Post by: billythekidrock on March 17, 2008, 06:42:44 PM
It has been a long couple of weeks since we last hunted on the opening weekend for bears and I have been busy planning and packing for my trip to Alaska. After stressing on what to take and what not to take on my first out of state hunting trip I decided that I needed to get out of the house. So I decided to take some of my new purchases to the woods and try them out. I took some new lightweight rain gear, camo, boots and stove as well as my trusty game cart and cart puller (Cody), and took off for the weekend.
We left at 5:30 Friday night and by 8pm we were sitting on a clearcut. It was bone dry and quite, no wind or critters moving. After a short calling sequence we headed out to set up a small camp (Cody in a small dome tent and I in the back of the truck) and then off to visit with a friend camping down the road. After sharing some hunting stories and deciding where we were going to hunt in the morning, we called it a night at 11pm.
Forgetting to bring the alarm clock, I figured I would wake up at about 5 am as normal…….wrong!
When I awoke at 6:30 and it was already light, I had thoughts of staying in bed. I quickly changed my mind, got dressed and we were off. I felt better about the late start when I saw all the fog along the drainage and knew that had we been any earlier it wouldn’t have done any good. The Olympic Mts, fog, and layers of trees looked so cool that I had to stop and take a couple pictures. Even though the pics look good, they don’t do Mother Nature justice.
We get geared up and head in a half-mile to my favorite spot. By 7 am we are both sitting on top of an old growth cedar stump waiting for the last bit of fog to lift. As usual the wind was in our face (blowing North-East) and at 7:15 am we heard the first twig snap somewhere in front of us. For about 15 minutes we would hear a branch break or the brush rustle, but could not see any movement. We were pretty sure that it was a bear and it was within 75 yards. Then behind us and to our left the brush exploded with noise. Cody turned to me and his eyes were the size of saucers! I didn’t even flinch and whispered, “bull elk”.
I could clearly hear the long tines slapping against the branches of an Alder or Cascara tree. The bull continued to polish his antlers and I told Cody, “ that means that (as I nod in the direction of the original noise) is probably an elk, maybe another bull”. Cody shakes his head no and confidently says, “it’s a bear”.
Not sure what we had in front of us I pulled out a cow call and let out a few chirps and mews. Nothing answered or moved for about five minutes, and then we heard another twig snap in front somewhere. I stand up to get a better look and after a few minutes of not seeing any movement I again sit back down. We continued to hear rustling every few minutes and then Cody say’s, “there’s the bear!” Quickly scanning any visible spots in front of me, I see the bear out of the corner of my eye up on top of the draw about 150 yards away. I ask, “is he on that stump?” and he says, “yes”. Cody has the 30-30 up and I notice the bear is facing us. I told Cody, “you can’t make that shot with that gun” and I start to roll off the stump to set my .270 on my daybag for him to shoot.
Apparently Cody didn’t think that I would let him shoot my gun and having flashbacks of last years bear from this very spot (story here http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,5663.0.html (http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,5663.0.html)), he say’s to me, “I don’t think I can make it, you shoot it”. He was so excited he was almost shaking. This bear was about 30 yards beyond the one he missed last year. Well after last years hunt (and the whole next year of hearing “you should have shot him Dad”), he didn’t have to tell me twice. I raised my rifle and the bear was slightly quartering to us, staring hard in our direction. I could tell that he was not a large bear and quickly estimated 2.5 years / 150 lbs before squeezing the trigger. With the bear quartering to us, I aimed a little low between the head and shoulders for the chest. I was in a sitting position with no rest, much like sitting in a chair and shooting with your elbows flapping in the breeze and my shot was off by about two inches.
The 150-grain bullet hit the bear right on the nose! Then it busted up his teeth and lower jaw and continued through the chest into the lungs. I did not know it at the time, but there was a hole on top of the stump and the bear’s hind end fell into it! As he was thrashing to get out I put another round into “the black” and then the bear made its way to the base of the stump where it continued to make the trees wiggle. The second shot, though unnecessary, broke it’s shoulder. Cody said, “he’s done”, but the trees were still moving and I had yet to hear a moan. This area is so thick that I continued to stay alert until the trees stopped shaking. After a quick high-five I loaded my gear and Cody offered to stay and guide me to a stump near the bear.
As I make my way to the bear I start to feel a bit sad that I didn’t let Cody shoot this bear, but I was happy that we had something to take home. I could already taste the sausage. After the fact we both realized that we might have lost this bear had we tried to reposition and we are happy with the outcome.
When I got close I could see the bear piled up under a Hemlock tree. The first thing I notice is his mouth is open 180 degrees. Then I notice that I was pretty close in estimating his size. Probably 125 lbs field dressed. Not big, but a bear non the less. I holler to Cody that I have found him and he hollers back, “that bull is still over there raking his horns”.
After Cody made his way over we took some pictures, gutted the bear and put him in the shade. We grabbed our gear and headed to the truck. We drove to camp to get the game cart and pack boards. We had a quick bite to eat, grabbed some water and headed back to get our bear.
Once back at the bear, I debated between the two of us dragging him to the landing or me packing him out whole. I decided to let Cody pack him out whole. Cody had packed 80 or so pounds of bear about 18 months prior and I figured that at 6’2” and 165 lbs he could pack the estimated 125 lbs of bear. I knew that the key would be to keeping the bear tight to the pack and not let the head or legs swing around. I got the bear situated on the pack, compressed his chest and tied his hind legs tight and then realized that I did nothing to secure the front legs or head and neck. I had a couple straps and did the best I could to secure the legs and keep the head from bouncing and strapped it to Cody’s back. I told him, “once you start moving, don’t stop and if you do, rest against a stump. It took him a second to realize that he could do it and then he was off.
It was only 100 yards to the landing but the ups and downs as well as Mt Beaver holes and thick brush make it pretty nasty. But he did a great job and made it with only one mishap. As he stepped over a log he stepped in a hole up to his crotch and fell over. As I rushed to him, he says, “I got the bear”. I tell him that I am not worried about the bear and as I help him up he says, “damn beaver! ”. The funny part is, two weeks prior we were teasing him about Mt beavers and he thought they were like the legendary snipe.
Once at the landing and the awaiting cart, we drank some water, loaded the bear and headed to the truck. We broke camp, picked some mushrooms and headed home to hang and skin the bear.
I am estimating this bear to be 2.5 years old. We had 120 lbs of bear hanging and his front pads were just over 4.5 inches across.
Post by: LongTatLaw on March 17, 2008, 07:30:21 PM
I wish Xavior and Dax would get off their asses and carry my game out! :P
Post by: Head-shot on March 17, 2008, 11:50:33 PM
Hey Tat just a couple more years and we can start using our yard apes to pack for us... :chuckle: If Gabriel was quiet enough I would take him out for turkeys and let him pack that.
Post by: saylean on March 18, 2008, 12:42:54 AM