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Author Topic: Lost my first bear  (Read 3817 times)

Offline optic2

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Lost my first bear
« on: August 07, 2019, 02:34:40 PM »
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.

Offline Bango skank

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Re: Lost my first bear
« Reply #1 on: August 07, 2019, 02:50:53 PM »
It happens.  We do what we can, but things dont always go perfectly according to plan.

Offline PastorJoel

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Re: Lost my first bear
« Reply #2 on: August 07, 2019, 02:58:13 PM »
I lost my first too. I followed LOTS of blood but after hours of looking over two days, I never found it.

Offline elkrack

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Re: Lost my first bear
« Reply #3 on: August 07, 2019, 04:06:33 PM »
 Sucks to lose animal but it happens. at least it was a bear not a deer or elk. Go find another one to kill
life's tough its tougher if your stupid (john wayne)

If you ain’t first your last☝🏻

Offline trophyhunt

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Re: Lost my first bear
« Reply #4 on: August 07, 2019, 04:09:12 PM »
 :yeah:   Lost my first bear as well, keep hunting!
“In common with”..... not so much!!

Offline emac

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Re: Lost my first bear
« Reply #5 on: August 07, 2019, 04:13:06 PM »
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


Offline lewy

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Re: Lost my first bear
« Reply #6 on: August 07, 2019, 06:07:28 PM »
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
Go hawks

Offline brew

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Re: Lost my first bear
« Reply #7 on: August 07, 2019, 06:34:47 PM »
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
beer---it's whats for dinner

Offline dilleytech

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Re: Lost my first bear
« Reply #8 on: August 07, 2019, 09:30:44 PM »
Bears die easy if you hit them in the lungs. Best to aim 2-6” behind the leg. They will roll.

Offline buglebrush

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Re: Lost my first bear
« Reply #9 on: August 07, 2019, 09:40:50 PM »
Good news is you can go kill another one.  With the way we're over run with predators about whacking as many as possible.   :tup:

Offline optic2

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Re: Lost my first bear
« Reply #10 on: August 08, 2019, 04:24:12 AM »
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  :chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle: Don't worry she stayed right behind me and I had my 10mm on my side.

Offline TriggerMike

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Re: Lost my first bear
« Reply #11 on: August 08, 2019, 09:55:30 AM »
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  :chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle: 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  :tup:

Offline pashok23

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Re: Lost my first bear
« Reply #12 on: August 08, 2019, 07:41:41 PM »
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
:chuckle:

Offline DOUBLELUNG

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Re: Lost my first bear
« Reply #13 on: August 09, 2019, 09:20:32 AM »
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. 
As long as we have the habitat, we can argue forever about who gets to kill what and when.  No habitat = no game.

 


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