So you like Grizzly hunting stories [Archive]

Husky7mm

12-14-2016, 04:39 PM

I figured I would share a good grizzly hunting story from a few years back. Since the season is mostly over very few stories come in this time of year. That and I can't recall if I have ever shared a story on here.
I had for a few years prior wanted to hunt grizzly, it seemed like it would be a great adventure and also there is that never ending threat that I could be taken away from us again. I really wanted to hunt grizzly locally in the EK but the the odds of drawing were no realistic. After looking at the leh synopsis and scouting on google earth I settled on a unit up "north". LEH card was sent in, I convinced my hunting partner to do the same.
The area I choose had lots of slides and a few old roads and trails to get around on. I love slides , they are a real thing of beauty and a real bear magnet.
As luck would have it we both were drawn for the spring season.
Fast forward to the hunt.
We only had 3 days to get it done, cause I had to frist make a big detour to the lowermain for a wedding or funeral, can't remember anymore. Myself and my brother in law head up to the unit and my hunting partner Geoff and his brother inlaw are to meet us there later that day at the camp site. We see a young grizzly from the Hwy on the way up, good start, they are out, I was worried we may be early as we are not locals and didn't know how far along the green up was. We arrive first and go for a drive to glass some slides. There are a few black bears spotted on the first few slides and then a nice chocolate grizzly. They are a long way off and we have to go almost 30ks to get around the river and back down to the bear. It was late in the day he was safe for now.....
The rest of the party arrived just before dark and we shared our good fortune. The bears were out and the timing appeared perfect.

More to follow.

Rackmastr

12-14-2016, 05:03 PM

This should be good!

Husky7mm

12-14-2016, 05:18 PM

We had us a good party that night to celebrate our good fortune... and mostly because that is just how this crew roles. Lol
We got up at the crack of 9:30 and made a big breakfast which is just what you have to do sometimes. I enjoy spring bear hunting cause to me it's pretty casual and most of a the action seems to happen in the afternoon. We devise a plan to split up and head up a few different side valleys to where all the best slides are. Not sure why but we didn't plan to at this time to go the 30 ks to get around the river and over to the other bear. Probably seemed like a real long shot at the time. Most of the day was spent quadding and hiking around to gain vantage points to glass slides. A few moose, a few small black bears and a few goats were all we could turn up. I wanted to check out another side valley that was 20k south so we pull out of there for the day. There was still snow in the shade and on the bottom of all the slides. No grizzly tracks to be found.
Off we go, we swing by camp for a quick beer and late lunch. A note is found on the window of my truck. " we have gone over to the other side of the valley to kill the grizzly you saw yesterday."

Moose63

12-14-2016, 05:42 PM

Breaking out the popcorn....

Husky7mm

12-14-2016, 05:42 PM

Cool! That's a long shot to even think it's going to be on the same slide and that you even get the right one as there is a series of them, plus it all looks different when your beside it.... we've pulled off plenty of long shots. Get her done! We head for the side valley I want to check out. Shortly before the turn we see Geoffs pick up heading our way, as we get closer they are all smiles and thumbs, excellent!! The have a whole grizzly in the back of the pickup! Nice chocolate boar just under seven feet. We are all pretty pumped.

Wow, photo bucket really works like a peice of shit from the iPhone now with all their adds!!

Husky7mm

12-14-2016, 05:55 PM

Crap, anyone know what happened to how photobucket works, used to be able to past the IMG code and it would resize the photo and paste up a nice big photo?

Clint_S

12-14-2016, 06:10 PM

Carry on...
But yes photo bucket is virtually unusable any more.

Husky7mm

12-14-2016, 06:16 PM

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/webkit-fake-url://a99ae473-1bf7-4440-a67f-475bb0207b88/imagejpeg

Fella

12-14-2016, 06:44 PM

Crap, anyone know what happened to how photobucket works, used to be able to past the IMG code and it would resize the photo and paste up a nice big photo?
You gotta be on the mobile version of hbc to post from Photobucket if you're on a cellphone.

Husky7mm

12-14-2016, 07:10 PM

Hmmm, been doing it all from the iPhone for a good 3-4 years now, was easy. What are people using as of late for getting the proper sized photos into the forum?

