ORsouthpaw
Active Member
- Messages
- 226
LAST EDITED ON Oct-01-07 AT 02:32PM (MST)[p]Well after hitting the trails hard off and on for almost a month during the archery elk season it was time to get ready for our general season rifle hunt. We didn't draw our eastern Oregon tag and it turned out to be for a good reason. Opening morning I found myself heading into an area that I had never hunted before. I was with my Father-in-law Steve (Pops! we call him), my Brother-in-law Steven and my 10 year old son, Jonathan. It's true that we are all named Steven proper. In fact my father who passed earlier this year was also named Steven. I know it's strange! Anyway my in-laws had been in this area before and had seen a few deer so they were hopeful that we could connect on a buck or two. We were up at 3am and left that house by 4am.
We arrived to our spot about an hour before daylight. We loaded up and headed out into the darkness. After about a 1/4 of a miles walk up the old road we split up. My son and I headed east while the others continued on north before splitting up themselves. Being that this was a new area to me I had no real expectations other then maybe gathering some knowledge for future hunts.
Now the fun begins...
About 45 minutes after we split up my son and I found ourselves walking down another old logging road that ran along a 5-7 year old cut block. We were able to see most of the hillside above us until we came to a slight bench which was blocking an area that was part of a small saddle with a slight draw. I wanted to look into this little draw so we eased up the embankment and walked about 50ft into some of the heaviest cover I'd seen for a while. It's the kind of cover where you don't actually look over, you have to crouch down and crawl through the game trails which actually resemble tunnels. When you stand up you are lucky to be able to see 3-4ft in any one direction. We finally came to a small opening which was only 10ft in diameter. I was able to stand and view the hillside once again. Also I could see the bottom of the draw which was completely covered with this thick brush. Just then I noticed a black figure moving down the hillside from left to right. Black Bear! I said to my son who was right on my hip. He couldn't see the bear because the brush was taller than he was. As luck would have it, I always purchased a Sportspac from the ODFW so I had a bear tag in hand.
I quickly looked over the hillside and picked a spot where I thought I may be able to get a shot and finally found a small opening that was about 3-4ft wide. I watched him move down catching a flash of black every once and while. A couple of seconds later he came through and I had view of his head, then his shoulder and then I squeezed off a shot from my Browning A-bolt .270 Winchester. Normally I would be shooting my .300 Win Magnum but this was supposed to be a Black tail deer hunt. As soon as I hit him he spun and began to charge towards my son and me. He quickly closed the distance to about half of the 70 yards that I originally shot him at. All I can remember seeing is the head, the paws and claws at a full on blitz coming right at us. In an instant he disappeared into thick brush that was separating us. Although I had immediately cycled another round in the chamber, I didn't even have time to get off a second shot.
Since there was no visibility in any direction other than the one I had shot in, I shouted to my son "get back to the road!" This is where we could at the very least have a fighting chance should he come all the way to us. Once we reached the road there were no more sounds or crashing coming towards us and all was quiet.
I got on the radio and told my father-in-law what happened. The conversation was this: ?Pops, I just shot a black bear? He said ?You shot what??? ?A Bear? I said. I told him how the scene had just played out and let him know I was going to give it some time and then I would go back in to look for any signs of a hit. After waiting about 30-45 minutes I decided that we needed to check it out and make sure that I hit him. We went back to where I shot from and the made a big sweeping circle to our right and finally reach the point where I shot him. I looked and looked but couldn't locate any blood. I let the others know that it was probably a miss and we were going look some more then resume our deer hunt. We decided that we would walk the same direction that the bear had charged us in just to make sure there wasn't a delayed blood trail. That's when we heard some branches braking about 20 yards to our right but now between us and the road. He was close enough that I could hear him breathing heavily. My son was still unaware of the gravity of the situation however I was really scared because we didn't have any visibility and now we had a wounded bear very close to us in this thick cover. We then started to make a sweeping circle keeping him upwind as to try to get back towards the road, the bear was staying put and I could finally see where in the bushes he was. I couldn't actually see him but like I said I could hear him breathing heavily so we were way too close to this potentially lethal animal I could see the tops of some small trees moving, which I assumed he was up against.
