2017 Skagit spring bear thread

[saylean]

X-force connected last night. However, no pic=never happened. 
Apparently all his pics were dark and crappy quality.
 The following is his retelling of the story.

Tag filled.
4'8"
17 1/2" skull
 
My brother in law and I hit it hard yesterday despite the heat. We were at the gate at 5, all over the mountain, 9+ hiking miles. At 6:30 pm he decided to call it a night; work, family, etc. We had used a half tank of fuel, predator called, glassed and hiked. I don’t know if there was much else for us to do besides get lucky.My wife was nice enough to grant me the all-day pass so my intention was to use it all day.

After dropping my B-i-L at his truck I b lined for a road with scads of peels and poo. The wind wouldn't stay constant so after almost an hour of trying to find a spot to sit for the night I gave up and headed back to the truck. With the inconstant wind my intention was to get up on some glassing points and see if my luck would change. 2 miles up the road as I came around the corner there was a black shape just off the road and 125 yards a head. Instantly the bear dove into the reprod. Shutting off the truck (road hunting… I know, Guilty!), grabbing the rifle, hop out and listened. There was no sound of a bear booking downhill so I sit. The wind was going right to left and as long as the bear didn't come towards the noise it just ran from I was in the money.

After 10 minutes there was a twig break, then some leave shuffling. I loaded the rifle and slowly made my way down the road. After a couple more minutes he came back up the shoulder and started feeding again. This time he was 90 yards further down the road on the downhill bank. Stepping off of the road I sat down and waited. Grabbing mouth fulls of horse tail he would bounce his shoulders up and down to pull them out. Eating aggressively, as if the horse tails were meat on the bone, he worked up and down the hill without providing a broadside shot. As time wore on he faced dead away, then quarter away, it was time to settle the cross hairs and wait. After a few moments moving like the minute hand on a clock he worked towards 3 o'clock. Cross hairs were behind the right shoulder above the elbow. My eye pierced through the cross hairs at the vitals, then a surprise CRACK!

The bear spun as if stung by a bee. He dove off into the reprod again. This time the woods were silent. There was no blood where the bear last stood, looking down three possible escape routes, nothing. This stuff is thick and steep; deadfalls and devils club, briers and branches. Running out of light and with minimal visibility do to the terrain and vegetation I worked switchback down the hill trying to find a trace; blood, hair, anything. After getting 100 yards off of the road and covering a 30 wide swath of switchbacks it was time to head back and think of a new tactic. Lots of bears have a death bawl or scramble frantically through the timber but this bear was silent. That kept playing through my mind on the way back up to the road. Man where could he be? No crashing no noise... This could be a long night. All of a sudden he was right there. Eye level and 5' in front of me. So close I touched my muzzle to his. He was gone.

This beautiful animal was dead instantly. Double lung and clipped the top of his heart. He dove down the hill and piled up next to a log. I must have walked within feet of him 2 or 3 times while working my way down the hill. It was almost 9 oclock and i needed to let my wife know that it would be a while. When i got back from cell service the work began. He was only 30 yards off the road but it was all steep and all up hill. Trying to move him was virtually impossible. My plan was to gut then drag him to the truck so that the busy work could be done on a cleaner, flatter environment. The drag out was exhausting in that he could only really be moved 2 or 3 feet at a time. There wasn't any solid footing and there wasn't any hand holds. Just squat, grab, pull and readjust.

 By 10 pm he was loaded in the truck giving me a short reprieve between jobsites. 5 hours later he was skinned, quartered and hanging. It was a fun season. 11 different bears and 2 blown opportunities. Awesome memories with my daughters and nephews. My daughters (3 and 5) spent almost a weeks’ worth of evenings with me. We had elk encounters, saw lots of grouse and did some tyke stump shooting. What a privilege to have this time in the woods with family and friends. Having an opportunity like this in your back yard is hard to beat.
 
My plan is to make the bear into chorizo and breakfast sausage. The hide is in good shape but I have no room for it so for now its in the freezer.
 
Thanks for reading and good luck to the tag holders left.

[elkoholic1]

   congrats   

[tarbabyone]

Congratulations

[tarbabyone]

Well I don't think I will ever know how big my Bear was.  I think it would be between 280 and 300.  Hopefully these pictures well give you some perspective.  Thanks

[elkoholic1]

 

[kodiak 907]

To me, it looks like that bear is an easy 300. Must have wintered well, he has got quite a bit of fat left on him.

[X-Force]

Just wanted to throw up some photos of my hunt.

[Boss .300 winmag]

Nice job x-force, those girls look like natural born killers. 

[redi]

Way to get it done and take the kids too. Nice bear

[fish vacuum]

You guys are really layin' the smack down on the bears.

[saylean]

Great pics brother. Those bears were sure peeling them thar trees.

[fishinandhuntin]

Tarbabyone- dang those pics are impressive!!  Congratulations again on a very respectable bear!!

X-force- congrats on your well deserved bear!  I really enjoyed your photos recapping some of the highlights of your season!  Nice job getting the next generation out there!

I wish we had success to report on. Let me take that back a minute- we have plenty of success to report on!  No bear kill yet, but:
-100+ elk seen and several of which would be lifetime bulls for most hunters (can tell that even at this stage of growth!)
-40+ deer seen
-60+ grouse seen
-5 bear seen for a combined total of 9.5 seconds, but no shot opportunities
-great views, sunrises, and sunsets
-sharing this access opportunity with friends and family, many of which have never been behind these closed gates
-19 days in the field totaling over 100 hours
-1 destroyed truck tire
-meeting new friends in person and on this site (X-force, Saylean, Skybuster, nwcastles, the other guy and gal in the crew cab white ford)

I've always said just the access that comes with this permit is well worth the cost of admission (permit application).  It's no give-me by any means. But the memories made are fantastic!  Like my 14 year old son and I hiking along a road coming to a switchback and having two bucks 80 yards away- who then are so curious as to what we are come to 22 yards from us before heading off, then hiking another 60 yards and spotting a 3rd buck. Or snow wheeling over the 310 and being the first ones over for the season. Or observing my son packing his rifle for many hours, all the while demonstrating safe firearm handling through countless loading/unloading cycles and safe muzzle control. We've still got 2+ weeks of season so hopefully we'll be "successful" with a bear harvest, but if the season ended today, I'd say we've definitely had success.

[fishinandhuntin]

A few photos to go with the post....

[TheSkyBuster]

 

[50CalJim]

Well I finally let the Smokpole bark. Killed this guy on Saturday. Basically my lower back has been giving me fits lately so I decided to hunt Whitetail style & just wait em out. I think it's easier to hike all day than sit all day personally. Through my trail cam I found a place where some bears were traveling through a saddle on a old grade so that's where I decided to make it happen. About 12:30 He stepped out & He looked good enough for me. I'm having issues posting pics I'll post when I can.