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Been bear hunting for a few days and it (almost) all came together this morning on an enormous bear I'd been trying to figure out. Passed on a smaller bear yesterday waiting for this guy, just putting in my time.

I'd been narrowing the search and moved camp yesterday to get closer to his core area. Bear sign yesterday both south of camp out a dry ridge and north down the moist canyon told me I was close to center. I left camp just after daylight, walking just 300 yards from camp I found his most currently used bed on the edge of a thicket in a nasty tangled creek bottom. Visibility was a few yards most directions, measured in feet in the creek bottom with thick brush, alders, fir, pine and hemlock.. The area behind me was burned trees and more open with lots of low hanging dead branches and burned brush stubs. I leaned up against a log and got comfortable facing the creek bottom and his bed.

In front of me at 8 yards was his trail going left and right and it was 15 yards to his bed, which was buried in the brush just beyond sight. My hope was that he would come from the creek bottom or from either left or right on the trail in front of me, giving me an 8 yard broadside shot. He had a well used trail coming into an old rotten log he had hollowed out a big bed in. Moist poop everywhere full of canyon live oak acorns told me this was the best bed yet. Figuring I had an hour or two before he'd be in bed I settled in to wait. There was lots of activity with squirrels and jays storing away acorns as fast as they could, the woods were noisy at times then fell silent. I kept swiveling around behind me when I'd hear something but after an hour I convinced myself there was no way, too much dead debris, for any bear to sneak up on me from behind so I relaxed and just focused on the 15 yards in front of me. I figured I was carrying the perfect rifle for this job, the 99 16" carbine in 358, loaded with 180 Barnes ttsx bullets. Unfortunately my eyes don't focus too well on such a short barrel with iron sights but I am trying to make it work for fast close quarters work. It would seem like the perfect rifle for this job. I can shoot it ok at 50 yards as-is so I felt comfortable with it.

At 9am several squirrels behind me went ballistic all at the same time so I stood up and looked back to see what was coming, honestly not really expecting the bear from that direction. I thought maybe a deer or possibly a cougar might be going by. I caught the bear moving at 45 yards. In an instant I could tell this was no average bear. He was very long, really heavy and I can still see that huge flat nose and white muzzle. He was circling downwind to check his bed before he walked in.

When I saw how big this bear was and how fast he was getting downwind of me I panicked! My time was very short to think all this through and he was going to hit my scent in 3, 2, 1...

I've seen a few hundred bears hunting but only two like this in my lifetime. The first one turned out to be a 27 year old boar, and this one looked like his twin. It wasn't as much bear- fever- type excited, I will admit I was SCARED this bear was too much to deal with. I'm not really sure why I got that impression, I was the one with the gun right?!

He was behind me not in front of me like I'd so carefully set up for. Things were wildly out of my control and moving faster than I wanted! This bear was coming fast left to right and was almost downwind of me and into the brush. If he made it to the brush and got my scent he could close on me and be completely out of my sight until he was 8 yards from me. I had one small opening coming up that was partially obscured with dead branches and debris from the fire. I got the rifle settled into that hole and a second or two later he stepped into it at a fast walk and I touched it off. He locked them up, pulled his head back in slow motion as if to say, "Whoa, danger ahead!" I jacked another shell in, WHICH HE HEARD AND PINPOINTED ME, then knew where I was, so he whirled and ran straight away from me and slightly uphill. No chance for a follow up shot. Normally they run downhill if hit.

I realize now I probably jerked the shot high and when I racked the lever he pinpointed me. If I had stood still after the shot he might have given me another opportunity although at some point I had to work that lever again so maybe not. Of course I just automatically did it after the first shot in case I needed a follow up. I've never been in the position of thinking maybe I should have waited.

Obviously my nerves were shot and the poor sight picture and the whippy little 16" barrel just isn't a good combination for me. I've tried the carbine scoped, with a Burris Fast Fire and irons. Nothing seems just perfect so I went back to irons for super close range work just like this, thinking I'd be good to go. As it turns out, for my eyes, this combination limits me to just a few yards. I don't think I gave enough consideration to how disagreeable a short barrel is for stability. I'm going to have to go back to the drawing board with this rifle.

Maybe if I'd had the 26" 38-55 back in camp or even the scoped 284 I normally hunt with I'd be packing bear meat and spending big bucks on a lifesize mount of a record bear?

