Story will follow later got back late last night here is a teaser- squares at 7
Ok here is a brief one and I will do a story on the trip later.
I gotta say thanks to Glen ,Rick , Colin and Ernie for all your tips, sightings and info and it was a pleasure meeting all of you
The day started lucky and got better from there
After drying out all our clothing to a comfortable dampness from getting caught in the rainstorm the night before and adding a pair of winter work coveralls we went out for our late afternoon/evening hunt.
We had been noticing alot of tracks and figure that the heavy rains interupted their feeding and now they were out hungry.
Bumped a couple and noticed that as soon as you turned the engine off they would stop running.
Engine start they run, engine stop they relax a bit pretty quickly. We figured that quiet and no engine noise is the key to educated bears and they seemed to run till they couldnt hear the engine any more .
We started on our ascent into the mountains and once we got to a suitable elevation we started hikeing . We would hike, glass then when we wanted to move a section we would go back to the bike and idle it to the next section . On blind corners we were shutting down waiting a bit and creeping around to make sure it was clear so we didnt bump one.
I was looking over a slide while Leah was about 10 yds from me and i saw the distinctive humped sillouette across a small valley closer then expected , I whisper excitedly for Leah to get down .
I watched the bear for a bit and motioned to Leah to come over to where i was laying which had a few young trees for cover and the wind was in our favour.
I took out the rangfinder and the bear was within easy distance. (156yds) I watched it for a bit more and determined that the bear seemed a healthy representation of what i wanted and alone.
By now i was lying there with the rifle trained on it waiting for the right angle, first it faced me , then turned with his ass towards me and then finally he settled broadside. at this point i figured it couldnt get any better so i touched one off.
The bullet met its mark and there was a slight moment that everything stopped as if a pause butten had been pressed. Then all of a sudden the bear sprung straight up as if it was standing on a hot fry pan ripping at the earth everytime it landed going like an angry bull trying to shake its rider.
I had allready cycled the action as I recovered from what felt like rimfire recoil and pasted the crosshairs on the bear ready for the next shot as it tried a stiff donkey run up hill only to watch it tip over and expire after a few meters of labour .
We made our way over to the bear checking to make sure it was really truly dead I climbed up to it and was gonna roll it down to a nice area for photos but Leah insisted we take it exactly where it fell as it fell and there was no need for positioning . (in looking at them they turned out perfect )
She took a few Photos and then after saying a few respectfull words to the bear I rolled it down to an area to work on it.
The 250g ttsx had done its job and was nowhere to be found, Its Lungs were liquid and it sounded like i was rolling a half full drum .
Now the fun stuff starts as the night was closing in fast and we were getting sprinkles of rain.
We used up the daylight and worked well into the night with a headlamp and two knives and our rifles beside us .
At about 2/3rds through the bear we figure we should bring the bike over so we hike over there and bring the bike back.
The bike had burnt out its headlight so all i had was one of those piaa lamps to navigate with so the ride out was slow going. (it also didnt like the altitude)
We skinned it out leaving the head and paws intact and takeing some meat . tied and strapped it together with cord into a package as best we can and then realized it was bloody heavy and awkward.
Placed it on the tank /bars of the bike with me hugging it, holding it on with knees , elbows and desperation as leah piled on the back and did her part holding the bear on also .
We then made the long (several hours) very slow and taxing descent to the mainline then back to camp .
rifle used win mod 70 Classic SS in 375 H&H , Barnes TTSX 250g bullets