Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Bear Hunting => Topic started by: b.roberts on May 13, 2013, 04:32:14 PM

Title: First bear
Post by: b.roberts on May 13, 2013, 04:32:14 PM: I drew a spring bear tag for 49 degrees north. First thing I did was hop onto my favorite forum and did a quick search. I gathered from helpful members on this sight that the best time to start hunting would be the first or second week of May. then I called my brother-in-law, who lives outside of Newport, to see if he would be available to help me find my first bear. We set up a hunting trip for the second weekend in May.

If not for the thousand plus dollars in fuel and the hundreds of miles hiked that I have invested into getting a bear over the past 4 years, I might have felt guilty for how easy this hunt became.

So I got to bil's place Thursday evening and he gave me some hunting options. We both wanted to check out the ski resort area, but when he saw what sorry shape I was in from a really nasty cold, he thought that we could start off easy and give me one more day of rest.

We woke up early on Friday, had coffee and hit the road by 4:15 am. We arrived at our destination shortly before 5:00am. game plan was to take a short, level ground hike to an area that we could do a lot of glassing and sitting. Game plan changed because we only walked a few hundred yards before we spotted a bear. The bear was only 100 yards from us but laying down and I didn't have a shot. the bear looked right at us, stood up and resumed eating. I took the shot and rolled the bear. We had the bear field dressed and loaded into the truck by 6:00. (https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.tapatalk.com%2Fd%2F13%2F05%2F14%2Fevaheqy6.jpg&hash=6f18373da16cb189607cb2f1286c14c535e40b21)

We got the bear over to the neighbors house and boned, ground, and wrapped the meat. Cape was saved for our Mom who wants a bear mount for her front entry. We had all the meat in the freezer by 10:30am.

Then we spent the next couple of days building a front entry roof for my sister. (https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.tapatalk.com%2Fd%2F13%2F05%2F14%2Fedesyjah.jpg&hash=3c31c4ef560956dccc19df34005c49be6fcf1c20)

Sunday, our parents came over from Priest River and we had a great mother's day celebration.

A very special thanks to my lovely wife who sent me off with her blessing to hunt, guilt free, over mothers day weekend. I hadn't realised that the weekend we planned to hunt was mothers day until one week before the trip. Special thanks to also go to my sister and brother-in-law for hosting me, feeding me like a king, and finding me a bear.

Also, I would like to thank all the helpful members of this forum. I have learned a lot and am a better hunter because of this fine community.

I got back home today, Gig Harbor, and it sure is good to be back with my family. Now I gotta go cook my wife a gourmet dinner.:)
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: troyspinetar on May 13, 2013, 04:43:38 PM: :tup:
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: duckman40 on May 13, 2013, 04:52:49 PM: nice job. it looks like it has a good coat. hard work does pay off
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: Turner89 on May 13, 2013, 05:53:12 PM: Cool story :tup: great looking bear Roberts.
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: X-Force on May 13, 2013, 05:58:47 PM: Sounds like a busy weekend!

Congrats on the bear. :IBCOOL:
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: carpsniperg2 on May 13, 2013, 06:00:33 PM: Sweet :tup: :tup:
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: hrd2fnd on May 13, 2013, 06:07:12 PM: Congrats
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: Ripper on May 13, 2013, 06:30:55 PM: Nice job. Never feel guilty about the easy ones, like you said there is a lot of work that goes into it before the kill. Cherish those so called"easy ones".
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: b.roberts on May 13, 2013, 06:36:57 PM: Thanks all. It was a very fun weekend. The bear weighed 170 lbs field dressed. It definitely shrunk as we walked up to him. But he had a beautiful, thick coat on him.(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.tapatalk.com%2Fd%2F13%2F05%2F14%2Fyjarazes.jpg&hash=20d3f42cd40b96a2247bf7094aacba0c2cd01a84)(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.tapatalk.com%2Fd%2F13%2F05%2F14%2Fy2ypyreh.jpg&hash=fbdd04a89ad62b4f1a059c6d0a39b4ab58d35568)I was proud to bring him home.
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: carpsniperg2 on May 13, 2013, 06:41:15 PM: Such nice coats on those spring bears. It should make a great mount. With guts he was probably 210-225 then that's still a very nice bear.
Title: First bear
Post by: iRem on May 13, 2013, 06:44:44 PM: And you should be proud of your first bear! Congrates!
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: Moose Eyes on May 13, 2013, 06:48:03 PM: Well done!
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: kevinlisa06 on May 13, 2013, 06:52:18 PM: :tup:
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: RB on May 13, 2013, 06:52:58 PM: Congrats! Nice Bear :tup:
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: L8NITE on May 13, 2013, 07:32:01 PM: Congrats on a nice trophy :tup: And thanks for sharing the story!!!
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: Huntboy on May 13, 2013, 07:38:09 PM: Congrats, nice bear.
Title: First bear
Post by: Austrian Hunter on May 13, 2013, 08:01:06 PM: Nice one!!! Congrats....
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: stew pidasso on May 13, 2013, 08:35:48 PM: Great job :tup:
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: Greenhorn on May 13, 2013, 08:36:59 PM: Congratulations on a great bear!
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on May 13, 2013, 09:46:31 PM: Very Nice!
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: JLS on May 13, 2013, 09:52:25 PM: Never feel guilty for an easy animal! Nice bear.
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: Rufous on May 13, 2013, 10:04:40 PM: I congratulate you on your first bear (a very good bear by the way). Welcome to the Bear Busting Brotherhood! I too typically work very hard to fill big game tags and do not have any shame in getting an easy one once in a while. That front porch is beautiful- very impressive work.
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: 250savage on May 14, 2013, 06:09:52 AM: Congrats. :tup: That is a very nice bear. Glad you had an easy hunt.
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: saylean on May 14, 2013, 11:14:10 AM: Congrats on a fine bear. Nice entry way too. :tup:
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: D-Rock425 on May 14, 2013, 11:16:18 AM: :tup:
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: Boss .300 winmag on May 14, 2013, 11:21:42 AM: Congrats on your first bear, it is a dandy . To me it seems like the first one is the sweetest. I can still remember mine like it was yesterday! :tup:
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: b.roberts on May 14, 2013, 06:14:01 PM: Thanks for the kind words everyone. I have definitely been hooked. August can't get here soon enough.;)
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: jamesjett on May 14, 2013, 08:23:43 PM: Congrats :tup: Thanks for sharing!
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: Dan-o on May 14, 2013, 08:28:52 PM: :tup:
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: bear hunter on May 15, 2013, 11:28:51 AM: Congrats Nice bear
Title: First bear
Post by: rfhd69 on May 15, 2013, 06:26:16 PM: Great job!

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Title: Re: First bear
Post by: bearpaw on May 15, 2013, 06:37:35 PM: congrats, nice bear... :tup:
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: 6.8mmARHunter on May 15, 2013, 11:40:29 PM: Congratulations! :tup:
Title: Re: First bear
Post by: skier2480 on May 16, 2013, 05:59:30 AM: Congrats on a nice bear! :tup: