Got one down

[Jake T]

I went camping over the long weekend so i hadn't been out on this road but had planned on checking it out when i got back.  When i got back i had a few PMs saying this road was all good with sign everywhere so i was feeling pretty stoked.

i got off work and drove up to the gate and then started hiking.  about a mile in i saw a black blob in the bushes off the side of the road.  i stopped and dropped to one knee and started waiting.  when i saw the blob it looked like it was walking away from me so when i was on my knee i was waiting for it to move far enough away that it would provide a good quartering away shot.  well the wind picked up and it got a hold of my scent and ran.  i was bummed.  i didn't want to go after it because it ran into some thick brush and trying to be quiet in there would have been hard.  so i kept hiking on along the road.

about two miles later i see another blob on the side of the road behind a tree.  again i dropped to one knee and waited.  he came out a little ways and hinted at showing me his shoulder but went back into the bushes.  i couldn't tell if he was a sow or not.  Then i see his head again but it was closer to the ground so i am thinking sow and cubs.  i wait a little bit longer and i realize it is the same bear, not a cub.

he walks out onto the road and turns towards me and starts slowly walking.  he sees me but isn't scared just cautious.  keeps walking slowly toward me trying to sniff the air.  finally he stops and looks, then decides i am boring and turns to his right.  i shot him then.  he sort of did a small turn, no big leap or anything and ran into the bushes.  he was close to the edge so i didn't get a second chance.

i jack a new shell in and move forward to where he was.  i see his tracks but there is no blood at all.  i am confused because i know it was a good shot and i felt very good about it.  so i am looking for any blood but see none and start to think i jerked it and missed him clean.  i know bears don't leave much blood trail but i was expecting something.  I'm going back and forth on if i hit him or missed him and finally decide that i got him and i need to look for him.

go into the brush and start checking out all of the dark spots with my binos and finally one looks fuzzy.  i immediately start doing the "get some" dance.  i walk up on him slowly, chucking rocks and sticks at him because i was alone.  he's dead.

tagged him and ran back to the truck and then drove down to cell range because he is a big boy.  Got my buddy to come help me skin him, and got a hold of a guy that could open the gate for me so we didn't have to pack him those 3 miles, we only had to pack him the 60 yards up the hill.  I've been persuing bears for 3 years now and this is my first.  for what he is, it was worth the wait. 

i spread his hide out in the garage,  6'0" from nose to tail, 6'2" paw to paw, paws are 6" wide.  We didn't weigh him, but it was all two of us could do to move him around for gutting so my official story is that he is a 6 foot, 300 pound bear.  super nice and thick black coat with a small blond streak on his chest.  he's so dirty in the pictures because he died on the side of the hill and then slide down another 30 yards and stopped by burying his head in a rotten log. 

[GoldTip]

Dandy bear, congrats!

[jackelope]

great work, Jake, congrats on your first bear. he's a good one.

[testar77]

Congrats man Nice Bear!!!!    

[Kain]

Thats a nice looking bear.  Thanks for the story and congrats.

[KillBilly]

Very nice Bear, congratulations on your first. Any mounts planned?

[Machias]

Awesome looking bear, that one is a fatty for sure, congrats!!

[Gobble]

Congrats! nice bear 

[Jake T]

Very nice Bear, congratulations on your first. Any mounts planned?

gonna rug him.

[M_ray]

Very nice Jake, you should be proud he's a dandy! 

[whacker1]

congrats on a good looking bear

[JackOfAllTrades]

Congratulations!  Where'd you git him?

-Steve

[Bearhunter]

Jake congrats, you killed the bear we were after, I would venture to say he is all of 300lbs, there were some big piles of scat up there the last week or so.  I knew there was a big boy in there, last year I seen one that I know would push 400lb's, you may have killed the one that was leaving all the sign.  It seems they are really active in there now.  Was that your first time in behind the gate?

[WAcoyotehunter]

good work on a DANDY bear!

[littlebuf]

thats a great spring bear congratulations, what unit did you draw?