Bear down! I got HIM: A story two years in the making

[caddisguy]

It happened! I got the bear that charged me and tried to get me while I was sleeping. Just got back to reception and about to hit the highway.

Should have some stories and pics up a little later in the afternoon.

[338win mag]

WTF...lol...this is gonna be good, cant wait to hear it.

[landphil]

I can bearly wait...

[Fella]

I want to say that caddisguy is the resident bear expert around here

[Wild one]

Nicely done and a week earlier than I thought the first bear would go down

I would be keeping the skull to remember your history lol

[r106]

Sounds like this should be good story. Congrats on the bear

[albravo2]

AWESOME! Very happy to hear that and looking forward to the story.

[RyoTHC]

Glad you got him.
Just started seeing the little bears get active this week.. it's a damn shame I'm going away for the long weekend now I need to get my bear down, I'm falling behind !

[NChunter]

Way to go! Now hurry up and post the story!

[caddisguy]

Here comes the story. I'll have to spread it across multiple posts since it is long and there is some video and pics. I'll post up the full video in a week or two hopefully.

The backstory will be multiple repeat for some. I've probably made mention of it at least a dozen times on here, but I can't not tell it again.

April 2017:

The first time I met this bear, it was the second or third week or April 2017. I was bear hunting and after having my light clothing rained on all day, I decided I would go back and get changed so that I could be dry and comfortable throughout the evening. I was inside the jeep warming up (engine on) and changing when in the mirror I see this brown phase bear dart across the spur road about 3 yards being the vehicle. I jumped out and grabbed the rifle and saw him cruising up in the re-prod. I didn't really have a shot or time to assess the situation. I didn't know if this was going to be a 50 yard deal or a 2km deal, so I went back and turned off the car and started looking for him. I was able to find tracks here and there, but not as fast as he was making them. I called it off.

August 2017: We were camped out practicing bow. I went to go retrieve an arrow from a botched shot. I saw my arrow and shuffled down this embankment that was eroding under my feet. I ended up snapping through some sticks at the bottom. I heard some commotion in the adjacent timber. August, so it's super dry and loud. I knew it was a bear reacting to me and it's reaction wasn't to run. It sounded like it jumped up and took a few steps toward me. I grabbed the arrow and hustled back up the embankment. As I got to the top it sounds like a damn elephant flying through the timber. The bear charges out and stops where I was standing when I grabbed my arrow, huffing and stomping. I have the bear spray out, wind in my face I would have sprayed him then, but decided it was a "if he comes an inch closer" kind of deal. I slowly back out to where we're camped, maybe 50 yards away. My wife is anxiously waiting (with a shotgun I think?) "Are you okay?" ... yep, beer please !

At the time the charge didn't really bother me at all. Understandable. I surprised a bear. Maybe he had a bad day at work. No big deal. I think I might have even "called him in' to begin with. I think the sound of the arrows hitting the bull dog really target carries like a doe stomping. Anyway, crazy hot day, he cruises into the near by cover, I get too close for comfort and make a bunch of noise, he gets cranky

Checked a trailcam nearby either that weekend or one of the surrounding ones and we see him cruising by. Really neat color on him. Somewhat unique with the light brown body and dark brown legs. I actually have a night time video of him somewhere too.... it looks really distinct in black and white. I might dig it up later, but here's a color trailcam video of him


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhyWh74w7WU

More to come...

[caddisguy]

One week later (Still August 2017):

I am sleeping in the jeep. When I sleep in there I just put my seat back as far as it can go and put stuff under my feet enough so that my legs aren't making a 90 degree angle. This puts my head up against the rear plastic soft top side window. I woke up to the sound of something crunching through the reprod. Neat, there's a critter out there. Whatever, I didn't even up my eyes at that point. I'm not that interested, even though it's a bright full moon and I can see 50 yards or so. It was because the noise got closer and closer and then stopped that made me open my eyes. When I open them, this bears head is right up against mine. Only a couple inches and a thin layer of plastic in between. I think I screamed like a girl (edit: just remembered, "I said "WTF" quite loud) as I turned on the ignition. I'm not sure why but I also turned on the interior light (natural response to boogy man LOL) but that made it so I couldn't see out. I switched it back off and he was gone. I don't know which way he went either (couldn't hear because of the jeep running) ... took about an hour for the adrenaline to go away. I eventually fell asleep again, but it was one of those "light sleeps" with one eye open that happen from time to time.

