I was going through some notes and archives on my pc and since this is the slow season, I thought I would share this.
2005 was pretty good for me as far as finding bears. I managed to call in 3 bears and saw another 4, not including the 4 or 5 bears that I heard but did not see. Seven bears in a year is pretty good for me, especially when I only spend a few weeks in the woods. Washington State has a lot of bears, but it can be hard to find them in the jungles of the West Coast.
This story is about bears number 2 and 3 and they happened to be in the same day only a few miles apart. I had already killed a large boar (over 400 lbs live weight) in the early part of our spring season and I was out scouting for new bear damage and marking my maps in preparation for the following spring season.
I got a late start and hit the woods at about 9 am. It was a clear morning and the weather promised to get very warm. Since my area is so thick with brush I did not expect to see much anyway. But I was in the woods and that was all that mattered. I drove into an area that has had a lot of bear damage the last two springs and I was not disappointed. I found 6 or 7 trees that were peeled since my visit a few days before. I marked this fresh sign on my GPS and drove on. Within a half mile I found the tree killer eating Salmon berries on the side of the mainline. It was 10 am!
This bear was a pig, probably in the 350+ pound range. He was tearing into the berries when I drove around the corner only 20 yards from him. He was so shocked that he about turned inside out when he saw my truck. This big boar kicked up grass, dirt and rocks as he started to run down the middle of the logging road. I was so shocked that I shouted a couple foul words and hit the brakes, and then I hit the gas. On instinct I gave chase. This bear’s back was as high as my bumper and as he was running away he looked as big as a VW Bug. He ran down the road for about 50 yards and then with a loud crash he dove over the side and disappeared into the thick second growth. I slammed on the brakes and without thinking I grabbed a predator call and ran to the edge of the road. I could hear him busting brush for 100 yards and for a minute he sounded like a herd of elk, then he was truly gone.
After thinking about what just happened, I marked the spot on my GPS and headed on down the road. Since I was just out killing time, I did not really have a destination in mind, but my subconscious must have been in control as I ended up over a clear-cut where I saw a bear two winters past. Clear cuts are not really a great place to spot bears in this area during the early spring. Most of the bears can be found in deep draws or in stands of 10-15 year old Douglas Fir trees until the berries ripen.
At 10:30 am I pulled up to the top of a ridge overlooking this long steep cut with a strip of timber and creek in the bottom. This cut is about 5 years old and pretty thick. I saw a bear here during late deer season and figured that I would look for deer and bear for a few minutes and then head off in search of more spring timber damage. After a few minutes of glassing I decided that it was too warm for me and headed up to the truck. At the top I took one last look through the binoculars and I just happened to raise the glasses on a bear. I had to do a double take to make sure that I wasn't dreaming. This bear was close 250 lbs +/-. After watching for a few minutes and trying to determine it's destination I went to the truck for the video camera.
The bear was over 500 yards away feeding on grasses, but it was on a mission and moving fast. I grabbed my camera and monopod and I went over the side and into the cut. I was only able to go about 100 yards before I lost sight of the bear so I tried to set up next to a stump and see if I could get him to respond. At the first few blasts from my predator call this bear stood on his hind feet for a better look and after a few seconds he took off like a bat out of hell in the opposite direction. I continued calling while trying to setup my camera, but the monopod does not make a steady rest in this situation. After ten minutes of calling I spotted the bear about 200 yards away, but the sun was shining on my LCD screen and I couldn't see anything and through my viewfinder everything is black and white and I couldn't tell the difference between the bear and the shadows so I just aimed the camera in the general direction and continued calling.
The bear was on a little ridge in front of me; coming from my right to my left and just poking it's head out of the brush. After a minute or so he stepped out for a better look and stopped completely broadside to me, I wish I could have shot two bears in the spring! Then he moseyed over the ridge and out of sight so I really laid into the call. That got his attention! He came back to the top of the ridge and stood up for a better look, and then he went back over the ridge and never came back.
Then I realized that I had been too busy watching the bear and that the camera had started to wander. Damn monopod! If I were hunting I would have had almost a half dozen shot opportunities, but you never know it from the video. I shot over 15 minutes of footage, about 4 minutes with the bear, but none of it is worth a darn.
I sat for a moment before climbing almost straight up to the truck to reflect on the day. Two good bears, one a huge pig, one I got to come half way to me with a predator call and all that within a half-hour! Even though I was sweaty and bloody (oh yea, I was wearing shorts in the waist high stickers) by the time I got to my truck, I had a great day.
