Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Bear Hunting => Topic started by: Rufous on March 31, 2008, 09:34:14 PM
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I have hunted spring bear in SE AK in 2004, Idaho in 2003 (Selway Bitterroot Wilderness) and in the Blue Mountains of SE WA state (in 2000, 2001, 2005 and 2007). After 4 years of applying I got drawn for the Blues in NE Oregon. I was quite excited when I first got the news but after a bit of scouting I kind of wonder if I wasted a tag and a bunch of money (I am a WA resident) as there is so much snow that I wonder when in the heck I will be able to access the areas I want to hunt. Boy I hope it warms up some and stops dumping fresh snow or I may never get into the good spots before the end of May when the season closes. I know there are many of you in the same boat. Good luck to you all, Rufous.
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Good luck on that one!
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Just checked WDFW site - drew a Wenaha tag and am thinking like you are Rufous.
Have your SE WA hunts been in the Wenaha? I've only hunted the Dayton unit for Spring bear.
Any turkeys in Wenaha unit? I did like the Dayton unit because of this, also a bit more accessible earlier.
Good luck in Oregon.
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My spring hunts have been in the Blue Creek unit in 2000 and 2005, the Wenaha unit in 2001 and the Dayton unit in 2007. All have been good hunts. The Wenaha hunt was a tough one because I could not access much due to snow drifts. I started out in the bottoms and hiked up. Tough work. I eventually killed my biggest bear to date on that hunt on May 19th. He was 13 years old and had a 20" skull, weighed about 375# live weight and squared 6' 10". He made a very nice rug which hangs on my living room wall. I do not recall seeing turkeys in the Wenaha but there could be some in there by now. Good luck. By the way I ended up getting my bear by accessing the unit from Troy Oregon. Rufous.
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Rufous, I was wondering if you saw a lot of deer or sign of deer in that southern portion of the Wenaha unit? I was looking at possibly getting in there next year for muleys. Sorry if I jacked your thread... :)
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I was only there for part of a day and do not remember seeing much in the way of deer sign. Rufous.
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Alrighty.. Thanks..
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BC it gets crowded with people during rifle deer deason, not to sur about the other seasons though.
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Thanks for the heads up bucklucky. According to the 2006 Game Harvest report on the WDFW website, it is far less crowded then the units I have been hunting for several years with the same success rate. Of course the numbers could be wrong. It also says only 2 bowhunters hunted there last year. When compared with previous year this seems to bit a bit off. :dunno:
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Of course the numbers could be wrong. It also says only 2 bowhunters hunted there last year. When compared with previous year this seems to bit a bit off.
Those numbers are not always right. Not everyone answers honestly and it is easier to say no and not answer anymore questions.
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well roufus you are talking about my home stomping grounds...There are alot of bears up there, well alot fo animals up there all together...if you want a for sure spot PM me and i will set you up.
Im feeling generous so if anything we can talk and see were i lead you.
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Still checking to see if anyone on here got drawn or knows anyone who got drawn for the Lick Creek or Tuc bear tags.
Curious to see who our neighbors will be?
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Rufous, Which tag did you draw? I've hunted the west blue mountain, chesnimus/sled spring and the snake river tag.
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I drew the West Blue Mountains tag. I live in Walla Walla so plan to focus on the Walla Walla and Mt. Emily units as they are closer to home. Rufous.
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It's kind of assbackwards from where you live but you can get up Phillips creek and Dry creek up out of Elgin early on. I went with a buddy of mine first week of May, 4 years ago and we had a lot of snowpack. You couldn't get through the summit ridge road from I-84 until the last week of the season and then you were still bucking snowdrifts.
We were able to get up on top up to summit ridge road from dry creek by buck mountain and hunt out it, the road to the same area from Walla Walla side was still inpassable, Toll gate was open. My partner missed a good cinnamon 250+ pounder and we saw 6 or 7 other bears, a couple were hogs. He went back the last week of the season and shot a small cinnamon up Phillips creek. We moteled it out of Lagrande and tried hunting from I-84 up summit ridge road. We hunted meacham creek and bear creek but mostly saw other hunters so we switched back to up out of Elgin. Buck mountain is good country if you can get out there, we had to hike 3 miles over the top of timbered snow pack, one step good, one step breakthrough, one step good, one step breakthrough to get out there. Wish we had had a quad.
