Lessons from the high hunt the good the bad and the ugly

[Joeykon123]

Great story so far!

[trytough]

Great story so far!

[jackelope]

Hmmmm

[savagehunter]

As I mention before the buck brush on the island grew out over the stream. We crossed and had to squat and bend low to access the entry point. We inched forward into the maze of twisted limbs. Using every sense we had we moved about 30 feet into the brushline where we found a deer trail perpendicular to our path. We paused and looked to the floor of the island for any sign. I whispered " you go right ill go left dont go more than 15 feet". I had only taken a couple of steps when I heard a low growl  from the direction my son had taken. I spun around and took 3 steps to my left to clear a firing line. I saw that my son had taken a few steps backwards and was pointing his gun down trail. At that moment the bear became visible as he rose up 20 feet away and to the left of us in the brush. I yelled  "shoot him" as the bear let out a might roar dropped to all fours and charged. The bear made it within 15 feet when the concussion from my sons shot reached my ears. The bear plowed nose down in the brush. All I could see through the thick brush was a huge black shape as he came to his feet again. I fired three shots into the black shape at point blank range as fast as i could work my bolt. The bear went down and started to moan. I pushed my son back and out of the brush and we ran back across the creek. We both stood in the grass just looking at each other. The feeling was so surreal I panted for breath and asked my son how many rounds he had in his rifle. There were no high fives or celebration. A cold realization of the reality of what we had just experienced settled in my gut. My son had two rounds left and we went downstream crossed the creek into the grass. I glassed into the brush and could see the bear still breathing. About 10 feet inside the treeline. I realized the bear must have been bedded up there, when we made our first round of the island. The bear finally gave out his death moan his spirit departed and he took his last breath.
 We waited a while letting our nerves settle and then approached the bruin a large boar. I have to say he was intimidating even in death. We drug him from the brush and I was surprised at his mass. As i examined his body i found berries pouring from the original shot that had taken him mid paunch and exited just behind the ribs on the off side. My sons shot in the brush had broken his front right femur just below the shoulder which is what had stopped his charge. The other three shots had went through the chest cavity about three inches apart destroying heart liver and lungs. We have never shot a bear or been around one that has been killed. Dressing him out was so different than a deer the most surprising thing being is that there was no unpleasant odor even though he had been gut shot.

[savagehunter]

here is our more than worthy opponent. Big white patch on his chest.

[savagehunter]

Our adventure had started at 9 am it was 430 as we dressed him out. It was 930 pm when we finally got him back to camp.  We should have been dead beat tired instead we found ourselves wide awake eating mountain house and polishing off a pint of crown my son had brought in. I think he said it best when he told me that he loved everything about hunting except the killing. We sat in the dark and talked about the day and life and death I believe I have never felt so alive. As we crawled into our sleeping bags at midnight the rain began to fall.

[elkrack]

Great write up! Thanks for the ride   heck of a tracking job too

[10mmg]

Fantastic story and bear. Thanks for the outstanding tale. These are the stories that are passed down throughout future generations.

[Rainier10]

Fantastic story and bear. Thanks for the outstanding tale. These are the stories that are passed down throughout future generations.

[ctwiggs1]

I think he said it best when he told me that he loved everything about hunting except the killing.

That's very well put.

[Birdguy]

Awesome story, so glad it ended well. Congrats to both of you on the bear, the memories and all of it! And thank you again for taking us along  . Sure looking forward to the rest of the series!!

