Demonicals Bear
- Thread starter Demonical
- Start date
Demonical, I think you have a helluva mean streak. Considering what that bear had just been doing, you could at least have waited until he had a beer and a cigarette before you shot him.
By the way, I saw two really (really!) good bears this morning on the Long Lake road, about a mile east of the campground and on the north side. I suspect they're hanging around in the cut blocks just to the north.
By the way, I saw two really (really!) good bears this morning on the Long Lake road, about a mile east of the campground and on the north side. I suspect they're hanging around in the cut blocks just to the north.
todbartell said:thats a wicked brute , congrats
how come you didnt use one of your big guns
TBart I have been lazy about reloading and have no sure load for either my .416 or my .458. I'll tell you I was glad I had my .338 at least!!
Noel said:
Noel that bullet barely penetrated into the lungs! It was just in front of his left hind leg, went right through the center of the liver and then through the diaphragm, but I could not find it.
Like I said, I am damn glad I had the .338WM!
With a bear that heavy I would only want a broadside shot with a .30-06!!
Tumbleweed said:
Tumbleweed one of the guys saw a XXL cinnamon boar with a black sow out in the field south of Judy Creek today.
ACKLEY ABE said:
ABE, Yes it was shot NW of Swan Hills. I heard of another big (black) boar today in there. One of the field ops saw my bear pics and said he had seen one just like it, but he wouldn't tell me where, cuz he figures I would shoot it!!
DW said:
DW didn't you shoot a monster yourself this spring!?
Last edited:
death-junky
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Moose Jaw SK
wow that is a big bear good job! oh by the way is that the exit wound in the pic?
ttyal
Riley
ttyal
Riley
There is just a couple more things I got to say about this bear.
The story really started last fall. Republic of Alberta and I have a friend named Pete and he was travelling up in that country last Sept., where we hunt moose.
In a cutblock only 1/2 mile from my moose camp, Pete saw a huge black bear. He told us he was certain the bear would go 7', and the proximity to my moose camp really got my attention!
Later in Oct. when we were moose hunting, I saw the tracks of a huge black bear; the frontprints were 6" across and the hind footprints were 6" x 10" long. Biggest black bear tracks I have seen in 25 years of hunting the Swan Hills. I believe it was the bear that Pete had seen. So I knew then that there was at least one monster bear in that country. I figured there had to be some others like that too.
Of course I do not have any idea if I got that bear... but it is what I was looking for.
Pete is gonna crap when he sees the pics...
One more bit of info'...
I spent Saturday night sleeping in the cab of my truck laying on the front seat with no pillow, blankets or anything. I was friggin' froze in the A.M.!! I was up at 4:30 A.M. and headed off at 4:45. In the morning travelling along the trail there was ice in the low areas...
So I paid my dues to get this bear.
And even though I shot the damn thing I cannot stop looking at the pics!! I cannot get over the size of that damn bear!!
All the credit for this story really goes to the bear. I was just there.
The story really started last fall. Republic of Alberta and I have a friend named Pete and he was travelling up in that country last Sept., where we hunt moose.
In a cutblock only 1/2 mile from my moose camp, Pete saw a huge black bear. He told us he was certain the bear would go 7', and the proximity to my moose camp really got my attention!
Later in Oct. when we were moose hunting, I saw the tracks of a huge black bear; the frontprints were 6" across and the hind footprints were 6" x 10" long. Biggest black bear tracks I have seen in 25 years of hunting the Swan Hills. I believe it was the bear that Pete had seen. So I knew then that there was at least one monster bear in that country. I figured there had to be some others like that too.
Of course I do not have any idea if I got that bear... but it is what I was looking for.
Pete is gonna crap when he sees the pics...
One more bit of info'...
I spent Saturday night sleeping in the cab of my truck laying on the front seat with no pillow, blankets or anything. I was friggin' froze in the A.M.!! I was up at 4:30 A.M. and headed off at 4:45. In the morning travelling along the trail there was ice in the low areas...
