The Mohawk Bear

[shanevg]

I got my first bear of the season this morning.  My buddy Daniel (D-Man on the website, although he never posts, still hasn't posted his bear from last weekend) went up for a weekend out.  The spot we were going to camp was about 3000 vertical feet above the road so we got out at daylight and started hiking.  A little over half way up Daniel spots a bear up the ridge.  Since he got a bear last weekend, it was my turn to shoot this weekend.  We dropped our packs through on some Juniper cover scent and started up the hill to put a stalk on.  This was shortly after 7 a.m.

After we had made our way to what we thought would be a good vantage, we could not locate the bear, so we kept hiking up the hill in search of the bear.  We made it about 800 vertical feet above our packs when Daniel spotted the bear moving towards a clearing.  We quickly put our guns on a stump to get a shot but I wasn't comforatable with the rest.  I moved another 15 yards up hill and quickly set up my bipod as the bear walked briskly through the clearing.  Daniel used my rangefinder and whispered that it was just over 100 yards, straight up hill.  I knew I didn't have long to shoot so I quickly squeezed off a shot.  I have instructed Daniel in the past to always back me up immediately on a bear.  I would rather have a bear down right there with a couple bullet holes through it than have to track a bear for hours.  Of course Daniel doesn't shoot and instead yells, "He's down, he's down!"  But immediately, the bear got back up and tried to run away (it was stumbling all over the place.)  So Daniel and I both squeezed off another shot (which, we later found out, we both missed.)  The bear disappeared from sight.

We gave the bear a few minutes to bleed out, than circled around the bear on the side where we might be able to get a good vantage of where we last saw it.  I didn't see anything so we moved in to search for some blood.  As Daniel and I were looking around, I hear Daniel say (from 15  yards away) "I see the bear!"  I quickly asked if the bear was dead.  In response I hear a loud *Bang!*  "Now it is!"  It turns out the bear stood up out of his bed, and Daniel took the only shot available to him, right through the nose and neck of the bear.  The shot severed the spinal cord and all I saw was the feet of the bear fly into the air as it started to tumble down the hill.  After about three minutes of tumbling, the bear came to a rest about 100 feet above our packs.  We went and got our stuff and proceeded to gut and quarter the bear.  We decided to bag camping for the weekend and get the bear out of the heat ASAP!  Luckily we were able to get the bear to the cars on time to keep all the meat and the hide intact!

The bear is a sow, with a field estimate for weight at roughly 160-190 pounds.  Not huge by any means, but I was completely happy with it being my second bear, and third big game animal.  After 5 years of hunting the area with Daniel, we were able to recover our first big game animal with both of us there and our second bear in 6 days!  (hopefully D-Man will post the story of his first big game animal shortly.)  The bear is black with a brown nose and red highlights along its spine.  It was eating huckleberries and the only thing in it's stomach was berries.  Where Daniel's bear had absolutely zero fat on it whatsoever.  This bear had a good half inch to an inch.  It was just starting to get it's winter coat so the hair along it's spine was about 2 inches longer than anywhere else, therefore we decided to call it the Mohawk Bear.  I made a rug out of my first bear last year and therefore can't afford to make another one this year.  I will for sure keep the skull and I may get the hide tanned for preservation.  If I don't get the hide tanned, I will at least remove and keep the claws.  Right now, the quarters are hanging in a fridge and Daniel and I as well as my fiance' Joanie and hopefully one of her girlfriends are all going to butcher it Sunday night.  Daniel and are heading up tomorrow morning again (to a different location this time) in hopes of getting a bear for my little brother (alecvg on the website.)  Sorry I didn't get any good pictures of the mohawk or the white spot on the bear's chest but you can get a good view of the red color phase on the spine of the bear.  And please notice the Hunt-WA hat I'm wearing!  

[shanevg]

Here's a pic of Daniel with the bear!

[MountainWalk]

Alright! Good for you. And double good for you for asking for backup. Good job and cool looking bear. Pretty neat.

[boneaddict]

CONGRATULATIONS!

[Timberstalker]

Right on shane.  Good work and congrats.

[shanevg]

Alright! Good for you. And double good for you for asking for backup. Good job and cool looking bear. Pretty neat.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Right on shane.  Good work and congrats.

   Thanks everyone, it was really a lot of fun!

[cohoho]

Way to go, love seeing them, keep them coming....

[Ridgerunner]

Good job, this is quite the season on the black bears.  Seems like we have a pretty high success rate on the board.

[bucklucky]

Way to go!

[shanevg]

Oh yeah, it measured 5' 3" from nose to tail.

[Gutpile]

Very cool!! Way to go!

[Timber]

Congratulations Shane! Good story and good job with the details. That spot sounds familiar.

[robb92]

Congrats!!! October 6th for me can't come soon enough

[bowsandhose]

very nice

[RubblesPH]

Congradulations to both of you.....great looking bears and great story.