my 2007 spring bear

[Rufous]

I just recently became a member here. Some of you have probably already read this hunt report on 24hourcampfire but I thought I would go ahead and post it here for those that did not see it yet.

I notched my 8th bear tag on May 19th. I drew a special permit for the spring bear hunt in the Dayton unit of SE WA state and had been out after the bears on about 10 different days. I had seen 20 bears this spring before going out on May 19th. Some of the bears were too small or too far away or it was too close to dark to get close enough for a shot etc.

I did try to go after a 4 of those bears but did not get a shot off. One of them was a real nice blonde phase bear. Not huge but I figured I would take it if I could call it in and shoot it with my Ruger Bisley 45 Colt revolver. I got it to within about 75 yards and was nearly ready to shoot when it must have either caught some movement or the wind shifted. Anyway it took off. It was a mighty fun and exciting hunt though!

My brother also drew the same special permit and was due to arrive the evening of May 19th. My buddy Mike and I went out that morning to try to get my tag filled before my brother arrived. We got up to where we wanted to hunt (a mainly north/south running mountain with a road along the top) at about 7am. We started slowly driving out the road, stopping to glass every chance we could see some south and west facing slopes. We saw the bear digging on a ridge top on a south facing slope not too far from the road. It was about 700 yards away but we could drive closer and then stalk even closer so that is what we did. We drove up the road quite a ways and then parked and hiked up the road further before heading into the timber that was between the bear and us. We were headed west at this point with a pretty stiff breeze from the southwest. When we came out of the timber I saw the bear. Mike ranged it at 47 yards. I set my rifle on the ground and stalked in to about 25 yards, knelt to the ground and fired with my 45 Colt. The bear quickly looked to its left (away from me) and I fired again. Then it took off running to my right and I stood and fired again. It made it to the timber and headed downhill with me hot on it’s heals. I fired again and brought it to bay. Then I fired again and finally once more to finish it off. I did not need to fire all 6 shots but once I start I hate to see an animal suffer any longer than necessary. Fortunately it was only about a half of a mile from the truck. After picture taking and skinning/butchering I loaded the meat into my pack and Mike took the hide out. I had 128# on my back which is my heaviest load ever. I am glad it was not any further to the truck.

The bear was a boar and measured 6’ nose to tail with the hide on the carcass. With the hide off it measured 74” nose to tail and 82” across the front claws so it squared 6’ 6”. The front pad measured 5 1/8”. We figure its live weight at about 250#. The skull measured 17 7/8”. This bear was at 5230' elevation. We did get my brother a smaller bear which was also a boar. Rufous.

[billythekidrock]

Glad you made it over. Great to read the story again.

[ICEMAN]

How many of your shots hit the bear?

[MHWASH]

Nice bear, especilly with a handgun. What load were you using?

[shag]

Once again great job Rufous!!!

CD

[Rufous]

At least four of my shots connected. I did not do an autopsy to really find out. I was using the Beartooth 345 WLNGC at 1150 fps using H110. Rufous.

[ICEMAN]

Every time I kill an animal and skin it, I learn exactly where my shots entered and exited, so I learn what to do better next time. Do you steak out your bear, or send to the grinder?

[Rufous]

I just had sausage made. I have had the butcher make some smoked bear hams in the past and my wife cooks them in a crock pot. Very tasty. The steaks though have always been tough and a disappointment. Rufous.

[ICEMAN]

I shot my first bear this last august, skinned it quick, packed it out in the dark, and cooled it quickly. I butchered the meat like I would a deer, and found the meat to be very segmented, with many different muscle groups like I read about. I found the meat to be excellent table fare, as did my wife and two kids. I wrapped and froze the meat in "family sized portions" (stole this quote from Ted Nugent...). We have been cooking this wonderful meat in stews, pan fried for breakfast steaks, "shishkabobed" over charcoal.  The bear was a small one, maybe this is why I found it good?

Question for the bear experts, any issue with a large bear not making good eats?

I cant wait until the bear opener!

[Ray]

Fantastic looking bear. I like the handgun hunting.

[billythekidrock]

Question for the bear experts, any issue with a large bear not making good eats?

No issue at all. I have eaten meat from over 20 bears in age from 1.5 - 23.5 yrs of age and from 100 lbs to over 400 lbs, all from Washington. If handled properly from the field to the plate it is all great. The only bear I would not have eaten was from POW, AK. Freshly skinned, the meat smelled like fish!.

I have never had good luck with bear steaks. The flavor was always great, but as chewy bubble gum. We mostly make roasts. Neck roasts, hind quarter roasts, backstrap roasts. These we cook in a crock pot. Someday I will post the recipe. Sometimes (every other year) we will can 14 - 21 quarts of meat. We use it on Hoagies for cold or hot sandwiches, "beef" tacos, supplement for stew or right out of the jar. Only a couple times have we taken it in for summer sausage. Usually I make German or Polish sausage, breakfast link and ground, and last year I used bear burger to make pepperoni and jerky.
The rest of the bear meat is added to our venison burger.

Here are a few pics of the "extras" we make with bear meat. I will look and see if I can find the original posts (on another site) and share them here.

German and Polish sausage in hog and synthetic casings.



Bear pepperoni in sheep casings.



Jerky shooter bear jerky.

[billythekidrock]

I just had sausage made. I have had the butcher make some smoked bear hams in the past and my wife cooks them in a crock pot. Very tasty. The steaks though have always been tough and a disappointment. Rufous.

I just added 4 posts to the Recipe section of the site. They are all recipes that we use for bear & deer.

[saylean]

What a great looking bear...is that a scar on his forehead? Congrats!

[boneaddict]

Excellent Bear!

[Timber]

Great story and very nice bear! It sounds like you put your time in. Good job with the details. You don't hear about many people shooting bears with handguns, I love it.

(I had that tag in 2002 and got a 14.5 year old chocolate sow.)