So I paid my dues to get this bear.
And even though I shot the damn thing I cannot stop looking at the pics!! I cannot get over the size of that damn bear!!
All the credit for this story really goes to the bear. I was just there.
ACKLEY ABE
Regular
- Location
- ST ALBERT, ALBERTA
Too bad about your field op. We have probablly run into each other. We were camped down by Carson creek May 14 (no not the big camp with the fifth-wheels and hot tub). I've hunted 349 for 20 yrs for bears. Everywhere from Whitecourt to Little Smokey to Swan. We had a great hunt. Four days we saw 2 Chocolates 2 Blondes 'bout 12 Blacks and two Griz (on Chickadee). One of the Blondes was a good 6 1/2' + but just coudn't get on him. On the Road past the foresty camp across the hiway from fieldgate. I wish I had known you were up in that country a cpl of wks ago before it closed and I would have given you the info then.
Demonical said:
I did get a nice bear. 6ft 5 measured with the hide on. And the next weekend I took a buddy out and his went 7ft 5. We did all right. Your bear reminded me of ours with all that mass in the neck and shoulders. There have been some brutes shot this year for sure. Again, nice bear man. You should be proud of him.
ACKLEY ABE thanks for the info. I have to say I probably could not have gotten out then anyway. The dang wife had me doing yards work!! 
There isn't a lot of time left and the only area open around here is NW of Swan Hills but I am going to try to get out again sometime in the next week!!
DW those are both damn sure nice bears!!
My buddy Republic of Alberta also got a helluva nice bruin. His was 6'7" squared.
I spoke to Ken Walker (Walker Wildlife Creations, Alberta Beach) about my bear. If you don't know his work he is regarded as probably the finest life mount taxidermist in the business; for bears certainly.
Ken says he has seen a number of book bears over the years (all out of Fox Creek AB for some reason) and he says all those book bears "look like a pig".
I sure admit I hope mine makes book!! I am starting to think it has a chance!!
There isn't a lot of time left and the only area open around here is NW of Swan Hills but I am going to try to get out again sometime in the next week!!
DW said:
DW those are both damn sure nice bears!!
My buddy Republic of Alberta also got a helluva nice bruin. His was 6'7" squared.
I spoke to Ken Walker (Walker Wildlife Creations, Alberta Beach) about my bear. If you don't know his work he is regarded as probably the finest life mount taxidermist in the business; for bears certainly.
Ken says he has seen a number of book bears over the years (all out of Fox Creek AB for some reason) and he says all those book bears "look like a pig".
I sure admit I hope mine makes book!! I am starting to think it has a chance!!
ACKLEY ABE
Regular
- Location
- ST ALBERT, ALBERTA
Small world....Ken is a good freind of mine. I guided Norweigians for him for a few yrs. He used to have his camp close to Fox Creek and most of the guides that worked for him hunted behind Fox and on Eagle Tower Road and Virginia Hills road. I was the only one that went as far as Carson and Fieldgate. And ...yes...he is "Da Man" to mount your bear. He does great rugs and his Live Mounts are second to nobody. He spent just about a year at the "Smithsonian Institute" doing taxidermy for them on their invitation.
Thats quite a recomendation. I guess its not hard to tell I think highly of Ken.
When you see him,ask him to do some "Burton Cummings" for you.
Maybe we can get together next spring and cruise some 349 bruins.
Thats quite a recomendation. I guess its not hard to tell I think highly of Ken.
When you see him,ask him to do some "Burton Cummings" for you.
Maybe we can get together next spring and cruise some 349 bruins.
You know, for you guys that are saying that you would like to go bear hunting, but don't want to do anything with the hides, there is a solution. I always donate my deer hides to the Alberta Fish and Game Association every fall. They will take other hides as well, including bear. The bonus is, on top of helping AFGA out, for every hide, you get an entry into a new rifle draw that they do every year. No gun for me yet, but if someone can use the hides instead of me just throwing them out, that's good enough for me. In Edmonton, it's Halford Hides that is the drop off depot.
