Rob Chipman
10-24-2014, 03:39 PM
So, I spent a week with some buddies on a hike in hunt for moose or whatever. Saw 5, but only one confirmed bull, and it was too far away for a shot (plus, it was moving along in a hurry for some reason). Bumped a 3x4 muley buck I've captured on a trail cam (big bodied) but couldn't get a shot at him either. He was way up and my partner and he saw each other at the same time near the summit. Time froze until he jacked a shell up the spout. Buck booked. It was almost an exact repeat of an experience the two of us had last year in Edge Hills. We've got to work on our closing skills, obviously.
Anyway, good trip, even if we felt skunked. It's called hunting, not killing, right? But, on the drive out, going through an extensive cut in a quad/pick up convoy, my partner spotted a bear far across the cut and across a tree filled ravine. He was pretty excited. Good eyes, because without glasses I wouldn't have seen the bear.
We worked our way across the cut, keeping under the brows of the little hills and repeatedly crawling up to look at the bear and evaluate yardages. Even at 10x in the scope we really couldn't tell what part of the black blob was head or tail so we kept moving closer. By the time we got tot the end of the cut we could see what was what, but we'd lost elevation. The shot was still long, across the ravine, but now there were lots of trees and branches getting in the way.
The wind was blowing pretty hard parallel to us and the bear, so I told my partner to keep an eye on the bear while I descended through the ravine and up the side hill. I told him that if he got a shot he should take it. Down I went, as quietly as possible. I kind of hate doing this, because I've got lots of experience pushing animals too hard, resulting in them taking off, but it seemed like the only option.
I took the long way and made sure I didn't get my breathing too worked up. I didn't want to make contact with the bear again while breathing too hard to shoot. I emerged from the timbered ravine and started climbing the side hill. I have to admit, with every step I took without seeing the bear the bigger the bear grew in my mind and the more it morphed into a grizzly. When I got high enough that I could see my partner I could tell that he could no longer see the bear.
I was worried the bear had bolted, but I continued the stalk. In fact she had dropped into a low point on the ridge. When I saw her I dropped to my belly and crawled forward through the grass, looking for a shot. What with the wind she never smelled me and just kept eating juniper berries. She tumbled down the hill and let out a death song of three loud moans over the course of about 5 seconds.
Not the biggest bear in the world at 59" nose to tail, but big enough that even after gutting her three of us gave up pulling her up the hill after the halfway point and brought in a quad.
This was my first bear. I was surprised at how much fat is involved, and how greasy she was compared to moose or deer. I was able to cut the rib cage open with the Havalon, which also surprised me. Skinned her out, got her to the meat cutter and have the hide in the freezer. I was surprised at how easy skinning out the head was, but I didn't tackle the paws. I'm going to get the hide tanned, but not mounted in any way.
Here's the bear:
http://www.robchipman.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/bearsmaller.jpg
Steeleco was helpful with the whole meat cutting thing and suggested I butcher the bear myself. I think next time I will if I have more time. His signature advises taking a kid hunting. We did this time. 9 years old with a pack about as big as he was:
http://www.robchipman.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/kidsmall.jpg
When presented with the downed bruin he said "Wow, I've never touched a bear before".
Anyway, good trip, even if we felt skunked. It's called hunting, not killing, right? But, on the drive out, going through an extensive cut in a quad/pick up convoy, my partner spotted a bear far across the cut and across a tree filled ravine. He was pretty excited. Good eyes, because without glasses I wouldn't have seen the bear.
We worked our way across the cut, keeping under the brows of the little hills and repeatedly crawling up to look at the bear and evaluate yardages. Even at 10x in the scope we really couldn't tell what part of the black blob was head or tail so we kept moving closer. By the time we got tot the end of the cut we could see what was what, but we'd lost elevation. The shot was still long, across the ravine, but now there were lots of trees and branches getting in the way.
The wind was blowing pretty hard parallel to us and the bear, so I told my partner to keep an eye on the bear while I descended through the ravine and up the side hill. I told him that if he got a shot he should take it. Down I went, as quietly as possible. I kind of hate doing this, because I've got lots of experience pushing animals too hard, resulting in them taking off, but it seemed like the only option.
I took the long way and made sure I didn't get my breathing too worked up. I didn't want to make contact with the bear again while breathing too hard to shoot. I emerged from the timbered ravine and started climbing the side hill. I have to admit, with every step I took without seeing the bear the bigger the bear grew in my mind and the more it morphed into a grizzly. When I got high enough that I could see my partner I could tell that he could no longer see the bear.
I was worried the bear had bolted, but I continued the stalk. In fact she had dropped into a low point on the ridge. When I saw her I dropped to my belly and crawled forward through the grass, looking for a shot. What with the wind she never smelled me and just kept eating juniper berries. She tumbled down the hill and let out a death song of three loud moans over the course of about 5 seconds.
Not the biggest bear in the world at 59" nose to tail, but big enough that even after gutting her three of us gave up pulling her up the hill after the halfway point and brought in a quad.
This was my first bear. I was surprised at how much fat is involved, and how greasy she was compared to moose or deer. I was able to cut the rib cage open with the Havalon, which also surprised me. Skinned her out, got her to the meat cutter and have the hide in the freezer. I was surprised at how easy skinning out the head was, but I didn't tackle the paws. I'm going to get the hide tanned, but not mounted in any way.
Here's the bear:
http://www.robchipman.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/bearsmaller.jpg
Steeleco was helpful with the whole meat cutting thing and suggested I butcher the bear myself. I think next time I will if I have more time. His signature advises taking a kid hunting. We did this time. 9 years old with a pack about as big as he was:
http://www.robchipman.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/kidsmall.jpg
When presented with the downed bruin he said "Wow, I've never touched a bear before".