Takeaway is while my shooting sucked today, I was able to get myself in on him once, maybe I can do it again. I'm thinking next time I'll try a calf elk in distress call.


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Hang in there Roy, you will get him.

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I feel for you Roy , i had a wolf come within 10 feet rifle was in the bush pointed at the bait no way to swing it or even grab it, fortunately i had my Sav 380 with me ,picked itt up fired 2 quick shots,,missed but i walked away.


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If it wern't entertaining, I wouldn't keep coming back.------the BigSky

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Sounds like a good hunt!


"Every day above ground is a good day."
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Heck of a Hunt! Heck of a Story!

Stay Confident, you know what your doing.
The Rifle you have will do the job, as you know,
You just pulled your shot.

Remember, your Dealing with an Experienced, wise old Animal!

That's what makes it more rewarding.
Stay Safe, and Good Luck!


I Learned a long time ago to Separate My Want's from My Needs!

A man's Gotta Do What a Man's Gotta Do!

Know Thy Self!

TRUMP DID WIN!!!
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Great story, Roy. Like reading Outdoor Life. I felt like I was standing behind you. Don't quit - you'll get him!


"You can lead a man to logic, but you cannot make him think." Joe Harz
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Ah Roy--sorry to hear of the hunt not clickin right. I feel your pain and frustration, been there, had similar type things just not going the right way happen. Back in the mid 80's, last day of first Iowa bow season split. Had been after a large body, big antlered Iowa buck off and on for the first 60 day or so of first season split. Was in a big ol oak tree stand. Evening settin in, last 30 minutes or so of legal shooting time. My shooting lanes out front of me and to my right were good. Lane to left of center(east of me) only had a small opening around 3' in diameter at around 15 yards, but an easy shot where I could drill an arrow.

Mr Big Buck came from the east taking his time on the trail. Just around 20 feet from the opening to my right the trail forked. As he approached the opening I drew back my 50lb recurve, that big ol buck slowed and stopped, grazing on some twigs, two steps from the opening. I don't know how long I held back on full draw, seemed forever, thought, I can't hold back forever. Just as he started to move forward, I don't know to this day what the sound really was, but something to my rear (north) snapped or whatever the sound, but that buck stopped and glued his eyes my direction, never really seeing me or scenting (I was down wind of him). He held that stare for an eternity, my arms and right shoulder were killing me, two steps and arrow release. Well, as I guess it was meant to be, he was suspicious of something, he turned to his left and walked (slow) straight into the brush, tail down away from the trail, never taking his last two fatal steps. Shotgunners got him two days later, that hunt and my mind video are still with me today.

Did shoot a small rack buck in the late bow season after the gun seasons were over. Two years later I drilled a similar buck to the buck that walked away from me, a 12 point, thick rack 271# field dressed corn fed Iowa buck. Best of luck Roy in getting your bear.

Last edited by Savage94C; 09/06/21.
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There will be another day and my money is on you being the winner in the end.

Thanks for not just slinging lead at him.

You tell stories like my Dad did. Thanks!


I am no longer accepting orders for the Lightfoot scope mount.
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Campfire Kahuna
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After a couple pain killers for my knees and a night sleep I feel just as bad about it as I did yesterday LOL. Hopefully I can get some perspective in the next few days and get back in the hunt.

One bright spot, while glassing on the first morning of the hunt I found a dandy 4x4 blacktail running with a big old fork horn buck. The two of them went by me at 113 yards on their way down the canyon to bed. When they reached their beds they stood there for 10 minutes or so and watched all around them, especially their backtrail, before bedding for the day. 215 yards to their beds from where I sat and glassed. 284 country.... 4 weeks to opening day. This is the kind of country we're talking about. Hard on my worn out knees but I just can't quit hunting it.


[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

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I love great stories and that is a great story. Hang in there you will probably get him. But if you don't that is OK. You are still on a great adventure.
This reminds me of a hunt when I was about 15. For some reason I took my double barrel 12 gauge instead of my trusty 300 Savage (99EG). A deer ran up and stopped behind a tree about 30 feet from my tree stand. His shoulders were showing to the left of the tree. I aimed down the left barrel and pulled the trigger. He bounced away unscathed. I couldn't believe it. I opened the receiver and the shell in the right barrel had been fired. I had pulled the wrong trigger. I climbed down and went over to the tree. I counted 14 holes where the buckshot had hit the tree. A 3" mag holds 15 double ought. I was sick and always used the 300 Savage after that. The only Savage 99's around then were EG's in 300 Savage and we called them 300 Savages rather than 99EG's.


