Another Spring Bear Adventure...

[BromBones]

Now, where to start... from the middle?:-D

This hunt promised to be a good one regardless of what animals were or were not harvested. The group would consist of myself, my dad, and two of my uncles - one with his son, and the other with his son and daughter. We had 5 grizzly tags between us and enough blackie tags to void the entire valley of black bears.

A couple Saturdays ago, my dad and I rolled into camp around lunchtime after a long drive through the night. My uncle and cousin had come up a couple days ahead of us, but were out and about when we made it to camp. We set to getting unloaded and organized (sort of), and would have time once we finished to have a quick nap, some supper, and head out for an evening look. There was a little... err, big surprise waiting for us at camp as we soon found out.

Packing some coolers around to the shady side of the shack to store, there was a blue tarp folded up with a couple chunks of firewood sitting on top. Give it a kick, hmmm soft... feels like a hide... unfold it and there was a grizzly hide salted and folded up. The rotten buggers weren't fooling around - two days and they got a big boar down. Dug out one of the paws to have a look - definitely a big bear with a nice set of rakes on him. We covered it up again and went back to work. The boys finally showed up at camp and gave us the story - one I'll relate later on when I get the pics to go with it. They had already seen three grizz - one big, one small, and another one which was now staying at camp with us.


http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad344/ursusarctos/2011-1-1.jpg

http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad344/ursusarctos/klappan11-4.jpg

As you can see above, winter still had a grip on the valley, but the hot weather forecast would change that over the week. Until things really start to green up on the slopes, the bears in this valley would always prowl the river bottoms, and walk the old roads grubbing for the roots of their favorite plants. This year was no exception as our first evening hunt showed there were grizzly tracks everywhere in the bottom, and some good ones to boot.

The first morning hunt showed fresh sign where a big grizz had come out of the river and made a 15km march up one of the old roads during the night, and most likely headed back into the timber for his daytime rest. We marked where he called it quits, and planned to maybe catch him late that evening if he continued where he left off - we stayed out of the area to keep it quiet.

[835]

Type faster!!

[coach]

Great start, BromBones. Looking forward to the rest of the story and pictures.

[fester]

looking forward to the rest of this.

[nolimits]

Good start. Can't wait for rest of this story.

[BromBones]

Back at camp around 11 am for a bit of grub, and the boys were up and around though a little slow, maybe from their continued celebration the night before. They had managed to heat a frying pan though, and in a few minutes we were stuffed full of hotcakes, eggs, and bacon. After a nap, I grabbed my pack and me and the dog hiked out to a nice vantage point where I planned to sit and glass for the afternoon.

http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad344/ursusarctos/klappan11-3.jpg

Stretched out on the lake shore with the binocs and spotter up, I spent a couple hours gawking at the sheep and goats which had come onto the bare slopes to feed. Also spotted a grizz down close to timberline. I watched that bear for about half an hour, and although it was a decent size, I was 99% sure it was a sow, and with that I gave the bear no more attention. 5 pm rolled around sooner than I expected, and as much as I hated to leave my spot, I eventually shouldered my pack and wandered back for a little supper.

http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad344/ursusarctos/klappan11-2.jpg

After a heap of moose steak and spuds, my dad and I got our gear together and jumped on the atvs to head back to where we had last seen the bear sign from morning. It was about 9 pm that night when we caught up to some new sign - the bear was out again for his evening wander - tracks crossing back and forth where he was doing some excavating for grub. At one point the bear had went back down to the river, so my dad stopped headed down to see if he could spot the bear on the river. I continued on up the road, and didn't get half a mile when I saw his tracks had come back out. I came shortly to a wide bend where the river joined the road, and spotted movement probably a km ahead of me. Quick look in the binocs showed it was our grizz - walking and feeding without a care in the world.

I hopped off the bike and snuck up on foot a little closer. A few minutes behind the binocs showed he was a good shooter boar, tall and lanky with a big noggin and a perfect hide - black on the legs, brown sides and back, and a blonde head & ears. The wind was perfect and with him walking away, and the noise of the river, a brave fellow could have walked up and smacked him on the ass.

I'm not quite that brave, and although a bit mentally unstable, I decided against the swat on the bum tactic. I let him be for now and with the dog at my heels, we scurried back to the bike, started it up, and went back to get the old guy as he had dibbs on the first good bear if he wanted it.

[BCbillies]

Keep it comin' . . . I took the morning off work and have lots of time! :smile:

[BromBones]

I found my dad coming up the bank back to his bike, and with a wave and a point back to the direction I had just came, he got that I had seen a bear and hopped on his ride and we headed back towards the bear. We pulled off the side where I had stopped earlier, grabbed our rifles and loaded up. Teling the dog to 'heel', the three of us began moving quietly up after the bear.

