Another Great Bear Quest, thanks to Tom, Bowdoc and the rest of the guys in week #2. They just keep getting better and better.
I drew the "Moose Path" for the first night hunt on Sat. Tired, like everyone else but like BD says "you can't kill bears sittin' on your goat smellin' butt in camp!" so out I went. Had one visitor for the evening, a little on the small side and looked more like a bear suited for Bowdoc. So he got a free pass.
Decided to stay there for the second night. It was pretty much a repeat of the first night. Same bear, same time. Went to pick-up Eli and Chad at the Bird and knew something was up as soon as I pulled up. All I could see were two headlights and teeth! Eli was aweful proud. There was a real good blood trail and both Eli and Chad had said that they'd heard the death moan, so what are we waiting for, let's go get him. As we followed the blood trail through the mess of tangels and alders, and as it was getting darker, about 59 yards into the trail Chad says "did you hear that?". Not far off, in the dark were the distinct sounds of bear teeth popping. Seemed like a good time to retreat and come back in the morning. Next morning when we went back to get Eli's bear, little did we know that if Chad had taken another step or two that night, we would have been standing on top of Eli's bear. Do you realize how hard it is to see a black bear, on the ground, at night, 4 feet from you? Obviously it taxed our abilities.
Monday night I thought I'd roll the dice a little and moved over to the Old Camp. Other than squirrels and bunnies, there was no action at all.
Tuesday I decided to try to emulate my hero, Bowdoc, and went to the Bowl. Guess I've got a long way to go to hang with the master, no action what-so-ever.
Wednesday I took some advise from from my good buddy, Jay. He said " Dude, the Long Trail is the place for you" So Tom fixed me up a double Honey Burn and off I went. Cooked off the Honey burn and got ready. I just knew that those bears would be flocking in at any minute saying "take me, take me".
An hour later, heard a stick break off to the left. Then I could hear something moving through the brush, up the hill to my left and across the hill top in front of me. It stopped for a little while, then moved down the hill to my right. I checked my watch, 7:00 pm. I keep looking to the right, down the trail I came in on, and off behind me. Knowing that they like to sneak up from behind on this stand. Out of the corner ofmy left eye I caught movement. was it a squirrel or bird? Standing right in front of me, halfway up the hill is a bear! As I start to check it out I'm thinking nice bear, good coat, big head, not a bad size, I believe this one's a shooter! For 30 min we played this little game of non-commital. The bear would come down the trail, almost to the little pile of goodies I had off to the side of the barrel, then change it's mind and back off. Finally it came in, as it got to within two feet of the goodies, it was directly behind two trees. It came in, got a mouthful of goodies, turned and went back behind the trees to eat them. Dang, No shot. The second time it came back down in, it did the exact same thing. Hmmmm, do that again! The third time it came in, got a bite and turned, I was ready and dropped the string. Lesson learned, when you are seven feet up a tree and the bear is only six feet in front of you, the angle is a lot steeper than you think. Fortunately what I thought was a great hit, turned out to be not like I planned, but hit the bear just behind the shoulders, right in the spine. it dropped where it stood! I got away with it, and the result was a pretty short tracking job.
Went back to camp and got Big Bill, Eli and Jay to help me carry her out. Turned out to be a 130# sow. After we got her loaded, we decided to wait and pick up Chad on the way out. When we got over to the Bird, there he was, with a smile almost as big as Eli's. Chad got his bear too.
I believe this hunt will stay on my books for as long as I'm able to go. This is without a doubt, the most fun a fella can have with his clothes on!
Thanks again, especially Tom, But all the guys who went on this trip. Ya'll can share a fire with me anytime!
LD
Topic: Bear Quest V -- Stories for all Posts (Read 36064 times)
