Harvest the Land
09-20-2021, 02:54 PM
Well things didn't quite start off as planned, as it was a nightmare getting out of the lower wasteland late Friday because of "Rainageddon" as folks forgot how to drive in the rain and we didn't get to our hunting spot until very late. I've come to learn that I'm just not as good of a hunter when exhausted, so when the 3:30am alarm went off, I did the unthinkable and hit the snooze button, and kept hitting the snooze button until I ended up just turning off the alarm entirely, and didn't get up until 7:00am. Because I basically can only hunt on weekends and have such limited time to be out in the field actually hunting, I was a little disappointed about having slept in. But I quickly got over it while breathing the crisp fall air and sipping on a coffee getting my gear together. And at least I was rested and ready to kill something legal.
Usually I hunt solo, but the wife tagged along this time and boy was I ever glad she did (she's a big girl who can haul a lot of weight). Left the truck around 9am and started what was anticipated to be our 2 hour hike up hill to a new high spot I wanted to check out and get a good vantage point of the area. A few quads and jeeps passed us as we were walking up the old deactivated/sketchy quad road - always love the look on their faces when they drive by and see hunters actually two stepping it (but I digress). So, given all the traffic on the side roads, we were figuring the area was getting plenty of pressure and it reinforced our plan to get as far away as possible.
About an hour into the hike as we gain elevation, while walking I start glassing pretty thoroughly into spots where I've seen or killed animals in the past. One spot was into this giant swamp that used to have a ton of water in it, was now reduced to a small pond in the back corner was mostly hidden from the average Joe driving his quad on the old quad road. I told my wife as we were glassing into the swamp that I thought we might actually be able to walk through the swamp because of how dry it was this summer. Didn't see anything, so we started carrying on with our hike up hill, but before that I stopped once again to glass through a different patch of timber into that same swamp, but from a different vantage point. Sure enough I see something big and black moseying its way to that small remaining pond of swamp water - BEAR! Quickly look for cubs and nada. Ok, we're in business!
Now because that swamp had almost completely dried up, I decided to make my stalk through the swamp, rather than walking around the edge of it, and wind was just perfect and it was howling. So we quickly made our way down the hill, through the timber and to the edge of the swamp. Problem was, in our haste to get down there, we didn't realize how tall the grass in the swamp was and could not see the bear from where we were. Wife made her way back uphill to get a vantage point and confirm that he was still there, and I then proceeded to close the 500+ yard gap to the bear. I still couldn't see him or the small body of water, but knew the general direction. Was so relieved to confirm the swamp was dry and after about 50 yards bushwhacking through the tall grass, I eventually found an awesome trail that basically led straight to the watering hole where the bear was; it also made for a much easier, quieter and quicker stalk (although the wind was so awesome it didn't matter how noisy I was).
I close to within what I estimated to be 100 yards of where I thought he was, but still couldn't see him because of the tall grass. But I could now see the water. I tried glassing back to see if my wife could give me instructions from the hill side but couldn't understand what the heck she was trying to tell me with her hand signals. So I kept sneaking my way on this trail until I was starting to get concerned of the wind possibly swirling and getting winded. Didn't even know if the bear was still there at this point, so I decided to slowly stand up a bit to see above the grass, and sure enough I spot the top of his back still in the same spot. To make matters worse, he was actually in a little bit of a low spot where the ground dropped a few feet, so that's why I couldn't see him. So I inched my way about another 20 yards or so, to where I could see the top of him really well, but the problem I had was I was trying to get my shooting sticks (I just use regular downhill ski poles with the Wiser Quickstix) setup where I could rest my Tikka so that it was above the tall grass and get a good shot. While I was f-ing around with these shooting sticks, right at that moment, sure enough the wind swirled and I was staring right at the bear when this happened. He instantly stood on his hind legs and was able to pick me out in the tall grass instantly. I didn't move, hoping that he would go back to sipping water, but he didn't get old by being lackadaisical around humans. As soon as he realized what I was, he didn't think twice and started bolting back to the timber. At that point I said f-ck the shooting sticks and stood up, shouldered the rifle and got the crosshairs on him, just hoping he would stop like a mule deer and look back and give me a second chance (I've had more than one bear do this in the past). Sure enough, he only ran maybe 30 or 40 yards and stopped and looked back, and as he did, he just so happened to do so from a broadside position slightly quartering away - the absolute best shot for a bear. There was a small patch of willow or buffalo berry bush in front of him, but I said screw it and squeezed trigger, as he was basically standing in the perfect position. And to my delight he friggin' dropped in the spot he was standing! I couldn't believe it, as just about every bear I've shot almost always does some kind of 360 and usually runs a ways and usually have to track him. I quickly reloaded and waiting for him to get back up. He raised his head briefly and an arm I think, but he just fell back down and I heard the death moan.
