Lost my first bear

[optic2]

I shot my first bear a couple days ago. Made the shot at about 50 yards just as he was coming out from some brush. Pretty sure I hit him in the shoulder. I spent my first hour within 20 yards of where he was when I shot him and couldn't find a single drop of blood. Then I spent the next couple hours covering every inch within a 100 yards. Came back the next day and spent another 3 hours scouring the same area as well as branching out to 300 yards around where I shot him. Nothing. The area was thick with huckleberry bushes which made it even more difficult to search.

Saw another thread on here where bearpaw said to always do a follow up shot. Definitely doing a follow up shot next time.

[Bango skank]

It happens.  We do what we can, but things dont always go perfectly according to plan.

[PastorJoel]

I lost my first too. I followed LOTS of blood but after hours of looking over two days, I never found it.

[elkrack]

 Sucks to lose animal but it happens. at least it was a bear not a deer or elk. Go find another one to kill

[trophyhunt]

    Lost my first bear as well, keep hunting!

[emac]

Bear are tough animals if you hit him high in the shoulder more than likely he is eating huckleberries as we speak

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[lewy]

Thick coat, good fat layer and the summer brush all work against blood trails and finding bears so it can be tough sometimes. Bummer man

[brew]

yes it sucks...all you can do is practice and make the best shot you can.  sometimes it still happens that you lose one.  took this pic many years ago of a chunk of bone we found  after shooting my second bear. he was  less than 100 yards and he rolled down the hill into a draw and I tried to put another shot into him but didn't have a chance.  he ran down the draw across the creek and up the other side.  literally tracked him for 1/2 mile through waist high brush  until we lost the blood.  still feel bad to this day.  hit him with 160 grains of nosler partitions

[dilleytech]

Bears die easy if you hit them in the lungs. Best to aim 2-6” behind the leg. They will roll.

[buglebrush]

Good news is you can go kill another one.  With the way we're over run with predators about whacking as many as possible.   

[optic2]

One thing I forgot to add to my original post is that I was on my honeymoon (we went camping for a couple of days after we got home from our main part of our honey moon). On the flight home I mentioned to my wife that it would be a cherry on top of the cake to get a bear when we went camping. So I almost got it. And she gets a wife of the year award for helping me look for the bear, even though she isn't a hunter and was scared there was going to be an angry bear that was going to jump out and eat her  Don't worry she stayed right behind me and I had my 10mm on my side.

[TriggerMike]

One thing I forgot to add to my original post is that I was on my honeymoon (we went camping for a couple of days after we got home from our main part of our honey moon). On the flight home I mentioned to my wife that it would be a cherry on top of the cake to get a bear when we went camping. So I almost got it. And she gets a wife of the year award for helping me look for the bear, even though she isn't a hunter and was scared there was going to be an angry bear that was going to jump out and eat her  Don't worry she stayed right behind me and I had my 10mm on my side.

Well in better news it sounds like you found a great woman to marry 

[pashok23]

Bear are tough animals if you hit him high in the shoulder more than likely he is eating huckleberries as we speak

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[DOUBLELUNG]

It sucks.  Lost one in GMU 105 a few years ago, had hair, blood, rib bone fragments and muscle on the off side of a 100 yard broadside shot.  Another hunter found the carcass 3 days later, 0.6 miles as the crow flies from the shot location.