Wayne in BC
New member
The next day was spent securing the meat and i was busy skinning, salting and caping the head. Joe was recovering from walking and riding a horse, the horse bit i understood. If one did not do much of that it would sore you up.
The weather warmed up, snow was going away except for in the shade of the trees.
The horses were having an easy time of it as normally they would be ridden much more in the Elk camp, often covering 30 miles in a day.
Moose liver that night after a few hours soaking in salt water, tons of onions. Joe ate two plates and loved it....point in his favor! I was feeling better, relaxed, with the pressure off. My client had a heck of a trophy, it would look good on my record and future bookings!
The horse corral was out about a 100 ft in front of the tent, they stayed there at night and grazed hobbled in the 4-5 acre meadow the camp was set up next to if they were not being used during the day.
About 4:00 am there was a ruckus, horses snorting and blowing, i got up with the flashlight and my rifle. Seeing a pair of eyes and a big black body at the edge of the meadow, i knew it was a Black bear attracted by the smell of the meat and cooking. The meat was hoisted out of his reach but they were always a problem, the horses hated the smell of a Bear and would bust their corral if he hung around! A shot with rifle close to him solved the problem and he scrammed, Joe however, was thinking that i had scared away "his" bear! More explanation and assurances that "his" Bear would not be far away....
I saddled up late that morning, well past daylight, you do not need to be up early for Bears in the fall, they are actively feeding and scrounging 24-7, putting on fat prior to denning.
We rode most of the day, checking numerous tracks, there were a good number scattered around. While taking a lunch break on a ridge i spotted a Black Sow with two cubs on a hillside blueberry patch, then a maybe 3 year old smallish Black popped below them, maybe 300 yards from us. Joe wanted to shoot it right away, nope! Too small, too far, you will get a better one Joe!
Later i wished i had moved closer and let him shoot the little one!
The morning came with a warm wind, maybe 5 degrees above freezing and i began to worry about all the tracking snow going away. Around 10 am as we rode just below the blueberry patches, Brandy started to blow and snort, i knew he smelled a bear close by. Back up a bit and tie up the horses, in a while we would get on some higher ground above the berry patches and a good shooting point but i wanted to check on foot first, about 500 hundred yards away was the gut pile from Joe's moose. It was my ace in the hole, i knew a bear or two would find it and wanted to check the snow area in the trees for tracks.
Joe said, i will come with you, well i was reluctant as i wanted to be quiet and check for sign, he was not a stalker by any means but said ok, quiet and slow.
A short way into the snow area and some fresh bear tracks, hard to determine size because they were melting out rapidly. The light breeze was iffy here, swirling around some and i turned to whisper to Joe that we should go back to the horses, make a circle and come to the carcass from the east. As i turned to my right i saw Joe's rifle coming up.......
He had earlier stated that a "Cinnamon" colored bear would be really nice and i had said that there were some around and maybe he would be lucky. 30 yards away a bit above us and between two trees my eyes suddenly caught a movement, Bear! I had been looking the other way and Joe had seen it first so my brain registered a couple seconds too late, the word "wait" was still coming out of my mouth when his rifle blasted! The bear dropped flat on his belly instantly as the hair flew from his "hump" and i knew we had TROUBLE!
Rather than start beating on him, which was my first thought i opted for doing that later, right now the "problem" needed to be solved and i spat out, AGAIN! HIT HIM AGAIN! Joe was looking both happy/excited and proud of himself while starting to shake again but aimed again and fired too quick, leaves and dirt spouted 3 ft under the bear who had risen, roared, turned our way and started down the hill, he was really pissed, out for revenge, and he was a GRIZZLY!!!
I had seen the characteristic "hump" right away but too late and my idiot client, assuming he was looking at a "Cinnamon" bear had broken all the rules by just shooting! The hump on a Grizzly is 8 or more inches of fat and gristle, there are no vital organs or bone, if you hit them there the shock will knock them down but its like a fighter getting a punch to the head that only stuns for a second and if you do not follow up you lose your chance....in this case maybe your life!
Grizzlies were not legal in that area but when that happened our survival was at stake and the only recourse was finish the job!
I yelled at Joe once more, AGAIN!!! He handed me the rifle and ran away....
Dummy me had made another mistake, because i was only walking a couple hundred feet and Joe had his, i had left my rifle on the horse....