Just to give an idea, here is a picture of my hand on the outside of the plastic window (where bear face was) and camera on the inside (from my point of view) ... you will see "his" face later... so you can imagine it there in place of my hand. A face I will never forget. It's burned in my mind.

https://i.imgur.com/OMSYDII.jpg

[Wild one]

Type faster lol

[caddisguy]

Late April 2018: It's bear hunting season 2018. I have had a year to think about that bear. With the combination of all that happened the year prior (walking through my camp 3 yards from my jeep running like it's no big deal, the charge, the night time window incident) I am thinking "that bear ain't right" ... I decided I'd make an effort to remove that particular bear. I'd feel a little safer and it might stop someone else from getting hurt. We put a few shifts into hunting him. One day we're sitting at camp right around 3:30pm, cooking some home made pizza sammies on the pocket rocket. I get that "we're being watched feeling", turn around and sure enough, there he is sitting up this knob about 150-200M away. There's a lot of trees in between and I am a crappy shot, especially standing / free hand, so I tried to get closer. The wind was just killing me. I'd try one approach, the wind would shift, then another approach and the wind shifts again. Decided on plan A using the old growth treeline as cover. I cut the distance a bit and tried to lay down for a prone shot off a shooting stick, but with the ground being uneven and I'm slightly down hill it wasn't going to work. Tried to get a bit closer... lay down prone again. Totally uncomfortable and practically laying in some sideways fetal position, I see the bear start to walk. He busted me, 100%. Thing about this bear is that he never runs. He walks, with a swagger... huge nuts dangling and proud. So he's climbing up the knob, I'm unsteady.... cross hairs all over the place. IF it was ANY OTHER animal (I don't care if it was 300lb 8x8 monster blacktail) I would NOT have pulled the trigger, but I threw some lead at him. My wife was watching. Didn't see where the shot went and the bear didn't really react. We climbed up to where he was and spent the evening doing a grid. Nothing.

We came back the next weekend to wait for him. We knew the little spot he likes to hang out... where this drainage terminates in a gap between some old growth and a nob. Nice little hideout with some grass. We climbed up the knob overlooking it (where he was when I took a crack at him) but he didn't show. At this point I'm thinking I'll never get that bear. Way too smart, almost cat like. We made the decision that was the last shift we'd put in looking for him and next morning we'd just shoot the first bear we saw. And that's what happened. Woke up the next morning, wiped the cobwebs out of my face, stumbled out of bed and 5 minutes later shot a different bear and then our gears shifting to fishing for the rest of spring.

[caddisguy]

That brings us to this year... Spring 2019. I'm not really even thinking too much about that bear, beyond the odd "wishful thinking" thought. We went out last weekend with no expectations for anything, let alone that bear. Just a camp-with-a-rifle type scenario. My goal this year was not to shoot anything, but try to set up my wife and/or brother for a bear. I would feel accomplishment from making it happen for someone else. Unfortunately, my wife broke on foot (damage to cartilage, tendons and broken big toe) ... kind of like a star hockey playing getting injured in the first exhibition game of the season.

We went home the next day to get her some medical attention. I figured she was done for a few weeks, but same day they tell her it's broken and to take it easy, she's already telling me we're going to be back out there the following weekend LOL. Couldn't talk her out of it, so alight then.

We headed up yesterday and got all set up at camp. She was going to sit in the jeep, do some drawings, etc with a rifle by her side in case a bear cruised by. I went out for a little walk to make my rounds. I had 3 spots I was going to poke in and out of. Decided to pick the one with the wind at my face. I noticed the grass was getting absolutely annihilated. Most patched I came across were chewed down to the ground with no brown.

