First Bear hunt of the year was going to be just a quick day hunt with my son. We headed early to a spot I normally like for an early season hunt at lower elevation. Upon arriving the the road was busy with active logging operations. We respected the signage and moved on. Went to road that I had not gone up before and though I had reservations about seeing bears up high, we went exploring. When we got up top, I grabbed my cup of coffee, the binoculars and got comfy, glassing for bear.
Yeah some of you may recognize this “C-Post” site- just bite your tongue. Thanks.
Well didn’t take too long and my oh my! There’s a bear. Nice Bear. I was wondering just how far away that was. Especially since we were at the end of the road system already. Since I didn’t have a map for here, wasn’t planning to hunt this area, I called a buddy I knew was sitting at a computer to have him measure it on Google earth. What? Two miles as the crow flies, not good. Been trying to show my son, that if you can see an animal, you often can get there with enough work. Well after the nice bear I got last year (
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php?topic=83728.0 ) he was hot to trot to go get this one. Well checking on the position of the bear before heading in, My son spots another on the other side of the meadows. Bigger Bear! Well I pretty sure this big old boy recovering from a third ankle surgery (ankle fusion this time), is not going to make it through this rough backcountry to where we saw the bears. But we will see how far we can get.
My son, calling mom before we head in to tell her where we are and plan to go.
Well this is me at the first peak along the ridge. After fighting my ankle the last couple years I’ve wondered if I’d ever get be looking down from places like this. Very satisfying, the ankle was wincing and I was aware of it every step, but it was doing well.
We’ve made it a bit further to the second peak on the ridge and you can’t keep a kid out of the snow.
I’m very happy to be looking at views like these.
Top of the last peak we were going to get to, by now my son realizes that we are not getting over to the area with the bears we saw earlier. Also that even though we could go on, it would be pretty tough to come back through the next section with heavy packs. And that it would probably be the next day we were coming back if we continued. Here’s the kid at the top of the hill.
And I’m being rewarded for taking his picture with a snowball heading my way. Even with the disappointment of not making it, he’s having fun and upbeat. Good deal!
Skiing without skis.
Trying to at least see the bears one more time before heading back to the truck.
Back at the truck, he’s telling me how we can get there later.
Seen a few grouse on this trip, always good to see. This hen had some chicks that were just about ready to start flying. Nice to see that she had a successful hatch, hope more did.
All in all it was a pretty satisfying day. Confident that my hunting season may be more successful this year with being able to get out and around good this year. And my son is showing real passion for the hunt, can’t beat that. Even by pulling a trigger.