[savagehunter]

The next morning I woke to gunshots at 730 am. This was the first time in 8 years that I wasn't up before 5 am on opening day. One of the icecicle outfitter guys had shot a small basket 3x2. I got up made myself coffee grabbed my rifle spotting scope and binoculars and headed out to do some glassing. Over the years I have found some nice comfortable spots to set up with  nice views of multiple slide meadows. Out about a thousand yards i could see the icecicle guys working on their buck. The sun was out but the grass was still wet from the night before. Rain gear is not just for rain the proof of that is plain to see for anyone who's had to walk around with a wet butt.
The smoke was visibly less prevalent.  I was even able to spot  a marmot at 1500 yards. I glassed for about 4 hours when I decided it was time to get my son up to get him ready for his packout of the bear.
I headed back to camp and I could tell he had been up as the door to the tent was open. He lay snoozing on top of his pad.
He woke up easy and was way more motivated to start a double pack out than I would have been. He immediately started boning out the bear quarters trimming fat and taking the roasts  like I had taught him.
A little over an hour later he had a very heavy pack full of meat. He headed out immediately as he still had to come back for the hide.
I dallied around camp glassing in the early afternoon sun. I turned up 3 does but really not much moving.
Darrick was back in les than three hours to cover the 12 miles which is a record time and i marveled at how 8 years later I was the one holding him back when it came to covering ground. I hated on my old bones as the toll of yesterday's toils made me kind of lazy.
The bear hide was covered in hornets and I had pondered while he was gone the best way to avoid getting stung.
I let him rest for about an hour and get some food in him. Then I told him of my plan to use a long length of parachute cord to lassoe the hind legs of the  hide putting us a good 15 ft away. We then sled dogged it 150 yards across the meadow. Presto changeo no more hornets. We rolled up the hide and quickly stowed it in his pack. The plan was for him to hike out drive back the 4 hours to home get the meat in the fridge salt the hide then come back the next day and hike back in. We said our farewells and he headed out down trail.
I turned my attention back to the hill and began to glass in earnest.  Being as clear and warm as it was I spent most of my energy picking apart the shadows and dissecting the edges and treelines.
About 35 minutes after my son had disappeared around the corner I took a break from the spotting scope. I stood and stretched and looked up the hill. I raised my binoculars  to view the landscape of yesterdays adventure when ill be damned if I don't see another bear coming up valley. Same elevation a cinnamon red bear about half the size but as before moving with a purpose.

[10mmg]

Wait there’s more. Dang man you can spin a story. Tarantino has got nothing on you.

[87Ford]

I'm enjoying this.. 

[savagehunter]

I pondered shooting another bear and why pay for a tag if you don't attempt to fill it. But first I grabbed my rifle strolled doen across the creek and hollered to the two icecicle guys. They came over and I asked if they had a bear tag and if the wanted to shoot a bear. One of them did have a tag but said his wife wouldn't let him shoot a bear. I radioed my son telling him I had spotted another bear and was going to set up for a shot. He told me he was dropping his pack and heading back. I replied that wasn't necessary that I would take care of it. What he was trying to say was that he had forgot his truck keys and had to come back.
I found a nice big flat rock pointing up hill at the bottom of the rockslide and got set up. My plan was to shoot straight up the hill at around 300 yards. The icecicle guys said they would film it and we sat there for about 10 min before the bear broke the tree line.
He came out moving fast but when he reached my 10 o'clock he stopped stood up and sniffed the air. I found him in my scope but it was an odd angle as the rock was not very wide. The bear came down on all fours and I squeezed the trigger. I could tell right away that I had screwed up. my elbow and butt of the gun came off the side of the rock and the recoil tweaked my neck real good.
The bear took off full speed from whence he had came and i racked anither round keeping him in my crodshairs. I had the lead perfect but as I squeezed the trigger the bear skidded to a halt then headed straight up the mountain. I lost my sight picture and by the time I regained it he was halfway up the cliff.  I didn't know a bear could climb rock face like that and he covered 600 yards of rock in like a minute.
I wasn't too upset but my neck and shoulder were. As I recovered my composure the icecicle guy let me view the video. My lack of a good steady base had my shot to the right and I literally missed just in front of his chest by an inch even catching the bullet splash on the rocks. What really upset me was how obvious my bald spot was in the video. Never forget your hat. Hard lesson learned if i had proceeded with my original plan i would have had a solid shot that was well thought out instead i ended up cross body on a too narrow rest. Live and learn, the good the bad and the ugly.
If anyone knows those icecicle hunters he said he was going to send me the video I really would like to see if i can photo shop my bald spot out.