I was kind of disappointed I didn't get out earlier. Maybe I would have run into the bear that munched those patches. I walk another few steps. Holy crap. 10 yards down the hill , there he is. I immediately recognize the face, then the light body and the dark legs. He's broadside munching grass. Not a clue in the world I'm there. I was tempted switch on my head cam. I didn't have it running because when I tested it earlier it only had 2 bars. In my experience that means I could have 30 seconds left, or 10 minutes left. Anyway, definitely wasn't going to risk it because 1) he could bolt or 2) he could be munching on me in short order. I brought my rifle up, scope at 5x which was a bit much. Trembling a bit, figuring out where I need to shoot, trying to get steady... BOOM. He barely reacts at all. He stops, looks around and starts walking away. Now he is downhill walking away from me. I'm panicking. I know I hit him good, but if he decides to run 100 yards through some of the thickest nastiest crap you can imagine, I am 100% on my one with only a few hours of light left. I had another one jacked in ready to go. He's downhill and facing away, so I aim for the upper back/neck area, BOOM. He goes down, but then I remember last year one I shot went down but got back up and bolted (luckily a smaller bear that I was able to track, process and pack out pretty easy) ... third round jacked in ready to go, BOOM, again.

Okay so I have just fired 3 shots in about 10 seconds (my wife might think that is SOS) so I call my wife on the radio to let her know I am okay and I got "HIM".

This seems like a good spot to pause for a few pictures before I start wrapping it up

https://i.imgur.com/KjM39k6.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Bs6R5gD.jpg

[caddisguy]

So I radio my wife to get meat pack ready and start walking back to camp. I get back to camp and expecting I was about to do all this on my own but she's ready to go, broken foot and all. You can't talk a french woman out of things. Try it LOL

https://i.imgur.com/QoF5lSY.jpg

[caddisguy]

I get busy cutting up the bear, boning it out. It didn't really go well at all. It turned out to be a hack and slash job and there was a lot of swiss cheese syndrome from shooting it 3 times. Lots of bone fragments, bullet fragments, some intestine involvement. It was a mess. I got about 70-80lbs of good meat but left a lot of damaged/contaminated stuff behind. Still a pretty big haul smells great. I was expecting this guy to be a stinky one, but I think the burgers will be excellent.

Absolutely covered in ticks though. I guess that makes sense. He hunts the same area I do

https://i.imgur.com/OY5L5NH.jpg

[brn2ryd]

Good looking bear. You can sleep soundly in your jeep now.

[whitlers]

Awesome story! Glad you were finally able to put him down! Nice bear for sure! What do you figure he measures at?

[caddisguy]

Awesome story! Glad you were finally able to put him down! Nice bear for sure! What do you figure he measures at?

No idea. I've never measured a bear or even looked into how to do it. I have a few skulls kicking around... a backlog actually. Haven't even got around to cleaning up the 2017 one. I know a lot of people will think I'm insane, but I left that bears skull with the rest of the leftovers. I feel good about it too. He might have been a trouble maker, but I think he should stay part of the landscape.

Definitely not the biggest bear, but he did have a bit of a pumpkin head thing going on. Yellow teeth and some missing too. Lots of larger bears with smaller heads cruising around.

[two-feet]

looks like a tanker! big scarred up noggin, if you got 80lbs off of a spring bear with lots of meat left at the site it was a big bear. the personal history makes it so cool

[Wild one]

That’s not too shabby especially for a colour phase and add in the history

[Jagermeister]

"swiss syndrome"....that's a good one, Don't think I have ever seen that description on here or any other forum for that matter. Good write up. Little woman seems to be quite the "la mulé" in more ways than one.LOL

[Wentrot]

Looks like a great bear! Congrats, I’m jealous of your April success!

[caddisguy]

"swiss syndrome"....that's a good one, Don't think I have ever seen that description on here or any other forum for that matter. Good write up. Little woman seems to be quite the "la mulé" in more ways than one.LOL

Oops! It was supposed to say "Swiss cheese" (ie: lots of holes) ... just edited post to make sure there are no Swiss folks that interpret it as "panicking and trigger happy" :)

[338win mag]

Great story, glad you got him!:D

[pg83]

Thanks for taking us along for the ride!

[Salty]

Haha you got em :) Way to go caddis' you guys rock. Sounds like you'll be breaking out the fly rod a little early this year, which is not a bad situation :cool: Congrats my friend you deserve it!

[338win mag]

Those ticks are creeping me out.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

You’ve got a couple keepers there......the bear and your wife!!

Cool story with all the history involved. Makes for a great story!

Congrats!!

SSS

[caddisguy]

Looks like a great bear! Congrats, I’m jealous of your April success!

It's a great time to harvest bears. No pressure to drive home the same day, most of the time anyway.

