ekul246
06-21-2016, 08:56 PM
This is a couple weeks ago now but here it is.
I posted about our last trip in mid-May which was, in my opinion and experience thus far, a successful spring hunt though it did not end with a cut tag. ChrisM, my hunting partner, received a tip and we decided to head up to the area that we were told we should go for the first weekend of June. Other than the game plan advice from ChrisM's tip, it was the least prepared trip I have taken, hunting or otherwise. With just a few spare clothes thrown in a bag, hunting boxes, one brand new "family cooler" belonging to ChrisM, some hotdogs, nuts, granola bars, apples, water and beer we left around 8:30pm from Abbotsford. Got to the spot to camp around 1:00am. Cooked a couple hotdogs, literally one for him and one for me, downed a beer each, then slept 3 hours in the truck since we figured it wasn't worth setting up the tent. 4:30am, we were up and going. No coffee. Just granola bars and nuts. Scouted out the first area and found a lookout point where we also saw three Muley bucks whose antlers were already beginning to fork. Then drove through the cuts and didn't see anything but a couple old piles of bear scat. Decided to head into town around 9:00am since no gas stations had been open the night before to fuel up and get some coffee. ChrisM touched base with his friend and we returned to the area to glass until the afternoon.
After 2 hours of glassing with the spotting scopes yielding nothing, we decided to take a drive through the cuts and then move on to the next area which we were told becomes productive in the early afternoon. After driving through the cuts and spotting a big sow with cubs, we began the drive back to the highway. Driving along the road, as we came to a turn, ChrisM says "Cinnamon!" I said "Where?! Where?!" He was spotted off the driver side of the road and had been standing so that all ChrisM saw was his head through the bushes but had disappeared. I popped my earmuffs on instantly, grabbed my fawn in distress call and bailed out.
Chambering one and pumped up like no tomorrow, I started lightly working the call. I closed the passenger door and came around the front of the truck, waving to ChrisM to get out. He shook his head and was thinking, "No frigging way dude! You're using a predator call and I would be between you and the bear! It’d take me at least 10 seconds to get my rifle from the back seat and drop one in the chamber!"
The bear was in the bushes making a racket – clearly not interested in leaving the area. I, meanwhile, am oblivious to his expression which would have communicated this to me. I pop one side of my muffs off and come around to the driver side of the truck. Still lightly working the call. ChrisM gets out, since the bear hasn't shown itself yet and gets his gun ready and chambered. We are crouched next to the truck. I had previously taken my first bear a few years ago in the fall and had taken a deer first morning of our first trip together last fall. So I wanted him to take this bear. We could hear the bear cracking branches and moving away from us through the bush to our right. Not moving away, but moving along the road. ChrisM says to me, "I don't have my muffs on." "Here", I said and popped mine onto his head. I plugged my left ear, turned my head to the right to protect my right ear, stepped back and kept working the call. The bear stepped out of the bushes on the right and walked into the middle of the road about 30yrds away giving a perfect broadside. He looked cinnamon in the sun. Top of his back was light brown-cinnamon, becoming a chocolate-brown and then dark brown almost black on the legs and paws. I said to him," Shoot!" but the bear turned, either not knowing what we were or just not caring and began walking down the road straight away. I squeaked loudly on the call, he turned and looked over his shoulder and kept going. I did it again, but harder and longer, he stopped and turned again. I urged him to "Shoot now!" but no shot came. Bear continued away down the road. My friend took his eye away from the scope, looked over his right shoulder and said "I'm not ready man." I said "No, you have to take this bear!" but he said again, "No. I am not ready. You take him." I grabbed my muffs from him and told him, "Let's go! You're shooting this bear. He is yours!" I began heading to the bear and he said again, "No, you take him. I am not ready yet." I asked two maybe three times, "Are you sure?" " Yes." The adrenaline was pumping like crazy. It is all mixed up in my memory now. Adrenaline is wild. At that point I turned away from him, settled my earmuffs and it was like a switch flipping. I have taken one bear and two deer. But they weren't like this. The switch flipped and I got tunnel vision.
At this point, the bear is still on the road and walking away, butt to me. Walking, not running, but covering a lot of ground. I started to tip toe after him. Breeze in my face. I squeaked on the call a bit but he didn't turn and didnt stop. I started jogging after him in the grass on the side of the road. Made it to within about 100yrds and went to the left side of the road. Blew hard on the call and took a knee. He stopped and turned quartering away. I was so jacked on adrenaline that my crosshairs were all over the place and I thought, "I CAN"T MAKE THIS SHOT!" My next thought was, "This bear is NOT getting away like the others!" He turned and continued on his way. I got up, decided I had to go prone for the shot and crossed over to the right side of the road again to the grass so that the bush would cover me and ran after him. In my memory, I feel like Elmer Fudd chasing Bugs Bunny. I look at myself chasing this bear down the road, gun in hand and think that I must look hilarious. So, almost at a run, breathing shakily and vibrating, I chase the bear down the road. I see the road up ahead turns to the left. The bear and I have now traveled 400-500yrds back down the road. Without using the call, I close the gap to within 30-40yrds. I cross over to the left side of the road and lay down, call in mouth. He gets into the turn and begins to cross right to left in my line of sight. I rest my gun in my hand, put my right hand on the call and give it hard. I see he is stopping. I spit the call onto the road. Get my head down and look through the scope. He is looking at me and quartering away. I get my crosshairs on him in an instant and pull the trigger.
