two-feet
06-18-2013, 09:03 PM
So about a year ago my wifey said she would eat bear meat if I brought some home so this year I went out for bear for the first time since I was a kid hunting with my dad. My first time out I saw no bears but walked up on a nice cow moose and jumped a big black wolf so enjoyed the walk but came home empty handed. The next time I put my son to bed at about 7pm and hit the road out to a honey hole where I have seen plenty of animals in the past including bears.
We have had plenty of rain in the area (6-9) and when I got to the start of my power line there was a huge mud hole that I was not too comfortable with so I decided to start walking from there instead of further up like I had originally intended. The sun was shining and the wind was in my face. While walking there was lots of moose and deer sign and of course huge wolf tracks but after about 2 km I had only seen sign of one bear so was somewhat surprised when I crested a little knoll and there was what looked to be a good sized bear headed south across the right of way. I watched for a moment and saw no cubs as the bear slowly grazed its way along and figured it for a good boar. It started making its way towards the bush at the edge of the line so I sat down and lined up the shot then squeezed one off.
The bear kind of hunched up and staggered a little and then dove into the alders. As I levered in another shell I heard it bawl 3 times and then let out 3 big wheezes, then silence.
I let it sit for 45 minutes then headed to the spot I had seen it enter and started to poke around. It was some seriously thick shit and my pulse was up a little but I took my time and after a quick first look I got out the flagging tape and started a grid. That bush was so thick that in a lot of places I would literally have had to step on it to find it and I know they will squeeze in under logs when hurt so after 1 1/2 hours I was starting to get a little down in spirit. As the light started to fail I decided to return in a few hours with my dog at dawn but thought I would check a little east of where I started my grid and immediately found a trail, I followed it in and there it was. The bear had only made it about 6 steps and I had been within 20' of it about 4 times. So I dragged it out (quite a grunt) and got to work with the light I had left.
We have had plenty of rain in the area (6-9) and when I got to the start of my power line there was a huge mud hole that I was not too comfortable with so I decided to start walking from there instead of further up like I had originally intended. The sun was shining and the wind was in my face. While walking there was lots of moose and deer sign and of course huge wolf tracks but after about 2 km I had only seen sign of one bear so was somewhat surprised when I crested a little knoll and there was what looked to be a good sized bear headed south across the right of way. I watched for a moment and saw no cubs as the bear slowly grazed its way along and figured it for a good boar. It started making its way towards the bush at the edge of the line so I sat down and lined up the shot then squeezed one off.
The bear kind of hunched up and staggered a little and then dove into the alders. As I levered in another shell I heard it bawl 3 times and then let out 3 big wheezes, then silence.
I let it sit for 45 minutes then headed to the spot I had seen it enter and started to poke around. It was some seriously thick shit and my pulse was up a little but I took my time and after a quick first look I got out the flagging tape and started a grid. That bush was so thick that in a lot of places I would literally have had to step on it to find it and I know they will squeeze in under logs when hurt so after 1 1/2 hours I was starting to get a little down in spirit. As the light started to fail I decided to return in a few hours with my dog at dawn but thought I would check a little east of where I started my grid and immediately found a trail, I followed it in and there it was. The bear had only made it about 6 steps and I had been within 20' of it about 4 times. So I dragged it out (quite a grunt) and got to work with the light I had left.