We put the meat in a 70gal rubbermaid with a tarp liner (some holes in the bottom of the rubbermaid) and then let it sit in a creek (snow run-off) for a couple hours.

Stayed up a bit until it felt nippy out, then took the container back out of the creek and put it in front of the jeep where I could keep an eye on it with some pots and pans on top to make noise.

About 1/3 of the way trimming and vacuum packing (grinding a bit too) ... the rest is in staying cool in the fridge. I don't feel any urgency to freeze it, which is good because I'm stupid tired.

[caddisguy]

Natures refrigerator... spring bear hacks 101... so you don't have to drive home same night after all the work (tarp because rubbermaid has holes in the bottom... dont want creek water on the meat, freezing cold or not)

https://i.imgur.com/cNS4EH2.jpg

[quadrakid]

Good job taking out Mr Attitude.

[caddisguy]

Haha you got em :) Way to go caddis' you guys rock. Sounds like you'll be breaking out the fly rod a little early this year, which is not a bad situation :cool: Congrats my friend you deserve it!

Heck yeah. Next weekend (which hopefully will have the Friday off for the holiday) we're just going camp... listening to chickadees, grouse drumming, frogs, nighthawks... maybe see some hummingbirds and butterflies, film some critters, have a campfire. I don't think I'll even check the trailcams. Afternoon naps.... that is another thing that will be happening. Then the fly rods are coming out!! :)

[CheesyLimper]

I've been watching this drama slowly unfold for a while now... nice to have some closure. Good stuff.

[HarryToolips]

That's great, congrats.....

[Knute]

Great to see you got that a$$hole bear.

[REMINGTON JIM]

Great Storey Glad you Gunned down the Asshole Bear ! :D RJ

[ursus]

Congrats on the early spring bear!

[northof49]

Good to give that one the dirt nap....Congrats!! Did you keep the hide or did all those ticks creep you out too much.

[albravo2]

Great story as usual Caddis, especially with the happy ending. That bear needed a dirt nap.

Caddisgirl is quite the trooper.

[dodge]

Congrats! I've been following this story since 2017, glad you finally got him!

Looking forward to hearing of your next adventures.

[IronNoggin]

Was a good run alright.
Great ending to a very interesting tale!
Getting the hide done into a rug?
Be somewhat interested in just what his skull both looks like (battle scars?) and scores.

Congrats!

Cheers,
Nog

[caddisguy]

Almost finished cutting, trimming and a little grinding. I like to get most of the fat off, but I leave some silver skin on (it's easier to slice off when frozen and helps prevent any freezer burn) ... All this helps keep it nice and tasty, even well after a year.

https://i.imgur.com/TEmxqF4.jpg

[scttlp86]

Congrats on the bear! awesome story/history to go along with it

[Spy]

Nice bear great story thanks :-)

[Rattler]

Great story!! Nice to see you close the book on this bear. Congrats and thanks for sharing.

[Arctic Lake]

Good one Caddis !
Arctic Lake

[The Hermit]

Great Story... glad you got him!

[walks with deer]

LOL awesome job getting that bear.

Problem with chasing a animal for years when you get him your like oh man its over?

[DeepJeep]

Great best and even better story. Congrats

[caddisguy]

LOL awesome job getting that bear.

Problem with chasing a animal for years when you get him your like oh man its over?

I am still in the "Oh man... it's over !!! Thank goodness, what a relief" phase.

I'm already thinking about blacktails. It's never over with those guys. I'm not even sure I have gotten started with them LOL

[Rob Chipman]

Nice job! I saw that on Facebook this weekend but didn't know it was you. Cool looking bear, and it looks like a not bad size. I've never got a spring bear - how was the fat? Much? Not much?

[caddisguy]

Nice job! I saw that on Facebook this weekend but didn't know it was you. Cool looking bear, and it looks like a not bad size. I've never got a spring bear - how was the fat? Much? Not much?

It was either the most or second most fat I have seen on a spring bear. I was joking around with my wife that he opted to stay awake and gobble up some of those elusive Region 2 moose over the mild / delayed / short winter. Also the first year that we didn't see a bunch of moose sign around there.

[RiverOtter]

Good job Caddis. Always nice when a human aggressive bear has his reign ended. Good chance you saved someone else a bunch of future grief.