My buddy drew the same tag this year but missed the purchase date. He thought the opener was April 15 not April 1. I gave him alot of *censored*. He drew a grizzly tag in British Columbia where he lives so I'm going along with him on that hunt.
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it was snowing at a pretty good clip at 5:00 tonight at 3400' in the blues...sorry to say.
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I've got friends that drew Chesnimus/sled springs this year, I hope they can get a hunt out of it. At least on that hunt there is some lower elevation hunting.
Good luck to all of those that drew in WA/OR, I hope the weather allows you a productive hunt.
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2 for the price of a hike!
Here is a Pic of the Lick Creek Bear I shot in 2003 during the General Elk Season. I shot a Spike Bull cross canyon, the Bull then proceeded to roll approx 300 yards down a steep hillside coming to rest in the thick brushy bottom. As soon as I lost sight of the bull in the brush, out runs this Cinnamon bear straight back up the hill. I racked another round and anchored him on the hillside less than 50' from where the Bull Landed.
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I love the bluesssssssss
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I've got some property on Lewis Peak in the Blue creek gmu it's at 4200' on top and there is still at least 4' of snow, here in the Tri-cities it is supposed to warm up over 70 so maybe it will heat up and melt some or all of the snow up in the mountains that would be nice I'd like to get up there after some turkeys and my buddies got a dayton spring bear tag. good luck everyone on your bear tags
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Funny thing! It only took me 20 mins to get down the Hill the first time to claim my score. From that point on it was and hour down and 2 hours up. Over and Over and Over and Over. :puke: then I started on the Bear. The hill side was so steep I had to tie the Bear and the Elk to a tree while I worked in order to keep the carcasses from rolling the rest of the way down the mtn.
I learn a long standing lesson that day. Choose your hunting partner based on their willingness to be there to the end, not on their camp fire humor. That day turn what I thought was a man into a steaming pile of whimpering :crap:
My partner ever so conveniently, came down with a tummy ache and was only able to make one trip down/up helping me to carry the hide. A stranger I met on the road by my truck jumped in and invested the entire rest of his day to help me finish the job.
Ya I'd do it all over again and again and again. :chuckle:
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you know where you might be able to find me if needed next weekend. come and get me, don't hesitate. i'll carry what i can till i tip over.
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Thanks for the offer. I wouldn't mind having that problem. ;)
Here a shot of the last trip out and me a Boo Boo on the hillside. Kind of Blurry
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ouch, is there still alot of snow down there? I just got back from flordia yesterday and when we flew over eastern wa, and the cascades, it looks like its starting to melt. goodluck!
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My buddy and I went out yesterday up the Umatilla Wilderness. We climbed up Grouse Mtn from the bottom. It turned out to be about an 1800 foot elevation gain in only about 1.2 miles distance. Then we wandered around up on top and back down. We saw lots of deer and elk and even some bear and cougar tracks up on the top of Grouse Mtn which was at about 4100' elevation but did not lay eyes on a bear.
I am really stoked though because I got permission to hunt a big chunk of prime private property not too far out of Walla Walla. So we will probably focus our efforts there over the next couple weeks anyway. The snow did indeed melt off quite a bit this weekend but there is still a bunch up high. Rufous.
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Did you talk to the Bar M ranch? That property would be good lower elevation bear country, if a guy could get permission. I know it's leased up by an outfitter in the fall but I'm not sure in the spring, I doubt it since the outfitters don't get guaranteed bear tags. Good luck and shoot straight!
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I drew the West Blue Mountains tag. I live in Walla Walla so plan to focus on the Walla Walla and Mt. Emily units as they are closer to home. Rufous.
I have two points now for the West Blue Mtns. Next year I'm sure I'll draw!! I hope! Have you talked with a biologist yet? Hope that snow melts fast!! Good luck my friend.......................
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I have talked with a couple biologists and know that the areas I have been scouting and now hunting are good areas. I saw my first bear of the year yesterday evening on property I have permission to hunt. It was too far away though to get to but we may find him next weekend. We looked for it this evening but the weather was much colder and no bears were out. Rufous.
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I hunted West Blue Mts last year, but didn't get a bear. I did find where they had been digging onions in Lick Creek just east of Grouse Mt. I camped at the end of the McDougal Camp Road off the Tollgate Road and hunted down, then climbed back up to camp. There was still too much snow to get to many of the areas I wanted to hunt last May, and I am sure it is worse this year.
