first bear, and first bear with a bow.

[jetboat jim]

after putting in many hours i finally found an area to hunt that has a fair ammount of bear activity.

3523

[Bow Walker]

Well congratulations.

Where's the accompanying story?

[jetboat jim]

just got home from gibsons so in a few i'll post the story......trust me I learned tons and some interesting things happened.

Its not a big one but its my first.

[35 Whelen]

Nicely done........ANY animal with a bow is a trophy. Can't wait to hear about your experiences and lessons learned..

[jetboat jim]

so the last month our company picked up some work in gibsons, I was the one that was sent over for the duration of the job. I spent the first 4 weeks searching out roads, there are many roads there to explore. most of them had little to no bear activity.
on tuesday night I went a little further down the highway and found a new road to explore, after driving about 1 km upo the road I was surprised to see bear poop every 50 feet or so up the road.
the first night on that road I seen 2 shooters, but they were well aware of me before I knew they were there.
Day 2 I was well prepared , parking the truck low on the road and walking at a very slow pace (this road is not good for long distance spotting as it is quite dense) I seen the first bear 20 minutes into my walk.
I moved into the 40 yard range and totally blew the shot at a 5foot plus bear.
Being quite dissapointed in myself I told my co worker to give me 20 minutes and drive the truck out , I was going to walk the road out hping to see another.
about 1/2 a km later I walked past a big rock and noticed movement behind it.....it was my bear. I settled in at 35 yard and decided that I would not move across the gravel and spook it, just wait for the shot. the bear was busy eating salmon berries.
after 2-3 minutes it stepped forward giving me a clear shot at the kill zone, as I released the string the bear flinched and stepped back. ( finding out later I took out the jugular) .
the blood trail was very easy to follow and the bear only ran about 40 yards, but down 20 feet on a large hill.
we gave it a 10 minutes to rest then we followed, being a new hunter I was not sure to expect. the bear had fallen down between two logs , I was really nervouse to go close to "poke" it to see if it was dead.
I made a few phone calls and some experienced hunting friends said its cool enough in the valley I could leave it till first light.
we left the site about 10 pm (I took the shot at 8pm) to return at 4 am.

Upon returning I popped over the hill to see the bear was gone? I'm sure it was dead but did not want to recover it in the dark.
after searching for 2 hours I noticed it stuffed between two logs about 100 feet from where it died. Hard to track in rough terrain as there was no more blood from where it landed.
it did get chewed in the rib cage a littl and the left ear was chewed a little.
we dragged it up the hil with some rope and muscle.
the bear is not huge but its my first animal , and first animal with a bow.

I know some experienced hunters will point out my mistakes, but trust me I learned tons from this first kill.

thanks for reading.

[BCHunterTV]

congrats Jim on the bear!

[835]

Well the mistakes were obviously not too great because there is a picture of you and a bear!
Congratulations, It worked!

[Bow Walker]

Great story. Did you find out what dragged it away? Wolves, another bear?

Congratulations yet again.

[NaStY]

Ya not the biggest but a great bear for first bow kill...........

Good job!

[jetboat jim]

looks like another bear tried to steal it. after butchering and skinning my first one , I have no problem doing it in the field.
but I guess we learn these things as we go.
I will be back monday looking for the big brother.

[Bow Walker]

I had to eave a deer overnight, one time. Luckily it was cold out and luckily still there were no other predators that bothered it.

Glad you got your bear with minimal damage to it.

[jetboat jim]

went back and hunted the same area for the last 2 days of the season, I seen the bear that tried to steal mine.....it was a boar over 6 feet I could only get within 75 yards and was too scared to get closer as I was by myself. but I'm sure he will be there in sept.

did manage to see a brown blackie in the same area similar size to the one I harvested, decided to pass for a larger bear.

[Bow Walker]

Put your rifle on your back for confidence - if you're alone - it's legal, not too heavy either.

[jetboat jim]

its a long story but I cant have a gun till 2017 ......should have stayed in the house.

[Bow Walker]

OOPS, 'nuff said.

[chinookkiller]

good story and nice kill,good job!

[THE BEAST]

well done on the bow bear, how big was it?not that it really matters just wondering.

THE BEAST ''michael''

[hunter fisher]

nice work man, sounds like a great hunt!

[pnbrock]

Nevermind the bear story lets hear about the incident that lost you your guns!

[hunter1947]

Another bear first time with a bow its nice to hear the stories from the hunters that get there first animal with a bow you did well getting this bear with your bow it is not an easy accomplished goal to do ,congrats to you well done http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.png..

[jetboat jim]

the bear was 4 foot 11 inches.

the story about the "no restricted weapons for life" and "no firearms for 10 years" comes from an assault I did a few years ago......to make it short...

seen the neighbour getting pushed around by some guy (way bigger than my 5'-8" neighbour) so I go out there to send the neighbour in the house and tell the guy to beat it (in a nice way) the guys says "we are going to fight (me and him ), I laughed it off and went to turn away . then he said (and admitted in a police statement ) "how would you like it if I came back later and rapped you wife? " seeing red I went to walk away as I thought that would be best for him. as I turned he came at me and punched me in the side of the jaw, (being a boxer it did not take me down, but I did see stars) the next thing I knew he was laying on the ground bleeding.....I stopped hitting him.
20,000$ later to a lawyer I got the firearms restriction and a 1 year conditional sentence.

should have stayed in the house.

[Bow Walker]

For what it's worth I think you showed admirable restraint AND you did the right thing by helping your neighbor.

Did the neighbor thank you later?

That low-life did you a favor (sorta) he got you into archery, which is a great sport. I bet the ruch from getting that bear was better than getting one with a rifle at way longer yardage(s)....