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With the heaviest snowfall in decades, Montana's spring bear season has been off to a slow start. The season opened on April 15th but access was about impossible until the last few weeks. I have been out evenings and weekends but have not seen a single bear, and only a few piles of fresh scat that were so big I attributed them to grizzlies.

Yesterday we were having a bit of a heat wave with temps of 83 so I stayed in the house till it started cooling off around 7:30 pm. I thought that I would go and call at a creek in a nearby deep canyon on the assumption that bears would want to be down where it was cool.

I hiked in about 3/4 of a mile on a gated road and found a place just above the creek with lots of lush grass that seemed like a good place to sit and call.

I had been working with Dave Paul of HuntnCarve calls to come up with a wolf call featuring both open and closed reed interchangeable mouthpieces. I had just received the prototype "Montana Howler" last week so that was the call I was packing.

I started a sequence of calls and after blowing for less than two minutes I saw movement about 80 yards in front of me. There were some very deep shadows and the trees were fairly thick but I could clearly see that it was a bear heading my way. I stopped calling and just sat still as it drifted my direction. This bear was fairly large and dark brown so I had to be absolutely certain it was not a grizzly before I did anything else.

When the bear got within about 40 yards I was fairly confident that it was a big brown phase black bear but I wanted to see a good profile before shooting. The bear had about 10 yards to go before it would present me with a broadside shot in a small clearing.

I had already removed the safety so I shouldered my rifle and rested my elbows on my knees. Just as the bears head entered the clearing I got a good sight picture through my Skinner aperture sight and as his shoulder came into view I pressed the trigger. That 525 gr slug at 2305 fps took him right through the chest and he was down instantly. There is no rifle on the planet that puts things down harder than my Montana Rifle Company .505 Gibbs!

This was the first bear I have ever taken that got bigger as I approached. It took more than a little effort just to get him rolled on to his belly. His face bore the scars of earlier battles but his hide was in perfect condition.

I got him tagged and then hiked out to get some help and a game cart. With three of my friends assisting, we would each grab a leg, lift and swing him forward. Reset and swing him again until we moved about 50yds to a trail we could get the cart on. With each of us on a corner we wheeled him out of the woods and got him loaded in my truck for a late night ride to the taxidermist.

The bear was aged by a USFW bear biologist at 15yrs. When we laid out the hide last night it taped 6'6" (NO STRETCHING!). That is a very large and very old bear for Northwest Montana.

It was an amazing adventure capped by the harvest of a grand old warrior!

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]


"The difference between adventure and disaster is preparation"
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Thank you for sharing. Sometimes the best of plans, do come through and not by sitting at home. Milion congratulations.

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Campfire 'Bwana
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Congratulations!


Originally Posted by 16penny
If you put Taco Bell sauce in your ramen noodles it tastes just like poverty
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Man thats a Dandy Bear! any guess what he weighted? Congrads!


Deer Camp! about as good as it gets!
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Great looking bear.

IC B2

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NICE!!!


"...the left considers you vermin, and they'll kill you given the chance..." Bristoe
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Campfire 'Bwana
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I'm wondering what he weighed late last Fall!


Originally Posted by 16penny
If you put Taco Bell sauce in your ramen noodles it tastes just like poverty
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An excellent, gorgeous Montana bear.

Well done, Sir!

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Congratulations!!



A wise man is frequently humbled.

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Sir you are one bad-a$$ predator callin mo fo! That's so awesome!!!! I suppose if I were predator calling in griz country I'd carry something like that too but dang that's a heckofa cap gun ya got there!

Very very cool man thanks for always sharing I love your posts.

IC B3

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Great hunt and a beautiful boar! Thanks for sharing. How much does your 505 Gibbs weigh?

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JCS,
Thank you for taking us along on your hunts. That is a great bear!

Curious though, what happens if you do call in grizzly and he is not happy about being tricked. SSS?


“My horn is full and my pouch is stocked with ball and patch. There is a new, sharp flint in my lock and my rifle and I are ready. It is sighted true and my eyes can still aim.”
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That's cool.

The oldest I've killed was 18 years and a few that were 15.


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That is sooooo freaking cool! You certainly have a knack with the calls - congrats!


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Wow, awesome hunt! Congrats on calling him into you and taking such a beautiful bear!

And damn, what a hammer! That is too darned cool right there! That big 505 has to lay a whoopin on stuff.


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Man what a beauty! Congrats

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JCS271 Offline OP
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Originally Posted by Johnny Dollar
JCS,
Thank you for taking us along on your hunts. That is a great bear!

Curious though, what happens if you do call in grizzly and he is not happy about being tricked. SSS?


I am ALWAYS "bear aware" and even more so in known grizz areas. So site selection with lots of defendable space is key. Last year I called three Grizz in two days. A lone boar and a sow with two year old cub (2/3 of her size). Happily I saw them all at a distance and just like in this situation I stop calling immediately. Bears usually lose interest quickly and will just go back to feeding and drift on by. If I am discovered by a bear, I have a plan that I have mentally rehearsed a thousand times starting with soft talking, potentially deploying bear spray and ending with taking a knee and waiting for one good close range rifle head shot in the case of a determined charge. I always hope for the best but I also plan and train for the worst.


"The difference between adventure and disaster is preparation"
"Dangerous Game Hunting........because golf, football and baseball only require one ball"
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That is a nice black bear for anywhere. Excellent.

I see you're a "Use Enough Gun" believer...


I do not entertain hypotheticals. The world itself is vexing enough. -- Col. Stonehill
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Congratulations!


Member: Clan of the Turdlike People.

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�If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.� Ronald Reagan.

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Hell of a bear, Congrats, I shoot the 600 gr Woodleighs in my 505, were the 525's in your 505 Woodleigh bullets?


Trump Won!
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