Love to hear some spot and stalk Black Bear stories or pics

[Bob L.]

I have always wanted to take a black bear spot and stalk. Any stories and/or pics would be SWEET.
God Bless
Bob

[bearsfeet]

I would like to hear as well!

I am going to give it my first try this spring. I drew the snake tag here in oregon.

[Bob L.]

Cool, Good Luck, Let us know how it goes. I am going to try close to home, our spring bear tag was first come first serve so I picked one up for the sw region before the tags were sold out.

Lets here em and keep this up!

[chinook907]

Heres a couple I posted here, one this past fall and the other from the previous.  Hope you have a good time, you better share the story when you're done !

 http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=063360;p=1

 http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=076728;p=1

Better add a pic; here's one that got away, he spotted me a couple minutes after I snapped this    

 

[unregistered]

Ok here goes.
I was running a fire tower for a friend who was taking some days off for a wedding a couple years back. I brought my bow and luckily for me I was watching his tower during the first week of fall Bear season. His tower sight was often a pit stop for Bears traveling through and I saw quite a few from the top of the tower over those few days. The fire hazard on those days was low and I managed two stalks. The first stalk resulted in my first shot, and miss at a big game animal with a bow. Managed to miss a 200 pound Bear at 5 YARDS! Go figure eh?
The second and far more exciting stalk was the very next morning.
I woke up at 5:30AM and looked out the bedroom window and noticed that the wind was really high because the crab apple tree on the far side of the yard was shaking like crazy. Then I realized none of the other trees were moving. Hmmmm...
Well figuring it was a Bear munching apples I grabbed my bow and began closing the roughly 100 yard gap. Long story short I ended up behind the tree next to the one holding what I was hoping to be a Bear. Arrow on the string I waited for a shot on what I figured was the same Bear I missed the day before. Well imagine my surprise when a branch as thick as my wrist snapped and a 600 plus pound and rather perturbed Blacky fell five feet, landing on its head! Holy crap!!!
Well I am sorry to say that I wussed out. Being only 5 feet away from the biggest Black Bear I had ever seen in my life was just to much. I did my best impression of a shrub and the Bear walked back into the woods and out of my life. Never saw him again. Here is a pic my wife took of a sow and cubs munchin on some blueberries at the tower.

 

[Bob L.]

Cool! thanks for sharing.

[Benny Nganabbarru]

Thanks for sharing those photos and those happy older threads! That'd be lots of fun!

[longbowman]

In 1980 I was just coming back to our camp with my wife from elk hunting when I see hundreds of crows swooping down towards the base of a tree.  When I step out to the edge of the meadow I see a huge bear setting there swatting at the birds.  The bear was sitting on my bull elk carcass I had taken the week before.  He had carried the entire carcass about 75 yds. and was obviously taking a break wheh the birds tried to get their portion.  I gave my wife my elk call and binoculars and made a stalk towards the bear.  At 25 yds. he caught movement from me with the sun slanting throught the lodgepole.  I froze and he turned back towards the birds.  I got another 5 yds. and ran completely out of cover when he snapped his head around again.  I saw I was going to need to kneel for the shot and he finally tunred his head away again.  I knelt and drew in one motion my arrow struck him the second rib from the back, angled up through and out the shoulder blade sticking in the tree he was leaning against.  He spun took four jumps and summersaulted landing with all four up in the air.  He scored 21 7/8 and was just under 400#.  I was shooting a 72# Howatt Hunter.  A good day!

[Bob L.]

That's a sweet story longbowman. Maybe you can find a pic if you have one. Great stalk

[longbowman]

Bob L.,  Here's a photo but remember this was way before digital!
 

[Bob L.]

Thats cool! thanks for sharing

[Doug Treat]

My plan in '08 was to work hard on taking a deer or elk and then sit on the gut-pile for a bear.  The first part of the season, I was concentrating on deer, calling with a fawn bleat call.  I had called 8 deer into range but hadn't killed one yet.  On the 4th day of my hunt, I was set up in front of a small fir tree calling when I saw another deer coming in.  Readying myself for the shot, I realized that the color was kinda strange on this deer.  It was a bear! It was about 100 yds out when I first saw it through the trees.  It would come when I called and then stop coming when I stopped.  Then it would turn to go back where it came from.  This happened several times until it was just 30 yds. away but I didn't have a shot through the brush.  After about 30 seconds it turned to leave again and I gave it my best "I'm dying" wail on the call.  That was just too much and it came in fast...to 3 yds. where I shot it before it ate me!  It only made it 20 yds and piled up.  My most exciting hunt in 25 yrs of bowhunting.  This was taken with a compound because of shoulder problems but was definitely in stickbow range.

[Doug Treat]

Here's the pic.
 

[Bob L.]

up

[Benny Nganabbarru]

Nice one, Doug!

[Kenneth]

Great thread!!!  My biggest hunting goal is to stalk and kill a bear with a longbow.  Let's keep this thread going!  Thanks to all for sharing some great stories and pics!          

[Bob L.]

UPPPPP

[Kenneth]

Just read a great article in TBM today by Don Thomas about spot & stalk blackie hunting.  Great read!!!          Let's see some more on this thread!

[centaur]

My only bear was kinda spot and stalking me rather than the other way around. I was hunting elk in the Washakie Wilderness near Dubois, Wy. I had bugled a couple of times, getting no responses from elk, but Mr. Bear responded instead. I was in some fairly heavy cover, and the first time I saw the big blackie, he was about 25 yards away, coming directly towards me and making noises like he was kind of talking to himself. Luckily I had an arrow on the string, as he continued on a straight line for me. By the time I reacted and got the bow up and drawn, I had a 7 yard shot. Nailed him, and he lets out a big growl, which didn't sooth my nerves at all, but he changed directions and fell within 15 yards. He was dead within a few seconds. I had to sit down and calm myself before walking the short steps to him. What a rush! He was a very large boar; I don't know if he had elk dinner on his mind or what, but he sure gave me a racing heart for a while.

[Kenneth]

Centaur,  you left out the part about changing your undershorts!        Sounds like a VERY exciting hunt!!  Thanks for sharing.

P.S.  I love your signature!!!