Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Sheister meets Da' bear

If �Success� is defined as the intersection of Preparation and Opportunity .... then I would have to weight them at 90% Preparation and only 10% Opportunity. The following tale of Bob and his taking of a Really-Nice Bruin as his very first YOGI (one that any experienced bear-hunter would love to have in his portfolio), may seem on its face to have been pretty easy .... but there was a lot of behind-the-scenes work, finely tuned coordination and years of his own hunting/shooting experience, that went into his success.

The 2008/09 Winter was harsh on NE Oregon and the snowfall continued heavy, into the spring, registering some 130% above average. The usual melt-off was slowed by extended weeks of overnight freezing and we knew that it would not be possible to access our usual hunting areas up near 5,000 ft. We were monitoring the snow depth (remotely) via NRCS sensors, whose readings are telemetried to the internet. Extrapolating the melt-off in an Excel spread sheet, influenced our selection of departure dates and potential access routes into the unit. Because we expected to be hunting a totally new area that we were not familiar with, Bob and I spent an evening here, selecting and printing out new detailed TOPO maps on waterproof paper. We also had some �local� knowledge via Bob L. making a wood-scouting trip, up the southern access roads the week before our arrival. This additional information let me place a red dot on the map, where I expected we would set-up camp.

On Wednesday the 20th, having packed all my gear and loaded the truck and trailer, I set the Denali on cruise control, headed East on I-84. Some Bighorn Sheep were spotted out feeding on the greened-up hillsides, below the bluffs along the Columbia River gorge ... a few miles East of their usual habitat. First, there was a herd of 5 similar-sized rams, all about 3/4 curl, bedded just 100 yards off the highway. Another 2 miles East, was another bachelor group of 4 rams all 1/2 curls, up and feeding in the shade.

After spending the night in La Grande, Bob L. and I headed up into the National Forest. He wasn�t hunting, but planned to use our camp as a base to cut firewood for home use. Arriving at the spot I had selected via the Topo map program, we set-up my wall tent and stove, about 75 yards from the edge of a promising canyon rim, After cutting some camp firewood and having a great steak dinner (with Key lime cheese-cake for dessert), we began to relax that evening. The nearby canyon was perfect habitat for bears and offered a mix of sparse timber bands, rim-rock and steep open grass slopes, about 675 yards straight across and 900+ yards at the top and bottom ends. Along with my bear tag, I had both a Turkey and Cougar tag in my pocket. As dusk approached, I sat on the edge of the canyon rim, glassing in my (lucky) lawn chair. About 1400 yards (and two canyons) away, I spotted something yellow move behind the cover of a tree. Focusing on the opposite side of the tree, what should come out, but a low to the ground deep-chested sleek Cougar, padding silently along the canyon rim ... muscles rippling with each measured stride ... a 5 foot long black-tipped tail pushed straight out behind him. He traveled 30 yards completely in the open, before melting back into the brushy cover along the edge. This is only the second Cougar I have seen in Oregon, in 40+ years of hunting. I glassed there every evening afterward, and would later make a hunt on him, but he never re-appeared.

(to be continued)

... Silver Bullet

Ketchup, "is" a Vegetable

The following morning (Friday), we proceeded to scout along the roads probing potential access routes to the upper elevations, but were continually thwarted by deep drifts. On the lower secondary roads, the small trees that had been bent down into the roadway by the heavy Winter snows, were taking a toll on my truck. We pushed on through, parting them with my grille like a snow-plow, placing deep scratches as they drug along the sides of my rig.

We returned to camp mid-morning, only to find that the motley-crew of Sheister, his son Joe and bro� Ken (8-ball) had arrived in camp and were busy assembling their tent frame on the ground. ..... �Where�d those tent-instruction go ?� Later, with the tent up the carpet down and the boys sweating heavily, Bob declared that it was Beer-thirty and the crew broke out cold ones all around and sat down for a rest.

Now here�s one more instance of �Preparation� paying off. We were not only camped in a spot with a great view, but it was actually possible that a Bear (or Cougar) could literally come up out of the canyon below us and walk thru camp. As Sheister sat there relaxing, he commented that he felt �naked� ( I know .... not a pretty picture, but bear with me) ... without having a rifle out, loaded and �handy�. This is the voice of (Bob�s) deep hunting experience speaking here. So he and Joe both paused to pull their rifles (in .300 H+H and .338 Win mag) along with ammo from their truck and placed rounds in the magazines. Now we�re huntin� .....

