Hammerhead
05-19-2011, 11:44 AM
Just got back from a memorable trip from 7-02 with my 1st grizz last Tuesday eve. What unbelivable country to hunt in and another great experience grizzly hunting.
Trapman and myself left Langley last Friday morning for our drive to 7-02 with both of us being drawn for Grizzly and looking forward to a great trip to hunt an area that neither of us had spent any time in. Trapman had posted here before our trip looking for some input on the area and I would like to say thanks from both of us to the guys that helped with there replys and info.
We got to our camp area around 6:30 pm after seeing a couple of blacks on the way in, dropped our trailer and headed out to see the area and hunt for the evening. Saw a couple of more blacks but not alot of grizz sign. We proceeded to hunt the next couple of days with seeing a number of blacks and a few moose but no Grizzly but started to see some big turds and some smaller tracks, so we were still encouraged and continued to put in lots of hours seeing real estate and cover all the country we could. It did seem that everywhere we went someone had already been there but we kept going. On Sunday evening we went up one of the last ones we had not been up yet and came to a stretch of snow that was unpassable to this point and with 2 of us on my 2up we couldn't make it thru either. We decided to go back to the truck and get trapmans quad with the tracks and were able to break thru into untouched area for the fist time of the season. The road was clear on the other side so we now managed to drag the wheeled quad thru and continue in to some nice looking slides that were staring to green up nicely. The great part was that we were able to sit across the valley from these slides and watch them for the evening and that was the plan to stay there till the sun went down. We cleared some branches and willows away and each took a comfortable spot about 100 yards apart to sit back and glass. I think i heard trapman snoring while we were sitting there waiting for the sun to drop out of our binos so we could get a better view. It may have been me doing the snoring. After maybe 45 min or so we decided that I would jump on the quad and head back out a couple of k to look at a couple of slides and a cut block we had passed coming in. I got out there and glassed for around 20 min seeing 3 goats but nothing else so i started to head back. When I got close to where I had left Trapman he was walking the road towards me waving me to hurry up and get back to him. He had spotted a Grizz in one of the slides and we now had to get down in the valley, across the creek and find this bear again. We had given ourselves a marker to guide us to the bear but would still need to stalk to it. After we had crossed the bridge/creek we left the quad and proceeded to walk/run to the bottom of the slide that the bear was in. Once we got there we could see the bear thru the willows and it was head down eating and didn't know we were even close. We had decided to cross thru the ditch, creek, and willows next to a run off that would help mask our noise and headed towards a large boulder about 50 yards away that we could hide behind and use for a rest. Watching the bear as we were moving to make sure we were not detected we got to our boulder and got set up for the shot about 100 yards away. There was a clear opening between two trees that the bear was approaching that were approx 10 to 20 yards apart and we decided that when it got to that clearing it would present the best shot. This past half hour to 40 min past we had been glassing to see if it was a boar or sow but we knew that for sure there were no cubs and it was a shooter. Finally it steps into the opening and the cross hairs and i squeeze the trigger, down it goes in a pile with no second shot required. I have to point out that even though Trapman had spotted this bear and was the experience behind the hunt as this is my second Grizz hunt, he wanted me to be the shooter which speaks volumes for the type of guy he is and anyone that knows him will know what I'm saying. I had been aiming high shoulder but ended up alittle forward and thru the neck, what a bloody rush, high fives, handshakes, backslaps, I was excited to say the least. I had used my 270 wsm with a 130 grain barnes which I would have never ever tried without backup beside me, being a 300 win mag and as good a rest as possible for a relatively short shot. We both had tags so all was legal and legit however again I would never try this without the perfect conditions that unfolded for us. It turned out to be an old dryed up sow that we figure by the worn out teeth was in the 20 year old range, great coat and around the 6 foot mark but very square. 20 1/2" skull and approx 450 lbs. The rest of the story would be getting the bear out etc,etc. Thanks again to Trapman for sharing some great hunting knowledge, being a great friend and hunting buddy.