We finally were able to get around on him and get the road to our backs but still we were about 50ft from the road itself. More importantly we were no at least 30 yards away from the bear. Then everything went silent again. The tree wasn't moving and I could no longer hear him, so we waited. After about 10 minutes or so I decided to break some small branches that had been left over from the cut many years ago. I threw a stick towards the place where I last thought he was. As soon as the stick landed he was up and moving towards it. I continued breaking and throwing sticks in his direction as we backed out to the old road moving about 10ft each time. Every time I threw a stick he ran towards where it landed. Finally we were close enough to the road, I threw one down the road just inside the shrub line and as far as could possible throw. He again went right after the sound of the stick landing. We hit the road and backed up to about 30 yards from where the last stick landed. We watched the tops of the small trees and bushes movie each time he stepped and listened to him coming through the brush. At one point he came over a large log which sounded like it was being crushed. Soon he hit the embankment of the road and came down angling right towards us. He finally reached the road just behind an old dead tree that had partially fallen across it.
He never knew we were there and when he cleared the last fallen branch I pierced his vitals. At the hit he jumped up and then rolled and tumbled about 15ft down the road. I held my son back and slowly approached him for a final shot He was still alive and I didn't want to watch him suffer. After the third shot, He took his last breath and was done. My first shot had hit the shoulder, going completely through and touching bottom of the heart, the second one was all lungs and was clearly fatal. The final shot was through the brisket and finally ended a very wild and exciting morning.
The time was just before 8am. After that last shot and a huge sigh of relief from both my son and I, a real nice guy walked up on us. He had seen the final two shots and offered a heartfelt congratulation. He went by the name of John (Kind of surprised it wasn?t Steve). He proceeded to help educate me about how to properly field dress which he did while I watched and learned, then how to cape and prepare my bear for a trophy rug mount. This was my first bear; in fact it was my first big game animal ever harvested. John's family had been licensed by the state for many years to assist with taking out problem bears so he was very educated about bears in general. He estimated the large boar to be 12-15 years old, 450-550 pounds live weight and over 6'5" tall. I measured the cape after we returned home and he was actually 6?7? from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail. Live weight was actually 460 pounds. John also stated that it may make the books, probably not a record breaker but recordable.
The pack out would take us the rest of the day and into the evening. The memories that my son and I will share of that day?s experience, a day that we were charged and lived to tell about it and fortunate enough to take this magnificent animal will last us a lifetime. My son has always enjoyed hunting stories around the campfire and now he has a good one to tell. I let him know that this wasn?t my bear; it was our bear and it was his ability to stay calm in this very intense situation that helped me to stay focused.
Thank you to god for this gift, To my son Jonathan, To my in-laws; Pops and Steven for their hard work, especially my Father in law who introduced me to hunting so many years ago when I was 18 years old and finally to a total stranger named John who wouldn't even accept any form of thank you other than a firm hand shake and a sincere promise that I would do the same thing should I find ever myself coming upon someone in need of help in the woods. I will John, I will!
Steven White
Portland, OR
We arrived to our spot about an hour before daylight. We loaded up and headed out into the darkness. After about a 1/4 of a miles walk up the old road we split up. My son and I headed east while the others continued on north before splitting up themselves. Being that this was a new area to me I had no real expectations other then maybe gathering some knowledge for future hunts.
Now the fun begins...
About 45 minutes after we split up my son and I found ourselves walking down another old logging road that ran along a 5-7 year old cut block. We were able to see most of the hillside above us until we came to a slight bench which was blocking an area that was part of a small saddle with a slight draw. I wanted to look into this little draw so we eased up the embankment and walked about 50ft into some of the heaviest cover I'd seen for a while. It's the kind of cover where you don't actually look over, you have to crouch down and crawl through the game trails which actually resemble tunnels. When you stand up you are lucky to be able to see 3-4ft in any one direction. We finally came to a small opening which was only 10ft in diameter. I was able to stand and view the hillside once again. Also I could see the bottom of the draw which was completely covered with this thick brush. Just then I noticed a black figure moving down the hillside from left to right. Black Bear! I said to my son who was right on my hip. He couldn't see the bear because the brush was taller than he was. As luck would have it, I always purchased a Sportspac from the ODFW so I had a bear tag in hand.
I quickly looked over the hillside and picked a spot where I thought I may be able to get a shot and finally found a small opening that was about 3-4ft wide. I watched him move down catching a flash of black every once and while. A couple of seconds later he came through and I had view of his head, then his shoulder and then I squeezed off a shot from my Browning A-bolt .270 Winchester. Normally I would be shooting my .300 Win Magnum but this was supposed to be a Black tail deer hunt. As soon as I hit him he spun and began to charge towards my son and me. He quickly closed the distance to about half of the 70 yards that I originally shot him at. All I can remember seeing is the head, the paws and claws at a full on blitz coming right at us. In an instant he disappeared into thick brush that was separating us. Although I had immediately cycled another round in the chamber, I didn't even have time to get off a second shot.