There were some sharp drops and hollows nearby that the bear could have been in and been out of sight, so we moved slowly and glassed the edges so as not to move up to quickly and come out on top of him. What seemed like an hour was more like 10 minutes of creeping ahead and watching. The dog knew we were on to something as well, with his nose down and tip-toeing ahead like and old coyote sneaking into the chicken coop. Couldn't help but chuckle when I saw him. But now back to the kill...

I noticed movement on the left about 150 yards up, and a check in the binos saw that there was the bear, down in the gravel tearing up some roots. My dad saw him about the same time, and slid up the bank to our right and chambered a 220 grain A-Frame in his 8 Mag. If the bear would come out broadside, he'd have a good rest and a good shot opportunity. I hunkered down in the open and watched the bear through my binocs.

The bear came out shortly, perfectly broadside. He paused with his head up in the air and I whispered, "Shoot!!", but before dad could settle the crosshairs, the bear turned an continued walking, so we continued on after him. The bear was walking into the wind so we had no issues staying about 100 yards behind him while he walked. There were many times again where he'd drop off the road to dig some more, and then pop back out giving us only a split second at a broadside shot. This little game of cat and mouse carried on for another 10 minutes. It was now about 10:15 pm, and shooting light would end in a few more minutes.

[835]

Hey where are the pics for this installment!!!!!

[35 Whelen]

And......and..........

[BromBones]

Finally the bear dropped back down off the road, and around 150 yards behind him, my dad layed down prone on the road with one ready to go if the bear gave us a good look when he came up. Mostly we had getting the rear view up to this point, and the texas ringer was not really an option.

Now he'd give us a shot. Walking back on to the road broadside, the half a second that he paused was enough as the crosshairs on the Big 8 were waiting for him. I had one chambered in my Ruger No. 1 458 Lott if needed, and watched in the binocs at the same time. He stuck his nose to the wind, and at the same time I heard the rifle touch off...

BOOM!!! I was aware of the bear getting pounded back into the ditch, and a big dust cloud to my right from the report of the 8 Mag. The bear was hit HARD in the shoulder by that 220 A-Frame and got knocked back down to where he had just came out of. I watched and shouted out my commentary on what the bear was doing. My dad popped up and stroked the bear again offhand while he attempted to scramble up out on to the road. He was facing us when he came out with his front end up and his ass end down low, so the second bullet smashed him in the shoulder, penetrated the body, and came out the spine above his ass.

That shot put him down again, and I saw his back legs go limp and hollered out that his back was broken and he wasn't going anywhere. Knowing he couldn't get up, we hustled up to finish him off if needed. The tough old son of a bitch was still alive and trying to get up but couldn't - it was almost a sad sight to watch his efforts, so we quickly got closer to put an end to it. We got within 25 yards or so and being that I had a better angle on the bear, dad shouted out to finish him off. A 500 grain Hornady from the Lott, square through the chest, knocked him over again and he expired with a couple seconds. That was that, as they say.

And here is the bear -

http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad344/ursusarctos/bear1.jpg


http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad344/ursusarctos/bear2.jpg

If you noticed the lever gun in the pic, we had everything put away and were getting ready to skin him when I remembered to get some pics on my camera. My dad's 8 Mag was packed away, so he grabbed the Marlin to pose with.:-D

Couple more -

http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad344/ursusarctos/bear3.jpg

http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad344/ursusarctos/bear4.jpg

The bear went about 7 1/2' squared, tall and lanky with no fat on him. Way down in weight. Teeth showed some age to him for sure, not extremely old, but not a youngster by any means. Beautiful hide on him, as nice as you'll see.

So that was grizzly number 2 down in just over three days total for the group. More to come...

[35 Whelen]

Well done, nice bear

[RiverOtter]

Awsome story and pics thus far.....

[srupp]

well done...great bear..different facial coloring but,,looks good...hair looks good??

folks just cant fathom what punishment these G bears can soak up......well written account..well planned out..and exellent harvest strategy and implementation...safe humane harvest..

cheers and Thanks for the account and photos..

Steven

[mark]

Sounds like some great grizz hunting.....Am I the only one who cant see any pics?????

[835]

Nice work, Keep it coming.
well put togeather story and good pics! let's hear how the rest of ya did!

[nolimits]

You should be writing books for living. Good story, good read, great pics. Thanks for posting.

[RiverOtter]

Am I the only one who cant see any pics?????

YEP................Grin

[madrona sh]

Nice boar, congrats to you and your father on a great hunt.

