I just jumped on and noticed a thread down the page similar to this one with the only difference being I WAS THERE AND THAT WAS MY FAMILY!!!!
I thought I'd tell the story that doesn't get edited by the media. The same story we reported to the DWR and the same story the media tracked us down for.
We had spent a total of 12 days hunting deer in the cliffs for my wife. 2 days before we quit hunting we had moved camp up on the Divide Road. The last morning we hunted I came out of my trailer and was loading the truck when I noticed a bear 20 yards behind the trailer I pulled up my flashlight and it ran off. Not a big deal ran into some hounds men not 30 minutes later and they turned out on the bear ran it and treed it a mile or two down the canyon. We later ran into the hounds men they told us he was the best bear they had seen but their hunter wasn't ready to end his hunt.
Later that day we got chasing deer and sent my brothers wife Sami and my 1 year old and 5 year old with her and her 2 year old and 4 year old children back to camp so they could have dinner and get to bed. We also sent her with a 357 pistol which she is very familiar with and she packs mostly every day with her conceal carry permit. We never expected any problems especially a bear but you never know and we were prepared.
When we returned back to camp somewhere between 10:30 - 10:45 that night she yelled out bear is in camp. As soon as she yelled we could see the scene at camp. The door was shredded from the window down, hunting bags and coolers where scattered all around. Instantly I jumped in the truck and kicked the lights on and the second I stepped out of the truck I heard BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, just behind the trailer. I ran over and my brother was headed into the trees to confirm a hit or not until I yelled out not a good idea. I asked what had happened and he said it was 15ish feet away coming straight at him he pointed and fired at the bear.
We went back to the trailer to check on the family all 4 kids was in the trailer were calm and happy. My first question was why didn't you shoot and She said she had a feeling to hold off. To not wound a bear that she couldn't get a good shot at. The longer I have thought about that question I am so grateful she didn't traumatize those kids and leave them deaf. I do wish the bear was dead, no doubt, because he is a problem bear that needs to be put down.
We ended up moving the trailers down by monument ridge nearly 10 miles away. Finally getting to bed at 2:00 am. At 6:00 am we woke up and headed back to the scene. We gathered up some loose garbage that the bear had made off with and tried for 2 hours to find some hounds men. When we did they we a different group of guys we took them there and told them about the experience. They said they had a client coming the next morning and they would look for him. We also went around to the surrounding camps to inform them that an incident had occurred and to be cautious.
It makes me mad I left my family in that type of a situation if it would have ended differently I would never forgive my self. Im Proud of Sami for keeping her head on straight for well over 2 hours as the bear tormented her and the kids in that camp. Im not so sure most people would have handled that the same way and taking all things into account I'd say it couldn't have been handled any better.
I spend a tremendous amount of time in the field and of all bears I've encountered that was without a doubt a problem bear. I have hunted bears and killed bears Im no expert on bears but very familiar with them. If you spend any amount of time a field your gonna need to be prepared for ugly situations. Be prepared and keep your head on your shoulders.
Sorry for the rant just getting tired of all the crap that comes with trying to inform people to be careful.
I thought I'd tell the story that doesn't get edited by the media. The same story we reported to the DWR and the same story the media tracked us down for.
We had spent a total of 12 days hunting deer in the cliffs for my wife. 2 days before we quit hunting we had moved camp up on the Divide Road. The last morning we hunted I came out of my trailer and was loading the truck when I noticed a bear 20 yards behind the trailer I pulled up my flashlight and it ran off. Not a big deal ran into some hounds men not 30 minutes later and they turned out on the bear ran it and treed it a mile or two down the canyon. We later ran into the hounds men they told us he was the best bear they had seen but their hunter wasn't ready to end his hunt.
Later that day we got chasing deer and sent my brothers wife Sami and my 1 year old and 5 year old with her and her 2 year old and 4 year old children back to camp so they could have dinner and get to bed. We also sent her with a 357 pistol which she is very familiar with and she packs mostly every day with her conceal carry permit. We never expected any problems especially a bear but you never know and we were prepared.
When we returned back to camp somewhere between 10:30 - 10:45 that night she yelled out bear is in camp. As soon as she yelled we could see the scene at camp. The door was shredded from the window down, hunting bags and coolers where scattered all around. Instantly I jumped in the truck and kicked the lights on and the second I stepped out of the truck I heard BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, just behind the trailer. I ran over and my brother was headed into the trees to confirm a hit or not until I yelled out not a good idea. I asked what had happened and he said it was 15ish feet away coming straight at him he pointed and fired at the bear.
We went back to the trailer to check on the family all 4 kids was in the trailer were calm and happy. My first question was why didn't you shoot and She said she had a feeling to hold off. To not wound a bear that she couldn't get a good shot at. The longer I have thought about that question I am so grateful she didn't traumatize those kids and leave them deaf. I do wish the bear was dead, no doubt, because he is a problem bear that needs to be put down.
We ended up moving the trailers down by monument ridge nearly 10 miles away. Finally getting to bed at 2:00 am. At 6:00 am we woke up and headed back to the scene. We gathered up some loose garbage that the bear had made off with and tried for 2 hours to find some hounds men. When we did they we a different group of guys we took them there and told them about the experience. They said they had a client coming the next morning and they would look for him. We also went around to the surrounding camps to inform them that an incident had occurred and to be cautious.
It makes me mad I left my family in that type of a situation if it would have ended differently I would never forgive my self. Im Proud of Sami for keeping her head on straight for well over 2 hours as the bear tormented her and the kids in that camp. Im not so sure most people would have handled that the same way and taking all things into account I'd say it couldn't have been handled any better.
I spend a tremendous amount of time in the field and of all bears I've encountered that was without a doubt a problem bear. I have hunted bears and killed bears Im no expert on bears but very familiar with them. If you spend any amount of time a field your gonna need to be prepared for ugly situations. Be prepared and keep your head on your shoulders.
Sorry for the rant just getting tired of all the crap that comes with trying to inform people to be careful.