Looked back to see if my wife saw what had just transpired. She had made her way down almost to the edge of swamp and was jumping up and down. She told me that she actually could no longer see me in the tall grass, but she could totally see the bear the whole time. She saw him stand up and bust me and run away, and the she saw him drop. She didn't hear the gun shot (cause it was so windy) until after she saw the bear drop. And to my disappointment, she didn't even see me just make the longest off hand kill shot on any animal (just over 100 yards). Not only that, the shot entered exactly where I aimed, right behind the front shoulder and it stopped against the hide on the other side right behind the far shoulder. Obliterated the lungs. Bullet mushroomed perfectly (unfortunately I lost it in the field dressing process otherwise I would post a pic of it). It was awesome that the bear dropped, because there was literally not a spec of blood anywhere on the outside of the hide or on the ground. If he had ran into the timber, it would have been an insanely difficult process to track him down because he did not bleed externally at all. He bled internally because the bullet didn't exit. So good thing that Barnes TTSX 168gr bullet did the job or it might not have turned out so well. That's why tracking bears can be so challenging - if there's no exit hole, well good luck! Was shooting a Tikka T3 .308 by the way.
After I heard the death moan, I quickly made my way back to where the wife was to grab field dressing tools and we walked back to where the bear was. This was one of the only times that I can remember that I've got to a downed bear, only to realize he was even bigger than I thought.
https://i.imgur.com/LGmv5uU.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Mq1nVN0.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/m1VSSCA.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ybSIDs2.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/VYQlwrx.jpg
We were a good 4km+ from the truck and didn't end up getting everything, and I mean everything including all bones (even the spine and pelvis), at least 8 or so big ziploc bags of fat, hide, all organs (the liver alone weighed 7lbs), all meat and hide, back to the truck and all loaded up until 11pm or so. Back and knees are still feeling it, but its a good kind of pain. It was my fav kind of hunting conditions, not too hot or cold, awesome wind, cloudy but nice patches of sun and blue sky poked through from time to time. I absolutely love fall!
It was great to immerse myself in the wild animal universe again. I am so grateful that this gorgeous, healthy, still full of life, big boar gave his life so that I can feed my family. I have so much admiration and respect for these big brutes - just how smart they are to be able to elude the army of hunters in this area is simply astounding.
Cherish the moments when things go your way, because as most hunters in BC will know, that's almost always not the case.
Good luck to all hunters this fall. I hope you can all take some time get away from all the BS of our busy lives and divisive politics and immerse yourselves in the wild animal universe - its so good for the soul
Usually I hunt solo, but the wife tagged along this time and boy was I ever glad she did (she's a big girl who can haul a lot of weight). Left the truck around 9am and started what was anticipated to be our 2 hour hike up hill to a new high spot I wanted to check out and get a good vantage point of the area. A few quads and jeeps passed us as we were walking up the old deactivated/sketchy quad road - always love the look on their faces when they drive by and see hunters actually two stepping it (but I digress). So, given all the traffic on the side roads, we were figuring the area was getting plenty of pressure and it reinforced our plan to get as far away as possible.
About an hour into the hike as we gain elevation, while walking I start glassing pretty thoroughly into spots where I've seen or killed animals in the past. One spot was into this giant swamp that used to have a ton of water in it, was now reduced to a small pond in the back corner was mostly hidden from the average Joe driving his quad on the old quad road. I told my wife as we were glassing into the swamp that I thought we might actually be able to walk through the swamp because of how dry it was this summer. Didn't see anything, so we started carrying on with our hike up hill, but before that I stopped once again to glass through a different patch of timber into that same swamp, but from a different vantage point. Sure enough I see something big and black moseying its way to that small remaining pond of swamp water - BEAR! Quickly look for cubs and nada. Ok, we're in business!
Now because that swamp had almost completely dried up, I decided to make my stalk through the swamp, rather than walking around the edge of it, and wind was just perfect and it was howling. So we quickly made our way down the hill, through the timber and to the edge of the swamp. Problem was, in our haste to get down there, we didn't realize how tall the grass in the swamp was and could not see the bear from where we were. Wife made her way back uphill to get a vantage point and confirm that he was still there, and I then proceeded to close the 500+ yard gap to the bear. I still couldn't see him or the small body of water, but knew the general direction. Was so relieved to confirm the swamp was dry and after about 50 yards bushwhacking through the tall grass, I eventually found an awesome trail that basically led straight to the watering hole where the bear was; it also made for a much easier, quieter and quicker stalk (although the wind was so awesome it didn't matter how noisy I was).
