From bad luck to success... season ends for team caddis*

[caddisguy]

Our season started out rough with missed opportunity in the form of some untimely misfires, a clean miss and some black eyes (possibly broken nose for caddisgirl) near the end of April:

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?127425-Disaster-spring-bear-trip&highlight=disaster+spring+bear

With the hills greening up early this year, the high temperatures and relentless ticks, things were not getting any easier. Fresh sign came few and far between. Since the "incident", our closest encounters were:

- Winding a bear consecutive times and a again a week later at the same time of night (the last 10-15 minutes of light) where we suspected the bear emerged from the timber, crossed the skid trail and entered the thick brush. There was no way get him laying in wait, as the wind was always in his favor. There is no way he would come out of the timber if we were sitting there up wind.

- A bear we bumped from his bed in the timber that we then listened to circle back down wind. A game of cat and mouse ensued for several minutes. Likely the same bear, heavily into bugs now and avoiding us like the plague, for good reason.

We decided to head out on Thursday night and hunt a day or two in order to avoid the typical long weekend traffic.

I had a plan in mind to bump the bear in the timber again, listen for him crunching through the timber, come in aggressive and try to tree him. I knew from previous experience he wasn't a huge bear and was likely to climb if perused. Sounds unorthodox and a little dodgy, but I had thought it through all week. Could only go wrong if there was a sow and cubs in his place, but no such sign existed.

So off we went on Thursday. We stopped at Safeway to grab a couple blocks of ice. I waited in the Jeep with our gear and the noticed a problem. When I tried to take the key out to open the back--so when caddisgirl got back she could throw the ice right in the cooler--the key was stuck. I tried starting the car and it would not even crank. Looked down and noticed the automatic tranny shifter was stuck in reverse. Thinking, wow this season is cursed. Well, I popped off the cover and figured out I could change gears by pressing down the pin (that normally moves down when the button on the lever is pressed) and moving the lever. I could also shift between drive and reverse, just fine. Going to/from park I had to push down the pin. When in park, I could also take key out if I pushed on the cable which I believe is a safety mechanism prevents to prevent you from releasing the key if it is not in park. Not sure what the issue is (lever/button/cable/etc) but that was good enough for me. An hour delay, but no big deal... jeep can still drive so off we went!

Got into our spot around midnight, arranged our jeep nest and went to bed. First light came around, but after a long week of 5-6 hour sleeps, we couldn't pull it off... decided we would just check our spots for new sign later in the morning, hit the timber during the afternoon and hunt whatever was most promising in the evening.

We found one new fresh pile and a little bit more freshly eaten grass. That was it. We hit the timber hoping to execute operation tree-bear. It was less crunchy, but still crunchy enough. Walked around a bit trying to find his nap spot with no luck, so we decided to apply blacktail tactics... creep slowly, sit and listen for 20-30 mins... move upwind 20 yards, sit and listen.

I decided to try a fawn call. In less then a minute, we hear something coming in towards us. About 15 yards away, I could see a light brown body sneaking through the timber. Crap! What have I got us into now? Then it let out a loud HUFF and came into view. It was a doe. Yep! Nothing calls in a doe like a fawn call in the spring. She had us totally busted though. She was down wind, but was standing where we walked a half hour prior. The stare down lasted a few minutes and a few more huffs/snorts and then she walked away. Very cool... probably the highlight of the trip (we saw 7 deer total as well as a ruffie) but the excitement was far from over.

[to be continued momentarily]

[ajr5406]

Cool story! Looking forward to reading the rest.. Always enjoy your stories Caddis

[Rhyno]

And then....

[caddisguy]

I looked the time and noticed it was already 4:30PM. It was time to head back and have something to eat. After that, we would head to the the open grassy spot close to where we had found the only fresh sign. We had not actually walked into said spot while making our rounds earlier checking for sign, as we did not want to get our scent in there incase we decided to hunt it in the evening.

6:00pm... as we slowly hunted our way into the open spot with the wind in our favor, we looked around and listened like sherlock holmes, as we have a habit of missing bears snoozing in the brush around here. Stopped at a spot with a decent view down the small hill. Nothing. We walked another 10 yards to where we normally head down the hill and wait on our favorite log, expecting another evening of hanging out with the carpenter ants... but nope, not this time.

There he was walking grazing around, perfectly broad side about 15 yards away, slightly down hill from us. Now the sketchy part is, I am still walking around with an unreliable rifle. It still has yet to misfire with a round chambered by hand and most of the misfires were Remmington Core Lokt. So naturally (even if superstition was the only basis) I had been walking with my only remaining factory 150gr 30-06 Winchester for the last few trips. With my back-up shooter ready as well, I figured I would give it a rip. I raised the rifle and took aim for an easy standing shot and aimed just behind his shoulder. BOOM. He piled up where he stood.

