When to pass up a bear?

[elkdom]

Bear hunting,saturday and sunday,region7-20, saturday check out area south of my home, bears all over! 4 mature solitary grizzlies,three black bears,mature solitary, and one sow with 2 cubs,last year models, no grizz tag,so looking for large blackie! all solitary blackies are in 5, 5 1/2 foot category,so its head for home about 9;30 pm come over hill elk all over oil lease road, 8 of them,all bulls and least of antlers is small 3x3,some are 4x4 already and about 28/30 inch main beams,thats it home it is now! Sunday lawn mowing and a late start leave home 4 pm,back south into 7-20, 25klms in see one blackie,about 5ft,good by keep going, see another color phase bear,real nice cinamon blonde,again about 5 footer real nice shape tho!!stalk within 30 yards but I pass on him.carry on about 30 mins later wow! big blackie! make silent stalk get 30 yards away and this bear is just awsome! about 3 ft at shoulder and well over 6 footer! the bear knows im there but seems unconcerned,I take some pics look at bear all the angles,nice coat,but I pass him up! let him wander away,so i head into the wind,west this time start down lease road,not 500 yds away GRIZZ !!! wow huge Grizz and whats that she has 2 cubs from last year! I dig for camra,trying to keep eyes on mamma grizz,they all stand up on rear legs and sniff the air,they cant get my wind but they see me! mamma walks about 20 feet on hind legs,what a sight! mamma makes a woof ! woof and off they go ! I waitkeeping watch down a cut line to my left,maybe ill see them go that way,suddenly another blackie comes out of bush,somethings wrong with him,he's limping real bad,cant lift front left leg,I look thru my binoc's he's only about 80/100 yds down cut line,then I see he's bleeding bad from shoulder and front legs and neck area, Im sure he was mauled by mamma Grizz just before I saw him, Ok now I think it's time to vacate the area,two black bears,one injured,3 grizzlies.one very large mamma and two cubs about 150 pounds each,enuf bears for one day! I walked back to my truck and called it a day! Ill post pic of blackie I passed up about 20 mins before 3 Grizz encounter! check out the heart on his chest!

[Gateholio]

I pass them up when they are on a steep slope, downhill from me.:smile:

[elkdom]

Here's some pics of mamma Grizz tracks in mud. compare to my camo cap! front paw pads 8 inches wide,rear foot was 13 inches long heel to toe,not including claws, I couldnt get pics of mamma grizz and cubs,i was looking into sunset,just got big blurr on pics!

[BigBanger]

Sounds like a great day . I passed on a large black bear on the coast this weekend , not sure why though . He was walking along a old road . I sat there with the safty off for 5 min or so and watched him walk away .I just wasent feeling it . Not sure if a wimped out or what . Just dident happen .Gonna go back and try it again this weekend .

[Mr. Dean]

I've ony had 3 GOOD days of hunting. Of that, I've passed on two shooters.
I need to drop one, and SOON!

That's an impressive track. 9+ footer G-Bear. Cool.

[elkdom]

It's not just about killing a bear,hunting them learning thier habits,what they do, how they react,I find that bears are for me the most amusing of big game,they have such personal habits,and I have killed many over the years,but some years I just get into being with them,from what numbers of bears i'm seeing this spring, there is going to be some trouble this summer,zone 7-20 is supporting huge numbers of grizzly,yet only a couple of LEH allotments,black bears are prolific,so mix bears with surveyors,tree planters and hunters come August 15,I think bears will be in the news!

[Mr. Dean]

It's not just about killing a bear,hunting them learning thier habits,what they do, how they react,I find that bears are for me the most amusing of big game,they have such personal habits,and I have killed many over the years,but some years I just get into being with them,from what numbers of bears i'm seeing this spring, there is going to be some trouble this summer,zone 7-20 is supporting huge numbers of grizzly,yet only a couple of LEH allotments,black bears are prolific,so mix bears with surveyors,tree planters and hunters come August 15,I think bears will be in the news!

More the reason to get on with hunting them. Save the looky-loo stuff for humming birds.

I do hear what you're saying. Something about bears that has always captivated me... But, it's time to get on with it. :wink:

[3kills]

i have shot one bear so far but i have passed on severl especailly since i shot my bear...a bear to me has to get my heart a pumpin and i have to say to myself that a big flippin bear..and then i wanna try to make a move on it...

[hunter1947]

I will shoot a bear when I am within a hundred yards of it then I can see it better and make a call on it if it is the bear of my dreams. Then if I think he is around a 7 footer I would take him. I don't shoot bears usually but I carry a bear tag just incase I see one that will be the one I want in a life time.

[tomahawk]

It's not just about killing a bear,hunting them learning thier habits,what they do, how they react,I find that bears are for me the most amusing of big game,they have such personal habits,and I have killed many over the years,but some years I just get into being with them,from what numbers of bears i'm seeing this spring, there is going to be some trouble this summer,zone 7-20 is supporting huge numbers of grizzly,yet only a couple of LEH allotments,black bears are prolific,so mix bears with surveyors,tree planters and hunters come August 15,I think bears will be in the news!

That to me is what hunting is all about. I have done a stalk on many bears with my bow, get to shooting range so I know that I did everything right, draw the string and let them continue on with life!

[BiG Boar]

I just got my peperoni back....game on, as I have a second tag.

