Got back from bear camp late last night and just thought I would share a few things about the hunt. We spent two days glassing huckleberry hillsides, and we saw approx 10 bears.
Approx 1/2 of the bears were chocolate colored and the rest were jet black.
The first bear to hit the ground was shot by a friend named Randy at 147 yards, it was a beautiful chocolate bear. the neat thing about this bear is that it was collared! we are all looking forward to finding out the details on where and why it was collared etc. the other neat thing is that it died in a bear den. well half way in the den and half out. the den was incredible and i have never seen anything like it. it went back under a rock cliff approx 10-12 feet and had dried bear grass stacked up several inches in it.
I shot the second bear. it was a fairly small black bear.
my friend was watching some elk, when he spotted the bear. As i got set up on him, my friend Brad (my spotter) read me conditions from the kestrel and I dialed in my exbal.
the bear was then ranged at 1098, and 1100. Brad gave me my come up, and full value wind. at this point I got up and Brad, a friend Tim, and i all studied the wind/mirage etc. it appeared to be fairly dead, but we could see a little mirage working from left to right, so brad told me to dial 1/2 moa left.
i got back on the gun and he hadnt moved from the huckleberry bush he was in, so i said i am on him.
brad said send it!
I settled back in just in time to see the bear roll down hill into the bush. It looked like a high hit at first because the dirt behind the bear came drifting up. but it didnt take long to realize the bullet went through the bear and into the dirt. by the bullet trace in the camera it appeared to be a good hit with the front shoulder being out of commision.
we watched the bush for about 1/2 hour to make sure the bear wasnt going to come out.
about then, the bear did step out of the bush, and immediatly laid down. he tried to get up, and then laid back down.
my friend and i discussed wether or not we should let him lay there and bleed out, or if i should shoot him again.
he said that would be cool if he just laid there and died, but how dumb would we feel if he got up and walked away!
at that we decided to put another one in him. i drilled him through the front shoulder and he rolled down hill again into a clump of trees.
we were watching the bush and this time he never came out.
however, a wolf then appeared approx 5 min after i shot and was circling the bear!
He would not sit still for a shot, but my buddy gave it a good try. at over 1100 yards, he missed by only inches, and only because after he sent the bullet, the wolf took a step and unknowingly dodged 300 grains of lead and copper.
we arrived to the bear to find that the two bullets hit approx 2-3 inches appart!
hind sight, a second shot was not necessary, but at that distance we couldnt tell for certain, and it wasnt worth losing the bear.
I shot him from my sitting point at over 6300 feet and the bear was at approx 5300 feet. the only way out was up! 4 of us went in after him so the load was not to bad, but even with a light load, 1000 feet of vertical climb can surely wear you out!
anyway, I appreciate all that I have and continue to learn from all of you.
it was a great hunt, and just wanted to share some of the details with all of you.
Approx 1/2 of the bears were chocolate colored and the rest were jet black.
The first bear to hit the ground was shot by a friend named Randy at 147 yards, it was a beautiful chocolate bear. the neat thing about this bear is that it was collared! we are all looking forward to finding out the details on where and why it was collared etc. the other neat thing is that it died in a bear den. well half way in the den and half out. the den was incredible and i have never seen anything like it. it went back under a rock cliff approx 10-12 feet and had dried bear grass stacked up several inches in it.
I shot the second bear. it was a fairly small black bear.
my friend was watching some elk, when he spotted the bear. As i got set up on him, my friend Brad (my spotter) read me conditions from the kestrel and I dialed in my exbal.
the bear was then ranged at 1098, and 1100. Brad gave me my come up, and full value wind. at this point I got up and Brad, a friend Tim, and i all studied the wind/mirage etc. it appeared to be fairly dead, but we could see a little mirage working from left to right, so brad told me to dial 1/2 moa left.
i got back on the gun and he hadnt moved from the huckleberry bush he was in, so i said i am on him.
brad said send it!
I settled back in just in time to see the bear roll down hill into the bush. It looked like a high hit at first because the dirt behind the bear came drifting up. but it didnt take long to realize the bullet went through the bear and into the dirt. by the bullet trace in the camera it appeared to be a good hit with the front shoulder being out of commision.
we watched the bush for about 1/2 hour to make sure the bear wasnt going to come out.
about then, the bear did step out of the bush, and immediatly laid down. he tried to get up, and then laid back down.
my friend and i discussed wether or not we should let him lay there and bleed out, or if i should shoot him again.
he said that would be cool if he just laid there and died, but how dumb would we feel if he got up and walked away!
at that we decided to put another one in him. i drilled him through the front shoulder and he rolled down hill again into a clump of trees.
we were watching the bush and this time he never came out.
however, a wolf then appeared approx 5 min after i shot and was circling the bear!
He would not sit still for a shot, but my buddy gave it a good try. at over 1100 yards, he missed by only inches, and only because after he sent the bullet, the wolf took a step and unknowingly dodged 300 grains of lead and copper.
we arrived to the bear to find that the two bullets hit approx 2-3 inches appart!
hind sight, a second shot was not necessary, but at that distance we couldnt tell for certain, and it wasnt worth losing the bear.
I shot him from my sitting point at over 6300 feet and the bear was at approx 5300 feet. the only way out was up! 4 of us went in after him so the load was not to bad, but even with a light load, 1000 feet of vertical climb can surely wear you out!
anyway, I appreciate all that I have and continue to learn from all of you.
it was a great hunt, and just wanted to share some of the details with all of you.
