Hillbros_96
09-19-2013, 11:37 AM
Note to self, in retrospect the idea of going after a grizzly bear by myself may not have been the smartest thing I have done in my life. This was running through my mind while I was staring at this beast and wondering what I got myself into.
I had hunted the area hard for the last 7 days with not seeing much for accessible/attainable animals that was in my species list for this trip. I even went as far as running to the nearest town to buy a caribou tag to try a different area for caribou. Up until the seventh day, I saw 60 black bears (none of notable size), 15 mountain goats (none were accessible due to large bodies of water.), 25 grouse a day (which I was planning on helping reduce the numbers before I left for home). No real fresh sign of moose other than the occasional track that I attributed to a cow/calf combo.
I saw plenty of Grizzly tracks that ranged from 6” – 9” across. One track in particular caught my eye as my entire hiking boot fit into it. I was really hoping to see this bear in person as I was up here to find a grizzly bear to hang on the wall. I also saw many wolf tracks the size of dessert plates and was hoping I would come across this animal as well.
The weather was not cooperating at all, most days the temperature was 22—25 degrees and one day even topped 27. I was planning on some snow or rain at least considering the time of year and the location of the hunt.
I did run into a great bunch of guys from the East Kootenay’s that I ended up stopping and having a good chat with every day during our travels. They were gracious enough to offer there help if I needed it while they were there. Turns out that it was a much needed offer, the only problem was they left that morning and I was sure wishing they were still around while I was pondering my predicament.
On the Wednesday of my trip, I was getting frustrated with the lack of attainable game that was on my bucket list for this trip. I decided as I was riding my quad down this particular logging road that I was going to get to the bridge, turn around and head out to shoot a black bear so I would have something to show for my efforts for this week and get some more practice in skinning bears. I was putting along the last bend, and there standing on the edge of the road munching on the planted clover was a very large grizzly bear 50 yards away. I do not think either of us was expecting each other to be there. By the time my brain made the connection and I was getting off the quad to grab my rifle he made a beeline to the bush.
Needless to say, my heart was pounding and all thoughts of shooting a black bear were out of my mind. I was vibrating with excitement to see a large bear with no ears, low hanging belly and a curved back. I went back to the same spot on Thursday and Friday with no new sign at the spot. I decided I would put my trail camera up in the spot on Saturday and not come back until the next week. On my way out on Friday night back to camp, there were his tracks in my quad tracks walking down the road. So just my luck, when I go to one place he goes to another.
Saturday afternoon, I decided I am going to sit on the road where the bear walked Friday night. I already put up my trail camera up that afternoon, and there was fresh bear sign since I was there the evening before. I figured it was only a matter of time before I stumbled across this bear again with this fresh sign and I still had another week of hunting if need be.
I am sitting on this road on Saturday evening getting eaten alive by the bugs and looking over my shoulder at the slightest sound as I do not want this bear sneaking behind me and taking a swipe at me. At 8:00 o’clock just before sunset (may give you a hint on how far north I was), I can start to hear something walking down the road. 80 yards from me there is a 12 foot poplar tree growing on the side of the road so I need to walk 5 yards down the road to see around the tree. As I get around the corner, I see this big white thing moving at the top of the tree. Now I am confused, what can be white, big like that at the top of a tree? I take one more step to see around the tree and see a big moose. Wholly smokes, I am not expecting to see this. He is walking down the road towards me so I hightail back to the quad so I can grab my tripod.
As the seconds tick by, I can see him getting closer and turning looking to his side. I start to wonder if he is going to go into the bush before he clears this poplar tree. If he does that, what am I going to do? Luckily I do not have time to think more on this as he continues forward, and clears the tree. Now I am facing the largest moose I have ever seen and he is facing me with less than perfect shot placement. Do I shoot him between the eyes? No cannot do that because I might lose the antlers to mount. On a side note, my wife has been asking for a moose to hang on the wall since I have shot my Mule deer that is currently on my wall. So I wait until he lifts his head and looks to his right. I then put the first bullet into his left side between his neck and leg.
I hear the bullet hit and he stumbles hard and now turns broadside. I then put another into his lungs. Now I am thinking I need to make sure he dies on or very near to the road as the grizzly bear I have been chasing has now clearly entered my mind. I miss with the third shot and he runs down the road 20 roads and stands broadside on wobbly legs. I run down the road 25 yards to watch where he goes and I put the forth into him. He then stumbles just off the road and falls head down into the bush. I am excited now with the biggest moose I have ever seen down. I run over to the quad and grab my Spot and broadcast that I shot something. I slowly, (okay maybe not that slow) run over to where he is dead and take a couple of pictures.