BOOM!
From laying down to pulling trigger is a matter of seconds. 180 grain hits him in the shoulder and lays him out instantly on the road spread out on his belly, back legs to head, like someone doing the worm. I can't believe it! I turn to my ChrisM, who is a ways behind me, and I can see his eyes are almost bugging out of his head. I stood up
and said "Holy s***!" Bear came to and tried to stand up. I realized that with the quartering away shot, I probably didn't get his vitals like I would have liked. After giving him a minute and being absolutely sure that he couldn't stand up at all, I walked over, having already chambered another as soon as I had fired the first shot. I pointed the barrel at his chest and destroyed his heart. It was over moments later. Unreal. Taking this bear, besides being a different time of year, completely different location and having not expected to come back with my own bear, was completely different from my first bear. I was calm, still jacked up on adrenaline, but calm, cool and overjoyed. I can't totally explain the satisfaction or the feelings that I had in that moment. I have been trying for 3.5 years to even see a spring bear and it finally happened. AT LAST! Took a couple hours to deal with him. It was hot, so we cut off the back quarters and stuffed him into my friends brand new, no-longer-a-"Family"-120qt cooler and covered him in ice. Then, realizing that we didn't have another cooler for another bear and no creeks or rivers in easy proximity either, we decided to head home and surprise our families with our early and successful return. After stopping at ChrisM's house to unload and put the cooler with the bear in my car, I climbed into my bed around 1:30 am. The same time I went to bed 24hrs before. Exhausted.....satisfied.
This having been ChrisM's second bear hunt ever and now having seen a bear killed and dealt with, he is now ready to take a bear the next time the opportunity presents itself (assuming his wife and kids will enjoy the meat from this one). Skinned, gutted, headless and pawless, the meat weighed out at 104lbs on the hook and on the bone. One batch of Maple breakfast sausage in the works and one batch of Hot Italian. With the rest, probably chorizo ground. All the time and effort and research and google earthing and dreaming and youtube watching has finally paid off! I feel that I we are finally successful in our learning to hunt. Something that was not passed down to us but something we want to pass down to our own children. I at last feel that will be a reality in the future. With my children being young, there is lots of time to perfect the knowledge so that it can be passed on and hopefully not lost. Now............on to Deer season!
Stay tuned for pictures and video of the skinning! (Page two)
I posted about our last trip in mid-May which was, in my opinion and experience thus far, a successful spring hunt though it did not end with a cut tag. ChrisM, my hunting partner, received a tip and we decided to head up to the area that we were told we should go for the first weekend of June. Other than the game plan advice from ChrisM's tip, it was the least prepared trip I have taken, hunting or otherwise. With just a few spare clothes thrown in a bag, hunting boxes, one brand new "family cooler" belonging to ChrisM, some hotdogs, nuts, granola bars, apples, water and beer we left around 8:30pm from Abbotsford. Got to the spot to camp around 1:00am. Cooked a couple hotdogs, literally one for him and one for me, downed a beer each, then slept 3 hours in the truck since we figured it wasn't worth setting up the tent. 4:30am, we were up and going. No coffee. Just granola bars and nuts. Scouted out the first area and found a lookout point where we also saw three Muley bucks whose antlers were already beginning to fork. Then drove through the cuts and didn't see anything but a couple old piles of bear scat. Decided to head into town around 9:00am since no gas stations had been open the night before to fuel up and get some coffee. ChrisM touched base with his friend and we returned to the area to glass until the afternoon.
After 2 hours of glassing with the spotting scopes yielding nothing, we decided to take a drive through the cuts and then move on to the next area which we were told becomes productive in the early afternoon. After driving through the cuts and spotting a big sow with cubs, we began the drive back to the highway. Driving along the road, as we came to a turn, ChrisM says "Cinnamon!" I said "Where?! Where?!" He was spotted off the driver side of the road and had been standing so that all ChrisM saw was his head through the bushes but had disappeared. I popped my earmuffs on instantly, grabbed my fawn in distress call and bailed out.
Chambering one and pumped up like no tomorrow, I started lightly working the call. I closed the passenger door and came around the front of the truck, waving to ChrisM to get out. He shook his head and was thinking, "No frigging way dude! You're using a predator call and I would be between you and the bear! It’d take me at least 10 seconds to get my rifle from the back seat and drop one in the chamber!"
