sakofinnlight
06-09-2011, 07:56 PM
Well after just figuring out how to post pictures here we go.
Me and 2 hunting partnres left from kamloops May 6th and headed to Smithers where we would chase black bears and grizzlies around for a week! I have hunted black bears a little bit for the past 2 years and have had many opportunites to shoot my first, but nothing got me very exciting and when it did it managed to slip away. So with the great population of bears further north and my luck drawing a Griz tag we decided to make a week long trip out of it! The first day we stopped at a place one friend thought would give us a good opportunity to get the 1st bear before we even arrive in smithers. Was he ever right! within 20 minutes of driving on the gravel road we had seen 4 bears, nothing huge but respectable bears, that night we saw a total of 12 bears including 1 that I almost took but decided to pass as the real hunting had not even started yet! after taking the following morning off and checking out the town of smithers we left for the final 2 hour drive where we would camp for the week. The 2nd day we felt like we were on vacation so we slept in until 9 made a quick breakfest then headed out to a few spot one friend has had luck in previous years. As we approach one spot we park and decide to set up a trail cam in the corner of the little field to see if any game was using the trail. As we get to the back we were looking for a tree to put the cam on and we hear a twig break, I had my gun in hand and showtimebc had the camera, as we slowly peak our heads over the little hill and look in the brush we see a bear within 20 yards feeding with no clue in the world we were even there, this went on for about 5 minutes and without being able to get a good look at him the wind turned and he took off like a bat out of hell, I went back to the road to see if i could catch him crossing but to my surprise i saw him stop just shy of the road and start feeding in some really thick trashy stuff. I called showtime over as he was my guide and has all the knowledge of bear hunting as we all know judging bears can be quite tricky to judge. We sat prone on the road for what seemed an eternity trying to figure out if this bear was a shooter when it decided it wanted to cross the road right where were were sitting, again clueless to our whereabouts it walked within 10 yards and I still wasnt convinced on his size we stood and for the 2nd time he ran for cover faster than I could blink. At this point Showtime and I started to discuss how big we thought the bear was and we made our way back to the truck, stop look back, oooo he came right back into the little field to feed as if nothing had even happened. Finally a clear look through the binos with the bear at approximately 80 yards we could see the whole body and things were looking good, good coat, decent head and what appeared to be a solid 1st bear, Showtime gave me the okay and with the ease of my finger I broke in my new Sako Finnlight 300 win mag and sent a 180gr branes tsx right behind his shoulder and out through the middle of the other. The bear ran 20 yards and this is what I walked up to, my 1st Black bear and I couldnt be happier.
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l515/sakofinnlight1/DSC00409.jpg
As the week went on we saw on average probuably 10 bears a day, many good bears but I was looking for a monster for my 2nd and also really wanted to get a crack at a Grizzly. As things ended up we headed home with 4 bears all good boars but no Grizzlies. Couldnt have had a better trip, great friends great country and away from work for a week!
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l515/sakofinnlight1/DSC00418.jpg
Me and 2 hunting partnres left from kamloops May 6th and headed to Smithers where we would chase black bears and grizzlies around for a week! I have hunted black bears a little bit for the past 2 years and have had many opportunites to shoot my first, but nothing got me very exciting and when it did it managed to slip away. So with the great population of bears further north and my luck drawing a Griz tag we decided to make a week long trip out of it! The first day we stopped at a place one friend thought would give us a good opportunity to get the 1st bear before we even arrive in smithers. Was he ever right! within 20 minutes of driving on the gravel road we had seen 4 bears, nothing huge but respectable bears, that night we saw a total of 12 bears including 1 that I almost took but decided to pass as the real hunting had not even started yet! after taking the following morning off and checking out the town of smithers we left for the final 2 hour drive where we would camp for the week. The 2nd day we felt like we were on vacation so we slept in until 9 made a quick breakfest then headed out to a few spot one friend has had luck in previous years. As we approach one spot we park and decide to set up a trail cam in the corner of the little field to see if any game was using the trail. As we get to the back we were looking for a tree to put the cam on and we hear a twig break, I had my gun in hand and showtimebc had the camera, as we slowly peak our heads over the little hill and look in the brush we see a bear within 20 yards feeding with no clue in the world we were even there, this went on for about 5 minutes and without being able to get a good look at him the wind turned and he took off like a bat out of hell, I went back to the road to see if i could catch him crossing but to my surprise i saw him stop just shy of the road and start feeding in some really thick trashy stuff. I called showtime over as he was my guide and has all the knowledge of bear hunting as we all know judging bears can be quite tricky to judge. We sat prone on the road for what seemed an eternity trying to figure out if this bear was a shooter when it decided it wanted to cross the road right where were were sitting, again clueless to our whereabouts it walked within 10 yards and I still wasnt convinced on his size we stood and for the 2nd time he ran for cover faster than I could blink. At this point Showtime and I started to discuss how big we thought the bear was and we made our way back to the truck, stop look back, oooo he came right back into the little field to feed as if nothing had even happened. Finally a clear look through the binos with the bear at approximately 80 yards we could see the whole body and things were looking good, good coat, decent head and what appeared to be a solid 1st bear, Showtime gave me the okay and with the ease of my finger I broke in my new Sako Finnlight 300 win mag and sent a 180gr branes tsx right behind his shoulder and out through the middle of the other. The bear ran 20 yards and this is what I walked up to, my 1st Black bear and I couldnt be happier.
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l515/sakofinnlight1/DSC00409.jpg
As the week went on we saw on average probuably 10 bears a day, many good bears but I was looking for a monster for my 2nd and also really wanted to get a crack at a Grizzly. As things ended up we headed home with 4 bears all good boars but no Grizzlies. Couldnt have had a better trip, great friends great country and away from work for a week!
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l515/sakofinnlight1/DSC00418.jpg