NorBC
06-14-2015, 12:57 PM
Im going to write a real story eventually, but I decided to throw up a quick post of my spring bear season.
In late March I shot a 3D tournament in Terrace. There was a guy there I've heard about through mutual friends, his name was Allan. Allan is a successful bow hunter. sheep, goat he does it all, and he does it all traditional. We get to talking, and then he invites me to shoot the tournament with him and his brother Ricardo. Now these guys were amazing. I had no idea someone could shoot a longbow that accurate. Point being my mind was blown, and the following weekend I bought a entry level longbow.
Every day I shot after work, and most weekends I would go to Allan's to shoot, and learn. I was amazed by how much one could tune a longbow to shoot better. Who would have thought my new stick bow would be harder to tune than my compound.
For my first month I was really hating it. I thought there was no way I would ever harvest an animal with it, but eventually my groups started to shrink.
I ended up building a grizzly target out of a 6' 1/8" steel plate, and it really helped for shooting under pressure.
I was fortunate enough to snag a grizz draw, so all of my hunting time and efforts was traveling for that. I made many trips and never saw a bear. I ended up seeing 7 grizz this spring, but it was from 2 weeks of hunting in a different zone.
last week I decided after helping some friends get bears on the ground, I would try and get one for myself, and pop my longbow cherry. All week I was using predator calls to call in bears, and it was exhilarating. I randomly tried with a bb we passed on, and after seeing instant success it was my new go to move if the stalking conditions were garbage. That week I called in 6 bears, and 1 grizzly. All into bow range. When the call works they would kind of just look up, and then casually feed their way towards you. It was really cool, I kind of felt like the guys that make Cobras dance with flutes.
onto my hunt..
Eventually we found a modest sized boar feeding in a field, and I decided he was more then enough bear to begin my journey into trad hunting. We made our stalk and once we were about 200 yards out we dropped our boots, and proceeded in our socks. Our plan was to use the timber line as cover so we could get close enough before we belly crawled into the 20 yard range. The wind was strong in our favour, and everything was going good. We reached the last small bush of cover and stopped. Unfortunately the bear kept feeding away from us and now he was sitting at about 130 yards with nothing but grass between us.
so naturally after all our success this week we decide to use one of the calls. Brian starts piping away on it, and I watch the bear. Instantly he looks up, and turns around. Now I'm used to the bears coming in slow, and feeding their way to me taking their time. This bear was definitely the wild card of the weekend. He started hauling ass over towards us and he was hunting. He used the tree line as cover, and then closed the distance using the bush I was standing beside as cover. He actually put a stalk on the noise the same way I would have put a stalk on him. It was fascinating.
I turned around and whispered loudly to Brian " stop stop, he's coming in hot ". Brian stopped calling, and the bear stopped moving. He was 20 yards away with nothing but the thin little bush between us. I forgot to mention that I only have a long bow, and Brian has a predator call, and bear spray. Probably not the best combo when seeing so many grizz all week. But like most bear hunts we were only about 600 yards from the truck ;)
Anyways the bear doesn't budge. So I look at Bryan, and I start rotating my finger, telling him to begin calling again. The bear starts to move, but I can't tell which side of the bush he's going to walk by. My heart is pounding. I've been close to bears lots with my compound, but this was way different. Way less bow with way less kinetic energy. Not to mention bears are always feeding when I'm 20 yards away. This bear was coming in for a easy meal, and was alert.
The bear steps out from the bush, and in front of me 4 yards away. I drew back my bow, and as he kept walking by me he looked up, and saw me. I didn't have a clear double lung so I didn't shoot. The bear took off into the timber. Crap did I blow it I thought to myself. Even if so that was intense! Ultimate rush.
Brian gets back on the pred call, and the bear goes crazy. He started popping his jaw, and snarling. He was smashing, and swatting trees. He was pounding his paws on the ground. He acted like a angry gorilla, everything short of pounding his fists on his chest. Eventually he comes out and squares up with me. He keeps coming in slowly, but will not give me a shot. Meanwhile Brian is still hammering away on the call. The bear is now 10 yards and still squared up with me. There is no way I'm taking a brisket shot with a longbow. He sees me and he doesn't want to come closer, so at 10 yards we were at a stale mate. But we both were standing our ground. I definitely had a little more shake in my legs.. Eventually he decides to turn and pace around. This is my chance. I shot right over his back. At 10 yards.. I only practice at 20 yards, and I payed for it. I think in the moment I rushed my shot now that I look back.
The bear runs back into the bush. Once again we call him out. Same situation. He walks out to ten yards squared up with me again. Now I'm vibrating.
Eventually he does the same thing and starts to pace around. This time I take my time. I pick the smallest little black dot I can find on the bear and focus hard. I draw back, and release. SMACK!! The bear takes off into the bush. We keep calling hoping he doesn't go far. We hear some crashing in the bush close by and then it came to silence.
Brian is a huge trad hunter and he was so excited to share my first trad kill with me. It was a pretty cool experience. I'm hooked now. Between being my first trad hunt, and calling an angry boar into 4 yards this has to be my favourite hunt to date. I've always enjoyed bow hunting for the challenge and the stalk, but calling in bears is by far one of the most thrilling ways to hunt.
https://fbcdn-photos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xft1/v/t1.0-0/11412415_10155776139830201_6621138061724843848_n.j pg?efg=eyJpIjoidCJ9&oh=425aa4fc72dd8f198205cdde7f023e0c&oe=55EA541D&__gda__=1441616367_d6166f4f4c7616c93dba361179bcb95 9
In late March I shot a 3D tournament in Terrace. There was a guy there I've heard about through mutual friends, his name was Allan. Allan is a successful bow hunter. sheep, goat he does it all, and he does it all traditional. We get to talking, and then he invites me to shoot the tournament with him and his brother Ricardo. Now these guys were amazing. I had no idea someone could shoot a longbow that accurate. Point being my mind was blown, and the following weekend I bought a entry level longbow.