The bear was in the bushes making a racket – clearly not interested in leaving the area. I, meanwhile, am oblivious to his expression which would have communicated this to me. I pop one side of my muffs off and come around to the driver side of the truck. Still lightly working the call. ChrisM gets out, since the bear hasn't shown itself yet and gets his gun ready and chambered. We are crouched next to the truck. I had previously taken my first bear a few years ago in the fall and had taken a deer first morning of our first trip together last fall. So I wanted him to take this bear. We could hear the bear cracking branches and moving away from us through the bush to our right. Not moving away, but moving along the road. ChrisM says to me, "I don't have my muffs on." "Here", I said and popped mine onto his head. I plugged my left ear, turned my head to the right to protect my right ear, stepped back and kept working the call. The bear stepped out of the bushes on the right and walked into the middle of the road about 30yrds away giving a perfect broadside. He looked cinnamon in the sun. Top of his back was light brown-cinnamon, becoming a chocolate-brown and then dark brown almost black on the legs and paws. I said to him," Shoot!" but the bear turned, either not knowing what we were or just not caring and began walking down the road straight away. I squeaked loudly on the call, he turned and looked over his shoulder and kept going. I did it again, but harder and longer, he stopped and turned again. I urged him to "Shoot now!" but no shot came. Bear continued away down the road. My friend took his eye away from the scope, looked over his right shoulder and said "I'm not ready man." I said "No, you have to take this bear!" but he said again, "No. I am not ready. You take him." I grabbed my muffs from him and told him, "Let's go! You're shooting this bear. He is yours!" I began heading to the bear and he said again, "No, you take him. I am not ready yet." I asked two maybe three times, "Are you sure?" " Yes." The adrenaline was pumping like crazy. It is all mixed up in my memory now. Adrenaline is wild. At that point I turned away from him, settled my earmuffs and it was like a switch flipping. I have taken one bear and two deer. But they weren't like this. The switch flipped and I got tunnel vision.
At this point, the bear is still on the road and walking away, butt to me. Walking, not running, but covering a lot of ground. I started to tip toe after him. Breeze in my face. I squeaked on the call a bit but he didn't turn and didnt stop. I started jogging after him in the grass on the side of the road. Made it to within about 100yrds and went to the left side of the road. Blew hard on the call and took a knee. He stopped and turned quartering away. I was so jacked on adrenaline that my crosshairs were all over the place and I thought, "I CAN"T MAKE THIS SHOT!" My next thought was, "This bear is NOT getting away like the others!" He turned and continued on his way. I got up, decided I had to go prone for the shot and crossed over to the right side of the road again to the grass so that the bush would cover me and ran after him. In my memory, I feel like Elmer Fudd chasing Bugs Bunny. I look at myself chasing this bear down the road, gun in hand and think that I must look hilarious. So, almost at a run, breathing shakily and vibrating, I chase the bear down the road. I see the road up ahead turns to the left. The bear and I have now traveled 400-500yrds back down the road. Without using the call, I close the gap to within 30-40yrds. I cross over to the left side of the road and lay down, call in mouth. He gets into the turn and begins to cross right to left in my line of sight. I rest my gun in my hand, put my right hand on the call and give it hard. I see he is stopping. I spit the call onto the road. Get my head down and look through the scope. He is looking at me and quartering away. I get my crosshairs on him in an instant and pull the trigger.
BOOM!
From laying down to pulling trigger is a matter of seconds. 180 grain hits him in the shoulder and lays him out instantly on the road spread out on his belly, back legs to head, like someone doing the worm. I can't believe it! I turn to my ChrisM, who is a ways behind me, and I can see his eyes are almost bugging out of his head. I stood up
and said "Holy s***!" Bear came to and tried to stand up. I realized that with the quartering away shot, I probably didn't get his vitals like I would have liked. After giving him a minute and being absolutely sure that he couldn't stand up at all, I walked over, having already chambered another as soon as I had fired the first shot. I pointed the barrel at his chest and destroyed his heart. It was over moments later. Unreal. Taking this bear, besides being a different time of year, completely different location and having not expected to come back with my own bear, was completely different from my first bear. I was calm, still jacked up on adrenaline, but calm, cool and overjoyed. I can't totally explain the satisfaction or the feelings that I had in that moment. I have been trying for 3.5 years to even see a spring bear and it finally happened. AT LAST! Took a couple hours to deal with him. It was hot, so we cut off the back quarters and stuffed him into my friends brand new, no-longer-a-"Family"-120qt cooler and covered him in ice. Then, realizing that we didn't have another cooler for another bear and no creeks or rivers in easy proximity either, we decided to head home and surprise our families with our early and successful return. After stopping at ChrisM's house to unload and put the cooler with the bear in my car, I climbed into my bed around 1:30 am. The same time I went to bed 24hrs before. Exhausted.....satisfied.
This having been ChrisM's second bear hunt ever and now having seen a bear killed and dealt with, he is now ready to take a bear the next time the opportunity presents itself (assuming his wife and kids will enjoy the meat from this one). Skinned, gutted, headless and pawless, the meat weighed out at 104lbs on the hook and on the bone. One batch of Maple breakfast sausage in the works and one batch of Hot Italian. With the rest, probably chorizo ground. All the time and effort and research and google earthing and dreaming and youtube watching has finally paid off! I feel that I we are finally successful in our learning to hunt. Something that was not passed down to us but something we want to pass down to our own children. I at last feel that will be a reality in the future. With my children being young, there is lots of time to perfect the knowledge so that it can be passed on and hopefully not lost. Now............on to Deer season!
Stay tuned for pictures and video of the skinning! (Page two)