Caribou_lou
02-24-2010, 03:58 PM
Well, I'm now counting down the days till spring bear. This is the story of a Black Bear I took last fall while up for my Moms goat.
We headed out early, shot 8 grouse on the way to the trail head. We glassed from the road but could not spot any. It was tough to spot with a fresh dusting of snow, but we headed up anyways. We hiked through a cut block riddled with berries and alot of bear sign to go with it. I glanced at our dog and she didn't look worried so there must not have been any bears near by. So we trecked on. Wasn't long till I spotted a good Billy. I put the spotting scope on him and figured he was around 9 1/2 inch goat. But my mom turned it down. Her and my Father went up earlier in the season and had a chance at a huge billy but couldn't connect. So she was holding out hoping to see the big guy again. The higher we climbed the harder the wind blew. It was a cold wind that cut right through me. At least it was blowing uphill. I swear I saw rocks blowing past me at one point. We reached the top and we were dissapointed to see the billy was nowhere. We hiked more looking into little basins and there were no goats. I think they were down low that day, too windy up top. It was tough to glass down with Ice and snow piercing our faces. We decided to make a go on the first billy we spotted but he had moved on unfortnatly. Time to Call it a day. We were half way down the mountain and took a short break to rest our knees. I was the first to start back down, the dog followed. She then let our a loud bark. I gave her a look, then thought, Why is she barking? Took a couple more step and glanced over a knoll. There was a big black bear following some goat tracks. I grabbed my camera and started taking video. My Dad looked at me and asked if I had a tag. I hadn't even thought of shooting him. We were on a mountain. I went back and asked my mom if she wanted to but she didn't have a tag. So I went back to my dad and told him that if I was packing a bear off this mountain it was going to be on my tag!! he laughed. We got set up. He was 100 yards away unaware of our pressence. I slowly squeezed off. He dropped but was still moving so my dad put one in him too. I think that made him happy. So we skinned him and walked out in the dark. Feel bad my mom never got her gaot, but I did say i'd come back next year and get him for her!
Heres the photos of the bear and the cold day up top. figured he was around 375-400 lbs, great hide, lots of fat.
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af161/Caribou04/photo014.jpg
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af161/Caribou04/Hunting/Family1469.jpg
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af161/Caribou04/Hunting/Family1474.jpg
We headed out early, shot 8 grouse on the way to the trail head. We glassed from the road but could not spot any. It was tough to spot with a fresh dusting of snow, but we headed up anyways. We hiked through a cut block riddled with berries and alot of bear sign to go with it. I glanced at our dog and she didn't look worried so there must not have been any bears near by. So we trecked on. Wasn't long till I spotted a good Billy. I put the spotting scope on him and figured he was around 9 1/2 inch goat. But my mom turned it down. Her and my Father went up earlier in the season and had a chance at a huge billy but couldn't connect. So she was holding out hoping to see the big guy again. The higher we climbed the harder the wind blew. It was a cold wind that cut right through me. At least it was blowing uphill. I swear I saw rocks blowing past me at one point. We reached the top and we were dissapointed to see the billy was nowhere. We hiked more looking into little basins and there were no goats. I think they were down low that day, too windy up top. It was tough to glass down with Ice and snow piercing our faces. We decided to make a go on the first billy we spotted but he had moved on unfortnatly. Time to Call it a day. We were half way down the mountain and took a short break to rest our knees. I was the first to start back down, the dog followed. She then let our a loud bark. I gave her a look, then thought, Why is she barking? Took a couple more step and glanced over a knoll. There was a big black bear following some goat tracks. I grabbed my camera and started taking video. My Dad looked at me and asked if I had a tag. I hadn't even thought of shooting him. We were on a mountain. I went back and asked my mom if she wanted to but she didn't have a tag. So I went back to my dad and told him that if I was packing a bear off this mountain it was going to be on my tag!! he laughed. We got set up. He was 100 yards away unaware of our pressence. I slowly squeezed off. He dropped but was still moving so my dad put one in him too. I think that made him happy. So we skinned him and walked out in the dark. Feel bad my mom never got her gaot, but I did say i'd come back next year and get him for her!
Heres the photos of the bear and the cold day up top. figured he was around 375-400 lbs, great hide, lots of fat.
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af161/Caribou04/photo014.jpg
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af161/Caribou04/Hunting/Family1469.jpg
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af161/Caribou04/Hunting/Family1474.jpg