Meanwhile, Ken was on his cell phone and had wandered off away from the group toward the canyon rim. As he stood there talking, he spotted something tan, moving down low on the opposite canyon wall. Glassing it, showed that the animal was not just a bear ... but a Big-Bear ! The alert went out and I verified the bear thru my glasses as Bob again reacted from experience. With his rifle ready ... he quickly moved forward to a large diameter downed log and called for a range-finder. Even though there was a Harris bi-pod on his rifle, moving forward to the log provided a much more solid shooting rest and easily cut 100 yards from any possible shot-distance (more experience in play here).

I watched from behind, as the bear waddled further uphill and temporarily out of sight into the trees. With each slow deliberate step, you could see the bear flex his powerful hind quarters and watch a wave of motion move Jello-like, forward along his flanks. The bear appeared to be quite blond in the sun, with slightly darker brown legs and head. He had been almost 700 yards away and hadn�t really offered a shot opportunity as he eventually gained the grassy flats on the ridge-top, under the cover of some intervening timber.

I knew (from my previous scouting), that it was possible to drive 3/4 mile up the main road, take a right, drive back down to a fork, take the right branch, park at the No-Motor-Vehicles sign and walk an old road bed on top the ridge, toward the bear. I told Bob this and he and Joe fired up their truck and headed off to do just that. They wisely remembered to take a radio (again, already set on a pre-determined channel), so we could communicate with them.

(continued)

... Silver Bullet

Time Magazines 2006 ... Person-of-the-year

Ken and I settled in to man the surveillance operation, from our strategically placed lawn chairs, in the shade on the edge of the canyon. Over the next few minutes, we intensely glassed the three available openings providing a view into the deep green grass and skunk cabbage meadows on top. We tracked the bears slow deliberate movements by capturing small glimpses of him thru the intervening screen of trees. The sun reflected brightly on his light colored coat and we were able to confirm that the bear was still there, slowly feeding left to right ... and had not escaped back down into the canyon. The wind appeared to be good for Bob and Joes stalk and we began to speculate on whether they would get there in time to ambush the bear in the open.

We last saw the bear moving undisturbed and feeding thru the lush grasses, broadside in the sunshine until he disappeared for good into the heavy timber. He was looking even bigger than first thought, with a body that was both �blocky� and deep chested and we could only await the arrival of the hunters. Five minutes later, Sheister and Joe first appeared to us, in a small opening on top, approximately 300 yards West (left) of the last spot we had seen the bear. We radioed them and then just watched as they snuck along behind the screen of trees, finally re-appearing in the last opening the bear had been visible.

Again, with years of experience hunting-together (side by side), we watched as they articulated a game-plan with hand signals, in the meadow, then they too disappeared from our view ... and the waiting game (for us) began once more.

I�ll pause for now .... and let the Sheister-man fill in the details of his hunt here ..... and then come back for a wrap-up of the rest of my solo hunt time.

... Silver Bullet

Fibonacci was off .... by 1
Chuck Norris ... can divide by Zero

Nice to see you here, Silver Bullet! Great story so far.

Well, SB got a pretty good start to this story so I'll try to continue in equal fashion if possible.....

This is my fourth year bear hunting with the Boolitman. It seems wherever we go, he is always prepared and has a knack for finding game. The last three years hunting this same area, we always spotted bears, but didn't end up with a shooting opportunity. Several of the spotted bears were too far away ( by miles), most were sows with cubs, and then there was the bear that "woofed" us from about 20 feet away in the brush as we sneaked up on his location.
Of course, this doesn't count all the elk, whitetail and mule deer, marmots, turkeys, and game of all kind we've been in close contact with in this incredible area. It only gets better in the spring, IMHO.

Allen had promised me the last trip that he would find me a bear this trip and I had no reason to doubt him. Hey, anyone who can spot just the head of a turkey over nine hundred yards away over a log has to have some skills, right?

So, halfway through setting up camp we load the rifles and setttle down for a cold drink. For the record, I was drinking cherry coke.... but I digress.....
So, with camp not even set up 8ball spots a bruin waddling his way up the canyon in front of us. This canyon was so darned steep, we determined there was no way we could make it down on foot without the use of ropes, so shooting a bruin in the bottom of this canyon was out of the question by consensus (or so I thought).

continued......

Where the heck are the darn pics?

Allen's plan to drive around sounded like a good one, but I was pretty certain we would be too late as Yogi was already strutting his stuff on the top of the hill as if to say " here I am, come and get me". He obviously wasn't worried about a thing, and considering his size, I guess I would probably feel the same way. In the sunlight his sides looked golden, his feet and top mane were almost coal black. What a gorgeous bear- I had to go after him after Ken showed no real interest.

My son Joe and I jumped in the truck and headed out, radios, packs, and rifles in hand- along with the handy map Allen had printed out the night before he left for camp.

