Little Pathfinder's first bear

[Pathfinder101]

This spring Little Pathfinder informed me that he would rather kill a bear than any other animal in the woods, so starting in June we began to hang trail cameras around where we elk hunt.  I figured this would be a good place to start, as the last couple of years we seem to be overrun with black bears in that area.  Seldom am I correct in my estimates, but this time I was (unfortunately for the deer and elk I'm afraid-who's numbers are waaaaay down as many of you know).  By July we had captured several different bears on camera, and had a good hillside with berries on it pinpointed.

[Pathfinder101]

The day before opening day we set up a full camp with a wall tent, kitchen… the whole works.  I had decided to make a camping trip out of it (even though we live less than an hour away), and allocated 3 days to sit and glass our number 1 area.  With all of the bear activity on the trail and a patch of ripe berries, I figured at some point, a bear would wander across it. 
Opening day began with a 3:45 wake up call, and a 30 minute hike to our glassing point.  We got there in the dark at about 4:40 and settled in for a long day.  We set up the spotting scope and waited.  And waited.

[Pathfinder101]

Not sure why these pictures keep flipping sideways. ...

[Pathfinder101]

We sat for nearly 16 hours reading books, snacking and listening for noises in the brush (of which we heard a few that never materialized… Bears?  Elk?  Cattle?).  It was almost 8pm when Little Pathfinder whispered “Dad, I think I hear something”, causing me to look up from the chapter I was trying to finish.  I thought I saw a shadow I didn’t recognize in the brush, so I looked through the spotting scope.  Sure enough, I spotted chocolate colored fur in the bushes near the berry patch we were watching.
I vectored him in on the figure with his rifle scope (less than 200 yards away) and he got his first look at the bear’s head and shoulders.  Immediately, “buck (bear) fever” kicked in.  He looked at me wide-eyed.  He couldn’t believe he was actually looking at a bear.  I told him to take a minute to relax.  The opening on the hillside was about 400 yards long and the bear was taking its time working across it.  We discussed for a while if this was the bear he wanted to fill his tag on, and he decided that it was.  We confirmed that she did not have any cubs with her.  The bear was facing straight towards us and I decided to get my rifle in place for a backup shot if necessary.  I had just picked up my gun when Little Pathfinder whispered “He’s broadside, can I shoot?”  LP has killed 4 deer, so I was confident that he would put a killing shot on the bear at less than 200 yards (he’s never actually shot a deer that close).  “Go ahead, I whispered, don’t wait on me”.

[Pathfinder101]

A second later his 6.5 rang out.  The bear spun, tumbled, regained it’s feet and ran down the hill into a brushy draw.  The bullet entered tight behind the shoulder and almost exited the hip on the opposite side.  LP was shaking like a leaf and whispering “OH MY GOSH…I JUST KILLED A BEAR!” over and over.  We waited about 15 minutes to be safe (I could see a small tree shaking for about 5 minutes after the bear ran into the brush, so I was confident that we would find it there).  A buddy of ours was sitting on a trail about 500 yards away and we knew he would hear the shot and hike over.  The three of us moved forward, guns drawn for the recovery.  We found the bear (about a 180lb sow) under the tree.  She was dead (sort of… she gave a good death moan as we walked up, providing Little Pathfinder with some excitement).

[jstone]

Very cool

[ShaneTyTrey]

That is awesome, taking the kids is what it is all about, congrats!

[Lucky1]

Congrats to your son. Good job on helping him get one!

[Pathfinder101]

We got the bear back to camp late that night and after dinner collapsed into bed.  Spent the next day processing her for sausage and the taxidermist. 

[Pathfinder101]

Found the bullet buried in her hip.  Good retention.  For what it's worth (and I know starting a conversation about a 6.5 Creedmore on a hunting site is like  starting a Ford/Chevy debate at a dragstrip), we have taken 3 animals with that 6.5 since I bought it last year.  We have recovered all three bullets, with excellent mushrooming and weight retention. 

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

 

[jackelope]

That's what I'm talking about. This is awesome, and a really great looking bear to boot. Congrats to both of you.

-Josh

[OutHouse]

Wow never seen a bear with that color configuration/white patch on the front. Very cool, congratulations to both of you!

[Oldguy]

Congratulations! It is great to see how many young people are whacking bears with photos to show smiling faces of their accomplishments. Makes me smile just to look at the photos.

[elkoholic1]