Krico
07-12-2009, 11:27 PM
With things a little slow around here lately, and a couple friends suggesting I do so, I thought I'd post the story of my griz hunt from this year. One quick warning - there are no pics. But I promise it's a good read!
When my alarm started beeping, it was more of a signal I was allowed to get out of bed than a wake up call. The night before a hunting trip I'm like a little kid on Christmas Eve-too excited to sleep. It was 3am.
The day was full of challenges. We spent half the morning shoveling snow to get over high passes, and also had to do some road maintenance to allow us to cross a recent washout large enough to swallow my SUV. Fresh tracks with claw marks in the snow kept us pressing forward.
The spring thaw was about 3 weeks late to arrive. Very little was greened up, so we were sure that the bears would be either at or traveling to the few patches of fresh grass to be found. There was still plenty of snow in the shaded areas. The afternoon brought a steady drizzle of rain along with rolling patches of fog, making for an eerie hike towards our favorite early season bear spot. Unfortunately the snow was just too deep, and the willows had not yet sprung up after a long winter of being weighted down with snow and ice – making access impossible.
On the way back towards another of our favorite bear hidey holes, I spotted a grizzly about 600 yards away down a stretch of road. The rain and fog made judging difficult, so I set off down the treeline out of sight to get within range while my partner kept watch from the truck. Unfortunately while I was out of his sight, he simply fed his way into the bush. Or should I say jungle. Two steps into this stuff and you’d never see a pickup, let alone a brown colored bear.
I walked back to the truck and we discussed our options. I decided that rather than simply hope he came back out, I would give him some encouragement. The lack of available food just might make calling productive. We set up on a patch of sand next to the road, rifles loaded, and let rip with the fawn distress call. We watched the stretch of road waiting for him to appear, but saw nothing. I tried again. We heard and saw nothing, again. The cold air and excitement had given me the shivers and the warmth of the truck was calling. My eyes scanned back and forth to catch any glimpse of movement through the rain, while my ears strained to hear any sound other than that of the steady rain. One last time I thought, so I made like a baby crying for her mother. I didn’t even have the call out of my mouth when the snap of a branch to my left caught my attention.
Rather than step back out onto the road for a look, as I had expected, he had snuck through the bush undetected for 500+ yards, with the rain drowning out the sounds. His amazing sense of hearing had allowed him to pinpoint exactly where to exit the bush and come into the open. When I turned my head to look, he was leaping over the snowbank ten yards away, coming full speed at me. Without thinking, my reaction was to just point my rifle and pull the trigger. Luckily I hit him. The bullet tore through his front leg and broke it in half. He spun around, snapping and snarling, confused about what had just happened. I pointed at the swirling mass of fur once more, pulled the trigger and he fell. My partner beside me had been unable to shoot, because I was directly between him and the bear. Had that first shot missed, there is no question in my mind that a trip to the hospital for stitches would have been a best case scenario. He’d have been on me in 2 more leaps, long before I had another cartridge chambered. We paced it off, and the snowbank he had leapt over was 10 paces from where we were set up.
When we settled down and looked at him, we discovered why he was so aggressive. He had literally no fat on him. The lack of fresh grasses to eat had him desperate for food. He was obviously a very young bear, likely only a 3 year old, but his coat was in great shape without no signs of any rubbing. The image of him leaping over that snowbank will remain burned into my retinas. Let’s just say I ended up with a second sleepless night after that incident.
Can’t wait to chase grizzlies again!!!
When my alarm started beeping, it was more of a signal I was allowed to get out of bed than a wake up call. The night before a hunting trip I'm like a little kid on Christmas Eve-too excited to sleep. It was 3am.
The day was full of challenges. We spent half the morning shoveling snow to get over high passes, and also had to do some road maintenance to allow us to cross a recent washout large enough to swallow my SUV. Fresh tracks with claw marks in the snow kept us pressing forward.
The spring thaw was about 3 weeks late to arrive. Very little was greened up, so we were sure that the bears would be either at or traveling to the few patches of fresh grass to be found. There was still plenty of snow in the shaded areas. The afternoon brought a steady drizzle of rain along with rolling patches of fog, making for an eerie hike towards our favorite early season bear spot. Unfortunately the snow was just too deep, and the willows had not yet sprung up after a long winter of being weighted down with snow and ice – making access impossible.
On the way back towards another of our favorite bear hidey holes, I spotted a grizzly about 600 yards away down a stretch of road. The rain and fog made judging difficult, so I set off down the treeline out of sight to get within range while my partner kept watch from the truck. Unfortunately while I was out of his sight, he simply fed his way into the bush. Or should I say jungle. Two steps into this stuff and you’d never see a pickup, let alone a brown colored bear.
I walked back to the truck and we discussed our options. I decided that rather than simply hope he came back out, I would give him some encouragement. The lack of available food just might make calling productive. We set up on a patch of sand next to the road, rifles loaded, and let rip with the fawn distress call. We watched the stretch of road waiting for him to appear, but saw nothing. I tried again. We heard and saw nothing, again. The cold air and excitement had given me the shivers and the warmth of the truck was calling. My eyes scanned back and forth to catch any glimpse of movement through the rain, while my ears strained to hear any sound other than that of the steady rain. One last time I thought, so I made like a baby crying for her mother. I didn’t even have the call out of my mouth when the snap of a branch to my left caught my attention.
Rather than step back out onto the road for a look, as I had expected, he had snuck through the bush undetected for 500+ yards, with the rain drowning out the sounds. His amazing sense of hearing had allowed him to pinpoint exactly where to exit the bush and come into the open. When I turned my head to look, he was leaping over the snowbank ten yards away, coming full speed at me. Without thinking, my reaction was to just point my rifle and pull the trigger. Luckily I hit him. The bullet tore through his front leg and broke it in half. He spun around, snapping and snarling, confused about what had just happened. I pointed at the swirling mass of fur once more, pulled the trigger and he fell. My partner beside me had been unable to shoot, because I was directly between him and the bear. Had that first shot missed, there is no question in my mind that a trip to the hospital for stitches would have been a best case scenario. He’d have been on me in 2 more leaps, long before I had another cartridge chambered. We paced it off, and the snowbank he had leapt over was 10 paces from where we were set up.
When we settled down and looked at him, we discovered why he was so aggressive. He had literally no fat on him. The lack of fresh grasses to eat had him desperate for food. He was obviously a very young bear, likely only a 3 year old, but his coat was in great shape without no signs of any rubbing. The image of him leaping over that snowbank will remain burned into my retinas. Let’s just say I ended up with a second sleepless night after that incident.
Can’t wait to chase grizzlies again!!!