Post by: Jake T on May 29, 2009, 11:31:20 AM
i got off work and drove up to the gate and then started hiking. about a mile in i saw a black blob in the bushes off the side of the road. i stopped and dropped to one knee and started waiting. when i saw the blob it looked like it was walking away from me so when i was on my knee i was waiting for it to move far enough away that it would provide a good quartering away shot. well the wind picked up and it got a hold of my scent and ran. i was bummed. i didn't want to go after it because it ran into some thick brush and trying to be quiet in there would have been hard. so i kept hiking on along the road.
about two miles later i see another blob on the side of the road behind a tree. again i dropped to one knee and waited. he came out a little ways and hinted at showing me his shoulder but went back into the bushes. i couldn't tell if he was a sow or not. Then i see his head again but it was closer to the ground so i am thinking sow and cubs. i wait a little bit longer and i realize it is the same bear, not a cub.
he walks out onto the road and turns towards me and starts slowly walking. he sees me but isn't scared just cautious. keeps walking slowly toward me trying to sniff the air. finally he stops and looks, then decides i am boring and turns to his right. i shot him then. he sort of did a small turn, no big leap or anything and ran into the bushes. he was close to the edge so i didn't get a second chance.
i jack a new shell in and move forward to where he was. i see his tracks but there is no blood at all. i am confused because i know it was a good shot and i felt very good about it. so i am looking for any blood but see none and start to think i jerked it and missed him clean. i know bears don't leave much blood trail but i was expecting something. I'm going back and forth on if i hit him or missed him and finally decide that i got him and i need to look for him.
go into the brush and start checking out all of the dark spots with my binos and finally one looks fuzzy. i immediately start doing the "get some" dance. i walk up on him slowly, chucking rocks and sticks at him because i was alone. he's dead.
tagged him and ran back to the truck and then drove down to cell range because he is a big boy. Got my buddy to come help me skin him, and got a hold of a guy that could open the gate for me so we didn't have to pack him those 3 miles, we only had to pack him the 60 yards up the hill. I've been persuing bears for 3 years now and this is my first. for what he is, it was worth the wait.
i spread his hide out in the garage, 6'0" from nose to tail, 6'2" paw to paw, paws are 6" wide. We didn't weigh him, but it was all two of us could do to move him around for gutting so my official story is that he is a 6 foot, 300 pound bear. super nice and thick black coat with a small blond streak on his chest. he's so dirty in the pictures because he died on the side of the hill and then slide down another 30 yards and stopped by burying his head in a rotten log.
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/13065/P5270108.JPG)
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/13065/P5270110.JPG)
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/13065/P5270111.JPG)
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/13065/P5270112.JPG)
Post by: GoldTip on May 29, 2009, 11:33:12 AM
Post by: jackelope on May 29, 2009, 11:36:19 AM
Post by: testar77 on May 29, 2009, 11:36:26 AM
Post by: Kain on May 29, 2009, 11:36:36 AM
Post by: KillBilly on May 29, 2009, 11:42:00 AM
Post by: Machias on May 29, 2009, 11:46:29 AM
Post by: Gobble on May 29, 2009, 11:47:50 AM
Post by: Jake T on May 29, 2009, 11:49:30 AM
Very nice Bear, congratulations on your first. Any mounts planned?
gonna rug him.
Post by: M_ray on May 29, 2009, 12:03:58 PM
Post by: whacker1 on May 29, 2009, 12:20:46 PM
Post by: JackOfAllTrades on May 29, 2009, 12:24:16 PM
-Steve
Post by: Bearhunter on May 29, 2009, 12:28:05 PM
Post by: WAcoyotehunter on May 29, 2009, 12:33:50 PM
Post by: littlebuf on May 29, 2009, 12:39:57 PM
Post by: Huntbear on May 29, 2009, 01:20:12 PM
Post by: bowsandhose on May 29, 2009, 01:32:34 PM
Post by: strutnrut1984 on May 29, 2009, 02:31:25 PM
Post by: Jake T on May 29, 2009, 03:03:03 PM
Post by: saylean on May 29, 2009, 03:30:44 PM
How is the fur on the face? Is it rubbed or is that just the angle of the pic? Again, congrats, its a fine bear...
looks photoshopped to me though, huh Killbilly.... :dunno: :chuckle:
Post by: littlebuf on May 29, 2009, 03:34:08 PM
Post by: 50CalJim on May 29, 2009, 03:53:12 PM
Post by: bucklucky on May 29, 2009, 04:15:06 PM
Post by: BLKBEARKLR on May 29, 2009, 04:17:56 PM
Post by: billythekidrock on May 29, 2009, 04:33:27 PM
I would second Bearhunter in saying he is all of 300. Thanks for the story.
How much elk sign did you see up that road?
Post by: longear on May 29, 2009, 04:34:37 PM
Post by: snipekillr on May 29, 2009, 05:07:07 PM
Post by: shoot-em-dead on May 29, 2009, 07:04:23 PM
Post by: billythekidrock on May 29, 2009, 08:44:54 PM
Did you happen to see this famous landmark?