Arriving at the spot Allen described in detail, we quietly parked the truck on the grassy meadow at the end of the open road. Quietly exiting my truck and slowly sliding the doors closed, we got out bearings. I didn't know how far the location of the bear was, so I was on full alert right away. Allen had said about a half to three quarter mile, but you never know. In the end, it actually was only about 400 yards to the location he had been seen last.

Joe and I quietly walked down the closed road, peaking around every corner to see if we could proceed and admonishing each other to walk more quietly, be on the lookout, etc..... We obviously were in the grips of "bear fever" and didn't want to blow this opportunity that had been handed to us by the hunting gods.

Each small meadow was checked out carefully as we worked our way to the meadow we knew he was in by the location of camp across the canyon. Verifying the location by radio, we walked into a bear heaven- a meadow about 200 yards wide by 250 yards long that stretched diagonally back into the forest. The meadow was covered in lush grasses, skunk cabbages as tall as your knees, and a small snow melt creek running right through the middle of it and down into the canyon.

We walked to the edge of the meadow carefully, got our binos out, and glassed every last inch of the edges of the meadow looking for Yogi. No bear, but he couldn't have gone far.

About 25 yards back, there was a small dirt Skidder trail through the trees where some thinning had been done the fall before. The trail was covered in snow for the most part, but was the quietest and easiest way to get through the forest.

We backed up and started up the trail to cut off our bruin but I wanted to cover all our bases. I sent Joe back to watch the meadow we had just checked, in case I spooked the bear out so he could get a shot. Since Joe has laid claim to my Pre 64 Model 70 300 H&H AI, he has become a very good game shot and I trusted he would be ready. That and five years in the Marines, I knew he doesn't get rattled easily, so I knew my back side was covered.

Continued......

Found the pic in the other thread. Very nice!

With hand signals, I showed Joe where I was going and we parted. You're never sure how far apart you are going to be or where a trail will lead you, so you have to trust your partner completely in a situation like this.

Walking as quietly as I could on crunchy melting snow, I walked quietly through the thinned and torn up woods. The undergrowth was torn up terribly, and logging debris was everywhere. There was no way to walk through the trees without a major ruckus, so I was going to have to stay on the road, like it or not....

About 150 yards up the road I could see something shining in the light. The terrain obviously opened up, so I took a few more steps and could see the remains of an abandoned tree farm. The shiny object turned out to be a chainlink gate approximately 7feet high with a lock on it. This seemed highly unusual since this was the only portion remaining of this fence. The remainder of the fence posts were still standing, but the fence wire was all completely down except for about a 6 foot section holding up the gate corner. This fence was mostly field fence with 6 x 6 treated poles holding it up. Behind the gate was a small, locked tool shed.

After taking this all in within a couple seconds of scanning the area, I noticed some movement ahead. Obviously, while I was scanning the area, the bear had moved into my field of view quietly. As I watched, he stood up on his hind feet and began rubbing his back on the 6x6 post holding up the only section of fence remaining.
He looked almost comical watching him, up and down with his legs to rub "just the right spot". His head wagging back and forth like he was thoroughly enjoying his little indulgence. Quickly, I realized his head was reaching up to the top cross rail approximately 6 1/2 to 7 feet off the ground! This bear was big enough to be a keeper, no doubt about it.

Realizing I was only about 50 yards from this big guy, I quickly put the crosshairs on his back where I thought I could catch a lung and not the fence or post, I squeezed the trigger and heard the report quickly. The .338 WM sent a 225 Hornady toward my trophy, only to connect with the field fence wire first. The bullet split into two pieces after fish-hooking the fence wire, and hit the bear in the spine about a half inch apart. The lungs and just about everything else was damaged along the way and the bullet pieces exited out the front of his chest.

The bear slammed to the ground like he had been hit with a hammer. I slowly walked up to check him out, remembering my run-in with a not-quite dead coyote a couple years before. After a few seconds of groaning, all went quiet. The bear was quiet also....

After all these years, I had finally gotten a real trophy. All the years I've hunted elk, deer, etc.... I've never taken what you would call a trophy size animal, instead always choosing to fill my tag over being picky and possibly going without. When a game animal this magnificent is handed to you so easily, it could be easy to assume it was not a big deal since the effort was actually rather small compared to other hunts. Trust me, I don't feel at all that way. I know that preparation, time in the field, and good hunting companions are just a few things it takes to harvest a trophy animal and I've had all those things over the years. The thing I always seem to lack is a little bit of luck- which I had in spades this time around.

A quick radio call and I had more help than I could handle or deserved. Another stroke of luck, the bear went down just 150 yards from a drivable road, so the pack was short after skinning and quartering up the bear.

