# Spring Bear



## FishNaked (Apr 15, 2009)

With a bear tag in hand I left Thursday morning last week and met a good buddy Shane and his kids just outside of Boise to go bear hunting. His 14 year old Cade also had a bear tag...and his 11 year old daughter was along for the fun times. After gas and groceries we headed up into the mountains. Snowed on us hard driving in...set up camp in the snow...so we sat in the trailer and played cards until it quit. Off we went looking for bears out with the new white background...should make for easy spotting. Nothing but elk and deer on Thursday night.

When we woke up Friday morning I had some really neat frost patterns all over the back of my dirty truck and shell. [attachment=8:8zp2npii]DSC09933.JPG[/attachment:8zp2npii]

Friday morning found us on a big hike on a good pack trail...but we found ourselves back up in the snow again after 3 miles. Too much snow...and no green grass. We determined that we were too high and needed to move down the river canyon several miles. [attachment=7:8zp2npii]DSC09937.JPG[/attachment:8zp2npii]

Driving back to camp we kept stopping and looking at the elk...we were seeing hundreds each day and they seemed to be in great shape. Came around one bend in the road and had a big gray wolf skylined on the ridge a couple hundred yards above us. As soon as I touched the brakes to stop he bailed off the other side of the ridge. Just wait 'til fall buddy and I'll find you again with a wolf tag in my pocket!

Shane's daughter had new hikers on and they chewed up her feet really bad on our morning hike...so she was done walking far for the weekend. They decided to go sit in the hot springs and soak for the night. I couldn't twist Cade's arm to go look for bears with me...he wanted to go soak with his dad and sister.

I figured I'd drive and explore for a couple of hours and try to find some greener canyons to hunt with less snow. My brother was also going in to hunt bears this week so I wanted to give him a good snow report on a new area. Our schedules didn't mesh to go the same time this year...but he probably picked the better week to go anyways with the warmer weather.

I was driving down a canyon road hurrying to get to a different vantage point so I could glass the last hour of daylight when I came around a bend in the road and saw a black dot up on the hill side. I'd glassed hundreds of black stumps and rocks the last couple of days and I knew immediately this was a bear. I hit the brakes and pull out my binos to verify. I knew he wasn't a "pig" bear...but big enough that I wanted a second look. It was 7:45...and I figured if I could get up to him in an hour that would leave me 15 minutes of shooting light left. I watched him another few minutes and took a big swig of water and threw on my pack and left the truck at 7:50. I knew once I bailed off the road that I wouldn't see the bear again until I got up to a knob on a ridge line. It took me about 50 minutes pushing hard to hike straight up to the vantage point I wanted to reach.

About 2/3 the way up I noticed another bear just coming out of the timber on a distant ridge. Cinnamon back with chocolate head and legs...my favorite color phase. It was about 800 yards away and I was trying to determine the best way to get closer when I noticed two little dark spots moving around her feet. I pulled the binos back up to my face and sure enough she had two cubs...one cinnamon and one chocolate...tiny little buggers and oh so cute. I sat and watched them play for a few minutes and then refocused on the bear I'd originally set after. This pic is too far away with my little camera but you can tell what she is. The cubs are playing in the big tree to the left of her. [attachment=6:8zp2npii]DSC09943.JPG[/attachment:8zp2npii]

I reached my vantage point and sat down to catch my breath. I pulled out the shooting sticks and range finder and got set up. I couldn't see the bear anywhere in the open...and hoped he was close in the brush and didn't walk up over the mountain. I looked back at the sow with cubs and watched them another moment. When I turned back to the first ridge I saw a black body moving through the bushes...he was right where I expected him to be. At quick glance he was bigger then the sow with cubs that I'd been watching...but I knew he wasn't a big bear...just a medium average sized bear for this area. I ranged him quick at 234 yards and set up on my sticks. As soon as he cleared the brush I touched off a good shot. There was a really strong cross wind so I aimed a bit further back than I normally would have trying to allow for some bullet drift. When I hit him the first shot it knocked him down and rolled him but then he got up on his front feet and tried to rumble down the hill. He was hit good I could tell but still had use of his front shoulders...so I hit him again and knocked him down for good. He rolled down the hill 25 yards into the brushy bottom. I looked at my watch...8:50...a lot had just happened in an hours time.