Cheers
Rick
Finally got an Avatar
If some one know how to enlarge these pictures, please do - I'd appreciate it.
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Trapman and myself left Langley last Friday morning for our drive to 7-02 with both of us being drawn for Grizzly and looking forward to a great trip to hunt an area that neither of us had spent any time in. Trapman had posted here before our trip looking for some input on the area and I would like to say thanks from both of us to the guys that helped with there replys and info.
We got to our camp area around 6:30 pm after seeing a couple of blacks on the way in, dropped our trailer and headed out to see the area and hunt for the evening. Saw a couple of more blacks but not alot of grizz sign. We proceeded to hunt the next couple of days with seeing a number of blacks and a few moose but no Grizzly but started to see some big turds and some smaller tracks, so we were still encouraged and continued to put in lots of hours seeing real estate and cover all the country we could. It did seem that everywhere we went someone had already been there but we kept going. On Sunday evening we went up one of the last ones we had not been up yet and came to a stretch of snow that was unpassable to this point and with 2 of us on my 2up we couldn't make it thru either. We decided to go back to the truck and get trapmans quad with the tracks and were able to break thru into untouched area for the fist time of the season. The road was clear on the other side so we now managed to drag the wheeled quad thru and continue in to some nice looking slides that were staring to green up nicely. The great part was that we were able to sit across the valley from these slides and watch them for the evening and that was the plan to stay there till the sun went down. We cleared some branches and willows away and each took a comfortable spot about 100 yards apart to sit back and glass. I think i heard trapman snoring while we were sitting there waiting for the sun to drop out of our binos so we could get a better view. It may have been me doing the snoring. After maybe 45 min or so we decided that I would jump on the quad and head back out a couple of k to look at a couple of slides and a cut block we had passed coming in. I got out there and glassed for around 20 min seeing 3 goats but nothing else so i started to head back. When I got close to where I had left Trapman he was walking the road towards me waving me to hurry up and get back to him. He had spotted a Grizz in one of the slides and we now had to get down in the valley, across the creek and find this bear again. We had given ourselves a marker to guide us to the bear but would still need to stalk to it. After we had crossed the bridge/creek we left the quad and proceeded to walk/run to the bottom of the slide that the bear was in. Once we got there we could see the bear thru the willows and it was head down eating and didn't know we were even close. We had decided to cross thru the ditch, creek, and willows next to a run off that would help mask our noise and headed towards a large boulder about 50 yards away that we could hide behind and use for a rest. Watching the bear as we were moving to make sure we were not detected we got to our boulder and got set up for the shot about 100 yards away. There was a clear opening between two trees that the bear was approaching that were approx 10 to 20 yards apart and we decided that when it got to that clearing it would present the best shot. This past half hour to 40 min past we had been glassing to see if it was a boar or sow but we knew that for sure there were no cubs and it was a shooter. Finally it steps into the opening and the cross hairs and i squeeze the trigger, down it goes in a pile with no second shot required. I have to point out that even though Trapman had spotted this bear and was the experience behind the hunt as this is my second Grizz hunt, he wanted me to be the shooter which speaks volumes for the type of guy he is and anyone that knows him will know what I'm saying. I had been aiming high shoulder but ended up alittle forward and thru the neck, what a bloody rush, high fives, handshakes, backslaps, I was excited to say the least. I had used my 270 wsm with a 130 grain barnes which I would have never ever tried without backup beside me, being a 300 win mag and as good a rest as possible for a relatively short shot. We both had tags so all was legal and legit however again I would never try this without the perfect conditions that unfolded for us. It turned out to be an old dryed up sow that we figure by the worn out teeth was in the 20 year old range, great coat and around the 6 foot mark but very square. 20 1/2" skull and approx 450 lbs. The rest of the story would be getting the bear out etc,etc. Thanks again to Trapman for sharing some great hunting knowledge, being a great friend and hunting buddy.
Cheers
Rick
Finally got an Avatar
If some one know how to enlarge these pictures, please do - I'd appreciate it.
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