Finally a black bear

[Hillbros_96]

Well after 20 years of hoping to come across a black bear but not really trying, I decided to try to get one for the kids this year. Went out last weekend with my youngest daughter as the older two did not want to come. We saw a grouse and a old bear track and that was it after 8 hrs of searching. Fast forward to yesterday, the youngest wanted to go again, the oldest didn't want to come and the middle was grounded. So just before the two of us leave, mom decides to tag along for a couple hours of driving to see the country. It was going to be one of those days, went to pack my gun, and could not find the clip for my gun (have I mentioned I hate guns with clips and I seem to attract them). So I end up grabbing the eldest daughters pink came savage to take along as I am not expecting much. Well on the drive out, we see a bear on the side of the road, so mom is getting excited. After a couple of hours, we see a couple of wolves, but just down the powerline we glass a really nice bear about 3 km's down the powerline, off comes the quad and off I go. Only to find out that the road ends in 500 yards with no way of getting to the bear. Back to the truck, check the map and find another fsr that might hit the power line, scramble, load the quad and off to the races. Well, of course with my luck, we are there within 20 minutes and no bear, so we poke around for a hour. Weather looks like it is turning so we start to head home, but decide to try out to more small fsr' sand see what we can see. Well before we get to the first fsr we are going to check out, we see one decent black bear and a really big bear sitting on the side of the road. Well we hit the first fsr with only seeing a couple of other hunters. Off the to she second fsr. Well we get 10 km's down it and mom is getting hungry because she was only going for a couple hours, and by this time it was 6 hrs. I see a place to turn around and it is a road up the powerline, so I head up there and see nothing, the decision is made to head home. We get 500 yards away from the turnaround, and I see a bear. I bail out of the truck and glass, yep a black bear. So the stalk begins. By the time I get to where I expect to see the bear, nothing. I am not surprised, because the walking was horrible and I am breaking sticks with every step. Well up to the road again, and I start walking down the road and waving at mom to bring the truck. Well, she isn't paying attention as the truck is not moving. So I turn around and start walking back to the truck. I happen to look to the side, and there is the bear, not 10 yards from where I was standing when I could no longer see it. Obviously it was walking towards me and was down a dip, which is why I couldn't see it. Well the youngest meanwhile, walked down the road to talk to me. So we walked beside it for a hundred yards while we were looking for cubs. When the bear got to a nice area with no signs of looking behind it and after 5 minutes of watching it move a couple hundred yards, I figured it was safe to take it. So once I got the daughter safely behind me and the bear cooperated, I let the 7mm-08 do its part. The bear dropped hard, after walking to it, it needed a second shot as the first was high and took out the top of the shoulder blade and the spine. After a couple hours we got it caped and quartered and made it home by 11:00(with a stop at macdonalds because we only packed snacks).

He turned out to be a decent sized bear over 5ft, but I learned it tough to judge them, and I definitely have to remember this time of year their hair is 4 inches long, so I need to aim centre mass versus where I would normally for a lung shot. All in all it was a blast, and no mom is talking about core, and of course the youngest wants to start hunting bears next week with her own gun.

Pics to follow

[Hillbros_96]

Have i I mentioned I am no longer as young as I think I am. Mom is also still wondering how I do it all by myself, I have to keep reminding her, it just takes longer and more ingenuity to get the job done. All three kids had a blast helping processing the bear this morning.

http://i883.photobucket.com/albums/ac34/Hillbros_96/image_zpstsww8syu.jpeg (http://s883.photobucket.com/user/Hillbros_96/media/image_zpstsww8syu.jpeg.html)


http://i883.photobucket.com/albums/ac34/Hillbros_96/image_zps19ksud6l.jpeg (http://s883.photobucket.com/user/Hillbros_96/media/image_zps19ksud6l.jpeg.html)

http://i883.photobucket.com/albums/ac34/Hillbros_96/image_zpskp3dnbpt.jpeg (http://s883.photobucket.com/user/Hillbros_96/media/image_zpskp3dnbpt.jpeg.html)

[monasheemountainman]

Nice bear congrats!

[notyalc]

Congrats! Nice lookin bear!

[RackStar]

Nice to see some bears down.
Congrats.
Finally a change from the political bs that fuels this site.
Cheers!

[kilometers]

Mmm. Tasty. Just bought my tag today. Good to know they are out and moving around hopefully I get out next weekend!!
Nice family day outing!

[two-feet]

Nice bear! Great to get the family involved.

We headed out the Telkwa river today and had to turn around because of snow at the same spot i got my bear last year, so still a couple weeks out from good hunting here.

[caddisguy]

Great story, great bear, awesome pink Savage. I knew we'd see an HBC bear-down post tonight. Thank you for coming through!! :)

[Hillbros_96]

Mmm. Tasty. Just bought my tag today. Good to know they are out and moving around hopefully I get out next weekend!!
Nice family day outing!

All the sign we say was really low, the higher we got the sign really dropped off.

[caddisguy]

All the sign we say was really low, the higher we got the sign really dropped off.

The nutrients are downstairs... all condensed in those valley bottoms, as are the bears that are up... good time to hunt them before they spread out :D

[Knute]

Nice bear, your daughter looks like she enjoyed the outing, congrats.

[markomoose]

Powerlines are great spots for early season bears.

[albravo2]

'Tis the season, I've seen three in the past three days. None where I could shoot legally, so still an uncut tag.

Great story, nice to see your daughter in on the action.

[Rob Chipman]

I think what makes this story best is that you shot the bear with a pink gun. Not too shabby! Nice bruin, too.

[HarryToolips]

Nice bear, congrats! I agree, bears are hard to judge size-wise, I learnt that on my first bear I shot..

[375 ultramag]

Way to go. Sounds like a great day, out with the family and got a nice bear. Congrats !!!

[Gateholio]

Fantastic! Great to see some bear hunters getting out!

[Hillbros_96]

Fantastic! Great to see some bear hunters getting out!
Gatehouse, I really wanted to shoot it with my 375 ruger, but that bloody clip. That 115 Gr bullet worked really well, I wonder how the 260gr would do.

[NorBC]

Good work! And it was frigging ugly here on Saturday..

[Snowcap]

Nice bear! Still havnt found any sign around my area yet

[smallfry14]

nice bear!! a good outing with the kid for sure.

[604Stalker]

Well its bear burger over mystery meat now good job. Think if I get the wife a pink 7-08 shel come hunting ?

[wideopenthrottle]

great job...it is especially nice to have the family along on a fully successful hunt

[ElliotMoose]

That's a tasty looking critter! Good job on getting the kids out. The girl looks happy!

[jamesvtr]

nice bear thanks for sharing

[nicktrehearne]

Great looking bear - congrats!

[swampthing]

And with a pink rifle!! Great work dad.

[elch jager]

Nice. Gonna buy a tag and pack some iron this weekend on our spring opener fishing trip... may be too early at 1200m elevation tho. Be nice to see some big old murdering boars taken.

[SaintSix]

*parenting Win* Nice bear buds

[Quesnel Kid]

Great job, I have been out a couple times with no real opportunities. Remember to aim for the middle, bears vitals are further back then a deer or moose. This is a good article on shot placement for bears. Cheers QK

http://www.bear-hunting.com/2014/5/middle-of-the-middle-redefining-shot-placement

[Hillbros_96]

Yep I was far enough back, just too high, and he was a perfect quartering away shot to at 125 yards.