longrifle
06-06-2010, 01:07 PM
Hey folks,
Just getting around to posting the tale of my 2010 Grizzly hunt...
This epic hunt began back in February when I found out that I had drawn one of the coveted leh authorizations for Grizzly. The area was in the heart of my old stomping grounds so I was confident :rolleyes:(hoping) that things hadn't changed that much since I left BC back in '99...
With the early spring that seemed to be happening all over BC I figured that I had better head noreast and be out for opening day on April 15...Well, it was still winter in the main valley, never mind in the side valleys, so that trip ended up being a sightseeing trip. So, with only one Black bear spotted to show for my efforts, I tucked in my tail and headed back to the lmd.
I headed to my home town again on May 1 and hunted for four days. I managed to spot two family groups, sows with one cub each, one nice boar (out of my area) while out looking for a colour phase blackie and numerous small Black bears. The boar was a mature animal, dark in colour with the classic silver shine, and the family groups were simply stunning blondes...A little more action but it was still early in the most promising areas and I couldn't get into the one valley that I wanted to spend most of my time in. I figured that in another ten days it should be perfect.
Here's the east end of a west bound grizzly!
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg134/longrifle_photos/Grizzly2010001.jpg
No sign of spring yet!
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg134/longrifle_photos/Grizzly2010002.jpg
So, May 15 rolls around and I had the next week booked off, away we go...Upon arriving at my folks place and getting the family settled in, I loaded up the ATV and my gear and was ready to head out in the early morning. 4 am came too early and I almost decided to sleep a little more but that thought quickly vanished and I was off!
After a quick drive down the main valley I dumped the ATV off and headed up into my valley of choice. I was surprised at how little new vegetation there was for the first few kilometres. Then I hit the cattle guard and was greeted by about three to four inches of new grass, excellent! I slowly putted up the road checking any openings that remained for any sign of a bear, seeing nothing. Finally a series of slides appear that show some promise, I glass them all and come up empty handed.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg134/longrifle_photos/Grizzly2010004.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg134/longrifle_photos/Grizzly2010005.jpg
I flash up the bike and head further up the valley, stopping to look at various vantage points along the way. Then I begin to see bear scat and some tracks in the dust. I have a gander and note that it is a decent sized bear (6inch pad) and a Grizzly taboot! The bear seems to have been wandering back and fourth along the old logging road. I figure that this will be a good place to walk along later on in the evening so I continue on. The tracks continue, back and fourth for about three kilometres and then I note that there is only one set of tracks heading in the same direction I am. I slowly continue on until I come upon a very fresh pile of scat...
After seeing that I figured it was time to start hiking as the bear could be close. I grabbed my binoculars, .375 and some water and off I went. I made it about a klik when I was rounding a corner and I spotted the bear at the top of the next hill! It had no idea I was there and was feeding along the bushline. I glassed it as it walked along, and then it turned sideways and headed across the road and disappeared over the hill.
I made my way up to the crest of the hill and peered over the top, the bear was not in sight. I continued on for a bit and then spotted its back just as it was going over the next hill. I ran up the road for a couple hundred yards, I remember thinking, damn it I need to start using that damned contraption in the basement more!! This game of cat and mouse continued on for about a kilometre and a half. Then I saw that there was a long, slow left turn in the road that had an old landing about halfway through the turn. I knew that I was going to get a good look at the animal and possibly a shot...
I hustled to the crest of the downhill and nestled up to a small aspen, watching the beast as it made its way down the hill. I looked the animal over and watched the way it was acting. It was swaying as it walked and was throwing its head from side to side every once in awhile, I figured it was a boar. The arse end of the bear was round, and the ears appeared to be small, both indicators of a mature animal. The fur appeared to be flawless as well, deep brown in colour with some 'shine' to it. I wanted to see the front end of the animal before I made my final decision. I leveled my rifle, preparing to take the shot and growled, nothing. I growled again, much louder this time, the bear turned broadside to see who the heck was making the racket!! He had a big square muzzle, perfect fur and the sun turned his back a golden colour! I had seen enough, this was my bear, I steadied the crosshair on his shoulder and squeezed the trigger...
