Bear hunt #1 '06
My spring gobbler hunting has been frustrating at best. So I was more then happy to shift gears this weekend when my best friend Dave asked me if I wanted to go bear hunting (he really should know better then to have to ask!). So plans were made. There was a patch of dark forest with some green meadows up above that require some hiking in to get to that I know Dave has wanted to hunt for over a year. We decided that was to be our destination. Sadly it won’t happen as when we got near we discovered that Warehouser is logging in or around it, and they are not letting anyone in there right now. Apparently we are anyone. So after a quick discussion we decided to head to where Dave had seen the most bear sign in the scouting he did two days before. So off we drove for another hour to what we now have nicknamed “Big Bear Canyon”.
We arrived at about 4:30pm. When we got there it was overcast and drizzling. Perfect weather I guessed to keep bears up and moving through out the day. I knew we would be hunting till dark, so we set up camp right away. Threw up the tent and sleeping stuff. We put on our camo., grabbed our bows and off we went. We hiked in to the old skidder road. We were real quiet the whole way there. We then started up the skidder road and came across several bunches of bear scat. Dave went to check his monitoring camera he set up, and I went to our blind. It consisted of a raised shelf just off to one side of the skidder road. Dave came back and told me that there were thirty-five pictures taken. We would have to wait till we got back home to see what there were of though. I checked my watch; it was 6:00 on the dot.
We did the waiting game sitting still and not talking. I looked over to my left down the skid road and there he was, a large and very beautiful black bear. He was in the black color phase with a rich brown snout. He was fifty yards out from us. It took my brain a half second to register what my eyes were seeing. When it did all I could think was “bear.” I wasn’t shocked, or afraid. Just this all-encompassing focus. Nothing else existed except for that bear. I finely quietly said, “bear” to Dave. Dave, being a veteran bear hunter looked over and then gave me a thumbs up. I thought for sure that bear would mosey on down the road to us, giving me a 15-20 yard shot. He started our way after taking a big long and slow sniff of the air. The wind was in our favor and he had no clue. Then he walked off the road into an old clear-cut. We couldn’t hear him then, and there were to many trees for us to maintain eye contact. Turns out the bear circled around us, caught our wind and took outa there like he had seen the devil himself. I looked at my watch and it said 6:33pm.
We saw nothing on Sunday morning. We did get to do a lot of scouting and exploring and found a few other spots that might be worth a still hunt. Then Sunday night, as we were walking back to the truck and not being very disciplined we spooked out an extremely large bear. It was a good reminder that your not done hunting until your truck hits pavement.
I had a total blast on this hunt. I learned a lot, and got to see some big bears. Not as close as I wanted to see them, but hey for a guy whose just cutting his teeth on bears not bad at all. I have to give a lot of thanks to my buddy Dave for doing the scouting for us and finding this place we now call “Big Bear Canyon”. We are making plans to go back on the 12th, 13th, and 14th of this month. I can hardly wait!
Here are some pictures I hope you enjoy them. =)
Derek
Here's one of my best friend Dave!
and one more of me...
Topic: Daily Hunt pics and Stories 2006 (Read 41657 times)