[BromBones]

The skinning job in the dark was a little slow, and it was about midnight when we had the hide dealt with and packed up. We went down to the river and washed the grit off, had a quick look around for any knives or gear left behind, and started the trip back to camp. About 1 am we made 'er into camp and the boys were up, supper was in the pan, and a bottle or two was soon emptied around the fire that night. The bullshit started and was probably pretty thick by the time we had drank up the whiskey and gone to bed.

After a lazy morning, some hotcakes and eggs were on the go, and it was time to take care of the hide. Wasn't long before the claws were done, hide fleshed off, and the lips/eyes/ears were turned and salted, and the bear covered up to start drying out. I wandered out that afternoon for a hunt, and got into another good vantage point where I could glass the slopes and watch the river at the same time.

http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad344/ursusarctos/2011-2.jpg

That session produced a bunch more sheep to look over, no bears, and a few catnaps in the shade of the old unfinished cabin. Heard a vehicle in the distance that evening and figured the rest of the crew had made it in to join us, and at dark I headed back to camp to find them unloading gear. We fired up some supper and the bunch of us sat around the cabin BS'ing until early in the morning. Was good to see some of the family as it had been a while, and we had another drink or two that night, and made plans for the next day.

[BromBones]

well done...great bear..different facial coloring but,,looks good...hair looks good??

folks just cant fathom what punishment these G bears can soak up......well written account..well planned out..and exellent harvest strategy and implementation...safe humane harvest..

cheers and Thanks for the account and photos..

Steven

Thanks Steven.

The hide is prime and very nice. The bear flopped around the wet sand enough after the first shot to wet quite a bit of his fur and mat it with sand, so it didn't look as nice in the pics as it did after we'd cleaned up the fur.

[Pioneerman]

Great story teller, thanks for sharing and that is a fine looking animal.

[elkhunter1]

Congrat,s guys very nice G. bear.
Which area,??? maybe missed it.?
We are heading to 7-28 next week 2 G.B. tag,s

[coach]

Great story and pictures! Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to going after my grizz next week!

[greenhorn]

Nice job!! Those G-bears sure look tough compared to the average black bear!!

[fester]

Good work, nice bear and great write up!!!

[Blainer]

Absolutely awsome story!"10"
Great Bear!

[todbartell]

great story and pics, keep it coming

congrats on a beauty bear

[demlake]

Thanks for the story and the pics.

dl

[houndsman]

Nice bear life size or rug ? congrats

[laredo318]

Great story telling!! Great bear!
THANKS!!

[BromBones]

Thanks everyone for the congrats. It was a good trip for sure. I'll carry on with the rest of the hunt when I get a chance, and hopefully will have pics of the other grizz one of these days. Was a bit larger than this one and the skull will probably make BC book.



Nice bear life size or rug ? congrats

He'll probably get a rug done I think.

[nature girl]

Enjoyed reading your story. You take good pictures.

[ElectricDyck]

Awesome adventure! Congrats on the success!

[yama49]

Awesome story, thx alot for sharing your adventure with us on HBC. Looks like some great family time was spent around the camp fire also. :-D:-D

[Rattler]

Great story and pics! Thanks for sharing. Way to go back and get your Dad...I did the same years ago when my Dad shot his first Grizz...

[proguide66]

Cool read,cooler trophy! vid cam woulda bin epic!

[Hammerhead]

Nice bear, great story, good memories with your dad, family and friends.
Well done
HH

[Johnnybear]

Very cool read and great pics. Thanks for posting them up BromBones. From reading your past posts you live a great lifestyle and are very close to your family. Kudos to you and your dad on a great hunt and another great experience!

[hunter1947]

This bear is a dandy trophy to get very ,very nice bear your story of the the trip was executed well thanks for sharing and congrats to the whole hunting party a real team effort for sure http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.png..

[pescado]

Best story-post I've read in a while. Sounds like you had a great trip. Good call on retrieving Dad for the kill, many would not have, kudos. That 458 Lott reeks of style. Thanks, you made my morning.

[luckynuts]

I think everyone else has spoken for me. Huge congrats to you and your Dad and the rest of the team. Nothing beats hunting with family and good friends. Look forward to the rest of the adventure, thanks again for posting the story and awesome pics.

W.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Always look forward to your spring bear threads, Brombones, and you didn't dissappoint.
Congrats!

SSS

[Freshtracks]

Just an excellent read. Awesome pics and can't wait for the rest of the trip/pics. Congrats on the hunt and reliving it with us. AYEP!! '10'

[chinookkiller]

wow!good story and good trophy,congrats!

[Ambush]

Fine re-telling of a great adventure!! Beats the heck out of some of that flacid, cleansed crap in some of todays "outdoor" magazines.

I hope you get yours just so we can read that one to.

