I didn't plan to do write up on my bear hunt but Elkfever inspired me. So...
I had a Minam bear tag in NE Oregon. The snow up high made it hard to access our hunting area for most of the season. I had one long weekend to get it done towards the end of May. The Minam is big country. Where we hunt it drops down to the river 2000 vertical feet in about one mile. There are dozens of spur ridges running parallel to each other that drop strait down to the bottom with timber on the north slopes and open on the south slopes. With bear all over in that country its just a matter of time before one feeds out of the timber and into the open. We usually have each man pick there own ridge and sit up high. You can't usually see your own ridge all that well but you can see the ridges to either side of you. You have to put a certain amount of faith in your partners to let you know if their is something below you that you can't see and vice versa. Once a bear is spotted you usually have a bit of ground to cover to get a shot, and let me tell you those bears move quick...even when they're feeding and unaware of the presence of man! The group spotted some great bears and had some good opportunities that weekend but couldn't close the deal. We packed up camp and headed home.
The next weekend was booked up, but I got permission from the wife to do a last minute day hunt that Friday. It was a solo trip this time and I was up and out the door at 3:30 am. By first light I was up high and glassing. Around nine o'clock I caught a glimpse of a decent looking bear strait down the ridge from me. He was about a half mile down so I picked a landmark, gathered my stuff and boogied as fast as I could down the hill...mostly sliding on my butt! I got to a rock outcropping a couple hundred yards above where I had last saw him. I eased over the edge and spotted him down the slope and moving away from me quick! I got prone and tried to range him but couldn't get a reading, crap! The only thing I could get a reading on was a rock 200 yards away and he looked two be about twice that distance. Not ideal but with no time I dialed the scope for 400, put the crosshairs in the sweet spot and squeezed the trigger. Next thing I see is a bear doing cartwheels down the hill! That was it. I went and found him down in the draw bottom and worked him up and packed him out. I had my bear and I was home that afternoon. He was a boar, and the biologist guessed he was around 5-7. He was probably between 225-250 lbs.
