NE WA spring bear down

Got my first bear ever! First shot was at 125 yards with my Tikka 300 win mag. Bear ran instantly down in the thickest, nastiest, and wettest brush you can think of. Ran after it and followed prints. Stopped at the last print and looked around. At this point I can see only about 10 square feet around me. I'm yelling at my brother in law if sees anything (he's about 50 yards to my left). He responded no. I'm standing there what seemed like eternity but in reality it was more like two minutes. I look to the left then in front of me again, then to the right. I see a bear head laying on the ground looking rite at me about 10' away. Not knowing if its dead or alive I pull my .44 magnum on it and aim just left to where I think the vitals are. Boom goes the .44 she gets up and runs , Boom goes the .44 again and she's still running not even a flinch! I chase after to where I seen her last and no tracks/blood or anything. By this time my brother in law has caught up with me and we're in an old clear cut with tons of dead fall. We start walking up and I hear a bit of crashing behind me. I think to myself no injured bear will go up hill. My brother in law says either its hurt real bad or dead, give it time to expire. Then I hear a little more crashing below me in a very tiny meadow, not much but some. After some discussions we decide to hike back up to the side by side to get water and gear. After the hike up and back down a little over an hour has passed. I go to the spot where I fired last and try to figure out or see where its at. We slowly make our way down to that tiny little meadow I heard crashing at. I took the left side and my brother in law took the right side ( we were only about 15 yards apart from each other). We're methodically scouring over every tiny little detail, and then I hear "Joey I see a dead bear!" I run over to where he's at and there she is curled up. We hugged each other, I shouted a couple of praises and thanked our lord and savior.. Big shout out to my brother in law Kirk (couldn't of done it without him) I learned a lot from the book no bait just bears" and "education of a bear hunter"
Thanks to Dale with Bear paw Outfitters for the DIY map. Most of all Thank you to our lord above for giving me this opportunity to enjoy his creation.

BTW
I'm looking for a good taxidermist for a bear rug. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

J.K.

Awesome job. Congrats on the spring bear!


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congrats.- You could probably save yourself some time/energy/safety by not running after it immediately after shooting... maybe make a mental note of where it was shot, give it 20-25 and then go. Its also a lot nicer for an animal to spend its last moments laying down in the peace and quiet to die rather than being chased down. The upside to this is there is a lot less tracking because the animal isn't running from you. Win win.

Just my opinion, congrats again.

Nice work man!

great job, congrats way to start the season

Any other animal I would have waited. With black bear you don't wait PERIOD.

Awesome! How far did you guys carry him like that? I hauled one out of a 2000ft deep hole in NE Oregon a few years ago. Ran into rattlers every time we crossed a creek. Wowsers!

Neat color, congrats!

outdoor hunter said:

Any other animal I would have waited. With black bear you don't wait PERIOD.

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Good job notching your tag.
I have not heard this before, why do you treat bears differently than other animals after the shot?

Congratulations !

outdoor hunter said:

Any other animal I would have waited. With black bear you don't wait PERIOD.

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Congratulations on the bear!
Not sure I understand the reason for chasing after it right away? I've always given them 20-30 mins. Shot one with the bow last week and found it 50 yards away after 25 minutes.


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Congratulations on your first bear.

I've never gone right after a bear either. Last year I waited overnight and found him 30 yards from where I shot him.

Congrats on a great bear!!!


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Good bear! Awesome colors

Based on all my research from the two black bear books I have read. "education of a bear hunter" by ralph flowers and "no bait just bears" by Douglas Boze.
Bears typically don't leave blood trails. Not here to preach on how to hunt. Just glad I got one.