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David you would enjoy the bear hunting here. Lots of cat and mouse trying to figure them out. There's two kinds of bears- The bears you would normally see glassing and this type of bear. The bears you might see out on the hillsides are the bears not tough enough to command the premium ground.

The type of bear I love to hunt lives most of his life in a small enclave in a canyon with food water and privacy. He rarely leaves his core area and sure as hell does nothing willy nilly. He is extremely deliberate, methodical, and therefor predictable, but still hard to get in on. His nose is king. Where we live by sight, they live with their nose. They smell for ripe berries and acorns while we look for them. They check whatever they want to know with their nose, while we have to hold it and look it over in our hands. This bear is alive today because he circled further downwind of his bed on the way in than I could shoot through all the dead brush and crap.

It was a tough call knowing how to set up for him. Bears feed until the sun hits them then they head for their bed, usually 9-9:30 am. I was there plenty ahead of that to keep from spooking him from his bed. The problem is the thermals change about the same time. As the canyons heat up and the air changes from going downhill all night (cooling) to uphill all day (warming). In other words, the air is swirling right about when a bear decides to approach his bedding area so he has a very good chance of getting a snout full of you. Coincidence? Nope. Nothing a bear like this does is coincidence.

Where you may come around a bend in the road and find a young bear laying in the dust in 100 degree weather for who knows what reason, a dominant bear will be in an alder thicket next to the creek staying cool. Almost as if it makes sense right? As if they..... reason.

I've read all the bear maul stories and the scariest are the deliberate man-eaters that lay traps for their prey. I have nightmares that odds are someday I will camp in the middle of that bears lair and he will pull me through the forest in my sleeping bag on the way to his dining room. When I get there it'll be littered with hiking boots and backpacks from the previous guests.


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If that is an invitation, I accept.
I've hunted bear over bait a few times but never got a shot.
Success is great but the adventure getting there is a reward in itself.
The only bear I saw hunting over bait was a female with two cubs. One was blond. Just getting to watch them was a thrill. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera that day.
The country you are talking about sounds like a good place for my 18 1/2" barrel 99F in 308 with a 1 X 4 Leupold.


wyo1895
With Savage never say never.
For a copy of my book on engraved Savage lever actions rifles send a check for $80 to; David Royal, p.o. box 1271, Pinedale, Wy., 82941. I will sign and inscribe the book for you.
[email protected]

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Originally Posted by wyo1895
If that is an invitation, I accept.
I've hunted bear over bait a few times but never got a shot.
Success is great but the adventure getting there is a reward in itself.
The only bear I saw hunting over bait was a female with two cubs. One was blond. Just getting to watch them was a thrill. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera that day.
The country you are talking about sounds like a good place for my 18 1/2" barrel 99F in 308 with a 1 X 4 Leupold.


Yeah I'm thinking along the same lines- 18" 375 with the 2.5x Weaver.


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David, they say the ideal bear hunting partner is the one with nerves of steel than can shoot while being charged at but runs slower than you do!! LOL You'd have to be pretty danged slow for me to be able to outrun you right now.


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Roy was the burned area due to the large fires recently you've had in the NW this year or last?

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Roy, you need my BRAND new 38-55, the one I sent picture of, the maker said it was dead on at 50yds Winchester 255gr s.p. , I have yet to shoot it.

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Originally Posted by texken
Roy, you need my BRAND new 38-55, the one I sent picture of, the maker said it was dead on at 50yds Winchester 255gr s.p. , I have yet to shoot it.


I'll take it!


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Originally Posted by Savage94C
Roy was the burned area due to the large fires recently you've had in the NW this year or last?


I'm not sure which fire or year this area is in.


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Good story Roy. Ive hit them at 200 yds, and missed at 20 !

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Originally Posted by kenster99
Good story Roy. Ive hit them at 200 yds, and missed at 20 !


Oh yeah, I'm right there with ya. I once missed a herd bull elk with my bow at 8' (feet).


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