Despite having a controlled hunt tag in my pocket, I decided one morning last week to try for a bear close to home. After putting in 4.5 miles and a lot of elevation to get to a great glassing point, I hadn’t seen much sign and none fresh in the area heading in and no bears out moving after a couple hours.
Lacking confidence in the spot, I opted to death hike a mile up and over a peak, 400’ up and 600’ down through hellish brush to a spot I knew would be better. Almost immediately on dropping into this drainage I was tripping over super fresh bear scat all over the place. I hunted around for a good vantage on a cliff and posted up. An hour later this guy popped out, 1pm on a super hot day and he was out grazing around in the open.
I took a couple minutes to watch him and calm down, got a good rest and put one in him at 250 yards. He was quartering towards and feeding downhill and I was a ways above him. It didn’t seem my shot opportunity was going to get much better as he was feeding downhill opposite the canyon from me towards some thick brush (where he ended up shortly). Shot went in the shoulder high and out mid body and low on the opposite side. He ran 20 yards and stopped for 30 sec then dissapeared in the brush. I was worried he’d wander up or down this brushy draw that I couldn’t see into so I ran down to get a vantage into the tight draw. I ended up walking up on him at 15 feet in the brush about where I lost sight of him, he rustled and woofed at me and I had to put another one in him.
The solo butcher job on the steep hillside and subsequent two trips to pack all the meat out were brutal but a good time in retrospect.
My takeaway from this is that I still wouldn’t have done much different despite the less than ideal outcome. My first shot was absolutely fatal though he didn’t die immediately. His shoulder was crushed and he wasn’t going anywhere, but was still alive when I got to him. I couldn’t have walked in and been any further from him without seeing into the draw he piled up in. In hindsight, he would have died where he stopped but I didn’t know that for sure at the time. Measured 5.5’ tip to tail and the meat is great. Even had some fat on him still. Also had about 8 number 6 shot pellets in his neck and front legs that had been there for a long time it seems. Some under the hide, some in the meat. Wonder what the story is there?
Good luck to everyone on your remaining spring hunts!
Lacking confidence in the spot, I opted to death hike a mile up and over a peak, 400’ up and 600’ down through hellish brush to a spot I knew would be better. Almost immediately on dropping into this drainage I was tripping over super fresh bear scat all over the place. I hunted around for a good vantage on a cliff and posted up. An hour later this guy popped out, 1pm on a super hot day and he was out grazing around in the open.
I took a couple minutes to watch him and calm down, got a good rest and put one in him at 250 yards. He was quartering towards and feeding downhill and I was a ways above him. It didn’t seem my shot opportunity was going to get much better as he was feeding downhill opposite the canyon from me towards some thick brush (where he ended up shortly). Shot went in the shoulder high and out mid body and low on the opposite side. He ran 20 yards and stopped for 30 sec then dissapeared in the brush. I was worried he’d wander up or down this brushy draw that I couldn’t see into so I ran down to get a vantage into the tight draw. I ended up walking up on him at 15 feet in the brush about where I lost sight of him, he rustled and woofed at me and I had to put another one in him.
The solo butcher job on the steep hillside and subsequent two trips to pack all the meat out were brutal but a good time in retrospect.
My takeaway from this is that I still wouldn’t have done much different despite the less than ideal outcome. My first shot was absolutely fatal though he didn’t die immediately. His shoulder was crushed and he wasn’t going anywhere, but was still alive when I got to him. I couldn’t have walked in and been any further from him without seeing into the draw he piled up in. In hindsight, he would have died where he stopped but I didn’t know that for sure at the time. Measured 5.5’ tip to tail and the meat is great. Even had some fat on him still. Also had about 8 number 6 shot pellets in his neck and front legs that had been there for a long time it seems. Some under the hide, some in the meat. Wonder what the story is there?
Good luck to everyone on your remaining spring hunts!
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