idelkslayer
WKR
Through a very embarrassing series of events I was able to kill my 3rd bear this past weekend.
I had set my bait site out about 3 weeks ago and had a cinnamon colored bear hitting it and also a cinnamon sow with 3 cubs. On Friday a black colored bear began hitting the bait so I decided to sit in my stand on Saturday afternoon and evening.
I arrived at 4:30 pm and got myself situated in the world’s most uncomfortable treestand, which I happen to own (cheapest on the market). 40 minutes later I heard a branch break and looked to my left just in time to see one of the cubs turn around and walk away. I was disappointed because I had hoped to get the sow and her cubs on video. The next hour was uneventful until a load crash raised my attention and I saw a single elk move through the bushes away from me. During the 2 hours that followed I discovered new depths of boredom as I tried to remain still and awake. Even the chipmunks and squirrels which had been my constant companions and only entertainment left me alone at about 8:00 pm.
I would only have shooting light until 9:15 pm and it was at 8:50 pm that I thought I saw movement 40 yards in front and to my right. After staring at a vague black form in the bushes for about a minute it moved and I recognized it was in the shape of a bear. The bear took its time moving into the open as I readied my rifle. I had decided to use my .54 cal muzzleloader that I built last year. The bear stepped into the open, I pulled the hammer back and set the trigger. Finally the bear turned broadside and I fired.
Through the smoke I saw him drop, he laid still and did not even twitch. I began to reload my rifle, taking my time measuring and pouring the powder, starting the patch and ball, and then the bear began to move. Since it was getting darker by the minute and I didn't want to follow a wounded bear in the dark I decided I needed to get another shot into him as fast as I could. Forgetting that I had only short started the ball and it was only 6 inches down the barrel, I loaded a cap, aimed and fired at the bear. The bear stopped moving and I thought the matter was finished.
I got down from my stand and began to reload. Blackpowder being what it is, after two shots a significant amount of fouling had built up in the bore, this makes reloading difficult and it was as I was pushing the ball down the barrel with my ramrod that I realized that I had not completed that step on my previous shot. Grateful as I was that the gun had not exploded I was now concerned that the bullet had only fallen from the barrel at the shot and not hit the bear, leaving me to assume that I had a still wounded and alive bear to contend with on his level. With some difficulty I finished seating the ball and cautiously proceeded to a position where I could observe the bear.
I quickly saw that the bear was still alive, had dragged itself using only its front legs into some bushes leaving me no shot from that angle. Assuming that the bear had been paralyzed by my first shot I circled uphill to get a better view of his head and chest to deliver the final shot. However, as I stepped around a tree and into view of my target, the bear spotted me and jumped up on all fours, a feat that I thought impossible at this point. From only 15 feet away the bear got up and stumbled downhill into some bushes and deadfall. I waited for him to come into the clearing on the other side and fired as he walked quartering away from me. Again I saw him fall, but between the smoke and the growing darkness I could not see him afterwards. At this point it had been about 7 mintues since my first shot. Turning to my headlamp I found it to be nearly dead and giving no useful light. Again I began to reload but this time the fouling was so bad I could not load the ball and it refused progress when only 12 inches down the 34 inch barrel. I tried to force it by repeatedly pounding hard with the ramrod which after a few blows snapped it in half.
I could still hear the bear thrashing around and so it was with an incapacitated rifle and no other weapon besides my belt knife that I decided the prudent thing to do was get out of Dodge and return in the morning.
I called a friend and informed him of the situation and that while I was 90% sure the bear was dead in the clearing, I would appreciate his help, and backup, in searching for the bear the next morning. And so it was that early the next day we set out in search of the bear, we found the bear dead not 10 steps from where I had last shot it.
Through the gutting and skinning process I was able deduce what had happened with each of my shots. The first had been a perfect shot to the shoulder which passed completely through the bear and exited the opposite side but had only destroyed one lung. The short-started ball merely penetrated the skin and was found lodged next to the ribs . The 3rd and final shot as the bear walked away through the clearing had entered near the left hind leg and I discover the bullet lodged in the right side of the bears chest having travelled about 2 feet through the bears body having passed through the remaining lung.
Although not a large bear it has a thick and beautiful coat, 5 feet from nose to tail, it is unique because it is black. Most black bears in this area are brown or cinnamon in color. It is not the largest bear I have killed but it was exciting to get him with my muzzleloader. I guess the big cinnamon boar will have to wait until next year.
With this bear and the Mountain Lion I got in February (http://www.rokslide.com/forums/showthread.php?17744-Very-old-Mtn-Lion-2014) I have only to kill a wolf this year to complete a trifecta of Idaho predators and while I did not begin the year with any such aspirations it would seem a pity not to try now.
