BromBones
09-27-2010, 09:11 PM
Home from work at 4:30, grabbed my boots, rifle, and pack, and me & the mutt headed out the door to do some hunting. One of my favorite areas is a high elevation fir timbered ridge surrounded by pot lakes and cutblocks. It's a bit of a climb to the top, but once up there you can glass for miles in all directions, and maybe spot a moose if you're lucky.
I got to the bottom, parked my rickity old Ford huntin' beater, and started the climb. It's right around 900-1000 ft elev. gain, but it's good going through the cutblock & on up through the timber with only a few steep shots to get up. I made it in good time, dropped my pack and drank some water before I started glassing. Over the next hour or so I had found a cow/calf pair, a dry cow, 1/2 dozen deer, and what I think was a cow elk but it slid into the timber too quick to tell.
I suddenly caught some movement below me and to my left coming up over a bench. A quick look in my 10x Leupolds tells me it's a bear. A few more minutes of looking tells me it's a big bear. Didn't take long to make the decision to go after him. He was working his way down the slope, close to the same path I had hiked up. Which was fine, but he was starting to cut downwind of me. I figured I could stay one bench above him and hopefully parallel his movement until we got down into the open cutblock.
The stalk was going good. Every once in a while I'd catch a glimpse of him in the timber, and now it was only a matter of a few hundred feet until we reached the open block. When I did clear the timber, I popped up the binocs and expected to see him moseying through the open block where I might get a shot opportunity. Well, I found him, and he was moving alright. Must have caught some scent he didn't like, as he was going back & forth from a fast walk to a lope down the hill.
I figured I could still close the gap some, so me & the dog started moving at a pretty quick pace down the hill. The rain-soaked hillside was soft enough that the going was plenty quiet, just had to watch my footing. We came to an area that drops into a series of benches, and every time I'd crest a bench, I find the old bear dropping down over another and out of sight. I made the decision that that was not gonna help my success much, so I made a hard left, up over a steep slope and into the next draw over. This big draw was sort of a natural funnel that opened up at the base and I was sure the bear would come into view soon enough.
Sure enough, here he came, and at a more relaxed pace. Still never got a shot opportunity as he wouldn't quite stay still long enough, or he'd have some brush covering his shoulder/chest area. He continued working dow the draw,and I followed. Pretty soon my pickup came into view on the old logging road & I hadn't realized I'd come that far down.
Now this old bear, he caught a good whiff of my scent and started running to beat hell. Straight out the draw, up onto the flat and almost had a header with my pickup. I guess that old Ford scared him more than I did - he hit the brakes to a sliding stop, took a massive shit right there in front of the bumper, and carved his way to the left over the ridge and out of sight.
I stood there laughing at the sight of it all, meanwhile the dog is looking at me as if to say "What the ****'s wrong with you? Lets keep chasing him!".:-D I cocnluded that was enough fun for the day and started working my way down to the truck.
Now the fun part. On my short walk back to the truck the wheels in my head started turning, and I started to think how easy it would have been to get that bear out if I had shot him. I'd just peel the rug off, de-bone him and load the daypack with meat, strap the hide & skull on and away I'd....
Wait a minute. Hmmm, pack. What pack?:?
Where in the hell is my pack???....
Turning around and searching the ground, a reminder popped into my head. I looked up. I looked waaaaaayyyyy up. Doh!! There was the rocky ridge I'd been sitting on 45 minutes earlier and a thousand feet higher, and my pack was right on top.:mrgreen: I'd like to say I felt sheepish, but I don't really know how a sheep feels when it loses it's backpack.
I looked at the dog and it was apparent he was game for another climb. So up we went (again) found my pack, drank some water, watched the hills start to turn dark, and wandered back down to the truck to end another day of time well spent outdoors.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to check the gun cabinet to see if I brought my rifle home.:)
Cheers.
I got to the bottom, parked my rickity old Ford huntin' beater, and started the climb. It's right around 900-1000 ft elev. gain, but it's good going through the cutblock & on up through the timber with only a few steep shots to get up. I made it in good time, dropped my pack and drank some water before I started glassing. Over the next hour or so I had found a cow/calf pair, a dry cow, 1/2 dozen deer, and what I think was a cow elk but it slid into the timber too quick to tell.
I suddenly caught some movement below me and to my left coming up over a bench. A quick look in my 10x Leupolds tells me it's a bear. A few more minutes of looking tells me it's a big bear. Didn't take long to make the decision to go after him. He was working his way down the slope, close to the same path I had hiked up. Which was fine, but he was starting to cut downwind of me. I figured I could stay one bench above him and hopefully parallel his movement until we got down into the open cutblock.
The stalk was going good. Every once in a while I'd catch a glimpse of him in the timber, and now it was only a matter of a few hundred feet until we reached the open block. When I did clear the timber, I popped up the binocs and expected to see him moseying through the open block where I might get a shot opportunity. Well, I found him, and he was moving alright. Must have caught some scent he didn't like, as he was going back & forth from a fast walk to a lope down the hill.
I figured I could still close the gap some, so me & the dog started moving at a pretty quick pace down the hill. The rain-soaked hillside was soft enough that the going was plenty quiet, just had to watch my footing. We came to an area that drops into a series of benches, and every time I'd crest a bench, I find the old bear dropping down over another and out of sight. I made the decision that that was not gonna help my success much, so I made a hard left, up over a steep slope and into the next draw over. This big draw was sort of a natural funnel that opened up at the base and I was sure the bear would come into view soon enough.
Sure enough, here he came, and at a more relaxed pace. Still never got a shot opportunity as he wouldn't quite stay still long enough, or he'd have some brush covering his shoulder/chest area. He continued working dow the draw,and I followed. Pretty soon my pickup came into view on the old logging road & I hadn't realized I'd come that far down.
Now this old bear, he caught a good whiff of my scent and started running to beat hell. Straight out the draw, up onto the flat and almost had a header with my pickup. I guess that old Ford scared him more than I did - he hit the brakes to a sliding stop, took a massive shit right there in front of the bumper, and carved his way to the left over the ridge and out of sight.
I stood there laughing at the sight of it all, meanwhile the dog is looking at me as if to say "What the ****'s wrong with you? Lets keep chasing him!".:-D I cocnluded that was enough fun for the day and started working my way down to the truck.
Now the fun part. On my short walk back to the truck the wheels in my head started turning, and I started to think how easy it would have been to get that bear out if I had shot him. I'd just peel the rug off, de-bone him and load the daypack with meat, strap the hide & skull on and away I'd....
Wait a minute. Hmmm, pack. What pack?:?
Where in the hell is my pack???....
Turning around and searching the ground, a reminder popped into my head. I looked up. I looked waaaaaayyyyy up. Doh!! There was the rocky ridge I'd been sitting on 45 minutes earlier and a thousand feet higher, and my pack was right on top.:mrgreen: I'd like to say I felt sheepish, but I don't really know how a sheep feels when it loses it's backpack.
I looked at the dog and it was apparent he was game for another climb. So up we went (again) found my pack, drank some water, watched the hills start to turn dark, and wandered back down to the truck to end another day of time well spent outdoors.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to check the gun cabinet to see if I brought my rifle home.:)
Cheers.