My taxidermist says the head should be in the 20 inch range, but not 21 so I'll take it. Should have a gorgeous rug in about 6 months to remind me of this incredible hunt and the fun we had, as we do each time we take to the woods.
When checking in the bear at the local ODFW office, the game biologist was pretty awed by the bear. He told me it was by far the largest he had checked this year- out of at least 30 bears. Judging by the tooth wear and condition of his canines- which were both split- he judged the bear to be approximately 15-16 years old. Lots of scars on his nose and both ears split from fights in the past. A truly great trophy..

Thanks again to Ken, and Joe for helping me out and especially Allen for knowing how to pick a great hunting spot when our regular haunts are not accessible.

Bob

Here is a pic of the canyon we first spotted the bear in. Our camp was set up right behind the camera on a flat meadow on the lip of the canyon.





The bear was spotted on the very far left edge of the cut, meandering up the hill. By time we left to go after him, he as on top of the hill standing broadside to us in the small clearing you can see through the trees to the left.

Bob

Congrads, nice bear. It's always nice to have success with family and friends in tow.

Silver Bullet-good to see that you're still kicking around!

Nice bruin by the way boyz!

Dober

Heck of a bear! Congrat's...

Awesome, reading SB's writing is a real treat, almost like being on the hunt and Sheister's followed suit.

Sheister, hearty congratulations on a well earned trophy.

A couple clarifications here ...

1) Yes, the photo was staged .... (we provided the stick)
2) and No, even though it looks like it ... the bear was not shot, after �fetching the stick� ... <grin>

The Sheister-man is being overly modest in describing his role here .... as it took a long series of unpredictable events to ALL fall into place correctly, to achieve this success. If any one link in the chain of events goes the other way ... its No-Joy .. and all we�d be writing about here, was the Big-One, that got away.

Bob had his rifle (and ammo) at the ready , not still sitting in the rifle case in his truck (like mine was) ... he was intimately familiar with that particular gun ... no fumbling around for safeties ... it shouldered sweetly and the scope provided a wide field of view for close-range work in the dark timber ... he had worked up a load years ago, that was accurate, penetrated well and had verified terminal performance, from 10 yards out to 500 yards ... having reached the level of load-accuracy desired, he filed the knobs off and stopped wasting time chasing other loads ... instead, spending more time practicing actual �shooting�.

Bob and Joe had both hunted together enough to know that making a game-plan and executing it well, each selflessly unconcerned over who might have the better opportunity (without any argument or extended discussion), even when a trophy animal was on the line ... was the best way to ensure that at least one of them got a chance at taking the bear. When they decided to split up, it more than doubled their chances of intercepting the bear, because now if the swirly winds shifted and one of them was scented, the other still had a chance to spot the bear on the move. They also had the confidence in each others judgment, to know that even though they would be hunting in close-quarters, that no stray �sound-shots� were going to come rocketing through the dense timber.

When suddenly faced with a large �clawed� predator at less than 50 yards, instead of freezing or panic setting in ... Bob calmly slid the safety off and tunnel vision took over ... as he focused on placing one great shot. Hell, how many people do you know, who would have the presence of mind, when faced with a snap-shot into the backside of a huge standing bear ... to calmly and cooly aim at a small intervening piece of wire .. thereby splitting his bullet in two ... enabling him to take out both lungs with a single shot !!
- - - -
After Ken and I heard over the radio that the bear was down, we drove around, met up with Joe and followed him back up to the bear. Seeing the size of the bear for the first time, lying on the ground ... I was really hoping that Sheister hadn�t shot some wayward Grizzly Bear, escaped from an Idaho Wilderness. If that bear wore a hat ... it would be an XXXXL ! I�m sure after the skull is beetle-cleaned, that Bob will be entering him for scoring (and prizes), at this Falls Sportsmans Show at the Expo.

Just as Oregon does not have much of a population of Bull Elk that would score over 400 B-n-C, we also are not known for having many black bears with beeeeg-Noggins. I have a copy of the latest (3rd) version of the Oregon Big-Game Record book here and it only lists 50 bears EVER taken by rifle in the state, that score 20� or better.

Congrats Bob .. on both a great bear and a �Hunt� well executed !


... Silver Bullet

Chuck Norris has counted to infinity ... twice !

SB- love the new signature line......:)

Good stuff....Really Good Stuff Sheister...

Ingwe

Nice write up guys and congrats on the great bear.

Sheister and SB,

Way to go on all accounts. Great story telling and a darn nice bear as well!!!

Heap big jealous here in MN.

Jeff

Do you guys get any colored bears like that in MN...just curious, it seems that, basically speaking, colors all "fade to black" the farther from a coast one gets.....
Ingwe