Now the gravity of the situation is starting to sink in, it is starting to get dark, my new friends are not around to help, the bear I am chasing could possibly be around and I am thinking of the grizzly dinner bell theories. I struggle for the next 6 hrs to get him half skinned, and gutted. With him lying head down he was extremely hard to get the guts out of. At 2:30 I had to call it a night and get some sleep. I had not eaten since noon and was really starting to feel it. I threw a bed sheet over him to try to leave some scent around hoping to discourage any animal activity. I got to camp, washed up best I could and hit the sack for 3 hrs sleep. I was able to get my truck and trailer half way to him, reducing my travel time by more than half and getting a round trip down to 40 minutes. By 2:30 in the afternoon, I had him at the trailer, all my stuff collected.
With the temperate being as high as it was, I thought it would be prudent to get the meat out to prevent spoilage. So I went and got fuel, and packed up camp on Sunday night. I was back on the road heading south by 7:15 on Monday morning and finally pulled into my house at 5:45 on Thursday night to an excited family.
I was also missing my previous hunting life were we were able to get the tractor to anything we shot to hang the animal to skin and gut. This experience has really shown me how old I am getting (I still hurt on Tuesday from the ordeal.
I spent a half day trying to figure out which taxidermist I was going to try to get him to. I got a couple of recommendations, browsed the forum to see who well recommended and made my decision. Hopefully I will get him to the taxidermist today as the one I chose had some issues on Tuesday after I talked to him that has made him unavailable until this afternoon. In searching for a place to put this beast on the wall last night, my house in BC was not built for it. I have not told the wife yet, but I think the only place it will fit really is above out bed.
Hope you enjoy the story and the couple of pictures I did get. I wish I was able to get more pictures, but being by myself and with the worry about the bear, it was just not to be. But I will have the memories for the rest of my life. I am going back for sure next year to go after that bear again.
http://i883.photobucket.com/albums/ac34/Hillbros_96/Moose/IMGP0153_zpsf3d9ae8b.jpg (http://s883.photobucket.com/user/Hillbros_96/media/Moose/IMGP0153_zpsf3d9ae8b.jpg.html)
http://i883.photobucket.com/albums/ac34/Hillbros_96/Moose/20130917_1802341_zps2293bf16.jpg (http://s883.photobucket.com/user/Hillbros_96/media/Moose/20130917_1802341_zps2293bf16.jpg.html)
I had hunted the area hard for the last 7 days with not seeing much for accessible/attainable animals that was in my species list for this trip. I even went as far as running to the nearest town to buy a caribou tag to try a different area for caribou. Up until the seventh day, I saw 60 black bears (none of notable size), 15 mountain goats (none were accessible due to large bodies of water.), 25 grouse a day (which I was planning on helping reduce the numbers before I left for home). No real fresh sign of moose other than the occasional track that I attributed to a cow/calf combo.
I saw plenty of Grizzly tracks that ranged from 6” – 9” across. One track in particular caught my eye as my entire hiking boot fit into it. I was really hoping to see this bear in person as I was up here to find a grizzly bear to hang on the wall. I also saw many wolf tracks the size of dessert plates and was hoping I would come across this animal as well.
The weather was not cooperating at all, most days the temperature was 22—25 degrees and one day even topped 27. I was planning on some snow or rain at least considering the time of year and the location of the hunt.
I did run into a great bunch of guys from the East Kootenay’s that I ended up stopping and having a good chat with every day during our travels. They were gracious enough to offer there help if I needed it while they were there. Turns out that it was a much needed offer, the only problem was they left that morning and I was sure wishing they were still around while I was pondering my predicament.
On the Wednesday of my trip, I was getting frustrated with the lack of attainable game that was on my bucket list for this trip. I decided as I was riding my quad down this particular logging road that I was going to get to the bridge, turn around and head out to shoot a black bear so I would have something to show for my efforts for this week and get some more practice in skinning bears. I was putting along the last bend, and there standing on the edge of the road munching on the planted clover was a very large grizzly bear 50 yards away. I do not think either of us was expecting each other to be there. By the time my brain made the connection and I was getting off the quad to grab my rifle he made a beeline to the bush.
Needless to say, my heart was pounding and all thoughts of shooting a black bear were out of my mind. I was vibrating with excitement to see a large bear with no ears, low hanging belly and a curved back. I went back to the same spot on Thursday and Friday with no new sign at the spot. I decided I would put my trail camera up in the spot on Saturday and not come back until the next week. On my way out on Friday night back to camp, there were his tracks in my quad tracks walking down the road. So just my luck, when I go to one place he goes to another.
