Rhyla
05-20-2013, 11:30 AM
My first bear!
http://www.perfectstratagem.com/ryla/20130519/bear1.jpg
And for size comparison, as I didn't have a tape measure or a scale, next to my hubby who is 6'4"
http://www.perfectstratagem.com/ryla/20130519/bear2.jpg
Anyone want to hazard a guess at weight and/or age for me? I knew he was a mature and legal bear and he was damn heavy to pack out even skinned and quartered. To be fair though, I'm 5'4" and not in the greatest shape
Anyways, as the story goes...
The first few weeks Mike and I were out spring bear hunting in this one particular valley we were seeing LOTS of bear. He got his bear and then the last couple of weeks, we hadn't seen anything. We headed out Saturday morning, saw nothing all day.
Sunday morning, saw nothing again. So I got to thinking about what made that valley so great when we were first coming out. Well, we'd been out scouting it in February, and in the lower valley the snow was already melted. When we were hunting it in late April the grasses were up, trees were budding, but the surrounding mountains were steep and covered in snow still. We figured that was funneling the bears down into the valley.
Of course, now it's late May and the snow line is much higher. Maybe the bears moved higher too. So we did some brainstorming and thought about what other valleys we knew that might have similar conditions that the first one had had a month ago. We came up with one that had still had snow 3 weeks ago, but where it should be melted now, and drove 35 miles (markers are still in miles out here not kms, don't know about the rest of bc) out of our valley, and then another 25 miles out into the new one. Sure enough, the snow was melted, grass was just starting to come up and trees were just starting to bud. We headed all the way out to the end of the valley and finally saw our first bear in weeks.
It looked like a big bear, but it was standing straight ahead of us. I got set up and waited for him to present me a good broadside shot. He just kept walking towards me and walking towards me. Then the wind changed and he picked up my sent and took off running. I had to let him go. I couldn't take the shot.
I was, understandably, disappointed. But at the same time I was just so happy to have finally seen a bear again. We started heading back and I'm sure not even 5 minutes later I spot another bear way off in the distance up a hill where it's been logged.
I checked out the area and decided on a good vantage point about 75-100 yards from the bear where I should have a good line of sight to him. The wind is in my favor and he doesn't look like he's in a rush to go anywhere so I slowly and carefully make my way closer to him and then up to the tree line where I will have a clear shot.
By the time I get up there, he'd moved and was behind a pile of stumps and logs. I wait. He pokes his head out a few times but doesn't come out. So I decide to very carefully move. I get up to where I can see him again, but he doesn't present me with a good shot. He meanders around, and then moves out of sight again. Again I wait. Again he doesn't come back out so I move.
This went on for a while. I had to move at least half a dozen times. Finally he came out and turned broadside and started walking up the hill. I waited until he put his front foot forward. It should have been a perfect shot. I don't even remember pulling the trigger. I just heard the shot and saw him run about 10 yards before he disappeared. It didn't even look like he'd been hit, just scared. I waited to see if he came out at the tree line, but didn't see him. The terrain was so uneven though he could easily have gotten into the treeline behind a dip or hill that I couldn't see.
A few minutes later I think I hear him groan, but I can't be sure. I wait. Still nothing. So I head down to where Mike was waiting for me. I ask him, he says he heard it groan too. So we head back and meet up with his sister who came out on the trip for us. She said she saw it run a short distance and then roll. She said she didn't see it get back up.
Still, we give it another 15 minutes before going in after it. I tell you, I have never been so happy as I was when I came up and saw it laying exactly where it should have been! It was a perfect, beautiful shot straight through both lungs just like I thought, but I had doubted it when I saw him run like he hadn't been hit.
Needless to say, I am one very, very happy girl at the moment. It looks like the universe decided to reward me for not taking a shot I wasn't confident in at that first bear no matter how badly I wanted it.
http://www.perfectstratagem.com/ryla/20130519/bear1.jpg
And for size comparison, as I didn't have a tape measure or a scale, next to my hubby who is 6'4"
http://www.perfectstratagem.com/ryla/20130519/bear2.jpg
Anyone want to hazard a guess at weight and/or age for me? I knew he was a mature and legal bear and he was damn heavy to pack out even skinned and quartered. To be fair though, I'm 5'4" and not in the greatest shape
Anyways, as the story goes...
The first few weeks Mike and I were out spring bear hunting in this one particular valley we were seeing LOTS of bear. He got his bear and then the last couple of weeks, we hadn't seen anything. We headed out Saturday morning, saw nothing all day.
Sunday morning, saw nothing again. So I got to thinking about what made that valley so great when we were first coming out. Well, we'd been out scouting it in February, and in the lower valley the snow was already melted. When we were hunting it in late April the grasses were up, trees were budding, but the surrounding mountains were steep and covered in snow still. We figured that was funneling the bears down into the valley.
Of course, now it's late May and the snow line is much higher. Maybe the bears moved higher too. So we did some brainstorming and thought about what other valleys we knew that might have similar conditions that the first one had had a month ago. We came up with one that had still had snow 3 weeks ago, but where it should be melted now, and drove 35 miles (markers are still in miles out here not kms, don't know about the rest of bc) out of our valley, and then another 25 miles out into the new one. Sure enough, the snow was melted, grass was just starting to come up and trees were just starting to bud. We headed all the way out to the end of the valley and finally saw our first bear in weeks.
It looked like a big bear, but it was standing straight ahead of us. I got set up and waited for him to present me a good broadside shot. He just kept walking towards me and walking towards me. Then the wind changed and he picked up my sent and took off running. I had to let him go. I couldn't take the shot.
I was, understandably, disappointed. But at the same time I was just so happy to have finally seen a bear again. We started heading back and I'm sure not even 5 minutes later I spot another bear way off in the distance up a hill where it's been logged.
I checked out the area and decided on a good vantage point about 75-100 yards from the bear where I should have a good line of sight to him. The wind is in my favor and he doesn't look like he's in a rush to go anywhere so I slowly and carefully make my way closer to him and then up to the tree line where I will have a clear shot.
By the time I get up there, he'd moved and was behind a pile of stumps and logs. I wait. He pokes his head out a few times but doesn't come out. So I decide to very carefully move. I get up to where I can see him again, but he doesn't present me with a good shot. He meanders around, and then moves out of sight again. Again I wait. Again he doesn't come back out so I move.
This went on for a while. I had to move at least half a dozen times. Finally he came out and turned broadside and started walking up the hill. I waited until he put his front foot forward. It should have been a perfect shot. I don't even remember pulling the trigger. I just heard the shot and saw him run about 10 yards before he disappeared. It didn't even look like he'd been hit, just scared. I waited to see if he came out at the tree line, but didn't see him. The terrain was so uneven though he could easily have gotten into the treeline behind a dip or hill that I couldn't see.
A few minutes later I think I hear him groan, but I can't be sure. I wait. Still nothing. So I head down to where Mike was waiting for me. I ask him, he says he heard it groan too. So we head back and meet up with his sister who came out on the trip for us. She said she saw it run a short distance and then roll. She said she didn't see it get back up.
Still, we give it another 15 minutes before going in after it. I tell you, I have never been so happy as I was when I came up and saw it laying exactly where it should have been! It was a perfect, beautiful shot straight through both lungs just like I thought, but I had doubted it when I saw him run like he hadn't been hit.
Needless to say, I am one very, very happy girl at the moment. It looks like the universe decided to reward me for not taking a shot I wasn't confident in at that first bear no matter how badly I wanted it.