Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Bear Hunting => Topic started by: Rufous on September 11, 2009, 05:33:37 PM

Title: Bear honey hole
Post by: Rufous on September 11, 2009, 05:33:37 PM: Boy did I ever find out where some bears are hanging out yesterday. I found a spot with tons of various food sources. I wish I knew what all they were but there were apple trees, plum trees, blackberries, a couple kinds of trees with some blackish berry, choke cherries etc. I saw a sow with two cubs and more bear poop than I have ever seen along with lots and lots of bear trails. Bear trails are unique and readily identifiable due to the fact that bears will generally step in the same spot each time so there are depressions made, not just a smooth trail that other animals make. Anyway I tried doing some calling at a few spots but no luck. I am stoked at finding where some bears are hanging out but am not sure how to hunt it effectively as it is such thick cover. I will keep after it as there were some mighty big piles of poop, thus a mighty big bear in there. Rufous.
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: littletoes on September 12, 2009, 07:09:33 AM: Tree Stand!

Know of a spot like that, big piles of bear crap every 20 feet and lots of brush. Not easy to get into.
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: littlebuf on September 13, 2009, 01:47:32 PM: im heading east this friday to my "honey hole" sure sounds a lot like yours :o
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: Rufous on September 15, 2009, 08:22:21 PM: Well, I think I got him. Not certain that he is the biggest bear using the area but there was lots of big piles of poop in the area I took this guy.

I called in this male bear this morning in SE WA just east of Walla Walla where I live. He came in to about 10 yards away but I was not sure he was the big boy I was after (based on all the big piles of bear poop in the area). He got nervous and ran off but I was able to stop him by calling again at about 75 yards. After looking at him some more through my binocular I decided he was big enough and shot him with my 45 Colt revolver using the Beartooth Bullets 345 grain hard cast lead bullet. I hit him behind the right shoulder and the bullet exited. He only ran about 25 yards. I found him dead. He measures 65" long and has a 45" girth. His front pad measures 5" wide and his neck has a girth of 27". His teeth are pretty badly chipped. His 4 legs weigh 81# (my pack weighed 98# including my other gear). His live weight is approximately 275#. It was a mighty hard climb up a steep slope and through a bunch of brush and nasty, thorny rose bushes but I made it. Rufous

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi26.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc115%2Frufous%2Fbc2009bruin1.jpg&hash=eb7489a0f26b32720ae119fcfe8c98e3c55141e0)

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi26.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc115%2Frufous%2Fbc2009bruin3.jpg&hash=98b34494dbc275e189d7758e34449ad11841550b)

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi26.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc115%2Frufous%2Fbc2009bruin2.jpg&hash=b91a13a489fdd5e4844d9b7c5a33f0b308d2674d)

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi26.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc115%2Frufous%2Fbc2009bruin4.jpg&hash=142e8ecc0bfe472cf4b2f258e6d0b0710bc7f51c)
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: luvtohnt on September 15, 2009, 08:30:29 PM: Nice bear, congrats on a beautiful trophy. How does the badlands pack work for hauling animals?

Brandon
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: DOUBLELUNG on September 15, 2009, 08:33:51 PM: That is an old stud bear. Awesome!
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: jason4429 on September 15, 2009, 08:36:41 PM: Congrats on the bear.How far can you shoot with that pistol.
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: Rufous on September 15, 2009, 08:38:25 PM: Luvtohunt, thanks. The Badlands pack works very well. I have used it to pack out several animals. There is what I think is a design flaw though. The metal bars that they put it the pack will sometimes work there way out of the webbing pocket and end up gouging through the top of the pack. This happened again today. I have sent it back to them in the past for repair of this problem. I am hoping they will address this issue and replace as opposed to repair the pack. Also one of the top straps tore loose today. I admit that loading the pack up with 100# is fairly extreme and is apparently beyond the capabilities of this pack, though I have done it a number of times in order to reduce the number of trips. I hunt alone much of the time and it is nice to make one pack out trip instead of two. Consequently I often pack pretty heavy loads. Anyway overall I love the pack but it needs to go back into them again. Also the main zipper is giving me fits- it will not always mesh up with itself. Good pack and great warranty but not perfect. Though what is? Rufous.
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: Rufous on September 15, 2009, 08:39:57 PM: Jason, I do not shoot much past 80 yards. I can generally hit a one gallon jug at that range.
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: ThePascoKid on September 15, 2009, 08:44:09 PM: Good lookin' bear!!
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: DUGANDEER on September 15, 2009, 09:02:24 PM: Congradulations on a great bear!!!
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: luvtohnt on September 15, 2009, 09:06:02 PM: First off :jacked: I also use the Badlands and love it. You can't beat the warranty, or the customer service. I have polycarbonate inserts in mine. They actually broke 5 days before the opener and when I called they said "we will just ship you some new ones so your pack will be ready to hunt", I got them in 2 days. Maybe the poly ones would be easier on the pack then the metal ones. I bet if you call them and ask for some poly ones to replace the meal they will send them to you. Again nice bear.