[kennyj]

Hey elkdom,
Great story and photo.Way to keep your finger off the trigger.The monster will show up eventually.
Kenny

[elkdom]

More the reason to get on with hunting them. Save the looky-loo stuff for humming birds.

I do hear what you're saying. Something about bears that has always captivated me... But, it's time to get on with it. :wink:

I did it again this morning , I let him pass,40 yards broad side, a very big boar,I had a torpedo in the tube of my 416 mag, but I know there is a huge blackie in the area im hunting saw him twice last fall,well over 7 footer,but last fall he was rubbed,his flanks were void of fur, I havent heard of anyone killing large bear in this area ,so im confident he's still out there! these other bears are fairly safe from being "torpedo'd" as long as they dont mind me taking thier pics!

[TUG]

Its great to see some other hunters with the same feeling sometimes knowing you can is enough. Creeping up within 30 yards and feeling the heart pound is all i need

[Mr. Dean]

I'd like your left-overs AND to trade living quarters. ;)


I'm anxious... I had to cancel my 2 week bear hunt this year and I'm looking @ a near empty freezer, from being overly picky during Muley season. This 'day here and a day there' stuff, well,,, SUCKS! :|

I'd have GLADLY taken on that phat wastard. :biggrin:

[ohotnik]

Good story. Thank you for sharing Doug. What amazes me is how you manage to see all the trophy animals at the range of 30m smoking like a steam engine and ignoring all the modern and techologically advanced scent-lock gore-tex realtree camo which is ABSOLUTELY necessary for a successful hunt!? Internet gurus and hunting magazines say that you can not even eat a smelly food the night before the hunt and should keep all you clothes in bags with leaves and dirt otherwise you would not see an animal closer than 1 km... I came to a conclusion that all you have just described is a plain coincidence or never really happend (all your pictures are fake or photoshop - yes even old ones) and you simply should not be that successful with your old-timer attitude to hunting... And all your 12 racks of 6-7-point elk you probably bought from garage sales...

:-) :-) :-)

[Bowzone_Mikey]

My arrow decided the bear it was hurdling towards at just over 300 feet a second was too small and steered itself toward a branch instead ... I certainly did not decide to pass up what looked to be a 3-4 year old light brown phase bear:icon_frow:icon_frow:mad::(

[The Dawg]

I went out today, and passed on 9 out of 9 seen...7 by choice..lol...one I didnt get a shot at cause I jumped him from about 10 yards, and he gave me the Texas heart shot running away.He was about a 6+ footer, so I would have taken him.

The second was one I was going to let my wife take, but he was hiding behind some trees and she wasnt confident with the shot, so I was happy to pass on that one.

But we did find a nice moose shed with no rat marks :)

[elkdom]

Good story. Thank you for sharing Doug. What amazes me is how you manage to see all the trophy animals at the range of 30m smoking like a steam engine and ignoring all the modern and techologically advanced scent-lock gore-tex realtree camo which is ABSOLUTELY necessary for a successful hunt!? Internet gurus and hunting magazines say that you can not even eat a smelly food the night before the hunt and should keep all you clothes in bags with leaves and dirt otherwise you would not see an animal closer than 1 km... I came to a conclusion that all you have just described is a plain coincidence or never really happend (all your pictures are fake or photoshop - yes even old ones) and you simply should not be that successful with your old-timer attitude to hunting... And all your 12 racks of 6-7-point elk you probably bought from garage sales...

:-) :-) :-)
oh hoot nut! you cant hurt me with yur idle ramblings,I have seen you shoot! both excellent and BAD! lmao

[elkdom]

Tonight I will name this bear' OH HOOT NUT' , a local term for "LUCKEE" lmao

[srupp]

Bigbore14 how is the pepporoni??? ya seemed to like the bear meat up @ Lemon lake....Ive been going "hair straight back since ya headed south booked tomorrow off work...hmmmmm maybe a day for a drive....

cheers

Steven

[elkdom]

Another day,another bear, still looking for the BIG boy, 23 bears in last ,6 days,8 grizz(2cubs) ,13 blackies(2 cubs),area scouted/hunted about, 25 klms X 25klms , where's my fattee? , this bear was good, but still isnt the one I am sure is still in this area!,got about 50 yards from this guy before he busted me!

[Mr. Dean]

That one I'd pass on.

Your other pic's are gone... I'm sure there was one ealier that mabe this guy small???

[elkdom]

That one I'd pass on.

Your other pic's are gone... I'm sure there was one ealier that mabe this guy small???

yeh ,im only can post pics by useing thumbnails, when it comes to using a computer im dummer than a brick! lol , ive spent too many hours hunting and now im a dinosaur when it comes to computers, sometimes I have to unplug the dam thing just to turn it off/on lmao, I need computer coarse, but no time , lol and besides that they wont let me take my huntin knife and my 416 mag to nite class , so I guess im DOOMED? will I survive? who cares? lmao

[BiG Boar]

srupp. thanks for the eyeopener on wild game taste differences. the peperoni from my bear this year was good. (took all 14 lbs to the butcher) So far no one could taste anything gamey about it. I am sold on good clean gutting, skinning, and prep work. Get it cold asap, and keep it clean! Now I need to figure out how to do it myself. This stuff aint cheap!