We waited a few minutes and walked over to make sure he wasn't going anywhere before heating back to get our bigger backpacks and game processing gear. Went down and had a look. Nope, he wasn't going anywhere so off we went for the gear we would need for the next few hours. When returned to the site, we took a few pictures with my a cellphone as our handheld cam was having issues.

http://i1318.photobucket.com/albums/t644/vaporeyes/09_zpsjr0yrzto.jpg

And yes, her face is all healed up... just blocked for privacy lol

http://i1318.photobucket.com/albums/t644/vaporeyes/30_zpsubia4vjb.jpg

Another chunky little fella with a bit of a white crest, much like the one last year from the same area... must be similar genetics. Sorry for the blood/tongue.

http://i1318.photobucket.com/albums/t644/vaporeyes/34_zpsnojakfz5.jpg

[continued]

[caddisguy]

Then the work started. It was far from perfect, but everything went just a little bit better than last time. It was nice to start a little earlier in the evening.

I am still trying to figure out the best way to get all the meat that works for me. It is the second year in a row I started to quarter a bear, only to decide to abort and go boneless, skinning as I go, from outside instead of underneath. Lots of hack-and-slash and lots of hair. I should know better, but wanted to be well on course before dark, so I stuck with what worked.

We got all the meat, except the spots on the ribs where the bullet entered and tried to exit. It severed the spine (completely disconnected) and took out both lungs. I'm not even sure how. I did recover the bullet in-field which had almost exited the skin and found a few fragments while cutting, picking out hairs and packaging at home. Hoping we don't run into any more bullet/bone fragments.

http://i1318.photobucket.com/albums/t644/vaporeyes/45_zpswusers77.jpg

After we had all the meat in game bags, it was time to lug everything back in the dark. It's not a long walk by any means... maybe 20 mins but it is certainly a workout. When we got back to the jeep, we put the meat sacks in a 70gal roughneck rubbermaid along with a block of ice from the cooler, then put the whole thing in a creek flowing with icey cold snow run-off. After an hour or so, we moved it back closer to where we were sleeping. The meat was already cool and it was going to be a fairly chilly night. Slept like a baby, just not long enough.

The next day we woke up early and went back to the site. I moved the bones and gut-pile a ways off into the brush. Last year I did something similar and curiosity got the better of me 6 weeks later and I went back in and recovered the skull. It wasn't too great, as it was head-shot and eaten on so kind of nasty, but I kept it and cleaned it up. This time I decided to keep the head and make a proper skull. I still am not quite sure how to go about it... was way too busy yesterday cutting, picking off hairs and vacuum packing and trying not to fall asleep on my feet.

http://i1318.photobucket.com/albums/t644/vaporeyes/44_zpsild7up97.jpg

Looks nice (other than the hairs lol) but the reality is that we just grind most of it for burgers and tacos, which we will be eating for another year:

http://i1318.photobucket.com/albums/t644/vaporeyes/46_zpsrpeldmmq.jpg

We have a bunch more scraps in the fridge that are getting ground up tonight for burgers. Can't wait!!

[landphil]

Congrats. I'd say you two earned that one!

[last light]

Congrats on a nice bear! Those steaks look tastey.
Please do yourself a favor and buy a new gun. For $500 to $1000 you can/should have a nice reliable gun. You owe it to the animals and yourself.
Not trying to criticize but for your own peace of mind, shooting confidence, and safety in a potential emergency situation, etc. etc.

[caddisguy]

Congrats on a nice bear! Those steaks look tastey.
Please do yourself a favor and buy a new gun. For $500 to $1000 you can/should have a nice reliable gun. You owe it to the animals and yourself.
Not trying to criticize but for your own peace of mind, shooting confidence, and safety in a potential emergency situation, etc. etc.

Thanks! Gun is retired until the cause of the sporadic light primer strike is identified, fixed and it is thoroughly tested. We just needed to finish the season with it and we did so safely by not being separated, two cans of bear spray and making sure the other person was 100% ready to shoot if it went click. Not really any risk to us or disservice to animals (ie; compared to hunting solo, which is sometimes the case) and it didn't change the way hunt much as we rarely separate anyway.

All good now and all the time in the world (or at least it seems) to have it fixed up before fall GOS even though I'm planning to use the 12ga for blacktails since most of our shots are within 15 yards and I want to stop for birdies on the drive... caddisgirl can take any longer shots! :)

[caddisguy]

Congrats. I'd say you two earned that one!

Thanks man. This just happened... some well earned burgers and getting a sample of what we'll be eating on for the next year. I wholeheartedly approve.

http://i1318.photobucket.com/albums/t644/vaporeyes/burger01_zpsmtvavtds.jpg


http://i1318.photobucket.com/albums/t644/vaporeyes/burger02_zpslpjjv7pc.jpg

[375shooter]

Interesting story, as usual. Congratulations! But, I was hoping Caddisgirl was going to be the shooter.:smile: I guess she'll get her chance next time.:smile:

[SR80]

looking good! Great work!

