Snakes, sheds and bears. Eventful day in the woods.

[Bango skank]

So i started up the mountain at 5am, looking for a good spot to call.  Guess i went up the wrong way.  Lots of bad terrain, thick brush, and hardly any berries the way i went up.  By the time i got to a good location, i was a mile and a half from my truck as the crow flies.  Not ideal, especially in this heat.  Also i forgot to bring my boots, so i just had my renegades.  Not good footwear for packing out heavy loads!
  On my way up i ran into a couple rattlers.  Had 2 snake loads for my sidearm.  I shot one snake, and the other made a hasty retreat back under the rock.  My plan was to get the snake on my way back out, but killing my bear changed my priorities.
  Shortly after the snake encounter, i found a funky muley shed.  Kept hiking, looking for a good spot to call.  Finally started getting into good service berries in the open rocky stuff i was hiking through, then got into good timber with a thick carpet of huckleberries covering the ground everywhere, and service berries mixed in with them.  Perfect area.  So i just started slowly sneaking through the timber, still hunting, stopping to listen a lot.  Picked out what felt like a real good spot to call, with the right terrain and mixture of cover and visibility, near a small trickling stream.  Started doing my scared fawn thing, and in less than a minute a whitetail doe came in on a string, so i guess i was pretty convincing.  She must have been bedded extremely close by.  I waved at her while continuing to call, so she could see what i was, and that started her blowing at me, running off a short ways, that whole routine.  I just kept calling, figuring that was probably just adding some realism to my calling routine. 
  At about 22 minutes, this bear just appeared out of thin air maybe 20 yards away, totally silent.  It came in to about 15 yards and i let him have it with the .30-30. One of the exciting things about bear calling to me is how unpredictable they can be.  Some will sneak in quiet as a mouse, some will come charging in hard.  You just never know what youre going to get.
  I wanted to move this guy and set him up for a better pic, but he was just too damn heavy to manhandle, and i didnt want to waste a bunch of time worrying about photos.  It was hot as hell out, i was far from my truck, and i was on my own.  Had to get to the knife work asap in order to save the meat.
  On my way out with my first load i jumped a bear maybe 50 yards from the road, go figure.  Came out onto the road a half mile from my truck.  Where the bear i jumped was there were a ton of service berries, which he was eating when i spooked him, and 2 humongous fresh piles of bear crap right there.  A creek too.  I know now where ill be doing my next calling session when i go back.  Screw packing a bear out so far in this heat, if i found where theyre feeding right by the road.
  Im doing a shoulder mount with him, and i was considering going back this morning to retrieve the rattler i killed.  A shoulder pedestal mount with the coiled up snake and the shed i found on the habitat would be awesome, but im absolutely beat, and upon waking up i decided the last thing i wanted to do was go back up there for that snake.  By the time i got back to my truck with the first load to get the meat on ice id already done 9 miles on my boots according to my gps, and i still had to go back up there to get the second load.  It was 1 am by the time i got myself in bed, and i woke up feeling like i got run over.  Butchering today, resting tomorrow, back out to try to call in another bear for my second tag friday or saturday.
  All in all it was a pretty eventful day.  A lot hotter than i would have liked, and a harder pack out than i would have preferred, but im not complaining, had a good time and got a nice load of berry fed bear meat for the freezer.

[Machias]

Those are two of the bigger rattlers I've seen up in that side of the state!!

[Duckhunter14]

Nice work! Sounds like an awesome day.

[RugerRay]

Thank you for the awesome write up and taking us along on your hunt. Looking forward to seeing the mount. Good luck on bear #2.

[sjhgraysage]

 Nice bear, and cool gun!

[full choke]

Heck of a day!

Congratulations on the bear!

[pianoman9701]

Cool story, great pics. Let me know where you hunted so I can stay away from those snakes. 

[KFhunter]

That right there folks is how its done 

Awesome day Bango! thank you for sharing

[grundy53]

Great bear!

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[HillHound]

 I have been seeing more rattlesnakes this year than ever. Saw 5 in an area I had never seen any. Mostly juveniles and these two big ones must have been mating. In too much fresh bear sign to mess with killing them unfortunately. May have to look at going back though and making me a belt or a pair of boots

[Rainier10]

Great bear, cool shed and awesome photo of the snakes.  I missed the second snake at first glance.

