Big 20" black bear

[KevinClimbs]

Awesome bear!

[HUNTNORTHWEST]

so you shot a mammoth.

[Timberstalker]

What a stud bear!  Thanks for sharing.

[jessie88]

Thanks everyone!! I am super thrilled about getting this boy. How exactly do I enter it in the head competition?

[zwickeyman]

Congrats! That's a great Bear. let us know the age when you get the info back from the game dept in a few months. I'm betting between 8 and 10

[Machias]

Nice melon!  Congrats!

[shanevg]

Congrats!  What a beast!  Unbelievable how a big a bear has to be in WA to get a B&C skull.  You'd think that guy would be 21+ easy! 

Good job!

[tgomez]

Nice bear! The head will get a smaller measurment after it is  cleaned down to the bone. I measured mine just over 21", then after i simmered and cleaned skull it was 19 2/16". The final offical score will be after all the meat,cartilage, brains are all off of the skull and has dried for 60 days. That's a great bear you got, id get in touch with an offical Boone and Crockett/ Pope and Young measurement after you clean and let dry for 60 days. I called and am having mine measured in late November. GOOD JOB MAN ON A FANTASTIC BLACK BEAR!

[Axle]

Thanks everyone!! I am super thrilled about getting this boy. How exactly do I enter it in the head competition?

It looks like this is the one: http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,174352.0.html

Not much in there yet.

[Axle]

Great bear and a great story. Any issue with hikers in the area?

No - he was not on the east side of the mountain. We go over there occasionally but there are animals on the whole hill. Bears are usually closer to the homes too.
I overheard a hunting conversation recently and stepped in and showed two guys a picture of this bear my son arrowed (Jessie88 is my son) and the guy about flipped. He said he hikes Tiger Mt a lot and had no idea there were bears up there - let alone big ones like this. He said he wasn't letting his dog of the chain again when he goes hiking there again.

There have been a few hikers who have been belligerent and rude over the years but we politely tell them that it's hunting season and that we hunt there.

[Watimberghost]

Congrats again Jessie! Thats a bear of a lifetime, and with a bow!! Thanks for sharing the story and pics with me, look forward to seeing that rug! I think you just got your name in the pope and young

[Mark251]

Great looking bear!  Congratulations 

[Axle]

That's a big ol'bear  I would love to know what he weighed.

We would too. Had we known What Jessie had gotten, we may have taken a scale up to weigh everything. It would've been good to get body measurements too but we didn't.

Here's a bit more to the story of that day:

I had taken the day off work to be with my wife. We celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary that day. We were heading out to eat dinner at Jack's restaurant in Issaquah by 4 pm. Our son (Jessie) had arrived at the same time we were leaving and he was headed up Tiger to hunt bears. He had already had arrowed his buck earlier in the season so this focus was for a bear. We stopped to say hi and ended up taking a couple pictures with him all dressed in camouflage gear. I was wishing I was going up there with him and I just knew it was a day to hunt due to the crispness in the air. I also had a feeling I would be staying up and late packing out meat. Sometimes I get that feeling and I never regret it. That's a darn good feeling if you ask me!
My wife and I stuffed ourselves with Nebraska-fed beef and baked potatoes at the restaurant. Upon leaving the restaurant, I pointed to the moon and told my wife it was about 51.5% illuminated. She could care less about that but what was going through my mind was that it was almost straight up. I'm a firm believer in hunting the moon position.
Once we returned home, I had a feeling I should rest a bit before getting 'the call'. I had not rested long before that call came. Looking at the caller ID, I knew the answer before taking the call. My son had arrowed a bear. The sun was still up but fading quickly.
Jess wasn't too far up the mountain but by the time his buddy and I got our stuff together and we all got up there, it was dark.
We examined the boar and admired its size. Then we moved it a few yards down the hill to a flatter area so we could work it up. An owl stopped by to give us its vocal impressions for a while but finally quit bothering us and moved off. After working it up, we stuffed our packs as best as possible and headed out with loads on our backs that later made us to wish we had made more trips. It was only about a half mile to the road though so the torture wasn't too bad.
I was quite happy my son had gotten such a large bear - especially with a bow! And on my 30th wedding anniversary, I doubt I'll forget that date!
 

[Watimberghost]

Congrats on the 30th! I guess Jessie had your guys' anniversary present picked out before hand

[jessie88]

Nice bear! The head will get a smaller measurment after it is  cleaned down to the bone. I measured mine just over 21", then after i simmered and cleaned skull it was 19 2/16". The final offical score will be after all the meat,cartilage, brains are all off of the skull and has dried for 60 days. That's a great bear you got, id get in touch with an offical Boone and Crockett/ Pope and Young measurement after you clean and let dry for 60 days. I called and am having mine measured in late November. GOOD JOB MAN ON A FANTASTIC BLACK BEAR!

The measurement was taken after being cleaned down to bone not as it is in the picture.... Rick cleaned it down to bone and used his tool to measure it then. At 20 on the dot.