Spring 2010 trophy black bear ..
I had recently purchased a new set of ITP Baja Cross ATV tires for my Honda quad , from Huntbc member Eric..aka Neeha..and was itching to see what they would do..So having a reasonably good day as far as health goes I had two options go glass for Cali sheep or go look for a black bear…I chose the bear option because I would encounter snow there also…and I had promised the wife of my pilot to get her a good bear for their lodge..
So I packed the big green diesel with hunting gear, quad, and everything I thought I might need for a couple of hours riding and headed out towards Horsefly some 60 minutes away…the trip was short and enjoyable as a few mule deer were encountered as they fed in the warm spring heat…I had taken Leaseman and his son in here on Nicks deer hunt, and also Dave..AKA BIGBORE 14 on a bear hunt a couple years prior and knew after 3 decades of hunting this place held a decent amount of bears AND 40 % of them sported non traditional black bear colors...my “Farrah Fawcett” blond black bear was harvested in this area as well as numerous other bears..
I unloaded the quad , loaded up the gun case and the day box and slowly headed down the trail….INSTANTLY I appreciated the choice of new tires..they were awesome providing a much better ride , more responsive feel and now I knew how the bike would respond…..no more squirmy ride..the radial design and 8 plys made for a much much better tire. THANKS ERIC.
I ended up climbing up towards the alpine even though I knew from years of experience that the bears would be lower down feeding on the new pockets of greening grasses…but I wanted to sit and glass a few likely locations from one of the many vantage lookout spots I had discovered over the years , and soon I found a good one and grabbed my 4 litres of water and binos and spotting scope and sat down back against the now warm quad looking out over the wide vista of the area surrounding Horsefly lake far below. Before I could even lift the Swarovski binos I spotted a bear on one of the trails leading to a cutblock….a casual scan of the area soon revealed yet another black bear munching happily down another trail ….wow… 2 bears in under a minute without even using the binoculars so I instinctively turned to a small little cutblock that has in the past decades held some of the best bears...and immediately I caught movement along the back of the overgrown cutblock yet another black bear however this one was noticeably larger, much larger, and carried a deep luxurious brown colored coat…
So I picked up the 8 power Swaros and glassed the bear..and man did I ever get a surprise..the bear was facing me some 3 kilometers away and far, far below...however the instant I laid eyes upon him I kew he was a special bear...he was huge in a big and “blocky” way..his back side rose in elevation to his front end....always a good sign of size , the hide was a glorious chocolate brown that shimmered and danced in the spring sun.,.his neck was thick and massive and the hair here was highlighted and showed just how long and thick his hair was…and even from here the head looked massive especially wide…now this was a guy that deserved…no demanded a closer look .
One of the things about knowing….I mean REALLY knowing an area intimately is that not only do you know the normal places to stop and glass…places others would drive on by without giving it a look over, let alone a second glance but you also know HOW to approach each area…..the trails and how close I could get on the Honda. .and where I could hide the ride while I snuck in for a closer look..and the size and shape and layout of the cut block the thicker forest behind and feeder trails, and small creeks to cover any errant noises..
I got on the Honda and cracked her open, the tires now aggressively grabbing the dirt and mud , shooting me down the hill and towards an encounter with MR Bruno..yet being careful enough that I didn’t dump the ride and ruin the whole scheme..I quickly covered the ground down toward the bear, first this trail then that one, then another one..all the while formulating the rest of the plan literally “on the fly”..
Soon I had descended into the valley below and slowed down looking for “THE” place to ditch the Honda now some 20 kilometers from my truck...it would be nice to have a ride still there to take me to the Ford diesel at the end of the adventure regardless of the outcome….I found the spot and pulled the bike in on the back of some thick trees..turned the 500cc machine off and pocketed the keys..ensuring the pocket of the coat that held these precious keys was securely and completely zipped…I donned my day pack carrying I SPOT..rangefinder, knifes,licences, tags, sildome,blood finder..water hydration bag, soap,camera , GPS, and everything I might need…
I took out my Sako.338 model 85 in synthetic stock with Corlanes custom 3 piece muzzle brake.., I snapped the clip into the rifle confident in the 225 grain Barnes tsx bullets that had been specially worked up for this rife by my great friend Garry Deane checked the leupold variable rifle scopes optics were clear and clean, and flipped up the scope caps..I then racked a shell and placed the safety carefully on and keeping the rifle in hand turned and slowly headed into the woods towards the bear.
