06-03-2008, 04:05 AM
I just returned from my spring bear hunt on Saturday and must say it was more than I ever expected. For many years, my friends have been trying to get me to go. To be honest, I never really had a desire to hunt a bear. I had always believed that hunting elk and deer was the best.
Anyway, my friend finally convinced me to go and here is the story:
Friday/Saturday the 23rd/24th: We decided to leave that night from Northern Utah (we were going to leave on Saturday) and head to northern Idaho. We drove all night and by the time we arrived in Coeur D'Alene,
we were both pretty hammered from the drive. We picked up our general NR tags and kept heading North. We finally arrived that Saturday evening to some rain and had just enough time to set up my wall tent and do a little scouting. My friend had hunted the area once before. Sunday the 25th We didn't do much hunting and mostly slept the day away.
Monday the 26th:
Spent the day walking, driving, and more walking and driving. We found sign everywhere. However, we did not see anything. According to my friend (who knows how to hunt bears), said due to all the feed, they were probably all spread out.
Tues the 27th:
After getting some tips from a few locals, we decided to try a new area. Still the same result; a lot of sign but no bear sitings. Up until this point, we had seen deer, elk, moose, turkeys, grouse, but no bears. We also saw grizzly sign and a set of wolf tracks. Wed the 28th We decided to try another area early Wed. morning. We started out hiking an old, closed down, logging road. This area, unlike most others, had more clear cuts and a little more room to see. I had mostly hunted with my friend up until this point. I figured that since he knew what he was doing, and how to judge them, hunting with him would give me my best chance. After hiking a mile or so, my friend said he wanted to split up and hunt a clear cut. I decided to stay on the trail and hopefully, get lucky. As I walked I did not see any sign whatsoever. I was now getting a little discouraged and was getting close to turning back and meeting up with my friend. All I wanted to see was a bear. Regardless, if it was big or small, I just wanted to see my first bear in the wild. I decided to stop at a blind spot in the trail. The trail was about to make a hair pin curve and I wanted to stop and look around a little before moving on. After a few minutes or so, I decided to move on. However, I slowed down my pace and began to move more quietly. I hadn't went more than thirty yards when when all of a sudden this bear comes lumbering up the trail right towards me. It had no idea I was there. I froze a kneeled down in one motion and wasn't sure how I was going to position my gun for a shot. I finally decided to adjust my gun as the bear slowed down to a stop. It was quartering towards me and I wanted to get more of a "broad side" shot. It did, and as I moved it stopped and looked my direction. I could see it was a chocolate colored bear and still have in my mind the big white patch on it front chest. As it looked my direction, I already had its front shoulder in my cross hairs. When I pulled the trigger, all heck broke loose. It was only 40 yards away and took off on a dead run. I was confident in the shot but had told myself beforehand that I would shoot until it was down. As it was running through the trees and deadfall, I got one more quick shot off. It spun around and went back towards the area I had first shot. It went out of site, and I never saw it come out.
I decided to get my friend first and come back to find it. 30 minutes passed, and we went to where I had last seen it. It had went down and was dead. I do not know how it went 200 yards with its heart blown out, but somehow it did. I will say this was the most exciting hunt I have ever been on.
I have hunted on LE deer, elk, moose, and antelope hunts and they don't even compare to this bear hunt. To say it exceeding my expectations is an understatement. My taxidermist said it squares and 5'10" and the skull is around 18". I am not sure how that compares with the average harvest, but it is a true trophy to me. Thanks for reading!
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Anyway, my friend finally convinced me to go and here is the story:
Friday/Saturday the 23rd/24th: We decided to leave that night from Northern Utah (we were going to leave on Saturday) and head to northern Idaho. We drove all night and by the time we arrived in Coeur D'Alene,
we were both pretty hammered from the drive. We picked up our general NR tags and kept heading North. We finally arrived that Saturday evening to some rain and had just enough time to set up my wall tent and do a little scouting. My friend had hunted the area once before. Sunday the 25th We didn't do much hunting and mostly slept the day away.
Monday the 26th:
Spent the day walking, driving, and more walking and driving. We found sign everywhere. However, we did not see anything. According to my friend (who knows how to hunt bears), said due to all the feed, they were probably all spread out.
Tues the 27th:
After getting some tips from a few locals, we decided to try a new area. Still the same result; a lot of sign but no bear sitings. Up until this point, we had seen deer, elk, moose, turkeys, grouse, but no bears. We also saw grizzly sign and a set of wolf tracks. Wed the 28th We decided to try another area early Wed. morning. We started out hiking an old, closed down, logging road. This area, unlike most others, had more clear cuts and a little more room to see. I had mostly hunted with my friend up until this point. I figured that since he knew what he was doing, and how to judge them, hunting with him would give me my best chance. After hiking a mile or so, my friend said he wanted to split up and hunt a clear cut. I decided to stay on the trail and hopefully, get lucky. As I walked I did not see any sign whatsoever. I was now getting a little discouraged and was getting close to turning back and meeting up with my friend. All I wanted to see was a bear. Regardless, if it was big or small, I just wanted to see my first bear in the wild. I decided to stop at a blind spot in the trail. The trail was about to make a hair pin curve and I wanted to stop and look around a little before moving on. After a few minutes or so, I decided to move on. However, I slowed down my pace and began to move more quietly. I hadn't went more than thirty yards when when all of a sudden this bear comes lumbering up the trail right towards me. It had no idea I was there. I froze a kneeled down in one motion and wasn't sure how I was going to position my gun for a shot. I finally decided to adjust my gun as the bear slowed down to a stop. It was quartering towards me and I wanted to get more of a "broad side" shot. It did, and as I moved it stopped and looked my direction. I could see it was a chocolate colored bear and still have in my mind the big white patch on it front chest. As it looked my direction, I already had its front shoulder in my cross hairs. When I pulled the trigger, all heck broke loose. It was only 40 yards away and took off on a dead run. I was confident in the shot but had told myself beforehand that I would shoot until it was down. As it was running through the trees and deadfall, I got one more quick shot off. It spun around and went back towards the area I had first shot. It went out of site, and I never saw it come out.
I decided to get my friend first and come back to find it. 30 minutes passed, and we went to where I had last seen it. It had went down and was dead. I do not know how it went 200 yards with its heart blown out, but somehow it did. I will say this was the most exciting hunt I have ever been on.
I have hunted on LE deer, elk, moose, and antelope hunts and they don't even compare to this bear hunt. To say it exceeding my expectations is an understatement. My taxidermist said it squares and 5'10" and the skull is around 18". I am not sure how that compares with the average harvest, but it is a true trophy to me. Thanks for reading!
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