KABOOM...My CZ sent a 260 grain accubond on its way! I listened for the thump of lead slapping meat and heard, not a whap, thud or thump, but the loudest WHACK I have witnessed while hunting. Now, I must admit, up until that point I hadn't shot an animal with a rifle chambered for anything bigger than a .300 wm, so hearing a big bullet hit an animal was an impressive experience.
The bear is knocked flat, I watch through the scope and see a back leg kicking, I figure, well that was easy. I look at my watch, it reads 9:04, not bothering to reload. Then I see it start to move a bit, I chamber another round. It gets its head up and starts pulling itself toward the bush with one front leg! I aim and send another abond on its way, WHACK, down it goes again. This time I reload and get ready for anything as I did not want to have to track a wounded Grizzly by myself! It starts roaring, biting rocks and throwing turf around! This is when I realize that I forgot my extra ammo back at the quad, I've only got two rounds left, idiot! I move in closer and bust him one more time in the boiler room, that ends it, thankfully. I watch for a few minutes to make sure then head back to pick up the bike.
Upon arriving at the animal I was more than impressed, it was indeed a perfectly furred mature boar, my first Grizzly!! Pictures took an hour as I wanted to get lots of good angles, which is challenging by yourself. Skinning took two hours but it went by quickly as I was entertained by listening to snow roar down the various slide chutes all around me. After completing skinning the animal I cut the hams off of the bear and loaded everything onto the ATV and headed out.
I measured the animal once I arrived at my folks, it went 89 inches from paw tip to paw tip and 79 inches in length, the skull goes 22 inches. The skull is currently being enjoyed by a colony of beetles and the hide is being made into what I'm sure is going to be a beautiful rug! I gave the hams to a fellow that I've known for years that enjoys bear meat, he was tickled to say the least. What a day!!!!!
More pics to follow (5 pic max rule sux)
Just getting around to posting the tale of my 2010 Grizzly hunt...
This epic hunt began back in February when I found out that I had drawn one of the coveted leh authorizations for Grizzly. The area was in the heart of my old stomping grounds so I was confident :rolleyes:(hoping) that things hadn't changed that much since I left BC back in '99...
With the early spring that seemed to be happening all over BC I figured that I had better head noreast and be out for opening day on April 15...Well, it was still winter in the main valley, never mind in the side valleys, so that trip ended up being a sightseeing trip. So, with only one Black bear spotted to show for my efforts, I tucked in my tail and headed back to the lmd.
I headed to my home town again on May 1 and hunted for four days. I managed to spot two family groups, sows with one cub each, one nice boar (out of my area) while out looking for a colour phase blackie and numerous small Black bears. The boar was a mature animal, dark in colour with the classic silver shine, and the family groups were simply stunning blondes...A little more action but it was still early in the most promising areas and I couldn't get into the one valley that I wanted to spend most of my time in. I figured that in another ten days it should be perfect.
Here's the east end of a west bound grizzly!
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg134/longrifle_photos/Grizzly2010001.jpg
No sign of spring yet!
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg134/longrifle_photos/Grizzly2010002.jpg
So, May 15 rolls around and I had the next week booked off, away we go...Upon arriving at my folks place and getting the family settled in, I loaded up the ATV and my gear and was ready to head out in the early morning. 4 am came too early and I almost decided to sleep a little more but that thought quickly vanished and I was off!