I figured I couldn't draw West Blue 2 years in a row, so I put in for and drew Starkey this year. That is the next unit south of Mt. Emily. Now I am scrambling to find an area where I might have a chance of seeing a spring bear. I have used Google Earth to find some possibilities, however there is too much snow to get in and see yet. I plan to hunt the next to the last week of May, and I would sure appreciate any suggestions on areas that might be productive from anyone that has hunted spring bears in Starkey.
Cord at The Dalles
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Cord, thanks for your input. I too thought the Grouse Mtn area would be good and we did see some tracks in the snow on top. We may try it again once we can access it from McDougal Camp road. Good luck on your Starkey hunt. I have never been in that area. Rufous.
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I got a short evening hunt in today. I saw two bears but they were on the other side of a major drainage. They were on the north facing slope (the drainage runs east to west) so on the south side of the river. I plan to hunt a similar area tomorrow (another east to west river) and tomorrow my buddy and I will be on the north facing slope hiking up from the bottom. Maybe we will get lucky, Rufous.
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Rufous,
Are you seeing them south of the Umatilla from the Grouse Mt side? If so, an easier way in is up the first draw south of Graves Butte on the south fork, to top out on the ridge south of the river and look into the open north facing slopes from above. Saw a good blonde up ther last fall.
Cord
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Cord, thanks for the suggestion. I was on Government Mtn looking south across the North Fork of the Walla Walla River. We might try out your suggestion next time out though. Brian.
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Well guys I logged a total of about 19 miles on foot over Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday afternoon/evening and only saw the two bears Friday. Saturday we went north from Harris Park up a very steep slope, climbing from 2100' elevation to 3750' and around and then back down. We saw some tracks in the snow and even some fairly fresh droppings but no bears. Then today I went out by myself, starting my hike at 230 and climbed up the south side of Graves Butte from the road at 2500' up to Bobsled Ridge at 4050' and then back down. No bears today either. Hopefully they will start showing themselves soon. Brian.
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Thanks for the update. Keep us posted.
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Rufuous,
See post "Got My Spring Bear This Morning by ToddD" I went up to Monroe to help my son get his bear, now that we have that one it is my turn. I have the Starkey Oregon tag, and, according to the Oregon Snotel website, there are still 32 inches of snow in the area where I had planned to hunt 18 days from now. Looks like it is time to start working on plan B.
Keep after those springers...few other hunts compare.
Cord
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I was out again this evening and saw two bears. We put a stalk on one but it gave us the slip. It took an hour to get into the area where it was but it was gone by then. Then we saw another one but it was pretty small so we did not go after it. We put in about 5 miles on foot. The bear we stalked was at the head of a big canyon quite a ways above us so it took quite a while to get up to its level. Brian.
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My hunting buddy and I were out yesterday evening for a bear hunt again. He filled his tag with a decent boar. We estimate its live weight at about 225#. It measured 5' 9" nose to tail with the hide still on the carcass and the front pad measured 5" across. He took the shot at about 730 with the bear on the other side of a river. It was quite an adventure getting across the river but we succeeded and found the bear dead only about 20 yards from where it took the bullet. We rolled it down the steep hill to the river bottom and got some food in our system then proceeded to butcher the bear. We got back across the river with the meat at 12 minutes after midnight and got back to my truck at 311am. It was about a 6 mile round trip with quite a climb out of the river bottom. We sure earned that meat. Here is a photo of the bear. Sorry it did not turn out very well. Hopefully I took some better ones with my buddy's camera before it got dark.
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi26.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc115%2Frufous%2FIMG_0978.jpg&hash=9cecc572a7ccdb89b66d920c59b247dd74c9ac64)
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Nice bear!
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Congrats to your buddy. Sounds like quite the trip. I hope he is around to return the favor. :chuckle:
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Nice to see another spring bear on the ground! Nice Job. Now go find that 400 pounder!!
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It sounds like you guys earned that bear. Congrats!!!!!!!!
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Just got back from 3 days in Lick Creek, Snow has receded some and we was able to gain about 3 miles of road access into the NF. This time we took the horse and covered some ground. We road approx 15 - 18 miles each day but saw no Bear and surprisingly no sign of any bear. We were into Elk and Deer every day and the Onions are on everywhere.