Since there was no visibility in any direction other than the one I had shot in, I shouted to my son "get back to the road!" This is where we could at the very least have a fighting chance should he come all the way to us. Once we reached the road there were no more sounds or crashing coming towards us and all was quiet.
I got on the radio and told my father-in-law what happened. The conversation was this: ?Pops, I just shot a black bear? He said ?You shot what??? ?A Bear? I said. I told him how the scene had just played out and let him know I was going to give it some time and then I would go back in to look for any signs of a hit. After waiting about 30-45 minutes I decided that we needed to check it out and make sure that I hit him. We went back to where I shot from and the made a big sweeping circle to our right and finally reach the point where I shot him. I looked and looked but couldn't locate any blood. I let the others know that it was probably a miss and we were going look some more then resume our deer hunt. We decided that we would walk the same direction that the bear had charged us in just to make sure there wasn't a delayed blood trail. That's when we heard some branches braking about 20 yards to our right but now between us and the road. He was close enough that I could hear him breathing heavily. My son was still unaware of the gravity of the situation however I was really scared because we didn't have any visibility and now we had a wounded bear very close to us in this thick cover. We then started to make a sweeping circle keeping him upwind as to try to get back towards the road, the bear was staying put and I could finally see where in the bushes he was. I couldn't actually see him but like I said I could hear him breathing heavily so we were way too close to this potentially lethal animal I could see the tops of some small trees moving, which I assumed he was up against.
We finally were able to get around on him and get the road to our backs but still we were about 50ft from the road itself. More importantly we were no at least 30 yards away from the bear. Then everything went silent again. The tree wasn't moving and I could no longer hear him, so we waited. After about 10 minutes or so I decided to break some small branches that had been left over from the cut many years ago. I threw a stick towards the place where I last thought he was. As soon as the stick landed he was up and moving towards it. I continued breaking and throwing sticks in his direction as we backed out to the old road moving about 10ft each time. Every time I threw a stick he ran towards where it landed. Finally we were close enough to the road, I threw one down the road just inside the shrub line and as far as could possible throw. He again went right after the sound of the stick landing. We hit the road and backed up to about 30 yards from where the last stick landed. We watched the tops of the small trees and bushes movie each time he stepped and listened to him coming through the brush. At one point he came over a large log which sounded like it was being crushed. Soon he hit the embankment of the road and came down angling right towards us. He finally reached the road just behind an old dead tree that had partially fallen across it.
He never knew we were there and when he cleared the last fallen branch I pierced his vitals. At the hit he jumped up and then rolled and tumbled about 15ft down the road. I held my son back and slowly approached him for a final shot He was still alive and I didn't want to watch him suffer. After the third shot, He took his last breath and was done. My first shot had hit the shoulder, going completely through and touching bottom of the heart, the second one was all lungs and was clearly fatal. The final shot was through the brisket and finally ended a very wild and exciting morning.
The time was just before 8am. After that last shot and a huge sigh of relief from both my son and I, a real nice guy walked up on us. He had seen the final two shots and offered a heartfelt congratulation. He went by the name of John (Kind of surprised it wasn?t Steve). He proceeded to help educate me about how to properly field dress which he did while I watched and learned, then how to cape and prepare my bear for a trophy rug mount. This was my first bear; in fact it was my first big game animal ever harvested. John's family had been licensed by the state for many years to assist with taking out problem bears so he was very educated about bears in general. He estimated the large boar to be 12-15 years old, 450-550 pounds live weight and over 6'5" tall. I measured the cape after we returned home and he was actually 6?7? from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail. Live weight was actually 460 pounds. John also stated that it may make the books, probably not a record breaker but recordable.
The pack out would take us the rest of the day and into the evening. The memories that my son and I will share of that day?s experience, a day that we were charged and lived to tell about it and fortunate enough to take this magnificent animal will last us a lifetime. My son has always enjoyed hunting stories around the campfire and now he has a good one to tell. I let him know that this wasn?t my bear; it was our bear and it was his ability to stay calm in this very intense situation that helped me to stay focused.
Thank you to god for this gift, To my son Jonathan, To my in-laws; Pops and Steven for their hard work, especially my Father in law who introduced me to hunting so many years ago when I was 18 years old and finally to a total stranger named John who wouldn't even accept any form of thank you other than a firm hand shake and a sincere promise that I would do the same thing should I find ever myself coming upon someone in need of help in the woods. I will John, I will!
Steven White
Portland, OR
