to Merritt for a picnic with family for the afternoon.

    That evening I got permission to head out for an evening cruise to an area that just looks like bear-adise. I had a plan to hike and setup on one ridge that I thought would provide a good overview of the area. I parked the quad, grabbed my pack and started hiking. The grasses and flowers have wasted no time since 2021 in re-establishing themselves, making for a vibrant landscape, albeit difficult to distinguish innumerable burnt stumps from bears. It's about 19C, clear and sunny with a slight breeze; and absolute beauty of an evening for hike. This is really why I enjoy spring hunting; the bears are an exciting secondary benefit.



    As I'm slowly picking my way through the burn into the wind, I catch a glimpse of a bear making its way through a bit of a saddle before the steepest part of the hill, just over 100m away. There's too many burnt trees between me and the bear to get a good look, so I find a nearby stump to setup on and wait. I can barely see it through the bushes and trees, but after a few minutes it starts walking, then stops to feed again. A few more minutes go by and the bear begins moving. It's heading downhill, but then turns and starts walking in my direction. I don't have a good shot unless the bear comes through a bit of a shooting lane directly below me. The wind is perfect so I just sit and wait, and sure enough the bear wanders right into the opening 50m below me, broadside. I squeeze the trigger and it does a barrel roll onto the ground before expiring. It's 7pm and I need to be up early for work, so I snap a quick picture (I should have taken more) and get to work. By about 8:30 I've got the bear loaded into game bags in my pack and ready for the hike out, and I'm back at home with the meat on ice in the cooler shortly after 10pm. All-in-all a fine day.

    Last edited by grantk; 06-04-2023 at 09:41 PM.

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
    Posts
    34

    Re: Kamloops Spring Bear

    Nice bear and great story. Thanks for sharing.

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Posts
    1,676

    Re: Kamloops Spring Bear

    Nice bear. Good job!
    WSSBC
    CCFR

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    region 9
    Posts
    11,487

    Re: Kamloops Spring Bear

    Nice job man congrats! Beauty looking country there, if it's not dried up by the fall and if there's a water source in the area, you've got a great deer spot there too..

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    forbidden zone
    Posts
    594

    Re: Kamloops Spring Bear

    Way to go, congratulations

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2021
    Location
    As far back as my feet will get me.
    Posts
    1,823

    Re: Kamloops Spring Bear

    Nice Bear buddy congrats! Some real nice fertile area there!

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2022
    Posts
    1,889

    Re: Kamloops Spring Bear

    tfs, good little hike
    bear and morels for dinner?
    Glad to say I have hunted Northern BC

    Simon Fraser had pretty good judgement on what he found in BC

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Posts
    1,632

    Re: Kamloops Spring Bear

    Congrats and what a great story, thanks for sharing it with us.

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Posts
    675

    Re: Kamloops Spring Bear

    Excellent! Great photos and summary! Congratuations!

  11. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Central Interior of our beautiful british columbia.
    Posts
    6,340

    Re: Kamloops Spring Bear

    Great bear! Now that's how you grocery shop! Relaxing, and entertaining!! Moosin
    "A good day hunting is mud on your truck or blood on your hands"

    “Some people go to church and think about hunting……………others go hunting and think about God!”

    It's actually called the 375 "ouch and ouch"!!

    "Not asking for any spots or anything like that............................................"

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