First off I got to thank Luke Carrick (lov2hunt) for helping me on this adventure of a lifetime. Luke is by far the most knowledgeable, helpful, passionate hunter I have ever met. This adventure started with a simple facebook ? If he could point me in the right direction for this hunt and his response was," anyway I can I will but if you dont mind I wanna join you." Long story short he packed into the back country 4 days and shed hunted and scouted for 4 days and brought back pics to show me on his way back. He had 2 big bruins picked out for me, needless to say I was super excited to get going.
I had NOTHING to go into the back country, no tent, no sleeping bag, no sleeping pad, no hiking poles, no NOTHING! He told me not to worry about it that he had lots of extra stuff and we would make it work. I couldn't believe a guy would do this for a complete stranger. The man just has a true passion for the outdoors and like his name loves to hunt whether he has the tag or somebody else. I cant thank Luke enough for what he has done for me.
From the moment we left my house and headed out Thursday morning we talked and told hunting stories and shared our life with each other. I realized very fast that Luke is far more than a fantastic guide/hunter and backpacker but he is just flat out an amazing man with a huge heart. A one in a million.
The hunt we experienced everything weather wise rain, blizzard snow, sunshine, you name it we had it. First day hunting we hiked out to where Luke had pics of a big chocolate bear and sat down for the evening. It wasnt long till he spotted a small boar that was really cool brown with really dark lower legs. Luke says he is a rolli-poly and not a shooter. Hr later or so I get the psssst and wave again grab my gun and this time it is a shooter but a long ways off and a blonde. (Now that its late and im exhausted im gonna cut to the good stuff). Next day we seen another small blonde boar and a huge solid black about 600 yards straight above camp but with him atleast a 4hr hike to him we decided to go after him in the am. Morning came and it was rain turning into an absolute blizzard with huge snow flakes so we stayed at camp till the weather broke and then found a log crossing and started our 2+hr straight vertical climb to be above where the big black was the night before. It was a very narrow ridge with big draws on both sides so we got changed into dry clothing and picked sides to glass. Then the blizzard hit us again with wind. I bundled up and ended up crashing and waking up about the time it stopped and just in time to see a blonde sow with 2 cubs below me. We watched her for a bit and Luke said, ok they are moving, keep spotting them and went back and sat down to glass his side. Maybe 30min had passed and I got the signal and grabbed the gun and headed over to see a chocolate on the opposite side of the canyon. I asked Luke," is he a shooter?" He says, "he's not huge but he is a good bear, its up to you." I said,"I just want to kill a bear." (It was getting down to the end and I didnt want to disappoint both our daughter's as they both were expecting us to bring one home. MYSELF INCLUDED) So Luke responds with KILL IT!
Ranged him at 276 yards and got a rest on a tree limb and let him have it. He spun biting at the hit and Luke says," hit him again". I chamber another round and squeeze the trigger NOTHING, No click nodda, chamber another round as Lukes saying "still going" squeeze the trigger again NOTHING. Im telling Luke my guns screwed up it wont fire. Try the 4th round, not expecting it to go off but it does, miss. Grab one of the shells off the ground and close the bolt take aim as he is standing slightly quartered to me and put it on his shoulder and touched it off again. It goes off and WHOOOP he is down. I got my bear. As Luke is congratulating me and im telling him how my gun wouldnt go off and wondering why along with picking up our gear preparing for the hike to get him Luke says look another bear, a blonde, same trail mine was on and it turns and heads straight to my bear sniffing it and walking around it and eventually leaving. So after packing up and making the hike to the top and around we head down to my bear and im a happy man. Got some pics and skinned and boned out and back to camp before dark and made the plan to make 2 trips out early in the am. When we got up Luke says, well I think were just gonna pack heavy and make one trip. Packed all up left camp at 7:30am and 8+ miles later arrived at my truck. Shedded the wet clothes meat in the ice chest and hit the road, got lunch and a what not and made was home just after 5pm. It was a hell of an experience that I most definitely will never forget and cant wait to do it again. Most important I have gained a truly amazing friend that I cant thank enough for helping me with this great hunt.
Just to be clear YES HE DID ALL THIS FOR ME FOR ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
Oh and yes I did it with lil ole .243 and 95gn Berger VLD's.
