Spring Bear Wenaha

[autodink13]

Nice job silk! I don't know how u can put up with the ticks and heat

[BULLBLASTER]

  cant wait to read the story.

[trophyhunt]

Congrats! Great effort, great bear, great thread!

seriously man, way to stick with it!  Congrats on your success, well earned bear, this has been great following along with you. I'm going to take a shot in your honor, congrats again.  Awesome job!!

[trophyhunt]

Cheers!

[X-Force]

Congrats.

[SilkOnTheDrySide]

Cheers!

Thanks Trophy!


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[SilkOnTheDrySide]

Nice job silk! I don't know how u can put up with the ticks and heat

Only had 3 on this whole trip! Much better then the truckloads I was encountering before...


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[trophyhunt]

Absolutely, even though it's not the biggest bear, it's the most worked for this spring.   Many tags went unfilled this year.  Time for another shot!!


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[SilkOnTheDrySide]

So this bear was not the bear I had in mind when I drew Wenaha.  That bear I missed.  Twice.  That's on me, and the only thing I can do is keep getting better every year.  This little guy was my refusal to let this tag go unfilled.  I had probably 6 hours left of hunt time before my season was over, and while I passed on many bears that were significantly bigger, this guy was my own trophy.

So I'll start with Luke Carrick.  I've been talking with Luke here and there for about a year on Spring strategies, locations, etc.  I noticed he got some flak here on Hunt Wa about him being "too good to be true."  I hadn't had anything but good vibes from him, and when our schedules worked out I asked if he wanted to swing a final spring weekend.  He let me know he was free this weekend and I made it happen. 

I'll say this, if anyone draws a tag in the Wenaha, Bear or Elk, look up Luke.  Not only is his knowledge and dedication second to none, he's just about the nicest guy I've met and his drive for success is top notch.  His only goal is to be in the woods and see success.

So Luke had a good lead on a location and he swung through and picked me up Thursday mid-day.  We got setup to class around 530 pm and the canyon we were glassing was alive with deer and elk.  Finally a small cinnamon popped out and fed his way around the mountain for the rest of the evening.  Wasn't worth really going after, and we had a few days left.

Friday morning was fun.  We spotted the pair of blondes and we decided they were worth going after.  That boar especially was a shooter.

We dropped down 1500 ft into the canyon and raced back up another 700 to get even with the pair.  We made it in 40 minutes flat. 

We got to a perfect shooting situation, was prone with that sow in my sights for 15-20 minutes.  We were trying hard to find that big boy, and eventually she fed into the alders to bed down.  We then proceeded to sit on those alders all day.  The sun was killer.

At around 415 pm, Luke says, "Their Up!" I glance up and see a giant sow through an opening.  We realize it's not the same one.  Then...two cute little cubs pop out behind her.  She starts feeding through, and then backtracks with the cubs out of there.  Only thing we could think was she winded those other two bears and didn't want her cubs near them.  She then proceeded to herd them back out of the alder into the next finger. 

As dark approached we started the trek back to camp.  2 hours later we were back, outsmarted.

Saturday approaches and we setup on the canyon again.  Day is starting to warm up to be a smoker, and we see a small blonde work her way across the hillside and bed down in the alders.

We decide she's not worth the death march into the canyon, and Luke wants to check out a spot he hasn't been in before, but had seen sign while glassing from another location. 

We get over there and find a ton of sign working through the timber, finally finding a glassing spot in the shade.  After about two hours we hear a rock roll right below us.  We perk up and watch the timber below us.  It all goes quiet again.  About 45 minutes later, another rock.  Luke says he can hear something moving through the timber.  This has happened to me a few times while in the Wenaha, it's been a deer or elk everytime.  I turned to Luke and say, "I don't know man, I just have a feeling that's a deer or elk, that's the impression I get." 

Luke says, "Eh, I don't know...got a good feeling."

5 minutes later I'm proven to be wrong (my wife would say this comes as no surprise). 

Luke says, "BEAR!"  followed by, "Ah he's just a little guy, not a shooter."

I turned to him, "I'm ok with a little guy, I'm out of time."

Plus...94 yards and a 2 mile flat walk back to camp, and no time left to hunt made it easy.

Ranged, dialed, dead. 

We made it back to camp and proceeded to drink and *censored* around a fire for the rest of the night, and headed home today. 

I'm going to soft tan the hide and put it in my sons room, he thinks it's pretty cool.  The skull is getting bleached and will add to my other skull.  3 more skulls to go until I can do my display project I have in mind.

Thanks again for following along everyone.  I have no idea how many miles I put into this tag, probably close to 50, with around 34k feet of total gain/loss.  This country is unforgiving and brutal.  I love it. 

[SilkOnTheDrySide]

Here's the best picture of that boar...that melon. 


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[Timberstalker]

Awesome job Silk. You did that tag legitimate justice.
I still can't believe those bears went up that tree.

[jackelope]

Dang. That's a huge tree.

[MtnMuley]

That's a crazy photo. I can't figure it out??

[jackelope]

That boar chased her up a tree!


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[SilkOnTheDrySide]

So they are only ten or so feet off the ground, that's on a steep hillside with slide alder behind it...


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