1st encounter!

[buglebuster]

Hit the trail at daylight presently greeted with a heard of elk including 1 6x6, and loads of huckleberries! Hiked into an area I picked on Google Earth and immediately spotted some goats, set up the spotter and got a few pics. Always neat to see them! Hiked off the trail a bit and started glassing. Had been glassing for about 45 min when I decided to take a break and just look around. Scanned the big alpine meadow below me when I noticed something peculiar off in the distance in the next meadow out. Through up the binos and it wad a big chocolate bear! My heart immediately started racing! I watched him a second and he disappeared behind some trees, I expected him to continue the way he was going since he was on a good pace. I figured he would pop up onto a berry filled hillside so I started my stalk. I circled up around and the wind was perfect, but he was nowhere to be found! That's how hunting goes! But man was it exciting! On the way out I heard 2 shots coming from the direction another hunter I talked to in the parking lot headed, hopefully he connected!

[jason stevens]

Sounds like a great day bud.

[Jrod79]

Sounds like a good day!

[RadSav]

What a beautiful spot!  Nice to see some berries getting ripe up high.  You make it above 5,000'?  If so were the berries ripe there too?

[jackelope]

I was in ripe berries above 5k last weekend.

[RadSav]

Last Monday I was at two of my spots around 5K and only about 5% of the berries were ripe.  Dropped to 4K and nearly 80% were ripe.  Although my south facing slope spots are starting to get a bit over grown so maybe that is why   Heard three bear, but with visibility less than 100' I never saw anything.  Did try to get in front of one and was looking good until I slipped and fell.  Last time I heard him he was probably at 4K and still descending    Dang those wet berry bushes are slick when a fat out of shape idiot steps on them wrong!

[buglebuster]

There were berries from trail head up to 6k.. not as many berry bushes that high, but what was there was ripe.

[LittleHunter]

Looks like a really cool area. Sounds like your having better luck then i am. I havent seen a bear once this year not even on any of my trail cams and i put them out in June.

[Houndhunter]

Nice pics