This year I decided to do a solo hunt, taking the wall tent and setting up camp, in the same spot we always camp for moose hunting. It's miles back in remote bush, in the Swan Hills.
The trail going in, Fri May 28. Still snow in the bush.
Fresh bear tracks on the trail near camp.
Moose sheds I picked up on the trail near camp.
Before. Bare tent frame.
After. Tent all set up, stove ready to go. Time to go scouting for bears...
More fresh bear tracks.
Saturday, I headed into a spot that I knew was really good for black bears.
There was numerous tracks, old and fresh, plus lots of s**t. Good feed.
I travelled up a long east-west running cutline. Stopped on a hill that allowed me to see over a km to the west and nearly a km to the east. Lots of fresh track and I was sure a bear would show if I was patient.
Sitting, waiting for bruin, got the .35Whelen in this pic.
Sure enough, at 2:25 a bear came out on the line, to the west,
and I knew right away it was a pretty good size. He was 900-1000 meters off, when he came onto the line. I know that, because I had been fooling around with the rangefinder and had ranged 994 yards, pretty much right where he came out.
]
If you look way down the line, to the top light colored area of grass, that's where the bear came from.
The bear was moving up the line right toward me and he was travelling in that way they do, when they're going somewhere. I hoped he'd come to me. So I stayed put, but I grabbed the .416RM out of the case, because I wanted to try it with 400gr Hornady IBs that I had loaded.
And the bear never stopped. He just kept coming, in that lumbering side-to-side gait, head held low. I figured he was about a 6-1/2 footer and I decided to take him.
I really never had to do anything. Right place, right time.
I held the gun on him as he got closer and closer. Because of the way he was carrying his head low, I had to wait though to get a slightly angling shot, that would miss his head. I held on his shoulder and he stopped and looked up. I drilled him just inside the right shoulder, right under his chin, the way he was looking at me. I stepped it off at 28 paces...
As soon as I fired he wheeled around and took off running. I thought, I can't have missed him!?
As soon as I got up to follow, I saw blood splashed all over the cutline and along the path where he'd run.
There was blood every five feet, all the way to where he lay.
It was not hard to find him. As I got there, he was breathing his last. No need for a finishing shot, he gave one last shudder and died. The bear had run about 50 yards after the shot and went down just inside the treeline.
He has lots of scars on his face from fighting.
I got my Honda and pulled him out to the trail, using a small chain.
The bear measured exactly 50" around the chest. According to the chart I have, that makes him approx. 385lbs live weight. I think that's about right. It was a chore just to hold his head up for the self-timer! He measured 6-5" nose to tail. His pads are an even 5" across and his hind feet are just over 8" long.
After skinning and laying out the hide I got the exact same measurement, 77" long and 84" across the front paws. So that makes him 6'9" squared.
Here's the entrance hole. Huge hole!
The bullet blew away the top of his heart. Huge hole through it.
I tried to find the bullet to examine it, but I couldn't. I think it ended up in his guts somewhere. I couldn't find any other wound channel.
With the bear down and skinned I headed for camp. I made the decision to break camp and head home to spend some time with the family.
Did I mention it was raining, the whole time I was skinning the bear? Well it didn't stop and by the time I had camp packed in the trailer, it had turned to snow. Made for a helluva rough trip! A lot of winching...
This is the return trip. Friggin Swan Hills weather! May 29 2010.
The trail going in, Fri May 28. Still snow in the bush.
Fresh bear tracks on the trail near camp.
Moose sheds I picked up on the trail near camp.
Before. Bare tent frame.
After. Tent all set up, stove ready to go. Time to go scouting for bears...
More fresh bear tracks.
Saturday, I headed into a spot that I knew was really good for black bears.
There was numerous tracks, old and fresh, plus lots of s**t. Good feed.
I travelled up a long east-west running cutline. Stopped on a hill that allowed me to see over a km to the west and nearly a km to the east. Lots of fresh track and I was sure a bear would show if I was patient.
Sitting, waiting for bruin, got the .35Whelen in this pic.
Sure enough, at 2:25 a bear came out on the line, to the west,
and I knew right away it was a pretty good size. He was 900-1000 meters off, when he came onto the line. I know that, because I had been fooling around with the rangefinder and had ranged 994 yards, pretty much right where he came out.
If you look way down the line, to the top light colored area of grass, that's where the bear came from.
The bear was moving up the line right toward me and he was travelling in that way they do, when they're going somewhere. I hoped he'd come to me. So I stayed put, but I grabbed the .416RM out of the case, because I wanted to try it with 400gr Hornady IBs that I had loaded.
And the bear never stopped. He just kept coming, in that lumbering side-to-side gait, head held low. I figured he was about a 6-1/2 footer and I decided to take him.
I really never had to do anything. Right place, right time.
I held the gun on him as he got closer and closer. Because of the way he was carrying his head low, I had to wait though to get a slightly angling shot, that would miss his head. I held on his shoulder and he stopped and looked up. I drilled him just inside the right shoulder, right under his chin, the way he was looking at me. I stepped it off at 28 paces...
As soon as I fired he wheeled around and took off running. I thought, I can't have missed him!?
As soon as I got up to follow, I saw blood splashed all over the cutline and along the path where he'd run.
There was blood every five feet, all the way to where he lay.
It was not hard to find him. As I got there, he was breathing his last. No need for a finishing shot, he gave one last shudder and died. The bear had run about 50 yards after the shot and went down just inside the treeline.
He has lots of scars on his face from fighting.
I got my Honda and pulled him out to the trail, using a small chain.
The bear measured exactly 50" around the chest. According to the chart I have, that makes him approx. 385lbs live weight. I think that's about right. It was a chore just to hold his head up for the self-timer! He measured 6-5" nose to tail. His pads are an even 5" across and his hind feet are just over 8" long.
After skinning and laying out the hide I got the exact same measurement, 77" long and 84" across the front paws. So that makes him 6'9" squared.
Here's the entrance hole. Huge hole!
The bullet blew away the top of his heart. Huge hole through it.
I tried to find the bullet to examine it, but I couldn't. I think it ended up in his guts somewhere. I couldn't find any other wound channel.
With the bear down and skinned I headed for camp. I made the decision to break camp and head home to spend some time with the family.
Did I mention it was raining, the whole time I was skinning the bear? Well it didn't stop and by the time I had camp packed in the trailer, it had turned to snow. Made for a helluva rough trip! A lot of winching...
This is the return trip. Friggin Swan Hills weather! May 29 2010.
Last edited:
