Sylus
05-09-2015, 08:48 PM
Well I finally got my first big game animal down this past weekend. It was without a doubt the most exciting thing I have ever done. It went down like this:
My brother, my dad and I were out checking some trail cams we had set out a few weeks prior in an area that we had seen some good deer and bear sign. The grass had begun to green up and the first t-cam we checked had a bear on it plus we had had found some fresh bear scat, so we were on the lookout.
Fast forward about an hour and we had split up to more expediently get the cams checked so we could focus our efforts more fully on bear hunting. I was on a small hill setting a cam and to my back was a gully free of vegetation on the bottom but lined on either side by waste high bushes. On the other side of the gully my brother was checking another a cam, about 200m away.
I had just snapped the front on cam shut, shouldered my pack and rifle when I heard a noise behind me. I look behind me and see a black bear rocketing out of the bushes on the other side of the gully. The bear is headed straight towards me. I back up about fifteen feet and chamber a round, trying to get out of the bear's way. By the time I get myself ready the bear had disappeared into the brush on my side of the gully. Suddenly he burst from the bushes, stretched out and still going full tilt, about 30 yards in front of me. The bear notices me and banks away. I find him in the scope and BANG, the rifle barks and the bear tumbles down the hill, away from me. I see my brother across the gully from me and signal that I hit him. The bear stops tumbling and I advance on him slightly, he begins to attempt to get up, I find him in the scope once more and BANG, down he goes again, this time for good. After letting him sit for a bit we approached him and I got to cut my first tag, now that's a feeling I could get used too haha. He was a decent size (I think) and a boar to boot, i couldn't have been happier.
The first shot entered further back and higher than I was hoping for, probably cause the bear was going so fast and it turned out to be a spine shot that obliterated the tenderloins. The second shot was a solid lung hit which did not damage the heart which was exactly what I was hoping for. Federal Fusion 180 grain did the trick nicely, although there was some serious blood shot meat in the backstraps from the second shot.
My brother and I quartered the bear and packed him out. I finally got to "go in light, come out heavy". On a side note, my eberlestock x2 handled 2 bear quarters like a champ, great little pack.
We managed to get around 60 lbs on meat off just the quarters and 1/4 of the backstraps which I was thrilled with. We made him all into ground cut with some pork fat which my awesome girlfriend made up for me (she's a keeper for sure). Here is a few pics of him:
http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag387/josiah_knox12/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20150502_202229_zpsamfovvwb.jpg (http://s1373.photobucket.com/user/josiah_knox12/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20150502_202229_zpsamfovvwb.jpg.html)
http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag387/josiah_knox12/Mobile%20Uploads/20150502_093256_zpsffrac0qi.jpg (http://s1373.photobucket.com/user/josiah_knox12/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20150502_093256_zpsffrac0qi.jpg.html)
My brother and I with him
http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag387/josiah_knox12/20150502_093641_zpsgiotecc6.jpg (http://s1373.photobucket.com/user/josiah_knox12/media/20150502_093641_zpsgiotecc6.jpg.html)
My first meal made from the bear, some delicious bear tacos
http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag387/josiah_knox12/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG0366_zps9umtx4bg.jpg (http://s1373.photobucket.com/user/josiah_knox12/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG0366_zps9umtx4bg.jpg.html)
My brother, my dad and I were out checking some trail cams we had set out a few weeks prior in an area that we had seen some good deer and bear sign. The grass had begun to green up and the first t-cam we checked had a bear on it plus we had had found some fresh bear scat, so we were on the lookout.
Fast forward about an hour and we had split up to more expediently get the cams checked so we could focus our efforts more fully on bear hunting. I was on a small hill setting a cam and to my back was a gully free of vegetation on the bottom but lined on either side by waste high bushes. On the other side of the gully my brother was checking another a cam, about 200m away.
I had just snapped the front on cam shut, shouldered my pack and rifle when I heard a noise behind me. I look behind me and see a black bear rocketing out of the bushes on the other side of the gully. The bear is headed straight towards me. I back up about fifteen feet and chamber a round, trying to get out of the bear's way. By the time I get myself ready the bear had disappeared into the brush on my side of the gully. Suddenly he burst from the bushes, stretched out and still going full tilt, about 30 yards in front of me. The bear notices me and banks away. I find him in the scope and BANG, the rifle barks and the bear tumbles down the hill, away from me. I see my brother across the gully from me and signal that I hit him. The bear stops tumbling and I advance on him slightly, he begins to attempt to get up, I find him in the scope once more and BANG, down he goes again, this time for good. After letting him sit for a bit we approached him and I got to cut my first tag, now that's a feeling I could get used too haha. He was a decent size (I think) and a boar to boot, i couldn't have been happier.
The first shot entered further back and higher than I was hoping for, probably cause the bear was going so fast and it turned out to be a spine shot that obliterated the tenderloins. The second shot was a solid lung hit which did not damage the heart which was exactly what I was hoping for. Federal Fusion 180 grain did the trick nicely, although there was some serious blood shot meat in the backstraps from the second shot.
My brother and I quartered the bear and packed him out. I finally got to "go in light, come out heavy". On a side note, my eberlestock x2 handled 2 bear quarters like a champ, great little pack.
We managed to get around 60 lbs on meat off just the quarters and 1/4 of the backstraps which I was thrilled with. We made him all into ground cut with some pork fat which my awesome girlfriend made up for me (she's a keeper for sure). Here is a few pics of him:
http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag387/josiah_knox12/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20150502_202229_zpsamfovvwb.jpg (http://s1373.photobucket.com/user/josiah_knox12/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20150502_202229_zpsamfovvwb.jpg.html)
http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag387/josiah_knox12/Mobile%20Uploads/20150502_093256_zpsffrac0qi.jpg (http://s1373.photobucket.com/user/josiah_knox12/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20150502_093256_zpsffrac0qi.jpg.html)
My brother and I with him
http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag387/josiah_knox12/20150502_093641_zpsgiotecc6.jpg (http://s1373.photobucket.com/user/josiah_knox12/media/20150502_093641_zpsgiotecc6.jpg.html)
My first meal made from the bear, some delicious bear tacos
http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag387/josiah_knox12/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG0366_zps9umtx4bg.jpg (http://s1373.photobucket.com/user/josiah_knox12/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG0366_zps9umtx4bg.jpg.html)