[Arctic Lake]

Way to go !
Arctic Lake

[caddisguy]

Interesting story, as usual. Congratulations! But, I was hoping Caddisgirl was going to be the shooter.:smile: I guess she'll get her chance next time.:smile:

Oh man... that makes two of us! After the miss earlier this season she doesn't really want to shoot until her confidence is back up. Thing is, she is a way better shot than me so she'll be back on the horse in no time. Now with our season done it's onto fishing, trailcams and target practice. I'm sure after a few shots she'll remember... hoping she smacks a 5x5 blacktail buck this fall... she work's so hard, it's going to happen.

[RiverOtter]

Super cool read and finally a Happy Ending...:-D

Looks like some pretty good eating for the next few months.

[landphil]

Oh man... that makes two of us! After the miss earlier this season she doesn't really want to shoot until her confidence is back up. Thing is, she is a way better shot than me so she'll be back on the horse in no time. Now with our season done it's onto fishing, trailcams and target practice. I'm sure after a few shots she'll remember... hoping she smacks a 5x5 blacktail buck this fall... she work's so hard, it's going to happen.

Curious as to why you wouldn't take another bear, is it just more meat than you can use? Lots of season, lots of bears.

[caddisguy]

Curious as to why you wouldn't take another bear, is it just more meat than you can use? Lots of season, lots of bears.

It is tempting to go for another one and top off our freezers along with my brother and mom (she's going to make us up a bunch of moms famous recipe chili with some of our grinds) We would have done a round 2 if we would have connected earlier in the season, but with 3 weeks (3 weekends) left for Region 2 and two of those weekends accounted for it's a bit tight. I think we're both feeling pretty banged up and the thought of cruising around on the lakes with a rod in hand drinking hot soup is all too tempting. I know what you mean though and it is dang tempting too... would take the pressure off for next year too... we were down to 5lbs or so from last years bear... was getting worried lol

There is a slim chance we might scout around for some other spots. I don't like the spot we have been getting our bears. Lots of bears, but it's thick and the ticks are just brutal. Maybe we'll scout around and if we see one up hill off a road temptation will take over :)

[Katanajay]

Congrats on a good freezer full of meat. Great story as well.

[NChunter]

Those burgers look real good. Making me hungry and I just ate three personal size pizzas! Enjoy the rest of it

[tuner]

Well done, persistence and hard work pay off.

[HarryToolips]

Looks delicious congrats on the harvest!!

[kennyj]

Great story and great bear! Thanks for sharing your adventure.
kenny

[albravo2]

Well done! Those steaks look delicious.

[VLD43]

Caddisguy
Great to hear you finally had success, and that Mrs Caddisguy is back to good health. The picture you posted of the Winchester case appears to show a destinct ring just up from the base of the case. That looks like case stretch or a headspacing issue. If you have a paperclip handy, open it , and on one end of it put a small "L" shaped bend in it. Insert that end of the paperclip down the case to the bottom. Bring it back out of the case slowly, with the "L" shaped end touching the wall of the case. If you feel a ridge right around where the shiny ring on the case is located on the inner case wall, then the case has stretched internally, and chances are your rifle problem is a headspace issue.

[caddisguy]

Skull done(ish) ... I put him next to last years skull. Both were taken within 10 yards of each other and both were about the same size with a white crest. Related? Wondering if anyone is able to tell me anything about these bears by looking at the skulls. I'm not sure how to guesstimate age... teeth weren't too yellow on either of them, so I'm guessing youngins, maybe 3 years? One seems to have more of a dip from the top of the skull down the snout

http://i1318.photobucket.com/albums/t644/vaporeyes/bearskulls_zpsk5y2bgvk.jpg

And thanks VLD43! Good catch. I am going to do the paper clip test. More info I can provide to the gun smith the better!

[HarryToolips]

Wicked skulls..

[caddisguy]

Wicked skulls..

Thanks man. The further back one was actually head shot, nature cured and rodent chewed for a couple months. I just went back to look out of curiosity and ended up finding both halfs of the lower jaw, the upper skull and most of the teeth. Decided to take it and clean it up and give it a little glue.

Second is my first and last attempt and doing up a bear skull ever. Soaked for a couple weeks with water and dish soap, changed water and picked meat every two days, then sat it in the sun on my scorching hot, south facing balcony. It was still throwing a bit of grease this afternoon but I think it's mostly done. I'll put it back out again when it's sunny and I'm around... good enough for now though. Keeping them both natural without whitening.

Definitely neat to look at. I just wish I could tell more about them by looking at them. Guess I gotta do some research.

[RiverOtter]

Pretty good looking skull for a first attempt.

If you ever change your mind on doing another one, dishwasher powder in the boiling pot helps lots with the grease. After you get the bulk of the meat removed and the semi transparent casing dealt with, the local car wash does wonders on the brain cavity and tighter spots, though you probably won't make any friends given your locale....:p....After that, the secret is concentrated peroxide, the stuff taxis and hair dressers use, and you'll end up with a beautiful white skull.