Lessons from the high hunt the good the bad and the ugly

[savagehunter]

Well immediately my son decided to make a play for mr black bear. I think the idea of scoring another big game animal sounded way better than my plan of using him as my own personal sherpa. The bear was moving north south down the meadow at a brisk pace kind of like he owned the place. He was 1000 yards out and coming toward us. As my son stuffed a few things in his pack and loaded his savage .308 with some 168 gr sst i had handloaded with imr4064 and proven to be sub m.o.a. we formulated the plan. The bear would have to come through the treeline that separated the meadows. There were two shooting lanes divided by a large v of buck brush. The first was a rockslide on the left side of the brush the other wide open grass meadow that bordered the treeline.
We decided to hit the grass as the wind was quartering up hill and up valley. Our plan was to be below him so he had no chance of winding darrick as he exited the tree line.
By the time we headed out the bear was out of sight on the other side of the trees and I really hoped that he didn't decide to hole up now that we had lost site if him.
My son needed to cross the creek and cover 600 yds to get into position. I would spot and radio him of any changes.
I paused at the creek and called out to the outfitters camp that were our neighbors and the only other occupants at this time ; that my son was going in after a bear.
I was getting pretty pumped up as I paralleled my son up the creek and told him I was going past the treeline to see if the bear had put his journey on pause.
As I came to the base of the treeline our quarry popped into view still on a beeline at the same elevation as i had last seen him.
Thinking that there was no way my son had gotten in position yet I realized my mistake.
I had left my rifle at camp. Huge mistake I know better. Always take your rifle with you anywhere anytime you are hunting. Even or maybe especially when you are going to the bathroom.
I radio my son " there he is can you see him? "
I could tell by his breathless reply that he had been hauling butt " yes im trying to get on him ."
I followed the bears progress as I hauled my own butt back towards camp to grab my rifle. The bear crossed out onto some leftover snow pack that made a large triangle at the top of the meadow. His jet black form made the perfect picture on the white snow in the early fall sun and I paused to look through  my binos hoping to hear a shot and see some red in that picture.
I was 200 yards  from camp and the bear came off the snow when the report of the shot hit my ears. The bear ran without a hitch to my eyes , as I ran to camp a second shot rang out.
With my rifle in hand my son called over the radio saying he thought that the first shot was a hit but that he hadn't led him far enough and it was too far back.
I raced down valley as the bear entered the next treeline that divided the next meadow down. Its about 600 yards to a clear view of the down valley side of that treeline and I crossed the creek at a dead run. Got into position on a wind fall with a 300 yard shot to the spot i figured he would come out.

[bigelk1030]

Tagging along!    Enjoying the adventure!

[jackelope]

There oughta be a law....

 

[ThurstonCokid]

Tagging. Can’t wait to hear this one.


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[HikerHunter]

Cliff hanger! Can't wait for the rest of the story

[87Ford]

Definitely left hanging..    My guess is they finish this bear and we get another pic 

[Rainier10]

Is Plat ghost writing this?!

Waiting on the final chapter.

[Tpetie3509]

Following

[jstone]

Patiently waiting

[10mmg]

It as bad as reading an old field and stream elk hunt story at the dentist office only to find out someone ripped out page 78 that had the end of the story.

[jstone]

Or your getting to the good part and they call your name.

[Alchase]

It as bad as reading an old field and stream elk hunt story at the dentist office only to find out someone ripped out page 78 that had the end of the story.

OK, this was funny!
And true, must have been a whole passel of those people that went from doctors office to Dr. office ripping pages out of good stories......... 

 

[Jason]

It as bad as reading an old field and stream elk hunt story at the dentist office only to find out someone ripped out page 78 that had the end of the story.

OK, this was funny!
And true, must have been a whole passel of those people that went from doctors office to Dr. office ripping pages out of good stories......... 

 

Luckily I know how this one ends. But back to more recent conversation, I was once sitting in the dentist office waiting to get a root canal done, I starting reading this health magazine. One of the articles In the magazine was talking about a man in Spokane that had died at the dentist from to much Novacaine. Damn, I said. I didn’t need to read that..lol I handed the dentist the magazine and told him to read the article.

[savagehunter]

Once in a good position with my shot ranged I called my son on the radio and told him to come to  me and I waited. 20 minutes later he showed up and still no sign of the bear we discussed the situation. I would maintain my position and he would head up to look for blood. As he left I was hoping the bear hadn't headed down valley before I got to where I sat.
A good 35 min passed before my son came over the radio telling me he had found blood. About three tablespoons at the impact site.
Just as an aside here a nifty trick for determining very close to the location you made impact on the hillside is to use your range finder back to the place you took your shot. My son had ranged the shot at 290 yards; by ranging back he located the blood within 10 ft of his rough triangulation.
I radioed back telling my son to mark the blood and continue to track across the hillside.
The first shot had taken place at 930 am. It was now 10:15 am and I headed back to camp to grab my pack some water and snacks . A couple of times I glassed the hillside to watch my son mark the blood trail. He placed vertical sticks at each location he found blood. As i ascended the steep rockslide I could tell that it was a pretty much straight line across the hill.
When I got the last sign he had marked my son sat there as i had told him under no circumstance was he to go into the treeline. We hydrated as i caught my breath and he pointed to the last marker and said" I found yellow blood what does that mean"? I examined the three yellow spots that lie on a scrap of sun dried wood. " gut shot you said you thought you hit him back and that proves it. I then asked him about the other blood he had found what color it was was it frothy or milky? He told me that all the other places 8 in total were all dark red puddles and splatters.
I explained to him that we needed to find where the bear had entered the treeline as he was in cover now and wounded. I told him we would want to enter uphill from there to give us the high ground and the fact that most sorely wounded animals will head downhill. There was a dry runoff creek bed 50 ft across and then 50 more feet of grass between us and the trees.we both chambered rounds and I sent my son across the gully to look for blood in the grass as I worked my way down the gully. It was now 10:45 am.

[Seabass]

Great account of your experience! I’m excited to read the rest.