Congratulations to you and especialy to your Dad.

[BlacktailStalker]

Fine read and solid grizz :cool:

[BromBones]

Continuing where we left off - well, actually going back to the beginning of the hunt, and the first grizzly of the trip that my cousin and his dad had got.:-D

They had been in camp for less than two days, and had seen a couple grizz, one that wasn't big enough, and one good boar moving way up high in the snowpack that they weren't able to get a chance to go after.

So the following morning they busted out of camp at the crack of dawn (give or take a few hours) and by 9 am spotted a grizz crossing the river. After moving down onto the rivers edge to get a better look, it was decided he was a shooter. Nothing much of a stalk to speak of, the bear was broadside on the river bank @ 320 yards. Cousin layed down prone, and a couple good shots from his Ruger No.1 375 H&H shooting 300 grain Accubonds put the bear to sleep.

At the second shot the bear tumbled out of sight into the timber, and after waiting him out, they headed into the trees towards where the bear had last been. The old H&H had done the job well, and they found the bear stone dead not far from the river.

http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad344/ursusarctos/2011-4-1.jpg

http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad344/ursusarctos/2011-3-1.jpg

http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad344/ursusarctos/2011-5-1.jpg

The bear measured out around 7'8'' square I believe, and the skull went 24'' even (green). The pics don't really do it justice, but he's a dandy bear for sure, especially for his first one. They did recover one bullet which hit the bear in the shoulder, quartered towards them, and went the distance before settling in the hide on the opposite hip. Hell of a way to start off the hunt.

His dad had taken a big grizz a couple years ago up there, and though he had a tag, was not too interested in taking another unless it was huge. So with that in mind, the two of them were pretty well on holidays for the rest of the week and put a good dent in the whiskey jar on a couple occasions.:twisted:

[BromBones]

So with two big grizz down, the hunt had already exceeded our expectations. With the last group of another uncle of mine and his son and daughter arriving, we all spent time trying to get them a crack at some big black bears, and another grizz hopefully.

http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad344/ursusarctos/2011-3.jpg

The slopes in the above picture were home to a couple bruiser black bears, and we spent quite a few hours watching them and waiting for the opportunity for a stalk, and hopefully get my cousin her first bear. Her brother had came up with us last year and took a 6'6'' black for his first one, so I was kinda hoping she'd get one of them old crankers to rub it in.

http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad344/ursusarctos/2011-4.jpg

Sitting in cozy vantage points as above, glassing, napping, and waiting for the right opportunity was the common theme for a couple days. There's a reason those couple black bears were as big as they were - they lived up in some steep, thick shit and there were very few times when we may have had a chance for a stalk. Often the name of the game is to wait until they bed down for the afternoon nap and you may get a couple or three hours for a stalk before the bear is up and feeding again, but it didn't happen for us.

http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad344/ursusarctos/bear2011-2.jpg

I was impressed with the young lady though, she showed good patience and judgement in waiting for the right opportunity for a stalk, though it never did quite work out for her. I think she also gained an appreciation for what you have to go through sometimes to hunt spring bears on the slopes, sometimes it's not as simple as walk up the hill and shoot the bear. To be honest, I was pretty damn interested in climbing up and taking a crack at either one of those bears as both were around the 7 ft mark and had I been hunting alone I would have, but figured I'd leave them be in hopes that she'd get a chance at one.

She never did get a crack at one, but her and her brother along with their dad spent a few days hunting around my place after we all got back, and a couple days ago she did get a bear finally. A young boar that I'm told she cranked with a 300 Win Mag from close to 300 yards across a steep draw. I wasn't in on it but it sounded like they had a good time, and sounds like we'll have another good hunting partner for the future.

As for myself, I managed to hunt pretty hard for my grizz tag, but never found one that I considered a shooter. I don't need another 'big' grizz for the wall, the next one's gotta be 'huge', or it can live to see another spring. Have been thinking about jumping into bowhunting for grizz next year, or hunting with a muzzleloader. Something that will give me a bit more of a challenge, and I would not have to be as picky on the size of the bear.

So keep your eye on the forum next spring and with any luck I'll have a few more photos and stories of myself and the rest of the bunch when we attemp to thin out the bear population once again.:-D

Cheers

[BlacktailStalker]

Sounds like a hell of a good time with some quality people and bears, good write up.

[Tikka270wsm]

Very good read and some beauty bears you and your crew took. This is an "epic" status thread in my books. Congrats!

[Wild Images]

Great story and pics, good on you for not just filling tags but letting the bears live on to become a true trophy animal

[littlebilly]

Sounds like an awesome time had by all. Great bears and the memories will last a life time I'm sure