Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Big black bear

I read somewhere that the trick to the pole carry was to get the pole right in tight to the body cavity and lash the whole carcass to the pole, that avoids the 'swing'.

That said, I can see problems in trying to get a rope around and under the bear and then tighten the rope to the pole. Maybe 3 or 4 small ratchet straps laid out on the ground and roll the bear onto them, place the pole and tighten the straps?

When carrying it, you would certainly want to take a page from the canoe portage handbook and prop one end on a tree limb when you stop to rest.

Dale

Just let him chase you to your truck

To the Pa hunters, you do not need to bring a bear or deer out whole. The code has NO mention as to where a carcass must be processed. It is Pa tradition to bring them out whole. The regulations state the animal must be tagged immediately and before moving. The tag must remain attached to the animal while transporting. BUT here is the key, the legal definition for tagging a big game animal is a WHOLE animal, so the animal must be tagged when it is whole and transported. After processing, again NO requirement the animal must be brought to any place specific to be processed, but after processing legally it is now animal portions or parts. There is no requirement that animal parts be tagged for transport, only that anyone in possession of animal parts must be able to identify who killed the animal. That is why you don't need a tag after it is cut up, you can bring it home from the butcher, cut it up wherever and divvy meat out to friends, donate it, etc., all without carrying a tag with all the parts. Kill must be officially reported via mail or online but no requirement to retain the tag.

So you shoot the deer/bear, tag it immediately. Process it where it fell, it is now animal parts and can be transported any way you see fit as long as whoever has "parts" in their possession can identify the shooter. Take all the bear parts to a check station and all is legal.

It has ALWAYS been this way. The whole misconception comes from the tagging requirements. People think the animal needs to remain tagged and how can you do this if it is a bunch of parts requiring a bunch of trips to bring it out. But again there is no physical tag requirement after processing.

But the one thing that must be considered to do this if you are on public land. By law only the offal may be left behind. Any and everything else as defined by law is refuse and must be legally disposed, i.e. residential waste. So at least from a theoretical/technical standpoint if you took off the backstraps and neck meat and decided to leave the spine behind, in "theory", you "could" be cited for illegal disposal. Same law would apply if you threw away your boned carcass or trapping carcasses along a public road. As slobs do every year!

That method isn't worth the effort, (ir)regardless of technique.

Haul it out on a wheeler, that's how I usually do it. If i can't get a wheeler to it i'll pack it out in peices, could not imagine tying to drag a black bear through the woods.

I can.

Me too with a 400 lber. It was about as fun as it sounds.

Of course I dragged a big 8 pt last over a mile to my truck. Forgot my pack frame and wasnt driving a 2 hour round trip to get it. It sucked worse than the bear drag...............

No motorized on the KNWR!

Previous owner claims that birdfeeder will draw them in.

I hunt bear alone and in very remote areas, plane takes me out and drops me off for a week. Because I�m alone I don�t want to carry heavy loads and risk getting hurt so a bear takes me 5 trips. First trip is simply to take all the extra stuff I won�t need back to the tent, extra clothing, day pack, and rifle if that�s what I�m using. Return with the pack frame, saw, game bags, knives, rope, sharpening steel, and a handgun. Fully process the bear, trips 2 and 3 each with a rear and shoulder quarter. 4th trip is light with the loin straps, skull, and all the implements. Final, 5th is the heaviest with the unfleshed hide in a feed bag. So 5 trips, depending on distance to tent and time of kill it may take 1 or 2 days.

The longest packout was 3 miles and that took 2 full days of packing. Shot in the afternoon, made the initial trip back to the tent returning with the equipment and processing it 100% into game bags and hung in tree, returned to tent in the dark empty handed. Then 2 trips each of the following 2 days, that was 12 mi each day, 6 of them loaded.

These pics are all from the same trip, brought back to tent in one day but the tent may have only been a half mile away.

Video at the kill site:

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/tundragriz/media/videos/Ak09handgun.mp4.html?sort=6&o=1



All the parts back near the tent, skull is red in the tree, meat in game bags, hide in the feed bag still on the pack frame.


Tent


Having some chow after everything is brought out.


Eagles on the carcass the day after.

Very cool hunt. I'd like to do that hunt in the near future.

Good job. There's a hunter. Thank you for the video.

Tundra griz
Thanks!
whelennut

Whelennut,

I got a nice Blackie 2 years ago and it was a 9 year old that weighed 358 dressed. Which is ironic since my .358 misfired causing me to use my 300 wsm. Anyway I was really happy that I had my yamaha kodiak as I was able to maneuver to where he was without much trouble (didn't even break plastic) I had an otter sled that I got him into with the help of my friend and only dumped him once on the way out. I have drug 200lb deer on many occasions and Black bear simply don't' drag well. Even a 200#er is brutal without a sled. If I couldn't have driven to him I simply would have pieced him out from there.

Bigbuck

Never hunted the KNWR.

I am 59 so dragging is out of the question for a big one. I hunt alone too.
I think an ATV and a sled are in my future.
I hear you can plow snow with them as well.
Do they float in case one runs into a swamp?
whelennut

Whelennut, ya got to believe me. Shoot the dumb bear close to the river. Steelhead sais it ain't romantic. Nuthin more romantic than paddlin to the cabin with a bear in the canoe and the red sunset glaring off thew river water..

Great hunt Tund....thanks for sharing your pics.

Is yer lab sleepin'?