Not sure what the point of that video was other than to show how to hunt without a plan, skills, or ethics.
Lack of A Plan
Hell's Canyon is named that for a reason. Lots of people have written about how hard it is to hunt there. Guess these guys haven't read any of that. It's easy to learn what you need to succeed there.
Talking Head said that a hunt “doesn’t always go as planned” but his later comment, “I don’t even know how we’re getting these out of here” reveals that they had no plan. They should have known how they were going to recover their bears before leaving home.
Talking Head also mentions the heat and the weather predictions several times, then admits that they didn’t take enough water for the work they needed to do.
Lack of Skills
They tried to start tracking from where they last saw the bear instead of from where it was when the shot was fired. If you're going to find tracks, blood, or disturbances in the ground or brush, then it's most likely at the point of impact. Place a marker (like an orange vest) where you were when you fired, high enough that you can see it from the far side of the canyon. Shoot an azimuth to where the animal was when you fired, then cross the canyon and maneuver until your back azimuth lines up with the marker. Move along that line until you find where the animal was when you fired. Then look for blood in ever-expanding circles from there because you know it was somewhere along that azimuth when you hit him.
After shooting Bear #2, Hunter #2 says, “I just want to make sure he doesn’t get up.” As he says that, he’s standing up with his rifle pointed away from the bear instead of being down in prone with his crosshairs on the bear. Then he cases his rifle before he’s sure that the bear is dead.
Both guys track potentially wounded bears with their rifles cased. Maybe they had handguns, but I didn’t see them.
Lack of Ethics
After Talking Head hit Bear #1, the focus should have been on recovering the bear. Getting positioned to kill Bear #2 used up time they needed to find Bear #1. Talking Head has some insight into how wounded bears behave, yet they still took their sweet time getting started finding Bear #1, then waited 12 hours in summer heat to look for Bear #2.
I didn’t see either hunter carrying meat on the pack out. Hunter #2 had the hide but Talking head didn’t seem to have anything other than his personal gear—and his video camera.
Again, I’m not sure what was the point of sharing this video unless you want to become the next Tex Grebner.
Okie John