After a quick drive down the main valley I dumped the ATV off and headed up into my valley of choice. I was surprised at how little new vegetation there was for the first few kilometres. Then I hit the cattle guard and was greeted by about three to four inches of new grass, excellent! I slowly putted up the road checking any openings that remained for any sign of a bear, seeing nothing. Finally a series of slides appear that show some promise, I glass them all and come up empty handed.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg134/longrifle_photos/Grizzly2010004.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg134/longrifle_photos/Grizzly2010005.jpg
I flash up the bike and head further up the valley, stopping to look at various vantage points along the way. Then I begin to see bear scat and some tracks in the dust. I have a gander and note that it is a decent sized bear (6inch pad) and a Grizzly taboot! The bear seems to have been wandering back and fourth along the old logging road. I figure that this will be a good place to walk along later on in the evening so I continue on. The tracks continue, back and fourth for about three kilometres and then I note that there is only one set of tracks heading in the same direction I am. I slowly continue on until I come upon a very fresh pile of scat...
After seeing that I figured it was time to start hiking as the bear could be close. I grabbed my binoculars, .375 and some water and off I went. I made it about a klik when I was rounding a corner and I spotted the bear at the top of the next hill! It had no idea I was there and was feeding along the bushline. I glassed it as it walked along, and then it turned sideways and headed across the road and disappeared over the hill.
I made my way up to the crest of the hill and peered over the top, the bear was not in sight. I continued on for a bit and then spotted its back just as it was going over the next hill. I ran up the road for a couple hundred yards, I remember thinking, damn it I need to start using that damned contraption in the basement more!! This game of cat and mouse continued on for about a kilometre and a half. Then I saw that there was a long, slow left turn in the road that had an old landing about halfway through the turn. I knew that I was going to get a good look at the animal and possibly a shot...
I hustled to the crest of the downhill and nestled up to a small aspen, watching the beast as it made its way down the hill. I looked the animal over and watched the way it was acting. It was swaying as it walked and was throwing its head from side to side every once in awhile, I figured it was a boar. The arse end of the bear was round, and the ears appeared to be small, both indicators of a mature animal. The fur appeared to be flawless as well, deep brown in colour with some 'shine' to it. I wanted to see the front end of the animal before I made my final decision. I leveled my rifle, preparing to take the shot and growled, nothing. I growled again, much louder this time, the bear turned broadside to see who the heck was making the racket!! He had a big square muzzle, perfect fur and the sun turned his back a golden colour! I had seen enough, this was my bear, I steadied the crosshair on his shoulder and squeezed the trigger...
KABOOM...My CZ sent a 260 grain accubond on its way! I listened for the thump of lead slapping meat and heard, not a whap, thud or thump, but the loudest WHACK I have witnessed while hunting. Now, I must admit, up until that point I hadn't shot an animal with a rifle chambered for anything bigger than a .300 wm, so hearing a big bullet hit an animal was an impressive experience.
The bear is knocked flat, I watch through the scope and see a back leg kicking, I figure, well that was easy. I look at my watch, it reads 9:04, not bothering to reload. Then I see it start to move a bit, I chamber another round. It gets its head up and starts pulling itself toward the bush with one front leg! I aim and send another abond on its way, WHACK, down it goes again. This time I reload and get ready for anything as I did not want to have to track a wounded Grizzly by myself! It starts roaring, biting rocks and throwing turf around! This is when I realize that I forgot my extra ammo back at the quad, I've only got two rounds left, idiot! I move in closer and bust him one more time in the boiler room, that ends it, thankfully. I watch for a few minutes to make sure then head back to pick up the bike.
Upon arriving at the animal I was more than impressed, it was indeed a perfectly furred mature boar, my first Grizzly!! Pictures took an hour as I wanted to get lots of good angles, which is challenging by yourself. Skinning took two hours but it went by quickly as I was entertained by listening to snow roar down the various slide chutes all around me. After completing skinning the animal I cut the hams off of the bear and loaded everything onto the ATV and headed out.
I measured the animal once I arrived at my folks, it went 89 inches from paw tip to paw tip and 79 inches in length, the skull goes 22 inches. The skull is currently being enjoyed by a colony of beetles and the hide is being made into what I'm sure is going to be a beautiful rug! I gave the hams to a fellow that I've known for years that enjoys bear meat, he was tickled to say the least. What a day!!!!!
More pics to follow (5 pic max rule sux)