dutchie
06-15-2009, 10:34 PM
Well me and my dad went out for probably my last bear hunt of the spring season today. On May 31 he got his first bear and now I wanted mine.
So we woke up at 3am to be on the road for about 3:45 to get to Merritt for somewere in the 6am range. I have always liked hunting in the Morning better but we wanted to be hime earlier then past hunting trips because I have a really busy work week this week.
So Driving in to the area we were going to hunt we saw a very nice Cow Moose (one of 3 for the day) then we Stopped by Sleelco's camp to drop off his Game bags, and off hunting.
As we talked to Steelco he let us in on the top secret recon that Elkhound and himself had done over the last few days , and the first place we went there was 2 quaders right infront of us... Abort that plan and then head to the other side of the Valley for some peace and quite...
We saw many White Tails, and Moose but the damn black bear has been fairly elusive for me.
Our original plan was to leave for home at about 3pm but I still had not seen a bear that I could shoot.So we stayed untill about 6:30 (we saw one on the Coq that was a few hundred feet off the highway)
I had this great feeling about 1 cut block, you could tell by the water puddles that there had been no action in there all day, so we drove in. Wind was in our face, fairly brisk and then I saw quite possily the nicest bear I have ever seen. It was about a 6-1/2 foot Chocholate Brown bear with a gut that was dragging(Un-educated guess of around 350-375 lbs) JUST HUGE, and only about 40 yards away. I jumped out of the truck and set up and the bear disappeared behind the knoll so I moved forward. The bear poped up about 30 yards away looking straight at me and not doing anything.
So I was ready waiting for a broadside shot and he tuned. So i slowly squeezed the trigger and NOTHING!! the damn saftey. So I point the gun down, and the saftey on my gun is VERY sticky and it has to be forced (NOT SMOOTH AT ALL!) Well as the saftey jarred forward into fireing position, my finger slipped, fired off a shot about 25 yards away into sand, the bear looked at me, stunned, As I reloaded got the bear into the Cross-hairs I had a chance at a quartering Broadside shot, but i was not 100% confident in the shot so I insted I got to leave with the memory of a Beautiful Chocolate Brown Ass high tailing it into the bush...
We searched for blood incase of a ricochet and there was nothing and I tracked the prints to the bush and there was no blood on any leaves either. I am very greatfull that no one / bear was hurt and the only thing that was hurt was my Ego!
I didn't get "Boar Fever" but I was so excited I did not think about every step. Which is my fault 100%. I knew the saftey was sticky, and I put my finger on the trigger gaurd intest of the Palm Swell. I will be having nightmares about this bear for a long time!
With that being said... I thought I would tell the truth and hopfully someone can learn from my mistakes.
Dutchie
So we woke up at 3am to be on the road for about 3:45 to get to Merritt for somewere in the 6am range. I have always liked hunting in the Morning better but we wanted to be hime earlier then past hunting trips because I have a really busy work week this week.
So Driving in to the area we were going to hunt we saw a very nice Cow Moose (one of 3 for the day) then we Stopped by Sleelco's camp to drop off his Game bags, and off hunting.
As we talked to Steelco he let us in on the top secret recon that Elkhound and himself had done over the last few days , and the first place we went there was 2 quaders right infront of us... Abort that plan and then head to the other side of the Valley for some peace and quite...
We saw many White Tails, and Moose but the damn black bear has been fairly elusive for me.
Our original plan was to leave for home at about 3pm but I still had not seen a bear that I could shoot.So we stayed untill about 6:30 (we saw one on the Coq that was a few hundred feet off the highway)
I had this great feeling about 1 cut block, you could tell by the water puddles that there had been no action in there all day, so we drove in. Wind was in our face, fairly brisk and then I saw quite possily the nicest bear I have ever seen. It was about a 6-1/2 foot Chocholate Brown bear with a gut that was dragging(Un-educated guess of around 350-375 lbs) JUST HUGE, and only about 40 yards away. I jumped out of the truck and set up and the bear disappeared behind the knoll so I moved forward. The bear poped up about 30 yards away looking straight at me and not doing anything.
So I was ready waiting for a broadside shot and he tuned. So i slowly squeezed the trigger and NOTHING!! the damn saftey. So I point the gun down, and the saftey on my gun is VERY sticky and it has to be forced (NOT SMOOTH AT ALL!) Well as the saftey jarred forward into fireing position, my finger slipped, fired off a shot about 25 yards away into sand, the bear looked at me, stunned, As I reloaded got the bear into the Cross-hairs I had a chance at a quartering Broadside shot, but i was not 100% confident in the shot so I insted I got to leave with the memory of a Beautiful Chocolate Brown Ass high tailing it into the bush...
We searched for blood incase of a ricochet and there was nothing and I tracked the prints to the bush and there was no blood on any leaves either. I am very greatfull that no one / bear was hurt and the only thing that was hurt was my Ego!
I didn't get "Boar Fever" but I was so excited I did not think about every step. Which is my fault 100%. I knew the saftey was sticky, and I put my finger on the trigger gaurd intest of the Palm Swell. I will be having nightmares about this bear for a long time!
With that being said... I thought I would tell the truth and hopfully someone can learn from my mistakes.
Dutchie