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Author Topic: High hunt success!  (Read 10516 times)

Offline yakimanoob

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High hunt success!
« on: September 23, 2020, 09:49:07 AM »
High five! 

Story to follow.

Online jstone

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Re: High hunt success!
« Reply #1 on: September 23, 2020, 09:56:34 AM »
 :tup:

Offline ctwiggs1

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Re: High hunt success!
« Reply #2 on: September 23, 2020, 10:09:30 AM »
Funny looking deer! 

Good job man :tup:

Offline bear

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Re: High hunt success!
« Reply #3 on: September 23, 2020, 11:00:17 AM »
Real men don’t wear gloves and eat a sammich after their done. Just sayin. JK. Nice bear...paw

Offline ctwiggs1

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Re: High hunt success!
« Reply #4 on: September 23, 2020, 11:02:56 AM »
Real men don’t wear gloves and eat a sammich after their done. Just sayin. JK. Nice bear...paw

Well now I'm super confused.  Bear can't respond - bear's dead!

Offline Rainier10

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Re: High hunt success!
« Reply #5 on: September 23, 2020, 11:10:11 AM »
Congrats and thanks for doing your part to reduce the predator population.
Pain is temporary, achieving the goal is worth it.

I didn't say it would be easy, I said it would be worth it.

Every father should remember that one day his children will follow his example instead of his advice.


The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of HuntWa or the site owner.

Offline Bushcraft

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Re: High hunt success!
« Reply #6 on: September 23, 2020, 01:13:18 PM »
Congrats and I concur with Rainier10...thanks for doing your part to reduce the fawn eater population!
Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy; its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. - Winston Churchill

Work hard. Hunt hard. Lift other hunters up.

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Offline huntnfmly

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Re: High hunt success!
« Reply #7 on: September 23, 2020, 02:14:15 PM »
Very cool congrats
I'm your dam tour guide Arnie please don’t wonder off the dam tour.
Take as many dam pictures as you want ....
Are there any dam questions ..

Offline Sutherland

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Re: High hunt success!
« Reply #8 on: September 23, 2020, 02:55:08 PM »
Haha oh this is great!  :tup:

Offline yakimanoob

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Re: High hunt success!
« Reply #9 on: September 23, 2020, 05:12:26 PM »
Gah, what an awesome 4 days in the backcountry. 

I've been hunting mostly solo, but my buddy Jake has been wanting to get into hunting (he's been shooting for many years but has never hunted big game) so we decided to carve out some time and make a go at the High Buck.  Neither of us had much of a preference between a bear or a buck--we were just excited to actually get out and see some animals. 

I've been hunting a single spot for almost all of my high buck attempts, but I'd been e-scouting a different spot for the past couple of years and decided to give that a go.  The scenery was STUNNING, but after an evening, a full day and the next morning (and 15+ miles and a few dozen basins glassed), we had seen a single doe.  No bucks, no bears, just a bunch of squirrels and some stunning backgrounds.  So we decided to bail on that place and go back to my old haunt.  I promised Jake that although we'd see other hunters, we'd at least see some sign and most likely something approaching a legal animal (even if it was really, really far away). 

When we arrived that evening, we saw fresh sign 30 yards from the trailhead, bumped three does on our way to our glassing point, and within the 1.5 hrs we sat on a glassing point we had seen at least three individual bears--one of which almost wandered into shooting range right at last light. 

I've been watching a bear at this spot for the past 3 years.  Of course they could be different bears each time, but same spot, same color phase, and a little bigger each year is enough for me to call it the same bear. 

The next morning, we were at that perch at first light.  We watched a beautiful sunrise, then watched thick fog roll in over the ridge next to us and the sun went behind the clouds... we knew rain was coming the next day, but... gah, I was feeling so bummed that with all the animals around, we were about to get fogged in (as has happened to me many times in that spot).  Thankfully, there was enough of an updraft in the basin we were watching to keep the fog just over our heads and preserved our view into the huckleberries. 

All the sudden Jake whisper-yells BEAR and dives behind his rifle as I set up my scope and get a range.  We had agreed the night before that I had dibs on any animals since it was my spot, but I had told him I that my range limit is 300 yds and if a good shot beyond that range presented itself, it was his show.  We knew it was his bear based on ranging the area the night before. 

As he settled in, I got my scope set on a beautiful color-phase, CHUBBY bear -- as far as I'm concerned, the same bear I'd been watching grow up in that basin for the past 3 years.  Certainly the same bear we had watched the previous evening.

"That's a great bear. 380 yards.  Ready when you are."

I've not done much spotting for other shooters, and I was worried I'd flinch from the report of the rifle and miss the impact.  I flinched alright when he touched off the 6.5 creedmoor, but thankfully I got my eye back on the bear just in time to see it shutter then leap, arched back, straight into the air and them tumble down the creek bottom.  We heard the death moan before I could finish congradulating him on the perfect shot. 

Honestly, I'm still a little shaken by the sound of that moan. I had read about it, but nobody told me how loud and how long it would be.  "God, please don't let it suffer too long."  The noise faded.

Time to work. 

We're 500+ feet of elevation above where the bear was, with some SKETCHY slopes between us.  We collected ourselves, then headed very carfully down the gully to where it was standing, and began the search (with the obligatory "good thing we're trained at this" joke -- we're both on the local SAR team).  After about 45 minutes, most of which was spent with Jake waiting for me to get myself out of the rediculously slippery and thick slope I had wandered onto, I heard Jake yell "HERE" as he shouldered his rifle. 

Dead cold in a creek bottom, less than 50 yards from where the bullet hit her.  I finally got to see my bear up close and feel her fur.  I couldn't care less whether I pulled the trigger; this was unbelievably awesome. 

We said a prayer of thankfulness and got to work.  Based on dragging her a few feet to a flatter spot, we figure she was probably a little north of 200lbs, maybe 250 tops.  She wasn't big, but DANG was she fat.  Surprisingly, we got the 90+ lbs of meat and hide, plus all our gear, 4 miles over alpine terrain back to the truck without breaking our bodies. 

Many thanks to everyone on here for all the advice these past 4 years! 
« Last Edit: September 23, 2020, 05:17:57 PM by yakimanoob »

Offline Watimberghost

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Re: High hunt success!
« Reply #10 on: September 23, 2020, 06:11:49 PM »
Nice job! Looks like a great hunt! I absolutely love that country!

Offline Birdguy

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Re: High hunt success!
« Reply #11 on: September 23, 2020, 08:17:33 PM »
That is an awesome story! Thank you for taking a new out for an amazing time and memory! Nice looking bear too!

Offline Rainier10

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Re: High hunt success!
« Reply #12 on: September 24, 2020, 08:37:39 AM »
Great story and bear.  Way to go.  :tup:
Pain is temporary, achieving the goal is worth it.

I didn't say it would be easy, I said it would be worth it.

Every father should remember that one day his children will follow his example instead of his advice.


The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of HuntWa or the site owner.

Offline ganghis

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Re: High hunt success!
« Reply #13 on: September 24, 2020, 08:48:12 AM »
Nice work!  Congrats and thanks for the story

Offline castnblast

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Re: High hunt success!
« Reply #14 on: September 24, 2020, 09:51:43 AM »
Great story and teamwork of hunting partners. Nice bear!

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