Brandon
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: GUHunter on September 15, 2009, 09:51:58 PM: Nice shooting. Cool to see guys take them with a pistol.
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: Huntboy on September 15, 2009, 11:36:47 PM: Nice bear.
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: runamuk on September 16, 2009, 03:43:31 AM: Nice bear congrats....
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: Hornseeker on September 16, 2009, 01:50:25 PM: Way to go Rufous!! Nice Old bear.

I"m a badlands fan also... have an older 2800 that has really put some miles on with me...
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: Maligator on September 16, 2009, 04:49:41 PM: Congrats on the bear...and with a pistol...even more cool! ;)
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: littletoes on September 16, 2009, 06:51:55 PM: NICE BEAR!

To get an old man like that one, you realy had to fool him, congrats on such a trophy!
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: Machias on September 16, 2009, 07:47:50 PM: Very nice, congrats!!!
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: Rufous on September 16, 2009, 08:30:22 PM: "To get an old man like that one, you realy had to fool him, congrats on such a trophy!"

What was surprising to me was that I was able to stop him again at 75 yards after he ran off from 10 yards away. Bears are interesting. When they are in close and then get nervous they often turn there heads and look away, somewhat sheepishly before they take off. This bear did that very thing and I figured he was out of there for good but I did succeed in stopping him long enough to determine that though he was not a monster, he was in fact a really nice specimen and worthy of my tag and efforts. I did feel mighty proud of myself.
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: tlbradford on September 17, 2009, 09:14:56 AM: Great bear. You just have really high expectations after that last brute you got. Congrats. :whoo:
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: CoryTDF on September 17, 2009, 09:19:07 AM: Nice bear! The areas east of town are steep. I'm sure you had a great time packin him out. Once again, good job.
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: Woodchuck on September 17, 2009, 09:30:31 AM: great job, the "east" of town area is quite the honey hole, i would venture a guess it is the same nasty, brushy, steep, full of wild fruit trees and sticker brush area i have visited a time or two, with a small creek in the bottom :dunno:
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: Rufous on September 17, 2009, 11:01:33 AM: I just had a state official measurer check the green score on my bear. The length is 11 8/16" and the width is 7 2/16 for a total of 18 10/16".
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: elkoholic1 on September 17, 2009, 11:04:54 AM: congrats, awesome looking bear.
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: Mo on September 18, 2009, 01:22:25 PM: Quote from: Rufous on September 15, 2009, 08:22:21 PM
shot him with my 45 Colt revolver using the Beartooth Bullets 345 grain hard cast lead bullet. I hit him behind the right shoulder and the bullet exited. He only ran about 25 yards.

How fast were you pushing that bullet and with what powder?

45 Colt, more than 138 years of getting the job done. :)
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: Rufous on September 18, 2009, 01:30:43 PM: Mo, as always work up a load in your own gun and stay safe. My gun is a Ruger single action (stoutly built and can withstand much greater pressures than many other revolvers out there). I used H110 and am getting 1200 fps.
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: Mo on September 18, 2009, 01:41:41 PM: Many thanks Rufous!
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: Gutpile on September 19, 2009, 06:27:13 PM: I missed this one. Way to go. Thats a gnarly looking old dude.
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: Whitelightning on September 19, 2009, 09:04:07 PM: Awsome bear roufus.
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: markts on September 20, 2009, 07:23:06 PM: Thats a brute, congrats. Mark
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: Jesse Jaymes on September 22, 2009, 08:54:34 AM: Rufous-

Is that a limited edition Accusport stainless Bisley???

Nice piece
Title: Re: Bear honey hole
Post by: saylean on September 22, 2009, 08:59:38 AM: Nice work Rufous....

those teeth are at their ends for sure. Good thing you took him out.