We started low and worked our way up until the horses had a hard go of it in the snow. Where they are is anyones guess right now? We are going to give it another week and head back.
Here are a few picks of the trip.
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Roufus,
Great Bear! Did this bear have a Umatilla or Walla Walla River home address?
Cord
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A few more pics from Lick Creek Bear trip this week.
Hope to post a BBD pic soon. (Big Bear Down)
Enjoy
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great pics, ron. sorry to hear you guys didn't connect, but it definitely looks like the weather and snowmelt are cooperating. that country looks like familiar country.
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Cord, the bear was in the Walla Walla unit. We went out again this evening and saw 3 bears. One of them was in the same spot as the first bear I saw this year but this one looked bigger. It might be the same bear though. It sure looked big tonight. I hope to go in again on Friday morning and see if I can get it. I was wishing I had packed my spotting scope to be sure of its size as I am after a big one. It was too late in the evening to safely go after it as it was in a very nasty spot. Then we saw another bear across the river and finally on our walk out we saw a really big blonde bear. That bear took no deliberation about shooting but it was on property that we do not have permission to hunt. What a bummer as I very much want a blonde bear. I have taken black, brown and cinnamon phase bears so far but no blonde ones and this guy was big! Brian.
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It's come down to praying to the "BEAR Gods" for guidance. :'( Here a pic of Mrs. Rhino asking for a sign. :chuckle:
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:chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle:
I will pray to the bear gods for you too... ;)
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We covered about 7.3 miles today in some rugged country but only saw two smallish cinammon bears.
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Rufous,
You have put in the time and miles for a good bear this spring. I hope he is feeding around the corner on the next open hill side for you. I have enjoyed reading you hunt log.
Cord
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The bears were out this evening. My hunting buddy and I were out and we saw 9. There was a sow with two yearling cubs and 6 others. 7 of the bears were on the other side of the river and too far up the opposite slope to go after that late in the evening, one of the bears was on property we do not have permission to hunt and the last bear I could have shot but it was too small. Still a mighty pleasureable evening to be on the mountain. Brian aka Bruin.
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We had a great day out after the bears. We covered about 10 miles on foot. It was roasting hot but I saw 14 bears today (we were out from 730 to past dark) which is the most I have ever seen in a day. I also saw a cougar which was only 15 yards away. It is the 9th one I have seen and I have shot two in the past but that is the closest I have been to a live one. It was quite a treat. Many of the bears we saw were on the other side of the river and others were too small or sows with cubs. The first one we saw this morning looked pretty big but it was a long ways off and the sun was in our eyes low in the sky so even with the spotting scope it was hard to tell. I hustled around the mountain to where it had been but it was gone by the time I got over there. We will keep trying. Rufous.
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Good luck fellas.
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Thanks for the update.
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I got in a quick evening hunt with my buddy's father who also drew the spring bear tag. We went up a very steep ridge and I dropped him off at a good glassing spot then went further, getting in a total of about 3.2 miles. Started at 2070' and topped out at 3670' then back down. We only saw 2 bears but they were too small. I am having a hard time finding the big one. Brian.
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All of those bears that you are seeing leads me to believe that I have been hunting the wrong drainage in the West Blue Mt. Unit. Next Tuesday morning I am leaving for my Starkey hunt. I talked with the biologist at La Grande this morning, and he told me the area I had hoped to hunt was still blocked by snow, however he did suggest a couple of lower areas that had bears. Good luck to you Brian on finding a big one. I will let you know how I did when I get back.
Cord
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So here's the score thus far this Bear season, this maybe a little long winded but if you read it you'll understand.
Miles Driven back and forth to hunting area: 1500+
Nights Spent in Camp: 14
Temperatures endured: 20 - 96 degrees (some times in the same day)
Money Spent: Over a $1.00 per mile for food, fuel and supplies (See miles driven above)
Miles Ridden on horse back: 150+ on a Bulldozer pulling a utility trailer
Miles Hiked on foot: 25+ (Ass couldn't take any more of the Horse / Horse couldn't take any more of the ASS)
Misc extra fun:
Blown transfer case: $1800.00 (Pushing through to much snow)
Wench fell off: (Pulling though to much snow) ($5.00 worth of bolts and a million dollars worth of pain in the ass SEE above for ASS reference)
Alternator Replacement: $200.00
Blown Serpentine Belt: $25.00 (and an education in reading directions)
Jack Russel had 7 puppies in the back seat of my truck as I lay outside in the grass bitting my tongue until Mrs. Rhino said " Why don't you just go hunt with out me and I'll talk care of the puppies" 2 hours later.
