Steelie73
06-02-2010, 03:53 PM
My buddy Pete and I both drew LEH for grizzly this spring so we headed up towards Dease Lake to hunt in that unit on the long weekend. We had previously hunted this area in 2008 with good success so we had a good idea where the bears might be hanging out. Upon setting up our camp we noticed a large grizzly track in the mud and planned to check it out later. Once camp was set up we did some mid afternoon scouting and saw a small black bear. We followed the large grizzly track for a while to try and determine which direction he was heading. We ended off the night with no grizzly sightings but high hopes for the next day to see the one that left the big track.
Day 2: We left camp early in the morning and planned to spend a good 10-12 hours of glassing since there was lots of daylight. Within the first couple of hours we had only seen a small bull moose that looked to be in good shape from the winter. We continued to walk and glass all of the green patches in between the alders from a higher elevation point. After 4-5 hours of good hiking it happend. Pete saw him first and motioned me to get down. I slowly made my way up to him and got a good view of the grizzly through the alders and knew it was a good size boar. We were at a perfect advatage point being above him and the wind was lightly coming up the hill and hitting us in the face. We ranged the bear at 148 yards but there was no shot through the thick alders and we didn't wan't to chance a shot. Pete said get ready for the shot and I made a good rest on my back pack and readied for the shot. Then we waited and waited and waited some more. The bear had decided to take a long nap. If the bear stood up and went to the left or right I would only have a few seconds for a shot. So I was in the shooting position for 45-50 minutes before he moved. He got up and turned around and sat back down without offering a shot. Now the next 45 minutes pretty near killed me with my butt and legs cramping up and I didn't want to move in case I missed a chance to shoot. Finally, he stood up and started to feed. He was walking towards a good shooting lane and stopped about 5 feet from the clearing and walked back into the alders. I was loosing my concentration and wanted to stretch out but I couldn't chance it. Finally he started walking towards the opening and presented me with a shot at 198 yards. The first shot broke his shoulder and clipped the top of the heart and lungs from the angle that we were on. The bear wheeled around a bunch of times as I chambered another round. THe second shot hit the bear's back as he was facing away from me. I was able to put one more in the boiler room as the bear expired. A bunch of high fives were exchanged and some thanks were given. Pete said do realize what you have done you just shot a very large grizzly bear. I was totally focused on the shot and didn't realize how big the bear was. Once we made our way down to the bear I then realized this was indeed a great bear. I used a 325 WSSM Kimber Montana and 200 TSX for this hunt. I would like to say thanks to my buddy Pete for dragging me through the country for another great adventure. Here are a few pictures of the hunt. The bear measured 96" across the front legs from claw to claw and has a 23 1/2" skull measurement.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a29/Steelie73/bear2010007.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a29/Steelie73/P1010131.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a29/Steelie73/P1010129.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a29/Steelie73/bear2010019.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a29/Steelie73/bear2010029.jpg
Day 2: We left camp early in the morning and planned to spend a good 10-12 hours of glassing since there was lots of daylight. Within the first couple of hours we had only seen a small bull moose that looked to be in good shape from the winter. We continued to walk and glass all of the green patches in between the alders from a higher elevation point. After 4-5 hours of good hiking it happend. Pete saw him first and motioned me to get down. I slowly made my way up to him and got a good view of the grizzly through the alders and knew it was a good size boar. We were at a perfect advatage point being above him and the wind was lightly coming up the hill and hitting us in the face. We ranged the bear at 148 yards but there was no shot through the thick alders and we didn't wan't to chance a shot. Pete said get ready for the shot and I made a good rest on my back pack and readied for the shot. Then we waited and waited and waited some more. The bear had decided to take a long nap. If the bear stood up and went to the left or right I would only have a few seconds for a shot. So I was in the shooting position for 45-50 minutes before he moved. He got up and turned around and sat back down without offering a shot. Now the next 45 minutes pretty near killed me with my butt and legs cramping up and I didn't want to move in case I missed a chance to shoot. Finally, he stood up and started to feed. He was walking towards a good shooting lane and stopped about 5 feet from the clearing and walked back into the alders. I was loosing my concentration and wanted to stretch out but I couldn't chance it. Finally he started walking towards the opening and presented me with a shot at 198 yards. The first shot broke his shoulder and clipped the top of the heart and lungs from the angle that we were on. The bear wheeled around a bunch of times as I chambered another round. THe second shot hit the bear's back as he was facing away from me. I was able to put one more in the boiler room as the bear expired. A bunch of high fives were exchanged and some thanks were given. Pete said do realize what you have done you just shot a very large grizzly bear. I was totally focused on the shot and didn't realize how big the bear was. Once we made our way down to the bear I then realized this was indeed a great bear. I used a 325 WSSM Kimber Montana and 200 TSX for this hunt. I would like to say thanks to my buddy Pete for dragging me through the country for another great adventure. Here are a few pictures of the hunt. The bear measured 96" across the front legs from claw to claw and has a 23 1/2" skull measurement.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a29/Steelie73/bear2010007.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a29/Steelie73/P1010131.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a29/Steelie73/P1010129.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a29/Steelie73/bear2010019.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a29/Steelie73/bear2010029.jpg