I had set my bait site out about 3 weeks ago and had a cinnamon colored bear hitting it and also a cinnamon sow with 3 cubs. On Friday a black colored bear began hitting the bait so I decided to sit in my stand on Saturday afternoon and evening.
I arrived at 4:30 pm and got myself situated in the world’s most uncomfortable treestand, which I happen to own (cheapest on the market). 40 minutes later I heard a branch break and looked to my left just in time to see one of the cubs turn around and walk away. I was disappointed because I had hoped to get the sow and her cubs on video. The next hour was uneventful until a load crash raised my attention and I saw a single elk move through the bushes away from me. During the 2 hours that followed I discovered new depths of boredom as I tried to remain still and awake. Even the chipmunks and squirrels which had been my constant companions and only entertainment left me alone at about 8:00 pm.
I would only have shooting light until 9:15 pm and it was at 8:50 pm that I thought I saw movement 40 yards in front and to my right. After staring at a vague black form in the bushes for about a minute it moved and I recognized it was in the shape of a bear. The bear took its time moving into the open as I readied my rifle. I had decided to use my .54 cal muzzleloader that I built last year. The bear stepped into the open, I pulled the hammer back and set the trigger. Finally the bear turned broadside and I fired.
Through the smoke I saw him drop, he laid still and did not even twitch. I began to reload my rifle, taking my time measuring and pouring the powder, starting the patch and ball, and then the bear began to move. Since it was getting darker by the minute and I didn't want to follow a wounded bear in the dark I decided I needed to get another shot into him as fast as I could. Forgetting that I had only short started the ball and it was only 6 inches down the barrel, I loaded a cap, aimed and fired at the bear. The bear stopped moving and I thought the matter was finished.
I got down from my stand and began to reload. Blackpowder being what it is, after two shots a significant amount of fouling had built up in the bore, this makes reloading difficult and it was as I was pushing the ball down the barrel with my ramrod that I realized that I had not completed that step on my previous shot. Grateful as I was that the gun had not exploded I was now concerned that the bullet had only fallen from the barrel at the shot and not hit the bear, leaving me to assume that I had a still wounded and alive bear to contend with on his level. With some difficulty I finished seating the ball and cautiously proceeded to a position where I could observe the bear.
I quickly saw that the bear was still alive, had dragged itself using only its front legs into some bushes leaving me no shot from that angle. Assuming that the bear had been paralyzed by my first shot I circled uphill to get a better view of his head and chest to deliver the final shot. However, as I stepped around a tree and into view of my target, the bear spotted me and jumped up on all fours, a feat that I thought impossible at this point. From only 15 feet away the bear got up and stumbled downhill into some bushes and deadfall. I waited for him to come into the clearing on the other side and fired as he walked quartering away from me. Again I saw him fall, but between the smoke and the growing darkness I could not see him afterwards. At this point it had been about 7 mintues since my first shot. Turning to my headlamp I found it to be nearly dead and giving no useful light. Again I began to reload but this time the fouling was so bad I could not load the ball and it refused progress when only 12 inches down the 34 inch barrel. I tried to force it by repeatedly pounding hard with the ramrod which after a few blows snapped it in half.
I could still hear the bear thrashing around and so it was with an incapacitated rifle and no other weapon besides my belt knife that I decided the prudent thing to do was get out of Dodge and return in the morning.
I called a friend and informed him of the situation and that while I was 90% sure the bear was dead in the clearing, I would appreciate his help, and backup, in searching for the bear the next morning. And so it was that early the next day we set out in search of the bear, we found the bear dead not 10 steps from where I had last shot it.
Through the gutting and skinning process I was able deduce what had happened with each of my shots. The first had been a perfect shot to the shoulder which passed completely through the bear and exited the opposite side but had only destroyed one lung. The short-started ball merely penetrated the skin and was found lodged next to the ribs . The 3rd and final shot as the bear walked away through the clearing had entered near the left hind leg and I discover the bullet lodged in the right side of the bears chest having travelled about 2 feet through the bears body having passed through the remaining lung.
Although not a large bear it has a thick and beautiful coat, 5 feet from nose to tail, it is unique because it is black. Most black bears in this area are brown or cinnamon in color. It is not the largest bear I have killed but it was exciting to get him with my muzzleloader. I guess the big cinnamon boar will have to wait until next year.
With this bear and the Mountain Lion I got in February (http://www.rokslide.com/forums/showthread.php?17744-Very-old-Mtn-Lion-2014) I have only to kill a wolf this year to complete a trifecta of Idaho predators and while I did not begin the year with any such aspirations it would seem a pity not to try now.
