My First Bear! (pic heavy)

OregonTK

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Never really had time or much interest for hunting and killing bears, but with more time on my hands these days I decided to see what all the hubbub is about.

My brother Roger and I drew tags for a northeast Oregon unit that we used to rifle hunt elk years ago. In fact, Roger hadn't been up to the area in about 35 years!

The weather was awesome...if not a little too warm, but I'll take it over wind, hail, and snow squalls like the last time I was along for the ride on a bear hunt to this area!

Everybody keeps telling me you gotta sit and glass! So we did LOTS of that!!!



One afternoon I saw a sow with a tiny cub from this point and several herds of elk bedded in green patches...and a mountain goat that ODFW didn't know was in the area! That little white spot to the right of the tree is the goat.



We poked around quite a bit the first few days looking at all the places where we elk hunted and big mule bucks used to exist.





We saw lots of locals starting to enjoy the spring weather!





The ridgetops and meadows seemed to explode with wildflowers as the sun warmed the ground.









Finally one morning we were out glassing into one of the canyons and I glassed up into a small clearing in a side canyon and immediately spotted a reddish blond bear feeding on the hillside. An hour later we were slipping down the ridge and when we got to where we could see the hillside the red bear was gone and a black bear was feeding in almost the same location!



I decided to take the blacky if he gave me a shot. Found a flat spot that we figured was 250 yds from the bear and settled in. The blacky walked out to the sunny side of the ridge and stood broadside...holding right on I squeezed the trigger. After the shot the bear raised his head, ran up the hill, then sprinted downhill toward the creek. My brother said he saw some dust kick up above above the bear when I shot.

So I hiked around and came down to where the bear had been standing and covered the whole hillside, and down toward the creek where he had disappeared. Tracks, no hair, no blood, complete miss! :doh:

I hike back up to the trail and sit down, Roger comes hiking over to me and we're talking about the miss and eating a snack. I raise my binocs and look across the canyon to another ridgetop ... there's a BEAR! Another red bear out feeding on top of the ridge.

So 30 minutes later finds us sneaking up the last hump to where we should spot the bear. Nothing! We split up, Roger goes left and I go right. After 150 yds I look over behind some brush and see the bear walking toward a snowdrift. I walk directly at the bear and close to 100 yds, throw my pack down and as the bear turns broadside I drop him in his tracks.

He isn't a very big bear, but with chocolate legs and head going to almost gold on his back, plus being my first bear...I couldn't be happier!





We dressed him out in the shade of a big pine tree and placed the carcass and hide on the snowdrift to cool down. I then hiked out and got the packboards.





The weather was too warm, so I took the bear to town and hung it in a cooler. The owner of the little store even let me put the head and hide in his freezer!

As the weather got warm the bear activity seemed to taper off, we found LOTS of sign where they were feeding on the ridgetops, but just weren't seeing the bears?

Then the last afternoon it was half way cloudy and a little cooler. I looked way down the canyon at a ridge we'd been on a couple hours earlier and immediately spotted a big red bear. Roger, there's your bear! We hotfooted it back to that area and got on the ridge with the wind in our faces ... but big red was nowhere to be seen. We watched the ridge till dark, but he never showed back up.

It was a great hunt, and would have been even without bringing a bear home! Here's a few more photos ...





Wolf tracks larger then the adult elk tracks they were next to!











THE END
 
Congrats to you!! Thanks also for posting those excellent pictures, sure looks like a fine trip!
Good luck to you for the fall hunting seasons.
 
>Didn't know you were on this
>site too Congrats!

LOL ... I was actually on here for years as treekiller, but couldn't login on my old computer. Recently got a new PC and changed my handle and registered again.

Thanks!
 
Very cool! Was in there this past weekend, each time I still get blown away by the beauty of all Gods creations!

muleyman
 
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