Continued........
The weather warmed up, snow was going away except for in the shade of the trees.
The horses were having an easy time of it as normally they would be ridden much more in the Elk camp, often covering 30 miles in a day.
Moose liver that night after a few hours soaking in salt water, tons of onions. Joe ate two plates and loved it....point in his favor! I was feeling better, relaxed, with the pressure off. My client had a heck of a trophy, it would look good on my record and future bookings!
The horse corral was out about a 100 ft in front of the tent, they stayed there at night and grazed hobbled in the 4-5 acre meadow the camp was set up next to if they were not being used during the day.
About 4:00 am there was a ruckus, horses snorting and blowing, i got up with the flashlight and my rifle. Seeing a pair of eyes and a big black body at the edge of the meadow, i knew it was a Black bear attracted by the smell of the meat and cooking. The meat was hoisted out of his reach but they were always a problem, the horses hated the smell of a Bear and would bust their corral if he hung around! A shot with rifle close to him solved the problem and he scrammed, Joe however, was thinking that i had scared away "his" bear! More explanation and assurances that "his" Bear would not be far away....
I saddled up late that morning, well past daylight, you do not need to be up early for Bears in the fall, they are actively feeding and scrounging 24-7, putting on fat prior to denning.
We rode most of the day, checking numerous tracks, there were a good number scattered around. While taking a lunch break on a ridge i spotted a Black Sow with two cubs on a hillside blueberry patch, then a maybe 3 year old smallish Black popped below them, maybe 300 yards from us. Joe wanted to shoot it right away, nope! Too small, too far, you will get a better one Joe!
Later i wished i had moved closer and let him shoot the little one!
The morning came with a warm wind, maybe 5 degrees above freezing and i began to worry about all the tracking snow going away. Around 10 am as we rode just below the blueberry patches, Brandy started to blow and snort, i knew he smelled a bear close by. Back up a bit and tie up the horses, in a while we would get on some higher ground above the berry patches and a good shooting point but i wanted to check on foot first, about 500 hundred yards away was the gut pile from Joe's moose. It was my ace in the hole, i knew a bear or two would find it and wanted to check the snow area in the trees for tracks.
Joe said, i will come with you, well i was reluctant as i wanted to be quiet and check for sign, he was not a stalker by any means but said ok, quiet and slow.
A short way into the snow area and some fresh bear tracks, hard to determine size because they were melting out rapidly. The light breeze was iffy here, swirling around some and i turned to whisper to Joe that we should go back to the horses, make a circle and come to the carcass from the east. As i turned to my right i saw Joe's rifle coming up.......
He had earlier stated that a "Cinnamon" colored bear would be really nice and i had said that there were some around and maybe he would be lucky. 30 yards away a bit above us and between two trees my eyes suddenly caught a movement, Bear! I had been looking the other way and Joe had seen it first so my brain registered a couple seconds too late, the word "wait" was still coming out of my mouth when his rifle blasted! The bear dropped flat on his belly instantly as the hair flew from his "hump" and i knew we had TROUBLE!
Rather than start beating on him, which was my first thought i opted for doing that later, right now the "problem" needed to be solved and i spat out, AGAIN! HIT HIM AGAIN! Joe was looking both happy/excited and proud of himself while starting to shake again but aimed again and fired too quick, leaves and dirt spouted 3 ft under the bear who had risen, roared, turned our way and started down the hill, he was really pissed, out for revenge, and he was a GRIZZLY!!!
I had seen the characteristic "hump" right away but too late and my idiot client, assuming he was looking at a "Cinnamon" bear had broken all the rules by just shooting! The hump on a Grizzly is 8 or more inches of fat and gristle, there are no vital organs or bone, if you hit them there the shock will knock them down but its like a fighter getting a punch to the head that only stuns for a second and if you do not follow up you lose your chance....in this case maybe your life!
Grizzlies were not legal in that area but when that happened our survival was at stake and the only recourse was finish the job!
I yelled at Joe once more, AGAIN!!! He handed me the rifle and ran away....
Dummy me had made another mistake, because i was only walking a couple hundred feet and Joe had his, i had left my rifle on the horse....
Continued........
.
Don't keep us waitin' too long Wayner. This is an awesome read !