One hog of a bear down, and Landphil’s loosing streak is over...

[landphil]

Thanks to my shift work, I had today, err, make that yesterday, off work. With decent weather, it was a toss-up between going bear hunting or fishing as I planned out my day. Starting out the morning with a bad case of “I no wannas” didn’t help, and since loading the quad is easier than loading a boat, motor, and all the other gear, laziness won out and bear hunting was the choice. But hey, let’s be realistic. A quad ride is about all I was going for, lower some stress levels and be socially distant. I’ve hunted my butt off the last few years, but haven’t cut a tag since 2014 IIRC. Some times my fault, some times crappy circumstances. Why would today (oh wait, that’s yesterday now) be any different?

I decided to try a new area along some power lines that are growing nice green grass, and within a half hour of leaving the truck I spotted a distant bear while glassing...

[landphil]

Lone bear, no cubs in sight, wind in my favour. Gotta like that. Rough guess is that it was 1.5 km away, so I closed a bunch of that distance on the quad, and started hiking. The more I hiked, the further it looked, and due to terrain I’d lost sight of the beast.

Then I discovered a large gully between here and there and no direct trail, so I headed back to the bike to make quicker work of things. A check of the map showed a road that zig-zagged away from the hydro lines and joined up on the other side of the gully. That turned out to be a bust, thanks to a large washout. All other routes to were I wanted to go were a significant detour via the main road. I’d pretty much made up my mind to hunt where I was, and leave that bear alone, but a couple fun-loving guys came roaring through on sporty, loud ORV’s, drifting the corners... Not going to find a bear with them around.

I ripped back to my truck, loaded the quad, made the detour, unloaded again, and found my way to the transmission line once again. It didn’t take long to find a heap of crap that made my boot look small, but no bear where I’d seen it.

https://i.imgur.com/3gO9ZSM.jpg
https://imgur.com/3gO9ZSM
https://imgur.com/a/aq9rWk2https://imgur.com/a/aq9rWk2

But at least it was peaceful on that side, and I decided to find a vantage point and eat my Subway supper. Ha. Or so I thought. Took all of 30 seconds to spot fur, a loner, lazy, as he lay in the grass, scooting himself along on his belly as he ate.

Wind check. Mostly good, but a bit of swirling. Range check. He’s out about 550 yds. I make a plan of attack, and put the boots to work. 350 yds. Getting better. Still wanting a better angle, and closer is gooder, right? Now down to 190 yds. Decent angle, nice dirt bank to set the bipod on. I calm down, rifle is steady, but remember when I said he was a lazy bear? Yup, he’s laying down, feeding in circles. No boiler room opportunity. I briefly consider a head shot, but no. He finally stands up, but guess what? He’s facing straight away from me, and yup, lying down again. He’s a decent size, that’s becoming apparent. The wait goes on, he’s oblivious to me, so... And then it happens, he’s up, turns broadside, the Savage .338WM barks, sending the 250gr Accubond for a quick visit...

[landphil]

He bolts for the trees, and I can already tell it’s thick, nasty stuff. He looked like he was hit as he made the two hurried strides out of sight. I take note of the reference points of where he ducked for cover, texted my wife and my buddy, retrieved the quad. I can get it right down to where he was, that’s good. 20 minutes has passed, and daylight is waisting by now, as I pulled the trigger at 8:15 PM

Time to go looking. I found his “burnout” marks from heavy acceleration, giving away the angle he went, and after a few moments of careful bushwhacking, there he is 20 yds away.


https://i.imgur.com/uEX9kCJ.jpg


A few minutes with the axe and I’ve got a trail brushed out, and dragged him to within reach of the quad.


https://i.imgur.com/T5HsBtT.jpg

He was tough to load solo - I cut a couple poles as ramps onto the rear rack, and although they were a very shallow angle it was all I could do to roll him onto the rack. I got home about midnight, and by 3:38 AM (I thought it was funny) all the meat was off the carcass and cooling.

https://i.imgur.com/uWMsXl1.jpg

[HarryToolips]

Good on ya....looking forward to the rest...

[weekender7]

I hope it doesn't take that long to process the meat. The edge of this seat you now have me perched on is not that comfortable. Sitting by for "the rest of the story".

[weatherby_man]

Great to hear, lets see that bruiser...

[Fella]

Looking forward to the story!

[REMINGTON JIM]

To be continued...

BasT*ad :shock: lol RJ

[landphil]

BasT*ad :shock: lol RJ

Meanie! I’m telling...

[landphil]

Part 2 and 3 are up.

[Rattler]

Nice work, sounds like a good bear!

[caddisguy]

Wow that is one heck of an awesome story... a spot and a long journey just to get there and have it check out. I've never experienced that sort of action in my hunting career.

