Into a willow bar with a grizzly bear on a fall day

[Butchie]

Wow!   

[chinook907]

Appreciate all the positive comments and interest.
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Been busy, not trying to drag this out.  Only time to check the thread.
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So yes that was the excitement for the first day.  Nothing else seen the rest of the day.
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Next morning around 10am I spotted a large bear moving down towards the river across from camp.  But he just looped down and then right back up.  Never got to the river, was acting like he was deciding whether to or not.
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I think it was the same bear I missed the previous afternoon.  Must not have scared him too bad.
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Not sure how I feel about that 
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He walked straight away and back into the mountains, out of sight.
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[chinook907]

Later that day ~4:30, a smallish bear, very-very dark but beautiful bear showed up on the river, upstream of me.
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Hiked upstream aways and by then he was in one of the willow bars.  He's the dark spot a little left of center.
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[chinook907]

Again, I waited until the bear got close to the downstream edge of the willow bar.  Then dropped down, went upstream to where I could cross, then crossed and approached the willows.
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And then the previously steady upstream wind switched 90 degrees and blew my scent to where the bear would be (couldn't see him).

I crossed back over, got up high, and yup he was nowhere to be scene.
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Just a pic of crossing one of the channels.
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[chinook907]

That was the action for day 2 (3rd in the field).  And I didn't see a bear on day 3, 4, or 5.
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Which left day 6 (7), my last day of hunting.  I was set to get picked up the day after that.
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[Gator1]

Oh man.   

[Soonerlongbow]

 

Sometimes it pays to be out in the sticks where I don’t get much service. Can’t check back as often! Such an amazing hunt already!

[WVFarrier]

Regardless of success or failure.....what an amazing hunt!!!!

[Dry Creek]

 

[chinook907]

That night, it snowed.
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So I woke up to this.
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And it snowed & fogged all that day.
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[chinook907]

Had a bit of that no country for old men feeling to it.
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But it looked much worse than it was.
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[chinook907]

Late that last day, around 5pm, a small dark bear came around the corner upstream.
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I hustled to get over there, but when I got there 20-30 minutes later it was nowhere to be found.  Think it went up one of the tribs.
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I've got other pics of caribou and camp etc, but that was the bear hunting action.
Thanks DennyK for the great bow, I think it was 10 years ago now.
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[chinook907]

The plane came and got me mid-morning the next day.
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Look low in the center of the pic.
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[chinook907]

"No! There’s the land. (Have you seen it?)
   It’s the cussedest land that I know,
From the big, dizzy mountains that screen it
   To the deep, deathlike valleys below.
Some say God was tired when He made it;
   Some say it’s a fine land to shun;
Maybe; but there’s some as would trade it
   For no land on earth—and I’m one."  Robert Service
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[chinook907]

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[chinook907]

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[chinook907]

[chinook907]

Last light.
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Hope you enjoyed the telling as much as I enjoyed the happening.
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[Joe2Crow]

That was one hell of a story. Really enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing it with us.

[deerfly]

excellent adventure, thanks for sharing.

those vista's definitely rekindled some memories for me as well.