BromBones
05-23-2010, 10:52 PM
What follows is a few tales of spring bear hunting in an area that I've been working for the last few years, with hopes of finding a monster black bear. I backpack into the area, so if I'm gonna carry out a bear, it'll have to be worth sweating over. And there are some big bears to be had:-D
http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad344/ursusarctos/Huntin%20stuff/cheslatta008.jpg
May 6th, 2008 -
After a successful grizzly and black bear hunt in MU 7-38, and 4 more days off work, I decided to try to fill another black bear tag. I hit the road in my Dodge loaded up with my pack, snowshoes, and gear for 3 nights, around 8 am. Arriving at the turnoff, I made it 2 km in the pickup before hitting a snowpack of 2 ft +. No biggie though, this would add 12 km or so to my hike, but I had all day. I strapped on my snowshoes and pack and headed down the road.
I made the 12 k to the trailhead in good time and without any issues. Another 8km and I'd be at my camp spot by the creek. It was tiring work slogging through the sugary spring thaw snow, so at the junction I stopped for a rest and a bite to eat. It had clouded over and started to snow a little, and my sweat soaked shirts were making me a little chilly, so I dug my Primus stove out of the pack to boil a little water for a cup of tea.
I'd got the stove fired up and was just setting a pot of water on to heat it, when I heard a hissing sound coming from the stove, followed by a loud WHOOOOFFF!....
My stove had crapped out and spit out a 3 ft + flame, with my face over top of it. Half blinded, I flailed my arm out and managed to knock the stove over, and then proceeded to kick snow on it as I couldn't get close enough, with the flames, to turn the valve off.
It had singed my eyebrows and chin whiskers off, and I was starting to feel a little stinging on my face. I knelt down in the snow, grabbing handfuls of it to hold against my face, realizing now that I had been burned pretty good. After a few minutes I could feel the blisters popping up, and my left eye starting to swell a bit as it had burned over my eyelid. With my face now feeling like it had been deep-fried, it didn't take long for me to decide to hell with it and head back for home to get some medical attention. The hike back was the shits with the stinging, and the sweat running down my face. The sun had popped out in full force which didn't help matters much. I made it back to the truck and drove home, and to the clinic the next morning. My bear hunt would have to wait.
May 20th, 2008
Fast forward two weeks and I'm healed up and ready to go. Again with gear for a few nights, minus the snowshoes, but this time with my dog (a 1 yr old bitch wolf) I head back to the area. I drove to the trailhead, with only 8 km to hike. I made the trip in a couple hours and by 5 pm I had my small camp set up and a good bundle of firewood ready to go. After a quick supper, I headed out to see what was around. The area I hunt is the north slope of the lake, which has many, many small green high elevation meadows and it hold a lot of bears in the spring. Didn't take long to find bears, even a couple that were just over 6 ft. Decent bears, but nothing I wanted to pack out. Dropping down in elevation closer to the lake, I stumbled across some more nice opens, followed soon by a set of tracks from a big black bear.
http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad344/ursusarctos/Huntin%20stuff/cheslatta007.jpg
I continued to search the area, finding piles of scat and more of his tracks. I never saw him though, and with dark approaching I headed back up the hill, and east down the trail back to camp. Quick supper and a hot rum, and I hit the sack.
Next morning I awoke to a bright sun and promising weather. Instant oatmeal and tea for breakfasy, and I hit the trail. Hiking through the open hillsides and glassing produced a couple bears, but again no shooters. I made my way down to where I had seen the big tracks and all the sign to have a look, and below me about 600 yards I spotted a big bear feeding in one of the meadows. A big, chocolate bear that I figured at 7ft +.
Watching the wind,I slowly worked my way down to the edge of the meadow, and got a good look at him from less than 200 yards away. Definitely a shooter bear and easily over 7 feet. I closed the gap another 60 yards, and lay down prone getting setup for a shot. The bear was now working his way in and out of the timber at the edge of the clearing, and did not offer a good shot, so I waited. Another 10 minutes of cat & mouse went by with me starting to squeeze the trigger on the big 8mm Mag more than once, only to have him move just at the wrong time. He disappeared into the timber, and though I waited for some time, he didn't come back out. I headed back up to a vantage point to get a look at the terrain and see if he had popped out into another open, but no such luck.