Great write up, thanks for sharing.

[TheStovePipeKid]

Great story. I have no doubt bear #2 is going down.

[Buckhunter24]

I have been seeing more rattlesnakes this year than ever. Saw 5 in an area I had never seen any. Mostly juveniles and these two big ones must have been mating. In too much fresh bear sign to mess with killing them unfortunately. May have to look at going back though and making me a belt or a pair of boots

I have been seeing them in areas I would not expect to see them in too. Last year was the most ive ever seen. This year been lucky and working north and east of most snake spots. But without a doubt there has been rattlers in areas that didnt have them 5 years ago

[beauhunter]

 Has anyone seen Rattlers in 113, just so I can take more precaution as I have not seen any in the area I was in. And nice job bango there is no doubt you will get another one. One question I have is when calling are you doing sequences or calling for the whole time, calling is another first for me

[Bango skank]

I only stop calling for very short periods.  Enough to listen really.  But i dont call super frantic like a lot of the e callers seem to do either.  Kind of a slower pace.  But thats just my preference, it seems to work for me.

[Moe the Sleaze]

Bango - Did those snakes rattle at you? Or were they the quiet type?

[Bango skank]

The one in the foreground did.  The one in the background didnt.

[Buckhunter24]

Has anyone seen Rattlers in 113, just so I can take more precaution as I have not seen any in the area I was in. And nice job bango there is no doubt you will get another one. One question I have is when calling are you doing sequences or calling for the whole time, calling is another first for me

I have only seen one rattler east of 395 and it was only a couple miles east. 113 is highly unlikely to see one.

[Fl0und3rz]

Very nice, and cool story.

[Bango skank]

I really wouldnt be over concerned about snakes.  Pay attention in areas that seem extra "snakey" like the rocky ridge area i found those, but rattlers arent all too common in the northeast in my experience. 

[Axle]

Cool!

[flyfishWA]

great bear!

[sagerat]

Awesome day man, thanks for the story!

[ganghis]

Nice story and pics - congrats on the bear!  Just got a distressed fawn call myself and am looking forward to giving it a try next week.  Any thoughts on how fast you want to get the meat packed out and cooled down in this heat?  I shot my first bear on the high hunt a few years ago and it was in the 30s at night so hanging game bags over night worked just fine, but have never hunted this early before.  I usually hike in a ways but am thinking I want to be no more that 3-4 miles from my rig to prevent meat spoilage.

[Bango skank]

I wouldnt even consider killing a bear 3-4 miles from my truck in this heat, but thats me.  You got to get the fat off the meat and the meat off the bone pronto, and have coolers full of ice waiting at your truck.  90-100° temps can ruin meat fast.

[Igottanewknee]

Wow! You made that seem too easy. I feel like I could go out tomorrow with my call, go to work with it, then shoot a damn bear. Nice job and congrats!

[buglebrush]

Awesome!  The calves and fawns have a little better chance next spring!

[carpsniperg2]

Congrats fine looking bear. Snakes are nasty this year. Had a fatty rattler come after us at the lake the other day for no reason was trying to get close enough to bite us. One of the meanest snakes I have ever seen.

[beauhunter]

 Probably a little bit off subject, but does anyone know if there are any laws or rules about killing Rattlers in Washington. If not I would like to get a few and cook them up, first I would have to find one

[MerriamMagician]

Nice job Bango! In 20 years of hunting Huckleberry I've never seen a rattler up there. I guess they do exist.

[Johnny Doe]

Bingo Bango!!   That is one heck of a day!!

[ctwiggs1]

Well done man.  Very nice bear.

[Bango skank]

Now thats a B&C pecker bone.

[HillHound]

 Definitely will make book.  :chuckle:I still need to get my two cleaned up. There is definitely a huge difference between the two of mine this year. Little guy would’ve been a little embarrassed in the locker room.

[Bango skank]

Picked him up from the taxi today when i dropped my buck off.

[ctwiggs1]

Lookin good!