Yep it's a beautiful color phase bear that I really wanted to bring back home with me but it just didn't work out, still kicking myself. I locked onto a spot once I decided to take the shot, came to full draw, released and watched the arrow hit exactly where I was looking. I thought it was a perfect shot, tight behind the shoulder and about 1/3 of the way up. Would have been perfect for broadside. What I didn't realize until I reviewed the video was that the bear turned more than I thought and was actually at more of a quartering away angle by the time I reached anchor and released.
Once Ryan arrived to pick me up I showed him the video and since I didn't hear a death moan we decided to wait until morning to take up the trail.
A couple hours later we saw that it was supposed to rain overnight so about 4 hrs after the shot we started trailing. Found about the first 2/3 of the arrow about 10 yards down the trail and the fletching end 10-15 yards farther. Began to find decent blood that got less and less the farther we went. After probably 200-250 yards we were down on hands and knees finding a single drop every 10-20 yards. Even though it was a good 4 hrs after the shot when we started trailing so the bear definitely wasn't pushed it never laid down. I believe with the quartering angle the arrow passed behind the front shoulder and came out the brisket without ever entering the vitals.
I had 8 different bears come into the bait that night including a big, mature, long legged black boar about an hour before dark that ran everything off the bait. All this on the first evenings hunt.
This was my third bear hunt. First one in Quebec, I didn't have a shooter bear come into the bait all week, a sow with 3 Cubs was it. Last fall in ME I had a great time and killed a really nice big dry sow on the 4th evening which was the only bear I saw all week.
Ryan has an absolutely awesome place to kill a great bear and I hope I get to go back in the next couple years, can't imagine a better spot. I also totally agree with his policy where if you shoot a bear you're done, whether you kill it or not. I think more outfitters should have the same policy.
I really don't like telling stories about game that got away. Just a reminder that picking a spot and being able to hit that spot is essential, just make sure you pick the right spot for the angle. I'm still kicking myself and probably will be for a long time.
Congrats Dave on a beautiful bear! Great job!
Topic: Stickflingers (Read 3987 times)
