Author Topic: Bear Down! Fillthefreezer and Silks Fall bear hunt (PICS/STORY ADDED) (Read 10522 times)

SilkOnTheDrySide · « **on:** August 25, 2013, 06:12:29 PM »

Bear down.

SilkOnTheDrySide · « **Reply #1 on:** August 25, 2013, 06:15:43 PM »

Story when I get home...I'm exhausted...

Smossy · « **Reply #2 on:** August 25, 2013, 06:15:58 PM »

Great work. 21 miles will do that to ya.

hntrspud · « **Reply #3 on:** August 25, 2013, 06:16:53 PM »

Awesome, cant wait to see the pics. Congrats!

cody29 · « **Reply #4 on:** August 25, 2013, 07:00:42 PM »

this is my first year hunting and I want to know where are spots. I live in duvall. I went 18 today and nothing. first yellow gate. any ideas. thanks

SilkOnTheDrySide · « **Reply #5 on:** August 25, 2013, 08:31:53 PM »

Picture...story when I get home.

Jason · « **Reply #6 on:** August 25, 2013, 08:47:21 PM »

Congrats on a nice Bear

TheSkyBuster · « **Reply #7 on:** August 25, 2013, 08:52:45 PM »

Looks like a good Bear.

Ridgerunner · « **Reply #8 on:** August 25, 2013, 08:56:18 PM »

Awesome, looks like a toad.

johnhart84 · « **Reply #9 on:** August 25, 2013, 09:00:24 PM »

Nice, good work

bendotti · « **Reply #10 on:** August 25, 2013, 09:02:28 PM »

Nice,

Ripper · « **Reply #11 on:** August 25, 2013, 09:10:30 PM »

Looks like a dandy, I'm looking forward to the story.

j_h_nimrod · « **Reply #12 on:** August 25, 2013, 09:17:49 PM »

:tup:good deal! Looks like a nice bear, it should eat well. I did not get the chance for a long trip this weekend but got in about 2 miles this AM and found some boomer sign, we will see if this is my area this year. It is nice an close so waking up in my bed I can be hunting good area in 30 minutes. If I got my bear even 2 miles from the truck here though it would be a brutal hike out and I would rather cover 20 miles on a trail.

dreamingbig · « **Reply #13 on:** August 25, 2013, 09:20:38 PM »

A great bear!

bear hunter · « **Reply #14 on:** August 25, 2013, 09:28:19 PM »

Congrats on a nice bear. I like the pic to nice back ground.

NaturalSelection · « **Reply #15 on:** August 25, 2013, 09:28:46 PM »

Congrats!

weasel28 · « **Reply #16 on:** August 25, 2013, 09:54:59 PM »

Very nice bear.it's my turn.lol

MLBowhunting · « **Reply #17 on:** August 25, 2013, 10:15:24 PM »

Nice job. Looks like a great bear

SilkOnTheDrySide · « **Reply #18 on:** August 25, 2013, 10:30:14 PM »

So this story starts off with hiking…lots of it.

The weather was great, cool all day until about noon, but with that cooler weather, we also were battling intermittent fog. The fog would rush in around us at startling speed, and then dissipate back to sunshine, it was really a cool sight. We reached the edge of our first target basin around noon with a solid six hours behind us on the trail, and nearly 5000 feet of elevation gain.

Scott and I set our packs down and spread out on the ridge to glass. Scott moved around 200 yards or so up the ridge while I stayed near the packs. After 20 minutes of glassing, I gave him a wave to see if anything had jumped out at him. He mis-interpreted this to mean that I’d spotted the same bear he did which was feeding a couple hundred yards to my left through the blue berries, when in reality my view was blocked by a stand of timber.

Scott waited until the bear fed into the timber then sprinted up the ridge towards me, giving me the “get your gun” hand signal, which is pretty universal. Not knowing what or where, I unstrapped my rifle and sprinted up the trail towards him. He had already sat down to glass again when I raced up.

He informed me of the situation and I told him I would post there, as all escape routes out of that timber were visible from that position. Scott ran back up to his original point and started glassing again. Our original plan was to video tape the hunt (and kill), and the thought occurred to me that the camera was in Scott’s pack, which was about 120 yards from my position.

About that time, I caught the scent on the breeze, and I knew he was getting closer. I could smell him for a full ten minutes while he fed his way through the timber on blueberries.
Finally he poked his head out, and was about 40 yards from the pack.
Not going to be able to get the video camera…

Scott came over, and I told him I was going to shoot when he gave me a clear shot. Not 15 seconds later, he cleared the trees and gave me a quartering shot. I took him right in the left shoulder and out the right. Though it appears the bullet fragmented when it hit the shoulder, and while the rest carried through the other side, a piece went out the neck.
He rolled 4 or 5 times down the hill, but he was dead on impact.

Scott and I skinned and quartered him, and as dark was fast approaching and we were out of water, we set the hide up over a pair of small dead wood we propped up against a tree, and hung the rest of the meat in TAG bags. It was already getting colder, so we weren’t concerned about the meat at all.

