September was approaching and bear & elk hunting with Sherman Creek Outfitter is the first thing that comes to mind. "At least for me it is" When I arrived at camp August 31, 2011 I got settled in my clean and comfortable cabin and got my gear ready for opening day the next morning. That night me and one other hunter where sitting by the fire with Joe & Jodi's kids and just had a blast BS’ing around the fire. Great Kids awesome family!! The next morning I slept in to get some well deserved rest, that afternoon I made my way up the mountain on Joe's private property, after a few miles up hill and about half the distance I originally planned on hiking I got busted/ spooked a big chocolate colored black bear. I walked up on him while he was eating on some dried berry bushes. Pretty disappointed I decided to take a break in a shaded spot looking over the berry patch where the bear was feeding. My thoughts were just to catch my breath and continue up my journey however the wind direction changed and I thought why not sit and relax maybe he will come back, well that never happens normally but it was a good excuse to myself to not continue the treacherous uphill hike, at least for a while. As my luck has it about two hours later the same Bear came back to the exact same spot. The bear was oblivious of me when I changed from my sitting position into a kneeling position in order to be able to draw my bow. I estimated him at 25 yards, close enough for a shot with my bow. I settled my 30 yard pin just behind the front shoulder aiming a bit low to compensate for the 5 yards difference. I let go of my release and heard a loud whoop. A solid hit, the bear let out a huge roaring sound that was unforgettable and bolted up the mountain, here it was when it got interesting, the bear kept growling while running up the hill than stopped, as I thought this bruin is done I could hear him growling again and coming down the mountain straight at me, what only took seconds seemed like minutes and I truly thought this is it, I'm being charged by this wounded bear, as I stood there pumped with adrenalin, my entire body was shaking, I could see him coming towards me in a funny way, then I realized he was tumbling down not running down the mountain, he came to a rest about 10 yards in front of me, he let out one last huge roar and past. A clear display of this animal's toughness was shown to me as he bolted up the mountain despite being arrowed. Upon inspection of the vitals, both the bears lungs and liver were destroyed. As I was by myself that early evening I decided to gut the bear opening him up and come back the next morning with Joe to get him out, he was too big for me to drag or even to move. The bear measured 6’ from nose to tail and weight about 350 lbs. According to the Taxidermist he will score more than 18 inches and will qualify as a P&Y trophy. I can't say enough thank you’s to the entire Rasmussen family, Joe & Jodi the owners of Sherman Creek Outfitters are my friends and run a first class business! Here is what you can expect from Sherman Creek Outfitter: Clean and comfortable cabins, wireless internet in cabins, clean shower house and bathrooms, awesome food, double my lifetime in hunting experience, super friendly and experienced guides, awesome private property to hunt on and great companionship in hunting camp. For more information, contacts or reference you more than welcome to send me a PM or email, you can also call me.
