DrMike
Ballistician
- Nov 8, 2006
- 37,314
- 5,982
I've hunted hard for my grizzly, and now I'm into the last month of my hunt. I'll be heading back up to the mountains during the Thanksgiving break (Monday, October 11 for those living in the USA). However, yesterday morning I received a frantic phone call from a fellow who said he was watching a brown phase black bear that was "as large as a grizzly." I dropped all I was doing and hied it 40 km out of town, only to hear that the bear had gone into the bush about ten minutes before I got there. I hunted hard the rest of the morning and made another trip out to the area in the evening. I did see a tiny little fellow, black with a white star. I also saw quite a few good whitetails, one buck a 5 X 5 with excellent mass passed within 80 yards of where I was standing. However, I was focused on a bear. I got up early this morning and was in the vicinity before first light. Whitetails were all around me, wheeze-snorting and flagging as I carefully got into position. I was concerned that if there was a bear they would send it scooting.
Suddenly, there was a bear walking across an open area about 250 yards ahead of me. It was just getting light. I saw a smaller bear at the edge of the forest and a larger bear grazing in the finger. He was brown, but he didn't appear all that large. He had a large head for his size and tiny ears, but he was only a small bear. Nevertheless, I decided to see if I could close the distance and take him. Over the next ten minutes I crept closer, but had only closed the distance to about 180 yards. At that point, he saw me and looked straight at me. He didn't move; neither did I. For about five minutes, we had a staring contest. I was wearing a black sweater, which likely bought me the additional time as I was standing against dark timber. Finally, he decided that the black thing staring at him could not be healthy for bears, and he began to walk toward the woods. I had but a moment to make a decision. Would I shoot or let him go? I couldn't get to a tree before he was in the timber, (the nearest one was some distance to my right). If I was to shoot, it would be off-hand or nothing. The shot was at the extreme limit of my comfort level. At this point I estimated him to be at 200 yards; later, I lasered the distance at 174 yards (I'm lousy at estimating distance). In the moment before he reached the bush, I lifted my 673 and unleashed a 200 grain TSX at 2850 fps. The bear rolled and lay still. I've seen plenty of "dead" bears jump up and run, so I quickly chambered another round and prepared to shoot again. Sure enough, he bounced up and turned to move back across the open space he had just covered. However, it was apparent that the first bullet had injured him severely. Later, I would learn that I had severed the spine and clipped the vena cava. However, at the time I could not see this; what I could see was that he was dragging his rear legs and moving surprisingly fast as he pulled himself along with his front legs. I shot again, hurrying the shot only to see the bullet hit about two feet in front of him. I stepped into the clearing and shot again, hitting him squarely. Later, I would discover that this shot hit him in the lung and pierced the heart. Even with such massive damage, he managed to make it over sixty yards to the bush before I could catch up to him. When I finally caught up to him, he was trying to climb a tree. I shot him a third time and put him down for good.
I twitted the fellow that had first phoned me, telling him that it would not do for him to go grizzly hunting with me as he would misidentify any bears that we saw. This is a young bear. While he is an attractive colour phase and he will be excellent dinner fare, he is definitely not a big bear. On the other hand, I still have another tag for black bear. I'll hold out for a six footer or better, however. I haven't pulled the trigger on a bear for a couple of years because I've been holding out for a larger bear. In fact, on my last trip looking for grizzly, I passed on a fine black bear that would have approached six foot or larger because I was focused on grizzly bears. However, I did shoot this one. He's not a grizzly; but he is a bear.
Suddenly, there was a bear walking across an open area about 250 yards ahead of me. It was just getting light. I saw a smaller bear at the edge of the forest and a larger bear grazing in the finger. He was brown, but he didn't appear all that large. He had a large head for his size and tiny ears, but he was only a small bear. Nevertheless, I decided to see if I could close the distance and take him. Over the next ten minutes I crept closer, but had only closed the distance to about 180 yards. At that point, he saw me and looked straight at me. He didn't move; neither did I. For about five minutes, we had a staring contest. I was wearing a black sweater, which likely bought me the additional time as I was standing against dark timber. Finally, he decided that the black thing staring at him could not be healthy for bears, and he began to walk toward the woods. I had but a moment to make a decision. Would I shoot or let him go? I couldn't get to a tree before he was in the timber, (the nearest one was some distance to my right). If I was to shoot, it would be off-hand or nothing. The shot was at the extreme limit of my comfort level. At this point I estimated him to be at 200 yards; later, I lasered the distance at 174 yards (I'm lousy at estimating distance). In the moment before he reached the bush, I lifted my 673 and unleashed a 200 grain TSX at 2850 fps. The bear rolled and lay still. I've seen plenty of "dead" bears jump up and run, so I quickly chambered another round and prepared to shoot again. Sure enough, he bounced up and turned to move back across the open space he had just covered. However, it was apparent that the first bullet had injured him severely. Later, I would learn that I had severed the spine and clipped the vena cava. However, at the time I could not see this; what I could see was that he was dragging his rear legs and moving surprisingly fast as he pulled himself along with his front legs. I shot again, hurrying the shot only to see the bullet hit about two feet in front of him. I stepped into the clearing and shot again, hitting him squarely. Later, I would discover that this shot hit him in the lung and pierced the heart. Even with such massive damage, he managed to make it over sixty yards to the bush before I could catch up to him. When I finally caught up to him, he was trying to climb a tree. I shot him a third time and put him down for good.
I twitted the fellow that had first phoned me, telling him that it would not do for him to go grizzly hunting with me as he would misidentify any bears that we saw. This is a young bear. While he is an attractive colour phase and he will be excellent dinner fare, he is definitely not a big bear. On the other hand, I still have another tag for black bear. I'll hold out for a six footer or better, however. I haven't pulled the trigger on a bear for a couple of years because I've been holding out for a larger bear. In fact, on my last trip looking for grizzly, I passed on a fine black bear that would have approached six foot or larger because I was focused on grizzly bears. However, I did shoot this one. He's not a grizzly; but he is a bear.
Great story and photos.