Mistakenly handed Mrs. Rhino a bottle of Body lotion in place of shampoo while she was in the camp shower.
(Ya she was so excited about the outcome of that shower)
Being able to Hunt and not be at work: PRICELESS
Aside from the above bitches, here is what we have netted for our sweat equity:
Bears seen: 1
(On the back of a 4 wheeler shot by a guy who showed up the night before, camped a mile down the road and went for a ride down a logging road the next day, saw the bear cross the road and shot it)
(Ya I was so excited for him) >:( >:( >:( :bash: :bash: :bash:
Poop seen: 2 piles 1 new, 1 old both small
Evidence of Bear activity: Minimal in an area that became a giant wilderness party for a local 4x4 club the next day after finding the area. (Ya I was so excited for them)
:mgun2:
Deer/Elk/Turkeys Seen: Countless
I am so dumb founded at this point. I have hunted the Lick creek unit many times in previous years and have never had an issue finding a Bear.
I finally took out some of my frustration on a colony of "Grave Diggers". Made me feel a little better. Sad thing is I didn't even put a dent in population of those damn rats.
Maybe it's how I'm holding my tongue or maybe my Bino's are all fogged up.
I heading back Monday for the final week and will take all tips and advise with me. I will even take a passenger if ya wanna saddle up and ride your ass off.
:'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( Ya I'm whining and I guess that's why they call it hunting.
Thanks for listening, I think I need to go "Vent" right now.
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Its not due to lack of effort on your part. Still wish you luck.
But you said it...being able to hunt instead of work..priceless.
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spring bear in the blues is all about the wild onions find a big patch on an open hillside and don't let it out of your sight
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I hear ya about the Onions.
Get this, we watched a Cow Elk give birth to a Calf on a south a facing Slope in a patch of Grass and Onions. (Got most of it on video and I am working on posting it)
Over the course of the next 2 days 2 more cows gave birth on the same hill side. Of course we watched this area like hawks and still nothing.
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Rhino, why would you go out and shoot those poor defenseless bears!? Ain't hunting just such a slaughter? I have not yet tallied up how many miles I have covered on foot after a bear so far this spring but it is a bunch. If you and I (and I am sure most all of the hunters after bears this spring from this forum) get a bear it will be well deserved. I wish you great success on your next outing. Brian.
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Bear or No, I wouldn't change it for the world. I am blessed just to be out there.
On a funny note they need to make a TV show for the "Hunting Channel" that show what really goes into the "Average Joe's" hunt is like on public land. I k ow I could write a few funny episodes.
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We got out this evening for a short 2.5 mile hike/hunt and saw 5 bears but they were all too far away. Tomorrow is supposed to be pretty rainy so I am not sure if we will go out. It sure seems the bears hunker down when it is nasty weather. Brian.
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Well I finally filled my bear tag Saturday evening. Put in about 9.25 miles and saw 10 bears today. I ended up shooting a dry sow. She was 5' nose to tail and probably about 200#. I sure thought it was bigger than it turned out to be. She really fooled us. We were even checking her out with the spotting scope to be sure and she looked big to us but we got duped. Oh well, at least I got some more tasty meat. I will try to post a photo later. It is time for bed. Brian.
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Congrat!
Can't wait for pics and full story.
Thanks for keeeping us updated on your hunt.
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Here are the photos of the bear.
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi26.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc115%2Frufous%2Fbcorbear2.jpg&hash=fe4a61afdade3bb1aa6fd500b60c34ad69c1cd40)
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi26.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc115%2Frufous%2Fbcorbear1.jpg&hash=981c0c973044955c6c7350e35d9a3d6d69e2e989)
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Nothing to frown on. Would have a hard time passing on a color phase like that one!! Nice Bear!
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Thats a pretty bear . I would have probably shot that one anyway!!. I like colored bears . dont see them as much on the west side. I like the big white patch too. Nice job.
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Congrats - great bear...and I love the color. I can't wait to start hunting them in August.
Are you going to make a rug, or??