I had recently purchased a new set of ITP Baja Cross ATV tires for my Honda quad , from Huntbc member Eric..aka Neeha..and was itching to see what they would do..So having a reasonably good day as far as health goes I had two options go glass for Cali sheep or go look for a black bear…I chose the bear option because I would encounter snow there also…and I had promised the wife of my pilot to get her a good bear for their lodge..
So I packed the big green diesel with hunting gear, quad, and everything I thought I might need for a couple of hours riding and headed out towards Horsefly some 60 minutes away…the trip was short and enjoyable as a few mule deer were encountered as they fed in the warm spring heat…I had taken Leaseman and his son in here on Nicks deer hunt, and also Dave..AKA BIGBORE 14 on a bear hunt a couple years prior and knew after 3 decades of hunting this place held a decent amount of bears AND 40 % of them sported non traditional black bear colors...my “Farrah Fawcett” blond black bear was harvested in this area as well as numerous other bears..
I unloaded the quad , loaded up the gun case and the day box and slowly headed down the trail….INSTANTLY I appreciated the choice of new tires..they were awesome providing a much better ride , more responsive feel and now I knew how the bike would respond…..no more squirmy ride..the radial design and 8 plys made for a much much better tire. THANKS ERIC.
I ended up climbing up towards the alpine even though I knew from years of experience that the bears would be lower down feeding on the new pockets of greening grasses…but I wanted to sit and glass a few likely locations from one of the many vantage lookout spots I had discovered over the years , and soon I found a good one and grabbed my 4 litres of water and binos and spotting scope and sat down back against the now warm quad looking out over the wide vista of the area surrounding Horsefly lake far below. Before I could even lift the Swarovski binos I spotted a bear on one of the trails leading to a cutblock….a casual scan of the area soon revealed yet another black bear munching happily down another trail ….wow… 2 bears in under a minute without even using the binoculars so I instinctively turned to a small little cutblock that has in the past decades held some of the best bears...and immediately I caught movement along the back of the overgrown cutblock yet another black bear however this one was noticeably larger, much larger, and carried a deep luxurious brown colored coat…
So I picked up the 8 power Swaros and glassed the bear..and man did I ever get a surprise..the bear was facing me some 3 kilometers away and far, far below...however the instant I laid eyes upon him I kew he was a special bear...he was huge in a big and “blocky” way..his back side rose in elevation to his front end....always a good sign of size , the hide was a glorious chocolate brown that shimmered and danced in the spring sun.,.his neck was thick and massive and the hair here was highlighted and showed just how long and thick his hair was…and even from here the head looked massive especially wide…now this was a guy that deserved…no demanded a closer look .
One of the things about knowing….I mean REALLY knowing an area intimately is that not only do you know the normal places to stop and glass…places others would drive on by without giving it a look over, let alone a second glance but you also know HOW to approach each area…..the trails and how close I could get on the Honda. .and where I could hide the ride while I snuck in for a closer look..and the size and shape and layout of the cut block the thicker forest behind and feeder trails, and small creeks to cover any errant noises..
I got on the Honda and cracked her open, the tires now aggressively grabbing the dirt and mud , shooting me down the hill and towards an encounter with MR Bruno..yet being careful enough that I didn’t dump the ride and ruin the whole scheme..I quickly covered the ground down toward the bear, first this trail then that one, then another one..all the while formulating the rest of the plan literally “on the fly”..
Soon I had descended into the valley below and slowed down looking for “THE” place to ditch the Honda now some 20 kilometers from my truck...it would be nice to have a ride still there to take me to the Ford diesel at the end of the adventure regardless of the outcome….I found the spot and pulled the bike in on the back of some thick trees..turned the 500cc machine off and pocketed the keys..ensuring the pocket of the coat that held these precious keys was securely and completely zipped…I donned my day pack carrying I SPOT..rangefinder, knifes,licences, tags, sildome,blood finder..water hydration bag, soap,camera , GPS, and everything I might need…
I took out my Sako.338 model 85 in synthetic stock with Corlanes custom 3 piece muzzle brake.., I snapped the clip into the rifle confident in the 225 grain Barnes tsx bullets that had been specially worked up for this rife by my great friend Garry Deane checked the leupold variable rifle scopes optics were clear and clean, and flipped up the scope caps..I then racked a shell and placed the safety carefully on and keeping the rifle in hand turned and slowly headed into the woods towards the bear.