I glanced back and the sow had sent her cubs back into the timber but she was still on the hill side...far enough away to not be completely alarmed but still on alert after the two shots. I gathered my range finder and shooting sticks in my pack and stood up to go over to my bear...when I heard some commotion in the brush pile ahead of me. There was a dead Ponderosa tree in the middle of this brush pile that my bear rolled into...and when I looked up there was a black bear climbing it. Grainy pic this late and dark with my point and shoot camera. [attachment=5:8zp2npii]DSC09945.JPG[/attachment:8zp2npii]Weird I thought...I assumed it was my bear still with some life left in him. I was annoyed that I'd hit him good twice...and didn't want to shoot a third time to knock him out of the tree. As I walked closer and got about 75 yards away two little black cubs scurried up the tree past the big bear. My heart sunk and I was upset and still confused. Although I touched off two quick shots once I was up on the hill...I thought that I had watched that bear long enough from down below and was confident it was a boar. I now was afraid that I'd wounded a sow with cubs and was sick to my stomach...I didn't know what to do. It still didn't make sense to me...so I walked over closer to the bears in the tree. As I was skirting the top of the brush I noticed a dark mound down inside and looked with my binos...sure enough...dead bear piled up. What a relief. The sow and cubs were in the same brush pile that my bear rolled into...and the commotion of the shooting and my bear rolling into it sent them up the tree.

The brush was too tall and thick I couldn't get closer than 25 yards from the sow with cubs in the tree...and I couldn't get any close pics with my little camera. I went down into my bear and rolled him over...sure enough...two big bear balls and a wanker...he was a boar. I couldn't see the sown with cubs through the brush only the top of the big dead tree they were in. She was hissing and popping at me and it was getting really dark. I rolled him out on his belly so his back and legs could cool at night and took a quick flash picture to show Shane and the kids when I got back to camp. I wasn't going to skin the bear in the dark with the sow and cubs so close and I couldn't keep an eye on them.

I strapped on my rifle and threw on my pack and headed straight down the mountain. Took me 25 minutes straight down without stopping to get to the truck. I had seen 7 bears in less than 1 1/2 hours.

I teased Cade when I got back to camp that he should have come with me. We would have been able to get him on this bear and let him shoot it. I would have carried the video camera and got the whole thing on film. It had been snowing on them further up the canyon when they were sitting in the hot springs...and a bunch of elk came down and milled around them when they soaked. They didn't get to see the bears but they still had a fun experience they won't ever forget.

We slept in Saturday morning and cooked a great breakfast. Shane and Cade hiked up with me to the dear bear. We relived my experience from the night before and took pictures. [attachment=4:8zp2npii]DSC09954.JPG[/attachment:8zp2npii][attachment=3:8zp2npii]DSC09955.JPG[/attachment:8zp2npii][attachment=2:8zp2npii]DSC09958.JPG[/attachment:8zp2npii]The hill side was so steep it was nice to have a helping hand holding on to it while I did the skinning chore. We loaded it up on the pack frame...Cade wanted to try to carry it out and did for a couple hundred yards as we side hilled. [attachment=1:8zp2npii]DSC09961.JPG[/attachment:8zp2npii] I then put the pack on and down we went...32 minutes to the truck this trip loaded up. [attachment=0:8zp2npii]DSC09970.JPG[/attachment:8zp2npii]

After getting the bear in the cooler on ice we ate lunch and drove down to a couple of big drainages to glass for the evening. Shane and his daughter sat up in the truck where they could watch 4 big ridges...and Cade and I hiked up into the top of a big drainage that can't be seen from the road. It was awesome country...had elk walk up on us several times...deer all over the upper basin...blue grouse drumming below us...but no bears came out.

Sunday morning found us sleeping in again...then we cleaned up camp and made the 2 hour drive out to Boise and then home. We may have been a week or two early...but all in all it was a fun time. That is such incredible country and so full of game...we saw geese, ducks, chukars, a fox, coyotes, wolf, deer, elk, eagles, hot springs...just a fun place to spend a weekend! My turkey tag opened yesterday on May 1...so now time to chase a late season gobbler close to home.


----------



## svmoose (Feb 28, 2008)

Awesome! Congrats on the bear -- that looks like fun!


----------



## holman927 (Sep 28, 2007)

Awesome story. Thanks for sharing.


----------



## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

What a great excuse to get out early. Congrats on the nice bear!


----------



## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

Fun story FishNaked, I really enjoyed reading it...

HEY !! Glad you got one with a_ 'wanker'._..


----------



## sawsman (Sep 13, 2007)

Thanks for sharing your adventure FishNaked! Neat frost picture and great lookin' country there.

Congrats on a nice bear! 8)


----------



## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

That was one awesome story, FishNaked! 8)


----------



## mikevanwilder (Nov 11, 2008)

Awesome! Can't wait till I can get one. Been out alot but no sign yet.


----------



## WeaselBrandGameCalls (Aug 16, 2010)

great replay and photos too. congratulations!


----------



## Bhilly81 (Oct 18, 2009)

loved it great trip i felt like i was there


----------



## stillhunterman (Feb 15, 2009)

Great story, congrats on the hunt! Sounded really fun!


----------



## dartangion (Jul 2, 2008)

Great Report


----------