Saturday afternoon, I decided I am going to sit on the road where the bear walked Friday night. I already put up my trail camera up that afternoon, and there was fresh bear sign since I was there the evening before. I figured it was only a matter of time before I stumbled across this bear again with this fresh sign and I still had another week of hunting if need be.
I am sitting on this road on Saturday evening getting eaten alive by the bugs and looking over my shoulder at the slightest sound as I do not want this bear sneaking behind me and taking a swipe at me. At 8:00 o’clock just before sunset (may give you a hint on how far north I was), I can start to hear something walking down the road. 80 yards from me there is a 12 foot poplar tree growing on the side of the road so I need to walk 5 yards down the road to see around the tree. As I get around the corner, I see this big white thing moving at the top of the tree. Now I am confused, what can be white, big like that at the top of a tree? I take one more step to see around the tree and see a big moose. Wholly smokes, I am not expecting to see this. He is walking down the road towards me so I hightail back to the quad so I can grab my tripod.
As the seconds tick by, I can see him getting closer and turning looking to his side. I start to wonder if he is going to go into the bush before he clears this poplar tree. If he does that, what am I going to do? Luckily I do not have time to think more on this as he continues forward, and clears the tree. Now I am facing the largest moose I have ever seen and he is facing me with less than perfect shot placement. Do I shoot him between the eyes? No cannot do that because I might lose the antlers to mount. On a side note, my wife has been asking for a moose to hang on the wall since I have shot my Mule deer that is currently on my wall. So I wait until he lifts his head and looks to his right. I then put the first bullet into his left side between his neck and leg.
I hear the bullet hit and he stumbles hard and now turns broadside. I then put another into his lungs. Now I am thinking I need to make sure he dies on or very near to the road as the grizzly bear I have been chasing has now clearly entered my mind. I miss with the third shot and he runs down the road 20 roads and stands broadside on wobbly legs. I run down the road 25 yards to watch where he goes and I put the forth into him. He then stumbles just off the road and falls head down into the bush. I am excited now with the biggest moose I have ever seen down. I run over to the quad and grab my Spot and broadcast that I shot something. I slowly, (okay maybe not that slow) run over to where he is dead and take a couple of pictures.
Now the gravity of the situation is starting to sink in, it is starting to get dark, my new friends are not around to help, the bear I am chasing could possibly be around and I am thinking of the grizzly dinner bell theories. I struggle for the next 6 hrs to get him half skinned, and gutted. With him lying head down he was extremely hard to get the guts out of. At 2:30 I had to call it a night and get some sleep. I had not eaten since noon and was really starting to feel it. I threw a bed sheet over him to try to leave some scent around hoping to discourage any animal activity. I got to camp, washed up best I could and hit the sack for 3 hrs sleep. I was able to get my truck and trailer half way to him, reducing my travel time by more than half and getting a round trip down to 40 minutes. By 2:30 in the afternoon, I had him at the trailer, all my stuff collected.
With the temperate being as high as it was, I thought it would be prudent to get the meat out to prevent spoilage. So I went and got fuel, and packed up camp on Sunday night. I was back on the road heading south by 7:15 on Monday morning and finally pulled into my house at 5:45 on Thursday night to an excited family.
I was also missing my previous hunting life were we were able to get the tractor to anything we shot to hang the animal to skin and gut. This experience has really shown me how old I am getting (I still hurt on Tuesday from the ordeal.
I spent a half day trying to figure out which taxidermist I was going to try to get him to. I got a couple of recommendations, browsed the forum to see who well recommended and made my decision. Hopefully I will get him to the taxidermist today as the one I chose had some issues on Tuesday after I talked to him that has made him unavailable until this afternoon. In searching for a place to put this beast on the wall last night, my house in BC was not built for it. I have not told the wife yet, but I think the only place it will fit really is above out bed.
Hope you enjoy the story and the couple of pictures I did get. I wish I was able to get more pictures, but being by myself and with the worry about the bear, it was just not to be. But I will have the memories for the rest of my life. I am going back for sure next year to go after that bear again.
http://i883.photobucket.com/albums/ac34/Hillbros_96/Moose/IMGP0153_zpsf3d9ae8b.jpg (http://s883.photobucket.com/user/Hillbros_96/media/Moose/IMGP0153_zpsf3d9ae8b.jpg.html)
http://i883.photobucket.com/albums/ac34/Hillbros_96/Moose/20130917_1802341_zps2293bf16.jpg (http://s883.photobucket.com/user/Hillbros_96/media/Moose/20130917_1802341_zps2293bf16.jpg.html)