Husky7mm

12-14-2016, 07:20 PM

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/webkit-fake-url://389e7c9f-d52b-4a0e-b133-d58f2c3f8d1c/imagejpeg

Deer_Slayer

12-14-2016, 07:20 PM

so...what happened next? Is that it?

Fella

12-14-2016, 07:20 PM

Hmmm, been doing it all from the iPhone for a good 3-4 years now, was easy. What are people using as of late for getting the proper sized photos into the forum?
Like I said, go on the mobile version of HBC. I too used to be able to just paste the img link to the full version of HBC but ever since the new iOS came out it doesn't work unless you go onto the mobile version of the forum.

Husky7mm

12-14-2016, 07:39 PM

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/webkit-fake-url://1807b606-f504-4ea6-b204-5986819e55c1/imagejpeg

Husky7mm

12-14-2016, 07:41 PM

Yhttp://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6145&stc=1

Husky7mm

12-14-2016, 07:43 PM

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6146&stc=1

Husky7mm

12-14-2016, 07:47 PM

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/webkit-fake-url://3ebce308-1b56-4257-b779-b6ad5b4bd84c/imagepng

Husky7mm

12-14-2016, 07:59 PM

Working on photos.....

Mean while back to the story. So here's how it played out. They see the bear on the slide through the spotter , landmark the slide and make the long drive around which takes an hour. When they arrive they bush wack up through the alders and hike up to the slide. The bear appears from out of a draw on the slide at close range and he bang flops him with one shot from a 250 gr 338 hand load. At the shot the bear starts cartwheeling down the slide. It eventually holds so they go have a look see and take a few photos. Since it roles so easy they role the thing down the slide through the alders and into the box of the truck parked below.... Too easy!! I know right, what an azzhole!! Lol So we spend the rest of the afternoon doing a nice job of skinning the bear and having another party. Shocker

Husky7mm

12-14-2016, 08:18 PM

Day two starts the same as day one with a late start and a big breakfast. Off we go to the side valley for the day, all 4 of us this time. The valley gets really tight at the beginning and everything that lives back there has to travel through the tight spot. I am in the lead, we round a corner and I see a tall grey animal on the road, immediately I think it's a skinny shedding mulie doe. It's a bit far for the naked eye so up go the Binos, WOLF! Down I go onto old road bed , get prone and squeeze one off just as he turns to run. Bang flop he goes, I range him after the shot at 270 yards. I am happy, first wolf at the time and I do so hate them. After a short pic season it's time carry on as we are grizzly hunting and we are half way through our 3 day trip.

Husky7mm

12-14-2016, 08:36 PM

We continue up the valley to the first slide. Immediately I spot a grizzly way up on the slide. We are on fire! I get out the spotter and take a closer look, it's a pretty bear, not big but average. Nice blond all over its back. I range the bear at 350 yards, and it is headed up to an alder patch.
Geoff says "what are you waiting for , shoot it"! I wasn't really keen on shooting a grizzly at that distance, it was about the limit of my 7mm rem mag and we were all pretty green at the time as far as grizzly hunting/killing goes. I'd rather get closer but it headed for the alders. So I reluctantly get set up, I ask Geoff to back me up if he doesn't go down..... as we get ready , out of the alders runs 2 cubs , he is a SHE!! Shit that was real close to turning into a real regretful moment.
Lets continue up the valley.

More to follow tomorrow when I have time and learn a new way to post decent large clear pictures.

northof49

12-14-2016, 08:39 PM

Yhttp://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6145&stc=1

Nice can openers.....fresh out if the den

tigrr

12-14-2016, 08:43 PM

Great start to a story.

Rattler

12-14-2016, 09:27 PM

Awesome story so far...thx for sharing!

HarryToolips

12-14-2016, 09:48 PM

^^^^x2......awesome job taking care of some preds.....

Timberjack

12-14-2016, 09:59 PM

keep er going!! just what the doctor ordered.. I like your writing style -honest with a dose of humor!!! good story so far!

TJ

"No Choke"Lord Walsingham

12-14-2016, 11:02 PM

Very nice!

Thanks for sharing your story here so far... Looking forward to catching the rest upcoming.