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Brian,
You certainly earned that bear with the days and miles that you put in. Congratulations! :hunter:
Cord
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:rockin:
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Right on, Great job. A shooter for sure. I certainly woudn't have passed it by. Am leaving tomorrow to head back for the final week.
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That is a realy nice looking bear. Really like the color and the white chest. Congrats!
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Did ya gun her down with your pistol?? :)
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Shag, no she was much too far away for the pistol. I used my 300 Win Mag with the 180 Barnes TSX. She only made it about 30 yards or so. I did not bring out the hide, just the head as Oregon wants to see the head. Apparently one cannot sell their Oregon bear hides and I already have a tanned hide from my Idaho bear and a full bear rug from my biggest bear which was taken in the Wenaha unit of WA. I was hoping to take a bigger bear and have a bust mount done but as I said this one deceived me and was not as big as I thought. When I get a big one I will do a bust mount. Brian.
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A good thread guys. The hunt, the success and the pains. Good adventures.
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Awesome Rufous, glad to see all the hard work pay off. That is a stout looking bear.
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Pleased you scored Rufous, I know you earned it, congrats.
I'm leaving tommorrow for the Wenaha to finish out the season and trying to arrow one.
Hopefully the snows have receded a bunch, here's hoping.
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Good luck Lance.
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I just saw the photos of your bear Rufous. I must say that I would be happy with such a bear and if I saw 10 bears in one day I would feel pretty good. Congratulations on your bear. Didn't you also draw a spring bear tag last year and bag one?
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Ray, yes I did draw a spring bear tag for the Dayton unit in Washington and I did fill that tag with a good sized boar with my 45 Colt revolver. This year I drew an Oregon tag and shot my 9th bear. Brian.
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That was a nice color bear. It would be hard for me to waste a hide like that.
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Kinda what I was thinkin :'(. That would have been a nice display mount for me.
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Regrettably I cannot afford to do taxidermy on every bear I shoot (nor is there room in our small house) so I am holding out for a really big bruiser bruin for a bust mount. She was mighty pretty though. Today we went out trying to get the third member of our 3 man party his bear. We covered about 10 miles on foot and saw 13 bears but once again they were all too far away or were sows with cubs. Brian.
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I tallied up the bear sightings thus far this spring and it came to 70 with 90 miles hiked in the process. It has been a good spring despite the challenging weather conditions. Brian.
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Like the color and blaze on the chest! Congrats!
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Well today was the last opportunity for us to fill the third tag in our party as my buddy's dad is planning to head home tomorrow. He has hunted really hard and seen a bunch of bears but we just were not able to get his tag filled. We went out today and saw our first bear at 845am. Through the spotting scope it looked to be a really nice cinnamon bear and as it was by itself and big we were confident it was a boar. But it was a long ways off across a really big canyon. There was a road system that led all the way over to just above the ridge the bear was on so we took off, hustling over there on foot to try to get on the bear before it got full and headed for cover. We started at 4300' elevation and ended up at 3200'. It took an hour to get over to where the bear was and we were walking very fast and jogging some of the time. It was 3.75 miles along the road system to get over to the bear and we were able to see it every once in a while as we went. When we got to the ridge it had been on we went down it off of the main ridge but did not see it. Then we glassed over to the north to the next open area and there it was 430 yards away. I thought we had it dead to rights and we were just getting set up with Ron adjusting his bipod when that blasted bear dropped over a small ridge I had not noticed and was out of site. It continued moving to the north and came into view again but I guess the bugger had decided it was time to head for bed because he was moving out. Had we arrived 2 minutes sooner we would have likely taken that bear. I really do not think it heard or smelled or saw us. We persued but he got over the next major ridge and that was the last we saw of him. We tried to do some calling but got no response. Then we wandered around the general area some during the day and finally headed back out. We put in a total of about 10.6 miles today and saw 3 other bears. One of them we jumped while we were hustling down after the original bear but it was a small guy and the last two were probably a boar and sow but they were well out of range. 74 bear sighting and about 100 miles put in. I am ready for spring bear season to be over. 2 tags filled out of 3 aint bad, especially considering the heavy snow pack and late spring. Brian.
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what a great thread. What a cool looking bear. I'm glad mine didn't have a blaze because then I wouldn't know how to mount it. I really wanted a rug but if it had a blaze not sure what I'd do. That was a beefy looking sow.