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hunt101.com%2Fdata%2F500%2Fmedium%2FwebIMG_56811.jpg&hash=7aed91af5f42604e264d8c1597131e282a0373b7)
Post by: Moose Eyes on May 29, 2009, 09:01:54 PM
Post by: Bearhunter on May 29, 2009, 10:16:44 PM
Post by: markts on May 29, 2009, 10:37:37 PM
Post by: JackOfAllTrades on May 30, 2009, 12:03:42 AM
Quote
So much for that spot, cant believe you diclosed the exact location on line,
You're walkin! Last I checked, unless you know someone that's willing to risk their job or has a little bit of authority, you're not getting past the gates with a vehicle legally.
When it was Crown Pacific land you could just drive up and hunt Bear, Deer and Elk, years ago. Then for a while you had to register at the gate and still that only got you through the main gate since the other roads had locked gates. But years ago... Man, you could drive almost all the way to the headwaters of the south fork on the eastern end of Twin Sisters. That area hasn't been hunted since they've closed all access off for the supposed Elk recovery project.
-Steve
Post by: hogsniper on May 30, 2009, 12:09:15 AM
Post by: Dean44 on May 30, 2009, 12:50:28 AM
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on May 30, 2009, 01:00:38 AM
Post by: catwithboost on May 30, 2009, 05:27:48 AM
Jake....
Did you happen to see this famous landmark?
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hunt101.com%2Fdata%2F500%2Fmedium%2FwebIMG_56811.jpg&hash=7aed91af5f42604e264d8c1597131e282a0373b7)
Post by: billythekidrock on May 30, 2009, 06:41:48 AM
Or the second tree it went thru? :chuckle:Jake....
Did you happen to see this famous landmark?
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hunt101.com%2Fdata%2F500%2Fmedium%2FwebIMG_56811.jpg&hash=7aed91af5f42604e264d8c1597131e282a0373b7)
Oh, you mean the second part of the "monument".
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hunt101.com%2Fdata%2F500%2Fmedium%2FwebIMG_5682.jpg&hash=f6710d5b6eeeba21c3a6d0bd303db63b29e89aa2)
Post by: Jake T on May 30, 2009, 08:29:29 AM
Well actually with the bear tag you can drive the mainline. Some gates are still locked but they give you a state key which gets you up a lot of roads. Pretty ignorant to put something like that online when he was asking for help......Never again by me!!!!!
its true, i did ask for help and was given a lot by a few guys on here who don't know me from anything. i answered without thinking and for that i am sorry. i have since changed it. i hope one guy's dumb mistake won't discourage them from helping others when they need it. Hogsniper, Jerome, Torei, you guys are all a credit to the hunting community and i am sorry for the slip of the keyboard.
Post by: billythekidrock on May 30, 2009, 08:33:10 AM
Well actually with the bear tag you can drive the mainline. Some gates are still locked but they give you a state key which gets you up a lot of roads. Pretty ignorant to put something like that online when he was asking for help......Never again by me!!!!!
its true, i did ask for help and was given a lot by a few guys on here who don't know me from anything. i answered without thinking and for that i am sorry. i have since changed it. i hope one guy's dumb mistake won't discourage them from helping others when they need it. Hogsniper, Jerome, Torei, you guys are all a credit to the hunting community and i am sorry for the slip of the keyboard.
I will second that. We have a lot of great members here and those listed above are some of the best.
Josh, I commend you for your fixing your slip. We can all share, but we just need to be careful in how we do it.
Post by: Ray on May 30, 2009, 08:34:53 AM
Post by: luvtohnt on May 30, 2009, 09:32:18 AM
So much for that spot, cant believe you diclosed the exact location on line, expecially since it was not a spot that you found :bash: now your gonna have to fight crowds of people and vehicles. Hunting spots, are like girlfriends you just dont share them with everyone, other wise they will be worn out.This is kind of funny in a way, my dad always asks me where I saw something or where I am going. He gets pissed when I tell him "in the woods" he has never hunted much in washington so he doesn't really understand the over crowded issue. But he was loose lipped about the first couple of places I told him about and he thinks it was just a coincedence that they became crowded the following years. We are originally from Wyoming and he has never had to deal with crowds so it is still nothing for him to just tell someone where I go. Now I am glad that Jake apologized, but I think for the most part the frequent posters here are not going to run over and check out that area, at least I hope not.
Oh yeah Nice bear Jake, I hope to get one this fall, and maybe I will get lucky and draw a spring tag next year.
Brandon
Post by: Bearhunter on May 30, 2009, 07:59:08 PM
Post by: MAGhunter on May 31, 2009, 01:39:12 PM
Or the second tree it went thru? :chuckle:Jake....
Did you happen to see this famous landmark?
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hunt101.com%2Fdata%2F500%2Fmedium%2FwebIMG_56811.jpg&hash=7aed91af5f42604e264d8c1597131e282a0373b7)
Oh, you mean the second part of the "monument".
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hunt101.com%2Fdata%2F500%2Fmedium%2FwebIMG_5682.jpg&hash=f6710d5b6eeeba21c3a6d0bd303db63b29e89aa2)
Hey, nice pics of the trees I nailed. And nice bear jake. Wish I would have nailed him.
Post by: billythekidrock on May 31, 2009, 01:44:17 PM
Yea, ya got a twofer there. :chuckle:
Post by: MAGhunter on May 31, 2009, 01:48:19 PM
Post by: PacificNWhunter on May 31, 2009, 09:11:14 PM
Post by: h2ofowlr on June 01, 2009, 09:27:41 AM