Cheers!

hunter1947

12-15-2016, 06:30 AM

Very nice story regarding this grizz hunt ,,congrats to the two of you ,,thanks for sharing pic and story..

Good2bCanadian

12-15-2016, 07:51 AM

Great hunt and thanks for telling a great story.

Husky7mm

12-15-2016, 09:17 AM

http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd483/husky7mm/Apline%20Scenes/Predators/wlf702.jpg
A good wolf is a dead one!

835

12-15-2016, 09:27 AM

c'mon man... it just ended!

Piperdown

12-15-2016, 09:46 AM

ok time for the rest of the story

Husky7mm

12-15-2016, 10:14 AM

So up the valley we went to the next set of big slides. There was nothing to be found a few small ones along the way. When we arrived at the next big one however I discover through the spotter what appears to be a den just off the slide path. This slide really screams a bear lives here, it's a fairly large one that has a lot of details in it, it has a bend in it near the top 3rd up near the rocks. There is still plenty of snow piles left scattered over it, but where the snow is melted there is lots of nice green veg. So much snow comes down this one that it crosses the ragging stream below and it clears the bottom of the slope on the other side. I settle in behind a big rock there and start picking apart the features and glassing deep into the alder. It's mid day and the sun feels good and we are all enjoying a beautiful spring day in the Rockies. We are in no rush.
After an hour I spot something that was not there before.

Weatherby Fan

12-15-2016, 10:19 AM

Looks like your packing a Husky H5000.....? 7mm ?

Husky7mm

12-15-2016, 10:35 AM

I lock the spotter in and crank it up to 60, but see nothing, this time. Get up for a stretch as I am getting stiff from being humped over. When I settle in again there it is again, but it quickly disappears. What am I looking at? It looks to be the muzzle of a bear! Cool , " boys I think I see the nose of a bear popping up behind the small snow pile near the creek 500 yards up on the slide." After a about a 1/2 hour he stands up and stretches. Right on , it was a bear.
He starts to wander about up on the slide and he looks decent, especially when standing on the snow. Another pretty bear with lots of blonde. He continues down the slide our way disappearing in the features and reappearing in the openings and on top of snow piles. He is getting closer, this is going to happen!

Husky7mm

12-15-2016, 10:47 AM

Geoff says "you should take him when you get a chance." " he's 400 yards Geoff" is my reply." Ya but I seen you shoot and you can make that shot" he says with a grin, he is right. I am a hell of a shot , lol! As I settle in he also settles in for back up. We don't want to loose him in the alders. The bear disappears.... still headed our way!

Husky7mm

12-15-2016, 11:34 AM

After about 5 mins the grizzly appear over the nearest snow pile to us , maybe 150 yrds, at a full run headed almost straight for us. In a few big strides he clears the snow pile and hits the last set of alders between the ragging creek and us! WTF! No shot! We back up a bit to have a better view of him coming out of the alders to cross the creek. We are all on high alert, safeties are off and guns pointed in the direction of the alders. It occurrs to me that he may have circled us and is coming around from the top. There is lots of alder on the side we are on too. " Watch the back door Geoff" I whispered
After 1/2 hr of this it appeared he wasn't coming for us and must have given us the slip. Dam, we move up the valley to check out some more slides.
I forgot to mention while we were glassing that grizzly we had a few slides come down further up the valley, we could see and hear them, it was pretty western.
The trail turns shitty to non existent within a few more Ks and we are still many ks from the next set of slides. We have gained more elevation also so there is about 2 ft of rotten snow on the trail. We are not prepared for this, we don't have snowshoes. Time to turn around and head back, maybe things have calmed down and he is out on the slide.

Knute

12-15-2016, 11:42 AM

Oh yeah, it's comin' (the bear guys, the bear)...I can feel it :)

Husky7mm

12-15-2016, 11:50 AM

As we pull up to the slide with the bear it appears to be empty, shitty deal, after some light hearted half assed glassing we decide to move on out. As we head out we ride passed a narrow slide that is adjacent to the big one and standing on it grazing is the bear! I bail from the atv and get a rest on my pack, hes far and this is a tight little window. No room for back up, "how far is that Geoff" he ranges him at 352. He looking at us as he likely heard the atvs, he can't see us though. It looks like he's gonna exit. It's now or never. BOOM, the bear hunches up and puts his head between his font legs, " hit him again " Geoff says BOOM , same thing head down and humped up,"Hit him again"
I don't want him hitting the big bush, I put the cross hairs on his hump in hopes of breaking his back. BOOM , he hits the dirt and is up just as fast. Gone!

Husky7mm

12-15-2016, 12:20 PM

Time for a smoke , that was exciting!! We give him a 1/2 hr and it's time to go see if he's dead. I take off my boots and step into the freeze ragging creek. It's about 10 meters wide and just boiling, I get about 80% accross and it is getting deeper. My bare feet are aching and giving out on the sharp rocks , it's pulling me down stream , I have to retreat. Plan B, 2 ks down stream is an old bridge. We can cross and follow the creek back up. About 400 yards up the creek we are done it's as thick of forest as you will ever find and then we get cliffed out. To dangerous to continue..... plan C. Up stream we go in hopes of finding a downed tree that we can use as a bridge. No dice. Plan D back to the slide and find a spot with less deep water to cross at. As we walk back we hear an atv, it's an outfitter with his client. We share the story and you can tell he is disappointed but he is nice about it. I ask if he knows of a crossing. He does and he wants to go take a look at the bear also. He pulls out a pair of wiggly waders , cool, I want those. He grabs a big stick for support and crosses right where I attempted the first time. Fack it, in I go with the boots on this time and it's way better. We all cross but the client. Up through the alder and over the snow piles we climb. I get up to a vantage point and glass into the big timber. Brother in law Ryan is first to see him piled up 10 yards into the bush. They head his was, "what are you guys doing?" " he's dead man, let's go check him out"
It is surreal to me, I stand there for a bit letting it all sink in. As I walk up on the piled up grizzly I realize he has shrunk about 2 ft from when I saw him on the snow. Lol He is all fur, 5 inches of fluffy fur all around. He ends up being a 6 ft young boar with a great hide. I skin him out and shoulder him accross the ragging creek, didn't think to bring a frame pack. Lesson learned.
The outfitter invites us to his camp for a few drinks. We have a little party there , lol, shocker ! They like our story, " go buy a lotto ticket he says"
Thats about it for that adventure. More pics to follow once I am home, this was written from the iPhone, sorry for the auto correct and lack of proof reading. Cheers, happy holidays.

Husky7mm

12-15-2016, 12:25 PM

I forgot to mention, there was only one hole in him, the first two just tickled his brisket. The 160 gr accubond passed right through the heart and exited.

Good2bCanadian

12-15-2016, 12:29 PM

Great adventure man!

Congrats on your bear.

835

12-15-2016, 01:08 PM

that was a great read husky

Husky7mm

12-15-2016, 02:36 PM

Looks like your packing a Husky H5000.....? 7mm ?

You are correct, it's a good shooter too.

Weatherby Fan

12-15-2016, 02:51 PM

You are correct, it's a good shooter too.

I have three of them and they all shoot, congrats on the wolf and bears, great story, thanks for sharing.

Husky7mm

12-15-2016, 08:16 PM

http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd483/husky7mm/Apline%20Scenes/Predators/1B8F6D3A-276E-474A-9A47-81AC2DE21F0A_zpsyed8feuv.jpg
crappy pic though phone shortly after bear got up from nap behind snowpile

Husky7mm

12-15-2016, 08:26 PM

http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd483/husky7mm/Apline%20Scenes/Predators/4CA1AF23-37E5-401F-933C-792C31D6F37D_zps0z9h1t2g.jpg
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd483/husky7mm/Apline%20Scenes/Predators/SCAN0005.jpg

Some of you may have seen a few of the bear pics but I thought this adventure should be shared anyway. A lot less sex than a walkingslaughterhouse story but an epic adventure non the less! Some animals were harmed in the making of this story, most parts open to interpretation were left out. lol

Bear Chaser

12-15-2016, 08:54 PM

Great story and photos. Congratulations.

Rattler

12-15-2016, 09:51 PM

Beautiful hide on your bear...congrats. Thanks for sharing.