By this time the sun was beating down hard, it was lunch time, and I decided to give the bear a rest and come back down later in the day rather than risk spooking him out. I wandered back to camp to grab a bite, but I was in for a little surprise. My tent was flattened and shit scattered all over the place. Sleeping bag and extra clothes were up the bank 30 ft from the creek. Tracks showed a small black bear had been a little curious, and my grub stash was torn down and what was not eaten was spread out in the dirt. The dog food must have been tasty 'cause he licked that all up.
I cleaned up the mess, and arranged things again as best I could. None of my food was salvageable, but I had a few oatmeal bars and trailmix in my pack to live on. The dog and I split a couple of those, and by late afternoon we headed out hunting again. A lot of miles on the boots and time spent glassing didn't turn up the big bear I was looking for. By dark I was headed back to camp, a little disappointed, and pretty damn hungry. With no grub left, I called it a hunt, and strapping my headlamp on, I packed up the tent, and the pup and I headed down the trail in the dark. Got to the truck without any problems, and was home by 2 am that night.
http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad344/ursusarctos/Huntin%20stuff/cheslatta011.jpg
May 24th, 2009 -
Once again, after coming home from almost a month of grizzly hunting up north, I had some free time and wanted to find another big black bear. I packed up my gear and headed out - you guessed it - back to the same area as the previous year. My new 6 month old rott/mastiff cross pup tagged along for his first hunting trip.
Back at the same trailhead, I strapped on all the gear and headed in to the creek where I camp at. It was mid day when I got to camp, and since it was so close to some good areas to glass for bears, I decided to drop my pack and wander in for a quick look. I'd set up my camp later on in the day.
Coming in to the first meadow on the trail, less than 600 yards from camp, I spotted movement through the scrubby poplar saplings, further up in the open. Peering through with my 10x Leupolds, I saw what looked like a decent sized brown bear. I made my way slowly to the edge of the poplars, and looked over with my binocs. It was a 'brown' bear alright. A big freakin sow grizzly with two cubs! To make matters worse, they were on what I figured as a moose kill.
http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad344/ursusarctos/Huntin%20stuff/cheslatta008.jpg
May 6th, 2008 -
After a successful grizzly and black bear hunt in MU 7-38, and 4 more days off work, I decided to try to fill another black bear tag. I hit the road in my Dodge loaded up with my pack, snowshoes, and gear for 3 nights, around 8 am. Arriving at the turnoff, I made it 2 km in the pickup before hitting a snowpack of 2 ft +. No biggie though, this would add 12 km or so to my hike, but I had all day. I strapped on my snowshoes and pack and headed down the road.
I made the 12 k to the trailhead in good time and without any issues. Another 8km and I'd be at my camp spot by the creek. It was tiring work slogging through the sugary spring thaw snow, so at the junction I stopped for a rest and a bite to eat. It had clouded over and started to snow a little, and my sweat soaked shirts were making me a little chilly, so I dug my Primus stove out of the pack to boil a little water for a cup of tea.
I'd got the stove fired up and was just setting a pot of water on to heat it, when I heard a hissing sound coming from the stove, followed by a loud WHOOOOFFF!....
My stove had crapped out and spit out a 3 ft + flame, with my face over top of it. Half blinded, I flailed my arm out and managed to knock the stove over, and then proceeded to kick snow on it as I couldn't get close enough, with the flames, to turn the valve off.
It had singed my eyebrows and chin whiskers off, and I was starting to feel a little stinging on my face. I knelt down in the snow, grabbing handfuls of it to hold against my face, realizing now that I had been burned pretty good. After a few minutes I could feel the blisters popping up, and my left eye starting to swell a bit as it had burned over my eyelid. With my face now feeling like it had been deep-fried, it didn't take long for me to decide to hell with it and head back for home to get some medical attention. The hike back was the shits with the stinging, and the sweat running down my face. The sun had popped out in full force which didn't help matters much. I made it back to the truck and drove home, and to the clinic the next morning. My bear hunt would have to wait.
