Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire A Bear story, or "The proper way to pack out a big (DEAD)black bear!" PIC HEAVY,

No secret that I cannot hunt and get around like I would like, want, or used to. Fortunately for me I have made friends with a family near here who have lots of old growth, grown over orchards on their property as well as loads of berries and little drizzley creeks in the canyon floors. If a guy is patient, and quiet for a few days he can watch a hillside or saddle in between orchards and sometimes at last light in the fall catch a glimpse of a bear on the move. This is now my preffered method of hunting just about anything. Sit, glass and sshoot.

Last fall, just a few days before bear season opened up, JJHack (Jim Hackewicz), the landowner and I rode quads up to check out a few of thes saddles or natural crossings and I spotted a size XXL bear moving in between brush patches. Jim - who has LOADS more experience in judging bears than I - confirmed that this was indeed a big bear. I quit scouting and from that moment on I was not hunting for a bear, I was hunting for THIS bear. I saw the bear one other time in the open for a moment when the season was open, but the range was close to 500 yards so I held my fire - barely...... A few days later I was back up on that same mountain but positioned myself so that if the bear showed in the same place, I would be close enough for a fairly decent, apx 200 yards, shot.

As it happens in hunting, I would have been better off in my original glassing spot as the bear appeared directly across the canyon from where I HAD been sitting and waiting. But, I had lazered the opening where the bear now was before settling in for the evening and knew it to be almost exactly 350 yards. That range is a dead on hold for my wildcat 340 Tyrannosaur pushing 225gr Barnes TTSX's at a full chronographed 3100fps. So, that is what I did. I held on the rear ribs of the quartering away bear and touched off a BIG chunk of solid copper at very high speed.

In my scope I watched in total excitment as the bear just folded up, dropped to the ground, and rolled down the steep hill. A couple of seconds later that wonderful, familiar ka-WHOP sound of a good, hard hit reached my ears and I literally jumped up in joy and thrilling feelings.

By the time I got to the other side of the canyon and onto the trail of the bear, it was getting very dark and I was begining to take falls and near falls among the blowdowns and blackberry and rose bush tangles.

I called for some help from the landowners, and they came and found blood and got (as it turned out,) very close to the bear but no luck that night before it became far too dangerous to go on.

As soon as I got within cell phone service areas I called my good friend Jim Hackewicz (JJHack from here) and requested his assitance the next morning. In addition to his help, the landowner, who is also an avid hunter, fired up his old full size 4x truck with a commercial fishermans net winch mounted in the bed! This thing in immense, and carry's TWO FULL MILES of 5/8 inch steel cable on it! The truck with winch was parked directly above where we believed the bear to be, and Jim found the shortly thereafter while I was covering the possible escape routes. JIm had to put a finisher in the bear with his 44 Magnum revolver as I had not taken into account the bears forward motion when I held on his back ribs for a kill shot. During the time I touched off the round and it arrived on site, the bear had moved forward some and I had hit, and busted up, his hips and furthest rearward verterbrae. So, the bear was well anchored, but still needed a finishing shot from Jims gun.

With MUCH excitement, hollering, adrenaline and thusly plenty of scratches and bruises in getting all the way TO my bear, this is the nasty, straight up steep, thorn filled scene where he fell:





A really happy JJhack and Safariman together at the bear kill site:



Then came time for the work.....

1) Call in the big rig:



2) haul the cable straight down to Mr. Bear:



3) Place an appropriate collar on the new "pet" bear:



4) then UP we go!



5) and up, some more! (amazing how well this works....) :

[img]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a7/safariman416/MyBEAR016_zpsa3b44f18.jpg[/img]


And then, out come the stinky innerparts for coyote bait:

[img]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a7/safariman416/MyBEAR025_zpsb32c3874.jpg[/img]

This photo give another good idea or representation of just how BBIG this bear is! 1/2 of him is in the truck in the photo above.

And finally, more happy, hero type pictures:

[img]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a7/safariman416/38380036_zps134eeb03.jpg[/img]

For size reference, I am 6'3" tall, I weigh in at 250, and this bear was and is a lot bigger than me. Meat is in the freezer, rug mount should be finished this month some time.

It had been a couple of years since I shot a bear, I had not felt like going but with this scenario I was able to make a hunt work out. I am still pretty thrilled with my fair chase, no bait or hounds bear, and by far my largest black bear. Right at 19 inches of skull, squared. I will let you all guess his live weight, I only know for sure it was a LOT. Jim and I could bbear-ly ( ) budge him to set up the photos, and we are both ppretty muscular, strong guys, even though my joints hurt a lot.

Sorry it took so long to post these, They are from my I phone and I did not know how to get them into photobucket until very recently. Oh well, it was fun just now re living and telling the story! I hope you enjoyed it, as well.

MARK