Finally made it back.....here we go.
Woke up the next morning, had an excellent "backpackers special" breakfast (instant oatmeal and coffee), did a little glassing and then packed up camp and snowshoed about another mile and a half to a better vantage point and set up camp permanantely.
Home Sweet Home!
The weather was typically unpredictable. Had a little bit of everything from wind, rain, sun, snow, more wind, hail and did I mention the relentless wind. Was anywhere from 18 to about 45 degrees. Good news was we only got stuck in the tent for one day. Spent the next 4 days(other than the one in the tent) snowshoeing to different vantage points, digging fox holes to get out of the wind and glassing, glassing, glassing.
Me stretching my legs outside one of the foxholes.
Saw plenty of game in that time including 3 more wolverines, hundreds of caribou and ptarmigan everywhere. Finally on the 10th we found what we were looking for, two grizzlies headed straight up the mountain about 5 miles away(according to the GPS). We guessed it was a boar following a sow. He was two to three hundred yards behind her and finally decided she wasn't worth the effort, turned around and headed back downhill as she went up over the top. Both were soon out of sight and I couldn't help but wonder how we were going to make all of this come together. There's no way to catch up to them when they're covering ground like that, especially at that distance. Still one of the coolest things I've ever seen. The next day was the day spent in the tent. Reading books, snoozing, going crazy. Anybody who has been there before knows how it is. The next day was the day we found him. After glassing all day and not finding much Jake finally pipe up "There's a bear". Don't think I've ever become so excited so fast in my life. Got the binos and spotting scope on him and watched him for a while as he headed south on some ridgetops, once again covering serious ground. Finally went up and over the top and I thought we'd lost another chance. The next hour or so was a bit of a rollercoaster ride of emotions as I knew the hunt was quickly coming to an end due to a forecast that was showing some nasty stuff rolling in over the next couple of days.
And then it happened. He reappeared on the same ridge headed back North. Covered a little ground and found a pile of comfortable looking rocks to curl up on and take a nap. At this point he was just under three miles away(once again, on the GPS) and we watched him for a bit to make sure he was going to stay put. Finally decided it was go time and threw on the packs and snowshoes and grabbed the rifles. Once we left our vantage point we wouldn't see him again until we were within a few hundred yards. We made good pretty good time covering that ground and I was praying the whole way. Finally got to where we had one last gradual rolling rise between us and peeked over the top. Prayers must have worked because he was still there curled up on those rocks facing us. Couldn't get the rangefinder to give me a reading because of the hail storm that had just rolled in on top of us but we figured him at about 500 yds. Too far to shoot and no way to get any closer as there was absolutely nothing between us but snow. Took a minute and put on a couple of cheap white tyvek painters suits for camo. That hail storm turned out to be a gift from above as it gave us the little bit of cover we needed. We crawled as close as we dared and got set up on trekking poles for a rest. As we were trying to figure out how to gain a few hundred more yards, a second gift from above was thrown our way. He decided to get up and walk right at us. Closing the distance to what we figured was Two hundred yards. Definitely had a new "best moment" of the trip and possibly my life as I watched that bear through my scope .Walking right at me through the hail, head swaying back and forth with that grizzly bear swagger. At this point, he finally turned broadside and and gave me that moment I'd been waiting for my whole life. First shot hit him hard and he started spinning, rushed the second shot and missed but the third shot anchored him solid. Never flinched again. I can't put into words what went through me at that point but it was something I'll definitely never forget. At this point it was about 8:00. We took pictures, got him all taken care of and packed back to camp a little after midnight.
Finally, here's the part you've been waiting for:
In the end we worked our butts off for this bear and I wouldn"t have it any other way. to sum the trip up in a single word:
PERFECT. I couldn't have asked for anything more from start to finish.
This was our ride back to civilization. The only place to put that bear was on my lap. Makes for one helluva cool airbag.
Wish I had a picture of that!
Congratulations on a truly successful hunt! They don't get much better than that.