May 20th, 2008
Fast forward two weeks and I'm healed up and ready to go. Again with gear for a few nights, minus the snowshoes, but this time with my dog (a 1 yr old bitch wolf) I head back to the area. I drove to the trailhead, with only 8 km to hike. I made the trip in a couple hours and by 5 pm I had my small camp set up and a good bundle of firewood ready to go. After a quick supper, I headed out to see what was around. The area I hunt is the north slope of the lake, which has many, many small green high elevation meadows and it hold a lot of bears in the spring. Didn't take long to find bears, even a couple that were just over 6 ft. Decent bears, but nothing I wanted to pack out. Dropping down in elevation closer to the lake, I stumbled across some more nice opens, followed soon by a set of tracks from a big black bear.
http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad344/ursusarctos/Huntin%20stuff/cheslatta007.jpg
I continued to search the area, finding piles of scat and more of his tracks. I never saw him though, and with dark approaching I headed back up the hill, and east down the trail back to camp. Quick supper and a hot rum, and I hit the sack.
Next morning I awoke to a bright sun and promising weather. Instant oatmeal and tea for breakfasy, and I hit the trail. Hiking through the open hillsides and glassing produced a couple bears, but again no shooters. I made my way down to where I had seen the big tracks and all the sign to have a look, and below me about 600 yards I spotted a big bear feeding in one of the meadows. A big, chocolate bear that I figured at 7ft +.
Watching the wind,I slowly worked my way down to the edge of the meadow, and got a good look at him from less than 200 yards away. Definitely a shooter bear and easily over 7 feet. I closed the gap another 60 yards, and lay down prone getting setup for a shot. The bear was now working his way in and out of the timber at the edge of the clearing, and did not offer a good shot, so I waited. Another 10 minutes of cat & mouse went by with me starting to squeeze the trigger on the big 8mm Mag more than once, only to have him move just at the wrong time. He disappeared into the timber, and though I waited for some time, he didn't come back out. I headed back up to a vantage point to get a look at the terrain and see if he had popped out into another open, but no such luck.
By this time the sun was beating down hard, it was lunch time, and I decided to give the bear a rest and come back down later in the day rather than risk spooking him out. I wandered back to camp to grab a bite, but I was in for a little surprise. My tent was flattened and shit scattered all over the place. Sleeping bag and extra clothes were up the bank 30 ft from the creek. Tracks showed a small black bear had been a little curious, and my grub stash was torn down and what was not eaten was spread out in the dirt. The dog food must have been tasty 'cause he licked that all up.
I cleaned up the mess, and arranged things again as best I could. None of my food was salvageable, but I had a few oatmeal bars and trailmix in my pack to live on. The dog and I split a couple of those, and by late afternoon we headed out hunting again. A lot of miles on the boots and time spent glassing didn't turn up the big bear I was looking for. By dark I was headed back to camp, a little disappointed, and pretty damn hungry. With no grub left, I called it a hunt, and strapping my headlamp on, I packed up the tent, and the pup and I headed down the trail in the dark. Got to the truck without any problems, and was home by 2 am that night.
http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad344/ursusarctos/Huntin%20stuff/cheslatta011.jpg
May 24th, 2009 -
Once again, after coming home from almost a month of grizzly hunting up north, I had some free time and wanted to find another big black bear. I packed up my gear and headed out - you guessed it - back to the same area as the previous year. My new 6 month old rott/mastiff cross pup tagged along for his first hunting trip.
Back at the same trailhead, I strapped on all the gear and headed in to the creek where I camp at. It was mid day when I got to camp, and since it was so close to some good areas to glass for bears, I decided to drop my pack and wander in for a quick look. I'd set up my camp later on in the day.
Coming in to the first meadow on the trail, less than 600 yards from camp, I spotted movement through the scrubby poplar saplings, further up in the open. Peering through with my 10x Leupolds, I saw what looked like a decent sized brown bear. I made my way slowly to the edge of the poplars, and looked over with my binocs. It was a 'brown' bear alright. A big freakin sow grizzly with two cubs! To make matters worse, they were on what I figured as a moose kill.