Every day I shot after work, and most weekends I would go to Allan's to shoot, and learn. I was amazed by how much one could tune a longbow to shoot better. Who would have thought my new stick bow would be harder to tune than my compound.
For my first month I was really hating it. I thought there was no way I would ever harvest an animal with it, but eventually my groups started to shrink.
I ended up building a grizzly target out of a 6' 1/8" steel plate, and it really helped for shooting under pressure.
I was fortunate enough to snag a grizz draw, so all of my hunting time and efforts was traveling for that. I made many trips and never saw a bear. I ended up seeing 7 grizz this spring, but it was from 2 weeks of hunting in a different zone.
last week I decided after helping some friends get bears on the ground, I would try and get one for myself, and pop my longbow cherry. All week I was using predator calls to call in bears, and it was exhilarating. I randomly tried with a bb we passed on, and after seeing instant success it was my new go to move if the stalking conditions were garbage. That week I called in 6 bears, and 1 grizzly. All into bow range. When the call works they would kind of just look up, and then casually feed their way towards you. It was really cool, I kind of felt like the guys that make Cobras dance with flutes.
onto my hunt..
Eventually we found a modest sized boar feeding in a field, and I decided he was more then enough bear to begin my journey into trad hunting. We made our stalk and once we were about 200 yards out we dropped our boots, and proceeded in our socks. Our plan was to use the timber line as cover so we could get close enough before we belly crawled into the 20 yard range. The wind was strong in our favour, and everything was going good. We reached the last small bush of cover and stopped. Unfortunately the bear kept feeding away from us and now he was sitting at about 130 yards with nothing but grass between us.
so naturally after all our success this week we decide to use one of the calls. Brian starts piping away on it, and I watch the bear. Instantly he looks up, and turns around. Now I'm used to the bears coming in slow, and feeding their way to me taking their time. This bear was definitely the wild card of the weekend. He started hauling ass over towards us and he was hunting. He used the tree line as cover, and then closed the distance using the bush I was standing beside as cover. He actually put a stalk on the noise the same way I would have put a stalk on him. It was fascinating.
I turned around and whispered loudly to Brian " stop stop, he's coming in hot ". Brian stopped calling, and the bear stopped moving. He was 20 yards away with nothing but the thin little bush between us. I forgot to mention that I only have a long bow, and Brian has a predator call, and bear spray. Probably not the best combo when seeing so many grizz all week. But like most bear hunts we were only about 600 yards from the truck ;)
Anyways the bear doesn't budge. So I look at Bryan, and I start rotating my finger, telling him to begin calling again. The bear starts to move, but I can't tell which side of the bush he's going to walk by. My heart is pounding. I've been close to bears lots with my compound, but this was way different. Way less bow with way less kinetic energy. Not to mention bears are always feeding when I'm 20 yards away. This bear was coming in for a easy meal, and was alert.
The bear steps out from the bush, and in front of me 4 yards away. I drew back my bow, and as he kept walking by me he looked up, and saw me. I didn't have a clear double lung so I didn't shoot. The bear took off into the timber. Crap did I blow it I thought to myself. Even if so that was intense! Ultimate rush.
Brian gets back on the pred call, and the bear goes crazy. He started popping his jaw, and snarling. He was smashing, and swatting trees. He was pounding his paws on the ground. He acted like a angry gorilla, everything short of pounding his fists on his chest. Eventually he comes out and squares up with me. He keeps coming in slowly, but will not give me a shot. Meanwhile Brian is still hammering away on the call. The bear is now 10 yards and still squared up with me. There is no way I'm taking a brisket shot with a longbow. He sees me and he doesn't want to come closer, so at 10 yards we were at a stale mate. But we both were standing our ground. I definitely had a little more shake in my legs.. Eventually he decides to turn and pace around. This is my chance. I shot right over his back. At 10 yards.. I only practice at 20 yards, and I payed for it. I think in the moment I rushed my shot now that I look back.
The bear runs back into the bush. Once again we call him out. Same situation. He walks out to ten yards squared up with me again. Now I'm vibrating.
Eventually he does the same thing and starts to pace around. This time I take my time. I pick the smallest little black dot I can find on the bear and focus hard. I draw back, and release. SMACK!! The bear takes off into the bush. We keep calling hoping he doesn't go far. We hear some crashing in the bush close by and then it came to silence.
Brian is a huge trad hunter and he was so excited to share my first trad kill with me. It was a pretty cool experience. I'm hooked now. Between being my first trad hunt, and calling an angry boar into 4 yards this has to be my favourite hunt to date. I've always enjoyed bow hunting for the challenge and the stalk, but calling in bears is by far one of the most thrilling ways to hunt.
https://fbcdn-photos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xft1/v/t1.0-0/11412415_10155776139830201_6621138061724843848_n.j pg?efg=eyJpIjoidCJ9&oh=425aa4fc72dd8f198205cdde7f023e0c&oe=55EA541D&__gda__=1441616367_d6166f4f4c7616c93dba361179bcb95 9