Centerfire
05-09-2010, 04:58 PM
Sorry for the wait but here's the story:
I headed out Friday morning to go look for black bears up in the Sea To Sky area with the intention of going to a specific spot where I had seen LOTS of sign and a bear last year. My previous attempts at getting to that spot this year had been foiled by snow and, since the weather was nice and we had had a few days of warmth, I thought that I might finally get there on Friday.
I headed up the FSR and got all of my gear ready once I reached the point after which shooting is allowed. I continued up a little and came around a bend to see a bush move violently on one side of the road and a glimpse of the back end of a black bear jump down into the forest below. I quickly pulled over, got out, and entered into the downhill sloped woods to look for it. I stayed still and watched and listened for movement and finally spotted him about 75 yards down walking away from me at a quick pace. From behind, he looked to be a good size so I lifted my rifle to watch him through my scope and get ready for a shot. When I looked through my scope, I found myself looking at a blacktail deer! :???: Puzzled, I quickly lowered my scope to see what was going on. There were two blacktail doe standing further down the hill and the bear had now taken off at a full sprint straight at them! The deer bolted in either direction and the bear, giving up, slowed down and stopped where the deer had been standing. Then he turned left and presented the opportunity a full broad size shot... so I took it. :)
One shot was all it took. He dropped where he stood, tried for a second too get back up, and then fell over dead. It was a standing shot of approx 100 yards with a 180 gr Barnes TSX from my Tikka T3 Lite Stainless. It hit just behind the shoulder and struck its spine and liquified everything around it.
I was alone, so I was pleased to see that I could roll him down a 20 foot hill to another gravel road. I went back up and drove the truck down that road only to be confronted by a closed gate. :( So, I went down and gutted the bear and proceded to drag him up the steep gravel road with help of some slings wrapped around its front paws. It was about a 75 yard drag uphill and I just barely got him up! After that, I attached him to the game hoist that fits into my trailer hitch and skinned and quartered him.
The bullet is still lodged in the front right quarter somewhere. When I butcher the meat and find it I will post a picture of it as I am aware that people are often interested in the performance of the TSX bullets.
He should make some great sausage, smokies, pepperoni, and hams!
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/07-05-10_1252.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/07-05-10_1253.jpg
-Centerfire
I headed out Friday morning to go look for black bears up in the Sea To Sky area with the intention of going to a specific spot where I had seen LOTS of sign and a bear last year. My previous attempts at getting to that spot this year had been foiled by snow and, since the weather was nice and we had had a few days of warmth, I thought that I might finally get there on Friday.
I headed up the FSR and got all of my gear ready once I reached the point after which shooting is allowed. I continued up a little and came around a bend to see a bush move violently on one side of the road and a glimpse of the back end of a black bear jump down into the forest below. I quickly pulled over, got out, and entered into the downhill sloped woods to look for it. I stayed still and watched and listened for movement and finally spotted him about 75 yards down walking away from me at a quick pace. From behind, he looked to be a good size so I lifted my rifle to watch him through my scope and get ready for a shot. When I looked through my scope, I found myself looking at a blacktail deer! :???: Puzzled, I quickly lowered my scope to see what was going on. There were two blacktail doe standing further down the hill and the bear had now taken off at a full sprint straight at them! The deer bolted in either direction and the bear, giving up, slowed down and stopped where the deer had been standing. Then he turned left and presented the opportunity a full broad size shot... so I took it. :)
One shot was all it took. He dropped where he stood, tried for a second too get back up, and then fell over dead. It was a standing shot of approx 100 yards with a 180 gr Barnes TSX from my Tikka T3 Lite Stainless. It hit just behind the shoulder and struck its spine and liquified everything around it.
I was alone, so I was pleased to see that I could roll him down a 20 foot hill to another gravel road. I went back up and drove the truck down that road only to be confronted by a closed gate. :( So, I went down and gutted the bear and proceded to drag him up the steep gravel road with help of some slings wrapped around its front paws. It was about a 75 yard drag uphill and I just barely got him up! After that, I attached him to the game hoist that fits into my trailer hitch and skinned and quartered him.
The bullet is still lodged in the front right quarter somewhere. When I butcher the meat and find it I will post a picture of it as I am aware that people are often interested in the performance of the TSX bullets.
He should make some great sausage, smokies, pepperoni, and hams!
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/07-05-10_1252.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/07-05-10_1253.jpg
-Centerfire