I close to within what I estimated to be 100 yards of where I thought he was, but still couldn't see him because of the tall grass. But I could now see the water. I tried glassing back to see if my wife could give me instructions from the hill side but couldn't understand what the heck she was trying to tell me with her hand signals. So I kept sneaking my way on this trail until I was starting to get concerned of the wind possibly swirling and getting winded. Didn't even know if the bear was still there at this point, so I decided to slowly stand up a bit to see above the grass, and sure enough I spot the top of his back still in the same spot. To make matters worse, he was actually in a little bit of a low spot where the ground dropped a few feet, so that's why I couldn't see him. So I inched my way about another 20 yards or so, to where I could see the top of him really well, but the problem I had was I was trying to get my shooting sticks (I just use regular downhill ski poles with the Wiser Quickstix) setup where I could rest my Tikka so that it was above the tall grass and get a good shot. While I was f-ing around with these shooting sticks, right at that moment, sure enough the wind swirled and I was staring right at the bear when this happened. He instantly stood on his hind legs and was able to pick me out in the tall grass instantly. I didn't move, hoping that he would go back to sipping water, but he didn't get old by being lackadaisical around humans. As soon as he realized what I was, he didn't think twice and started bolting back to the timber. At that point I said f-ck the shooting sticks and stood up, shouldered the rifle and got the crosshairs on him, just hoping he would stop like a mule deer and look back and give me a second chance (I've had more than one bear do this in the past). Sure enough, he only ran maybe 30 or 40 yards and stopped and looked back, and as he did, he just so happened to do so from a broadside position slightly quartering away - the absolute best shot for a bear. There was a small patch of willow or buffalo berry bush in front of him, but I said screw it and squeezed trigger, as he was basically standing in the perfect position. And to my delight he friggin' dropped in the spot he was standing! I couldn't believe it, as just about every bear I've shot almost always does some kind of 360 and usually runs a ways and usually have to track him. I quickly reloaded and waiting for him to get back up. He raised his head briefly and an arm I think, but he just fell back down and I heard the death moan.
Looked back to see if my wife saw what had just transpired. She had made her way down almost to the edge of swamp and was jumping up and down. She told me that she actually could no longer see me in the tall grass, but she could totally see the bear the whole time. She saw him stand up and bust me and run away, and the she saw him drop. She didn't hear the gun shot (cause it was so windy) until after she saw the bear drop. And to my disappointment, she didn't even see me just make the longest off hand kill shot on any animal (just over 100 yards). Not only that, the shot entered exactly where I aimed, right behind the front shoulder and it stopped against the hide on the other side right behind the far shoulder. Obliterated the lungs. Bullet mushroomed perfectly (unfortunately I lost it in the field dressing process otherwise I would post a pic of it). It was awesome that the bear dropped, because there was literally not a spec of blood anywhere on the outside of the hide or on the ground. If he had ran into the timber, it would have been an insanely difficult process to track him down because he did not bleed externally at all. He bled internally because the bullet didn't exit. So good thing that Barnes TTSX 168gr bullet did the job or it might not have turned out so well. That's why tracking bears can be so challenging - if there's no exit hole, well good luck! Was shooting a Tikka T3 .308 by the way.
After I heard the death moan, I quickly made my way back to where the wife was to grab field dressing tools and we walked back to where the bear was. This was one of the only times that I can remember that I've got to a downed bear, only to realize he was even bigger than I thought.
https://i.imgur.com/LGmv5uU.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Mq1nVN0.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/m1VSSCA.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ybSIDs2.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/VYQlwrx.jpg
We were a good 4km+ from the truck and didn't end up getting everything, and I mean everything including all bones (even the spine and pelvis), at least 8 or so big ziploc bags of fat, hide, all organs (the liver alone weighed 7lbs), all meat and hide, back to the truck and all loaded up until 11pm or so. Back and knees are still feeling it, but its a good kind of pain. It was my fav kind of hunting conditions, not too hot or cold, awesome wind, cloudy but nice patches of sun and blue sky poked through from time to time. I absolutely love fall!
It was great to immerse myself in the wild animal universe again. I am so grateful that this gorgeous, healthy, still full of life, big boar gave his life so that I can feed my family. I have so much admiration and respect for these big brutes - just how smart they are to be able to elude the army of hunters in this area is simply astounding.
Cherish the moments when things go your way, because as most hunters in BC will know, that's almost always not the case.
Good luck to all hunters this fall. I hope you can all take some time get away from all the BS of our busy lives and divisive politics and immerse yourselves in the wild animal universe - its so good for the soul