We loaded up around 12pm to go back & look for the big bear that I had shot with my bow the night before. Dwain & Larry (the Outfitter) went along with Ash & me to help look. We quickly picked up the blood trail from the night before, but it completely fizzled out after another 100 yards or so. I am completely convinced that my arrow didn't even penetrate his chest cavity - it was just too low. Unfortunately, all he got out of the deal was a nasty cut under his brisket. :((
On a positive note, we were tracking him in some of the most beautiful country I've ever been in. The relatively flat farm land we were hunting quickly became mountainous as we got to the Peace River valley.
Dwain & Larry taking a break from tracking. We spotted elk & mule deer from this slope. I also found a moose shed just below this spot. This country is FULL of game!
After a couple of hour
s tracking, we took a break in the bush (their word for woods) to eat lunch & rest before heading to the afternoon stands. Dwain (on the 4 wheeler), Larry (on the ground), and Ash (in the trailer) taking a power nap.
Well, after everyone was refreshed, we headed out to our afternoon stands. We dropped Dwain off first. (I had a pretty good nap myself in the truck while they rode Dwain in on the 4 wheelers) Then it was on to my stand. This was the thickest spot I'd hunted yet. I finally got settled in around 9pm. Looked like a great spot but I was getting a little worried when I hadn't seen anything by 10:30pm. I had decided to tote the rifle tonight. I was just a little shaken at having lost the big bear the night before so I was afraid that I might have lost my confidence. Since my main objective was to take home a bear, I decided to try to get 1 down with the gun then go back to the bow for # 2. Finally had a big boar come in by himself about 10:50pm. I knew he was big - very tall and very long but not near as stocky as the big bear I shot at with my bow so I had a hard time deciding whether or not to shoot him. I actually watched him for at least 15 minutes trying to decide whether of not to shoot. I finally made my decision when he stood up against a tree and I could tell just how big he was. His paw was wider than the tree - I think that's what did it for me! When I was getting the rifle on him I made a little noise. When he heard it, he turned and started toward me and I shot him in the chest facing me at about 30 yards. He only ran about 70 yards before crashing, but I had to wait for an hour in the tree for the guides to get there. MAN he was BIG when we walked up on him in the woods! No one at camp could believe that I almost passed this bear. He just didn't look that big in the woods in comparison to what I had seen the night before.
For those of you who know nothing about bear hunting (me included till last week!), there are 3 ways to judge bears. Weight, square of the hide, and skull measurement. To square the hide, you lay it flat after it is skinned, measure nose to tail and front paw to front paw, add the two measurements together and divide by 2. Most everything you read in hunting mags or see on the Outdoor channel talks about a 200lb 6ft bear being what everyone wants. This bear weighed 242 & squared just under 7 feet! Keep in mind too that these bears had only been out of hibernation for a few weeks. These same bears would have been 100 - 200 lbs heavier in the fall! I haven't measured the skull yet, but it should be between 18" and 19". For perspective, Pope & Young records entry is 19" and Boone & Crockett is 21". Not bad for my first!