[Morethanonebridge]

Nice story Caddi, thanks!

[aamenta]

Nice work buddy, it's good you took that bear out!

Thanks for the story and I hope your wife has a speedy recovery.

[BrookTrout]

Good read! And a nice looking bear! Glad you got him in the end!

[sawmill]

Nice story and a fine looking critter, love the colour.!

[weatherby_man]

Great bear, and greater story! Congrats.

[caddisguy]

So I am having second thoughts about the skull (rotting head as it stands now)

I might go back for it. Trouble I moved the scene into the thick stuff.

I remember I did this a few years back. I went back to check the scene and grabbed the skull, but it was left mid May to late June. It was picked clean and chewed up. I had to find the pieces and glue stuff back together. Other than rodent poop it wasn't too nasty.

This time (a week later in April) I imagine it will be peak-rot and I'll have to go in there with a saw and go to town on it.

And it's going to be a bit scary since it's in the thick and I can't see to far around me while I am working... not dry either so I won't be able to hear anything coming. I'll be by myself to boot. Something might be close by guarding it.

Any tips? Make a bunch of noise, fire a few shots? Nose plugs?

[Wild one]

Do you have any screechers or bottle rockets or bear bangers :-P

next time bring it out to start lol

[Ohwildwon]

So I am having second thoughts about the skull (rotting head as it stands now)

I might go back for it. Trouble I moved the scene into the thick stuff.

I remember I did this a few years back. I went back to check the scene and grabbed the skull, but it was left mid May to late June. It was picked clean and chewed up. I had to find the pieces and glue stuff back together. Other than rodent poop it wasn't too nasty.

This time (a week later in April) I imagine it will be peak-rot and I'll have to go in there with a saw and go to town on it.

And it's going to be a bit scary since it's in the thick and I can't see to far around me while I am working... not dry either so I won't be able to hear anything coming. I'll be by myself to boot. Something might be close by guarding it.

Any tips? Make a bunch of noise, fire a few shots? Nose plugs?

Congrats man! Way to go!

To funny, I was just about to also comment, "you left the skull"?

Glad you came around on that. Polish that baby up and put it some where front and center.

Great hunting story, hopefully you add to it with a ghost tail :wink:

[caddisguy]

Do you have any screechers or bottle rockets or bear bangers :-P

next time bring it out to start lol

I wish! I haven't had fire crackers or bottle rockets since I was a teenager.

Now that I'm old I'm always tempted to try to confiscate them from kids on the street.

"What the heck you boys think yer doing out here, hand those things over or yer gonna git it"

I guess I'll go in with a mission impossible theme song in my head, a gun, saw, garbage bag and a "can-do" attitude.

No guarantee I'll be able to recovery it, but figure I'll give it a shot since I am in the area. I'll shout a little bit and fire off a few shots.

If all goes well I got a big pot so I'll skin it out, then let it sim-low next to a campfire to cook up the rot so it doesn't stink as much (no lectures on skull care at this point please LOL)

[ErKu]

Great story thanks for sharing!

[Wild one]

I wish! I haven't had fire crackers or bottle rockets since I was a teenager.

Now that I'm old I'm always tempted to try to confiscate them from kids on the street.

"What the heck you boys think yer doing out here, hand those things over or yer gonna git it"

I guess I'll go in with a mission impossible theme song in my head, a gun, saw, garbage bag and a "can-do" attitude.

No guarantee I'll be able to recovery it, but figure I'll give it a shot since I am in the area. I'll shout a little bit and fire off a few shots.

If all goes well I got a big pot so I'll skin it out, then let it sim-low next to a campfire to cook up the rot so it doesn't stink as much (no lectures on skull care at this point please LOL)


You don’t dumby tax teenage kids for firecrackers and booze at Halloween?I thought everyone did this :lol::lol:

I would not worry too much throw rocks and listen before heading in you should be good no point wasting ammo

[Salty]

I'm away this w e or I'd offer to help caddis. I think if it was me I'd slowly approach with Rob Zombie playing as loud as my phone could go. Slow and steady with a swagger, bashing and waving saplings as I go. Throw out a few Chuck Norris one liners and you should be golden. And ya go with nose plugs. lol

Its been pretty cold bro, snow line back down to half way up the mountains this end of the valley it might not be too nasty. Hopefully a martin or two and a half dozen ravens have gone to town. I've been in on a few spring bears and checked gut piles a few days later and no sign of big preds on it. There's so much forage springing out I think the chances of another bear coming for it are low. Bring your rifle tho. haha

[caddisguy]

I'm away this w e or I'd offer to help caddis. I think if it was me I'd slowly approach with Rob Zombie playing as loud as my phone could go. Slow and steady with a swagger, bashing and waving saplings as I go. Throw out a few Chuck Norris one liners and you should be golden. And ya go with nose plugs. lol

Its been pretty cold bro, snow line back down to half way up the mountains this end of the valley it might not be too nasty. Hopefully a martin or two and a half dozen ravens have gone to town. I've been in on a few spring bears and checked gut piles a few days later and no sign of big preds on it. There's so much forage springing out I think the chances of another bear coming for it are low. Bring your rifle tho. haha

Thanks Salty. It would be nice to have you there. I know the one thing that will make a bear hesitant is a crowd. Too bad about the timing. Little 150 lb caddisguy solo, smelling like fear and crouched over carcass distracted is somewhere between a snowshoe hare and a turkey on the intimidation scale.

I suspect there will have been other bears on it. That has been the cause in previous years, albeit usually later in May. In 2017 I took a pretty big guy out of that area. I tossed the carcass down a huge hollow stump. I went up a week later and something managed to haul it out and and eat most of it up. Only way I was able to find it was because there was a long trail of intestine to guide me. It was straight and hardened like rope, which tells me it was dragged off within the first couple days. My hope is that it is mostly eaten already and not worth guarding. It could be that, or completely untouched or anything in between.

Still a chance I might talk myself out of it too. The "this is is kind of a dumb idea man. Is it really worth it?" is being pretty persistent.

I'll probably just head out, put myself back in the general area, feel out the vibes and go with my gut.

[Salty]

That's interesting caddis. Ya I guess I should have qualified that island bears is what I was referring to and they are much less mammal eaters than the mainland bruins for sure I wasn't thinking that angle. Be safe and keep in mind there's always next weekend or whatever.

[45freezer]

Man, finally got a chance to sit down and read your write up...the story of moby dick came to mind more than once. Super happy that you were finally able to finish that chapter...was going to say I give it until mid May before you go back for the skull, I see you already may have changed your mind though lol...I think you subconsciously do this now to avoid having to hide buckets from caddisgirl and the stink of fresh maceration. From what I gather if you are going to macerate it I wouldn't try to boil the rot off first, just let the bacteria keep working at it in your maceration water, boiling it will kill most of it and probably slow down the process. You get much condensation inside the tarp from that creek trick or did the meat stay pretty dry? Just say the word and I'll bring my son up this weekend, he has a talent for scaring off every bear in the area :lol:

[snipersights]

Man the adrenaline rush you must have had waking up to him just rubbing face to face.

[ursusbait]

So I am having second thoughts about the skull (rotting head as it stands now)

I might go back for it. Trouble I moved the scene into the thick stuff.

I remember I did this a few years back. I went back to check the scene and grabbed the skull, but it was left mid May to late June. It was picked clean and chewed up. I had to find the pieces and glue stuff back together. Other than rodent poop it wasn't too nasty.

This time (a week later in April) I imagine it will be peak-rot and I'll have to go in there with a saw and go to town on it.

And it's going to be a bit scary since it's in the thick and I can't see to far around me while I am working... not dry either so I won't be able to hear anything coming. I'll be by myself to boot. Something might be close by guarding it.

Any tips? Make a bunch of noise, fire a few shots? Nose plugs?


You have the best posts! lmao. What a story, I followed it for years. Congratulations! Thank you for taking the time to post the way you do, they are a great read every time. May the MRS. heal fast.

[BStrachan]

Congrats on getting the bear that wanted to eat you!

[caddisguy]

I recovered the skull without incident. I don't think any large preds were hitting on the carcass. It actually didn't smell half bad. I'll post up pics of the finished product when I get around to it, but I think for now it's going in the freezer.

[caddisguy]

Haven't had much time to edit the full video together, but figured I would toss up a little trailer


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRTzjXEA2L8

[Rock&Ice]

Good bear, story and video. Nice work.