Gramps' First Bear

[gramps]

My first bear hunt is now over.  I was drawn for the Dayton unit this spring and this was the first time I have specifically hunted for bear.   From opening day until 10May09, I had made 7 or 8 day trips to look for bears and had not seen a track or any sign at all.
On 10May I went up to spend a week or so in an area I had not hunted before. I ran into Rufous and a friend and they had seen a bear feeding on a dead elk…sounded good to me.  I was camped about 3 miles from where they had seen this bear.
On Monday the 11th  I decided to just go for a walk from camp.  I had went about a ¼ mile and was trying..unsuccessfully.. to get out of the wind and rain beside a tree with no limbs or needles from the fire when I spotted 3 cow elk below me feeding in a steep draw.  Just above the elk I spotted two whitetail does also feeding.  Wow..there is a bear feeding between the elk and deer. The wind was from the SW and I was walking NE…not a good deal, but it was all new terrain to me.  After a few minutes the bear had his nose in the air and soon was off down the draw and out of sight.  In the few minutes I watched them, it did not appear that the deer, elk or bear were aware of the each other.
By this time I was soaking wet and went back to camp to dry out.

The ground was white with snow Tuesday morning  (3800 feet elev.).  I decided to go out the same ridge some distance farther and come back sidehill about ½ way down toward the bottom.  I approached a large draw about an hour later and there was two bears turning over rocks and feeding below me.  Pretty exciting for a novice.  They were the same size and similar color..could have been twins.  Since they were moving up hill, I sat down and waited for a few minutes or so and since my only criteria for a bear was any color except black…didn’t care how big…when the bear that was closest to the top of the draw presented a good shot, I took it.  Hunt Over.   It rolled down the draw and wedged between some rocks and brush.  I ended up tying the bear to trees and rocks with three ropes to keep everything from rolling downhill.   Based on the weight of my packs, I think this bear (a sow) weighed about 160 pounds...there was zero fat.  It’s front teeth are worn nearly to the gum line..will be interesting to learn how old it was for such a small bear.
Thanks for the tips from BobR, Rufous, Machias and others.
My only regret is that my hunting partner and brother could not have been along.  His wife is very ill and he is staying with her 24/7.

[jackelope]

congrats gramps...that bear will make for a nice rug. thats a lot of steep country over there.
good pics and nice write up too.

[Michelle_Nelson]

Great looking Bear Gramps!  Nice Color phase.  I deffinatly want to get one of those to some day.  Did you get pictures of the teeth? 

Just curious are you going to do anything with the hide/skull? 

[GoldTip]

Congrats on a nice bear, pretty color.

[Huntbear]

Congrats on your first bear.  Very nice color.

[coop2424]

Congrats on the bear I like the color. 

[bigdave]

beautiful bear!!

Congratulations!

[Machias]

Awesome, VERY happy for you.  Beautiful bear as well. 

[Red Dawg]

that looks like a great spring bear. Congrats

[KillBilly]

Good job Gramps, nice color phase bear.

[Huntboy]

Nice bear, congrats.

[Ray]

Great job. I like the color of the coat. The photos and short story were good to read.

[skybusterbo]

Congrats on such a nice bear. Great job!! 

[bowhunterforever]

Congrats on your first bear.  Very nice color.

  Awsome

[Timberstalker]

awesome job.  That is a great color phase bear.