Before I begin telling the story, I would like to thank my father for a great hunt and memories that will last a lifetime!
We headed out May 8th and by Mid day we were glassing for Grizzlies. It wasn't looking too promising by the amount of snow that was filling our Binos, but we continued to glass. The slides that were bare held little, to no green vegetation. At this point we weren't feeling too confident. But we had planned on being here for 4 days so we decided to stay and make the best of it. We saw upwards of 15 black bears the first day and we were starting to think that our best chance of seeing a Grizzly was going to be on the side of the main road.
It was getting late in our first evening when my Father spotted a good sized bear on a slide. He thought at first glance that the bear looked brown and figured it was a grizzly. We decided to get a closer look. After cutting the distance in half and another look through the spotting scope it was confirmed it was a good boar. We suited up and began our stalk. As we approached the slide we could still see the bear up feeding on the slide. We were still 600 yards away and too far right so we had to go back into the timber. The next time we could see the slide the bear was gone. We knew he hadn't winded us with the down drafts and didn't think he would bed down with only and hour or so left with good light. We didn't have much time so we decided to get closer and into position in case he did appear again. We had to cross a few openings to get to where we wanted to be. Which was risky but we agreed it was our only chance. While crossing the second opening I looked up to see him rising from his bed. I got down and was ready to shoot. As I found the bear in my scope all I could see was him high tailing it to the top of the slide. I could have taken the shot but didn't feel confident enough to take it. To say the least it was not a good feeling. And my Dad and I both knew we rushed the stalk a bit.
We returned to camp and cracked a beer. One of the first things my dad said was " Maybe it happened for a reason, probably see a bigger bear tomorrow ". Over the years I can't say my Dad is wrong very much. So hearing him say that was a good feeling.
Day 2 we woke up to 4 inches of wet snow and the clouds were very low. Not ideal conditions to get bears out and about. We took it slow around camp in the morning and the weather began to smarten up by the afternoon. We went back to glass the slide that the grizzly was on. It was covered in snow and there was no bear to be seen. We put down the Binos to grab a quick bite to eat. I put down my sandwich to take another peek and noticed movement. What a relief to know he was back! We again cut the distance in half and put the spotting scope back on him. We both figured this was a larger boar. Longer neck and darker in colour. We knew the mistake we made the day before and we wouldn't make that one again. We had a strong cross wind and lots of day light so no need to rush. We took it slow and stayed well out of sight. By 1 O'clock we were within 400 yards. He had bed down again but we could see him this time. We knew where we had to be and once we were there, all he had to do was stand up.... Sounds easy right. But 4 hours later he was still sleeping and we were freezing our rear ends off. Still we stuck it out. The wind died down a bit and we could feel it on our necks. As soon as we noticed this he rose from him bed and gave us the shot we needed. I squeezed off the shot and heard the bullet hit its mark. A couple more shots from my 30-06 and he was finished. After a short celebration and some hugs we walked up to the bear. We knew he was a good one. As we approached him there was no shrinkage either!
He Squares out over 8 feet and I had him green scored today at 25 inches even.
Thanks again Dad for a great hunt. I look forward to many more in the future!
This is a picture of his tooth in its usual position.
But when lifted you can see the tooth has been broken off and is only held on by a small piece of gums.
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Originally Posted by Gatehouse