Pioneerman

12-15-2016, 09:55 PM

Great adventure, thanks for taking us along. Beauty of a bear and wolf too

"No Choke"Lord Walsingham

12-15-2016, 10:54 PM

That's an awesome Bear you got there! Beauty beast.

landphil

12-15-2016, 11:00 PM

Loved the story man, if it was your first posted here, I truly hope it's not your last. Congrats on both bears, later as it may be. Can you elaborate on the "tickled the brisket" comment? Low shots that grazed the brisket? Shooting the same bullet from the same cartridge, I've never been underwhelmed at the end results, so you've got my curiosity up.

Husky7mm

12-16-2016, 06:08 AM

Thanks every one for the kind words. Landphil the deal with the shots were that I didn't hit him 3 times, I must have just tickled the fur under his chest or maybe the sound of the bullet hitting the dirt behind him, it dropped a bit more than I thought it was going to. He was humping up but he was not struck. Had I not held higher on the last shot I may have not got that bear. It must have dropped around 18 inches, I figured as I was sighted in 2.5 inches high at 100 I could hold dead on till 350, 300 is actually more like it. This story is from 08 , long range shooting was not all the rage then. 350 used to be a pretty good poke, especially on a grizzly.

Piperdown

12-16-2016, 08:23 AM

I shoot a 7mm as well, 3 inches high at 100, 1 inch low at 300, barnes 150 gr ttsx. Great story thanks for posting.

Linksman313

12-16-2016, 09:27 AM

Great story and pics, congrats to you and all in your group for an epic hunt. Thank you for sharing1

landphil

12-16-2016, 09:52 AM

Thanks for that Husky, clears up the initial "did they bounce off?" thought that crossed my mind before rational thought took over. ;)

finaddict

12-16-2016, 01:23 PM

Great story and I love the wolf pic.!

swampthing

12-16-2016, 04:53 PM

Grizz hunts are my favorite. I to take a relaxed attitude on these hunts as well. When s..t happens its full on adrenaline!! Looks like you guys had a great adventure.

deadlyshot19

12-23-2016, 11:55 PM

Great story, thanks for sharing!

Fosey

12-24-2016, 09:23 AM

Thanks, great story.

HarryToolips

12-24-2016, 03:08 PM

Wicked story, wolf, and 2 G bears congrats..

Husky7mm

12-25-2017, 01:54 PM

Got another good grizzly hunt story I want to share. I had upgraded photo bucket last year and posting was still easy from a moble device. I guess my year is up and now the price is again much higher and I still dont know which pack mage will allow me to post full size images, rather than a link. What is the deal with imgur? Have heard many talk of using it. I tried and it was just a link and not the photo uploaded to the thread, that is not what I am looking for. Any suggestion is appreciated. A story is useless without photos imo.

IronNoggin

12-25-2017, 02:06 PM

...What is the deal with imgur? Have heard many talk of using it....

I've been advising any who ask to avoid PhotoPhucket and their ransom demands like the plague.
Crappy business that, and should be avoided if at all possible IMO.

Imgur is easy & painless.
Load your pix up on their site.
Right click on the image you want to post.
Select "Copy Image Location" (not "Link, but IMAGE)

On this or most other forums select the image icon, select "From URL" paste image location into dialogue box, make sure that the "Retrieve remote file and reference locally" is NOT checked (you will have to uncheck that) and click "OK"

Easier than it sounds, and faster than it takes to describe.

Give that a whirl, if you can't get it to work, pm me and I'll host & post them for you...

Cheers,
Nog

Husky7mm

12-25-2017, 02:18 PM

I've been advising any who ask to avoid PhotoPhucket and their ransom demands like the plague.
Crappy business that, and should be avoided if at all possible IMO.

Imgur is easy & painless.
Load your pix up on their site.
Right click on the image you want to post.
Select "Copy Image Location" (not "Link, but IMAGE)

On this or most other forums select the image icon, select "From URL" paste image location into dialogue box, make sure that the "Retrieve remote file and reference locally" is NOT checked (you will have to uncheck that) and click "OK"

Easier than it sounds, and faster than it takes to describe.

Give that a whirl, if you can't get it to work, pm me and I'll host & post them for you...

Cheers,
Nog

Thank you, how about grom an IPhone?