Since downing her first buck last fall, SnowshoeSniper has been dreaming of chasing spring bruins.
Our first outing this spring was the Thursday before Easter. We spotted one brown phase but it was too far and too late to make a play on the bear.
Easter Sunday found us out in the afternoon and it didn't take long before we spotted a solo brown in a stalkable position. We made a play but there was a lot of downfall to be cut before we could get close enough to start hiking up the steep slopes. The delay gave the bear more time to potentially move into new area but SsS was determined to find her first bear.
The stalk went well and we found the right opening but the afternoon winds sold us short and swapped directions a few times. Needless to say we went home with no 'Easter Chocolate'.
Still determined, SsS wanted to head out again Thursday after school but other than a few mulies, our evening of spotting was uneventful. Not easily deterred, we were back on the slopes glassing hard the next afternoon. After hours of non-productive scanning, SsS's attention began to wander and she made her own fun rolling large boulders down a steep slope. I can remember finding much pleasure in the same activity when I was younger and I joined in the fun.
Eventually, I got bored my attention diverted back to glassing the distant openings. Immediately, I spotted 2 bears about 2 kms away and the game was back on....but the clock was ticking. We watched them for a while and SsS noticed the larger, lighter brown bear would follow the darker bear until the darker bear would swap ends and chase off the lighter bear. After a few minutes of debate we figured they were either siblings or perhaps a boar was trying to gain some 'brownie points' for a few weeks down the road when the rutt would kick into full gear.
Either way, SsS was raring to go and down her first bear but we would have to move quickly as it was already 7:15pm.
We bailed down the road and soon found ourselves hiking up the steep slopes towards the bears....but, unlike Easter Sunday, this time the thermals were steady into our faces.
As the opening came into view, our hopes were high. We slowly eased across the slope using the sporadic trees for cover and soon spotted some brown movement through the trees. SsS got set up on my pack and had a small shooting lane and we waited...........it was the lighter-colored boar.
He was feeding along but never gave a good angle for more than a second or two. Suddenly we saw flashes of brown as, once again, the smaller bear chased off the larger bear. Losing sight of the bears we slowly inched forward and closed the distance.
Being patient was the right thing to do but the light was steadily fading and the colours seemingly began to blend.
I peeked up above a small rock face and saw the movement of what I thought was boar. SsS eased forward and upward and got into position. We watched and waited. When the bear presented a quartering shot I gave SsS the green light. With every second I expected the 7mm-08 to bark...when all of a sudden the larger and lighter bear entered from the left into my field of vision. I told SsS to hit the brakes and she refocused on the the bigger bear. He must have seen her swing the rifle into position and locked onto our location. After a few seconds he decided to bolt for safety but I 'huffed' at him and got him to stop. As he turned back towards us, SsS was locked onto his big chest and dropped him like the hand of Thor. SsS and the 140gn Accubond had done their jobs!
SsS had her first bear on the ground and I had lived through one of 'my' most memorable hunting experiences to date.
As the video shows, there's no question who was more excited.
SsS knew it was going to be a late night on the mountain but there was no way she was letting anything get in her way of downing her very first bear!!
We didn't arrive home until after 12:30 am.
Congrats SsS! You sure deserve this one!!!
One proud Dad
SSS
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