After getting water, and taking a couple celebratory swings from the whiskey Scott happened to bring (ok, we drank the whole flask), we decided to call it a night.

That night, temperatures reached a balmy 28 degrees Fahrenheit so our concern about the meat lessened even more.

The next morning, we glassed first light, and then hiked up to the kill spot and boned out and loaded up the BT1’s.

Then came the descent.
Big credit to Scott for keeping my head in the game, as that packout was pretty brutal.

Anyways, thanks for reading!

For those who care…

This was my first bear
Gun is a Tikka .300 WSM

Critter Ritter · « **Reply #19 on:** August 25, 2013, 10:39:02 PM »

Congratulations Travis on a very nice first bear. And a awesome story.

bowhunterforever · « **Reply #20 on:** August 25, 2013, 10:59:59 PM »

Nice story and first bear,Congrats

7mag. · « **Reply #21 on:** August 25, 2013, 11:01:14 PM »

Congrats Travis. Nice looking bear. Thanks for the story and pics.

Michelle_Nelson · « **Reply #22 on:** August 25, 2013, 11:05:50 PM »

That's a very nice Bear. Congrats! Looks like you guys had some fun. . .

sled · « **Reply #23 on:** August 25, 2013, 11:09:43 PM »

stevemiller · « **Reply #24 on:** August 25, 2013, 11:14:43 PM »

That is a sweet bear,huge paw.

ICEMAN · « **Reply #25 on:** August 26, 2013, 12:09:46 AM »

Nice melon on that bear, congrats!

woodman · « **Reply #26 on:** August 26, 2013, 04:44:01 AM »

Way to go guys, that bear looks great! Sounds like quite the adventure and workout. I think Scott could write a book about the bear adventures that he has been involved with this year.

CoyoteWacker · « **Reply #27 on:** August 26, 2013, 05:19:07 AM »

Well told story. It's like we were there watching. Thanks

b.roberts · « **Reply #28 on:** August 26, 2013, 05:24:24 AM »

Awesome story, thanks for sharing. Nice bear. Nice packs too. How do you guys like them?

bearpaw · « **Reply #29 on:** August 26, 2013, 05:46:07 AM »

Nice story and a great bear, congrats!

SilkOnTheDrySide · « **Reply #30 on:** August 26, 2013, 06:34:22 AM »

Quote from: b.roberts on August 26, 2013, 05:24:24 AM

Awesome story, thanks for sharing. Nice bear. Nice packs too. How do you guys like them?

They worked well! 100+ lbs is still that, but you can tell in the loaded up picture I'm still getting plenty of load lift on my shoulders.

I did notice that as we headed down hill, the shoulder straps would loosen just a little bit to where I would tighten them. I think this was a function of lots of weight bouncing as I went down the steep slope.

But really they were a life saver:-)

Also, measured the hide last night, 64 long, 74 wide with a squared score of 5.75. Not the biggest bear in the world, but im really happy!

Big thanks again to FTF!

fillthefreezer · « **Reply #31 on:** August 26, 2013, 07:25:18 AM »

as soon as we got out of the woods we absolutely murdered some bacon cheeseburgers and curly fries. 5min to finish them, tops!

Michelle_Nelson · « **Reply #32 on:** August 31, 2013, 12:57:32 PM »

I'd have thought that Bears green measurement would have been a little bigger than that. Once it is fleshed its green score will be much bigger.

ShaneTyTrey · « **Reply #33 on:** August 31, 2013, 12:59:34 PM »

Nice bear

Maligator · « **Reply #34 on:** August 31, 2013, 01:08:16 PM »

Congrats on a good looking bear. Job well done and most definitely earned by getting off the beaten path

saylean · « **Reply #35 on:** August 31, 2013, 05:34:57 PM »

Looks like pretty country and a pretty bear. Better luck next time with the filming! Congrats on your first.

Quicksilver · « **Reply #36 on:** August 31, 2013, 06:00:10 PM »

bear and a bacon cheeseburger, doesn't get much better than that!

HUNTINCOUPLE · « **Reply #37 on:** September 10, 2013, 11:20:58 AM »

Good work guys!!!

NGOWENS · « **Reply #38 on:** September 10, 2013, 12:23:12 PM »

Quote from: Quicksilver on August 31, 2013, 06:00:10 PM

bear and a bacon cheeseburger, doesn't get much better than that!

Could always add a cold beer to the mix for a slight improvement!!

Machias · « **Reply #39 on:** September 10, 2013, 02:39:56 PM »

Not sure how I missed this one, nice bear, congrats!!!

Turner89 · « **Reply #40 on:** September 10, 2013, 11:13:59 PM »

Great looking bear!

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Author Topic: Bear Down! Fillthefreezer and Silks Fall bear hunt (PICS/STORY ADDED) (Read 10522 times)

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