Great job on the bear and the pictures.....nice to see someone getting a real big one like that.....James and I were checking out the pics and he was pretty excited .... congrats
I hope he scores high for you. Let us know in a couple months what the final measurement is. Im betting 20" plus a bit. Those ears are pretty far apart.........
I hope he scores high for you. Let us know in a couple months what the final measurement is. Im betting 20" plus a bit. Those ears are pretty far apart.........
huntinstuff said:
huntinstuff I am betting high 21's" and maybe even 22".
I downloaded the page from AFGA on scoring bear skulls. When I put the tape on the skull, I went from the bump on the top of the nose where the nose cartilage starts. I cut off 1 1/2" or more and I was not right to the end of the skull; I got 12" easily, even without that.
And across the skull is a lot harder to judge, but it's somewhere around 8 1/2" to 9" I'd say.
In this pic you can see the bump on the nose that I measured from...
FYI if you check the Top 10, the #1 Alberta blackie was shot in the WMU adjoining the zone where I shot my bear. And I really think my bear has a chance to be Top 10 Alberta.
http://www.apos.ab.ca/pages/bear-top10.htm
When I get real numbers I assure you I will provide those!!
I have to make this quick, I took my bear to Ken Walker today, his general comments were...
"I have handled several thousand bears and I have only seen a handful with skulls this big."
"If this is not 21" plus I will be shocked."
"This is a record book bear, I don't even need to measure it..."
FYI, Ken has a 20 1/2" skull on his shelf and he held it up to the head of my bear and the thing looked tiny against my bears head. It actually looked funny...
The only caution in all this is my bear has such a meaty head it is tough to really know the width. Skull length "guesstimate" is around 13 3/4"-14".
Ken is going to put a rush on skinning the head and he's got a skull guy and they're going to get a green measurement and then they'll let me know the results.
Later, Jim.
"I have handled several thousand bears and I have only seen a handful with skulls this big."
"If this is not 21" plus I will be shocked."
"This is a record book bear, I don't even need to measure it..."
FYI, Ken has a 20 1/2" skull on his shelf and he held it up to the head of my bear and the thing looked tiny against my bears head. It actually looked funny...
The only caution in all this is my bear has such a meaty head it is tough to really know the width. Skull length "guesstimate" is around 13 3/4"-14".
Ken is going to put a rush on skinning the head and he's got a skull guy and they're going to get a green measurement and then they'll let me know the results.
Later, Jim.
Last edited:
Hey Demonical...that is a real nice bear. I take it that you are sure it is a lot bigger than the one R.O.A got earlier. Congrats to both of you. I still chuckle when I think of last fall when your hunting partner called in that black bear old Kid shot. Never saw anything like that before.
This has got to be my buddy GH from Edson. Thanks!
Sweet Clover, I don't know, ROA's bear is hella big! Mine is certainly a big bear, I didn't see ROA's bear personally, so I take his word for the size comparison. He had the advantage of seeing both bears. I have the advantage of having put a tape to the head of mine. I have a pretty good idea of the size...
To be honest it was good old fashioned BS luck to be honest. But there's nothing wrong with a little luck sometimes!!
Btw, we saw lots of moose. Country is looking good for now, but there is a lot of new logging areas being surveyed! Our hunting area is going to change quite a bit over the next year or so...
Say hello to Kid for me!!
Sweet Clover, I don't know, ROA's bear is hella big! Mine is certainly a big bear, I didn't see ROA's bear personally, so I take his word for the size comparison. He had the advantage of seeing both bears. I have the advantage of having put a tape to the head of mine. I have a pretty good idea of the size...
To be honest it was good old fashioned BS luck to be honest. But there's nothing wrong with a little luck sometimes!!
Btw, we saw lots of moose. Country is looking good for now, but there is a lot of new logging areas being surveyed! Our hunting area is going to change quite a bit over the next year or so...
Say hello to Kid for me!!