Fading light, getting the carcass cool... you know the priorities and navigate through the tasks at hand.

What kind of sub was it? LOL ... meatball is my go to.

I will PM you my email so we can get pics up.

[caddisguy]

You got the pics to work! Awesome!!

That is a beautiful bear and nice size to boot. I love the color.

Congratulations!! Great write up. Felt like I was there. Thank you!!

[caddisguy]

Edit: pics on original posts are working now

[caddisguy]

Edit: pics on original posts are working now

[adriaticum]

Nice work landphil, congrats on a great bear!

[quadrakid]

Bear down,well done. Looks to be a good size bruin.

[dmaxtech]

Not seeing the pics.

[lakelander]

I can't see the pics either...was it a ghost? lol

[landphil]

I think I got the pics working again. Hopefully they stay.

[weatherby_man]

I really want to see this bear but I cant see the pics either.

[landphil]

I really want to see this bear but I cant see the pics either.

Still?? Auurgh!

[REMINGTON JIM]

Congrats on a Nice Bear there Bud - Decent sized too ! ;-) Thought you might 0have used the old 300 Savage ! lol RJ



Pics are ALL there ! :biggrin:

[landphil]

Well, I signed up for an imgur account, since google photos didn't seen to be playing nice with HBC, at least not for all of us, and re-posted the pics in the original posts.

Thanks for the comments guys. Caddisguy, the sub was my go-to, an Italian BMT. LOL. RJ, no, I needed first-hand proof that a .338WM would kill something. I was starting to have my doubts. LOL.

[twoSevenO]

Pics are visible for me. Beauty bear. well done.
Did you measure him yet?

https://i.imgur.com/uWMsXl1.jpg

[landphil]

Pics are visible for me. Beauty bear. well done.
Did you measure him yet?


No, I haven’t. With small rub visible in his first pic, and being pressed for time I didn’t take any case skinning, so the hide won’t be saved. But I will lay it out and tape it.

[weekender7]

Good read and pics, mighty fine bear. CONGRATS.

[IronNoggin]

Nice tale, and nice sized boar!
Shame on the hide. That color would have looked awesome as a rug methinks.
Enjoy the grits!

And many thanks for sharing!

Cheers,
Nog

[landphil]

So I’m getting 68” nose to tail, and 81” front claw to front claw. 68+81 / 2 = 74.5”. Solo measurements, so I tugged on the hide every which way before measuring, but not during.

Got a couple more pics I’ll put up in a bit.

[weatherby_man]

Ok I see them now, before it was just the line through the circle thingy. Awesome bruin!!!!! Was worth the wait :)....

[landphil]

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

https://i.imgur.com/e0NJgGm.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/BvF3idF.jpg

[Ron.C]

Love that colour. Awesome bear

[AlpineStalker]

Beauty Bear! Congrats! I was just going to see if you had photos of his head and you just posted some.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Finally had a chance to sit down and read your story.

Beautiful bear Phil!! Love the colour and the thickness through his front end!!
To me that’s a sure sign of an older boar and it shows up in his paw to paw measurement.
Damn rubs.

Congrats and thanks for sharing!!!

SSS

[bigredchev]

shes a beauty. thanks for sharing

[landphil]

Thanks fellows! I’m pretty stoked, both with this bear and that my 6 year dry spell has ended.

I came up with 260 lbs dry weight, “as shipped” by weighing coolers full of meat, the head and hide, and the skeleton. Makes me guess 300-325 lbs live weight.

[nature girl]

Very nice bear and beautiful color. Way to go of getting it done solo. Should be great eating. Thanks for posting. I think your name should be 338 landphil.

[Retiredguy]

Decent bear and great colour. Congrats!

[walks with deer]

great job thanks for posting.

[tigrr]

Ya nice color, too bad about the rub. I need to fill a void in my freezer soon. I have never saved a hide yet. I do enjoy bear meat though.
Thanks for the pics and the story.

[Squamch]

Awesome bear!

[snowballs]

Nice job. Congratulations and thanks for sharing a great story.

[tomahawk]

Thats the way to break your dry spell. If you cleaned the skull would like to see the pumpkin size?

[landphil]

Thats the way to break your dry spell. If you cleaned the skull would like to see the pumpkin size?

Skull will be getting done up, for sure.

[fuzzybiscuit]

Congrats on the bear Landphil! It’s a dandy for sure and thanks for taking the time to post up some pictures. That’s one of the things the forum is missing these days. Cheers.

[lovemywinchester]

Hes a slob! Nice work.

[Bugle M In]

Congrats....nice bear.

[Rob Chipman]

That pic of the bear on the quad makes me think "One hog of a bear!" Great colour too. And..."closer is gooder"? Truer words never spoken imho! Nice work!