His First Bear

[DrMike]

I got a phone call from Jason, my fellow pastor, at about 7:15 this evening. I was just finishing some wild boar chops I had grilled when he phoned to say, "I shot a bear." He has a grizzly tag, so I asked if it was a grizzly or a blackie. "I don't know," he confessed. "It's brown and not real big." I advised him to take a picture and forward it to me. It was a brown phase black bear. Now, he was wondering what to do. He wanted the pelt to rug since it was his first bear. He certainly didn't want to sacrifice the meat. I had been unable to go with him as my wife was working unexpectedly today and I had agreed to make dinner. Now, he was interrupting my meal. I finished eating, excused myself, gathered knives and skinning gear and headed off into the bush. Forty minutes later, two of his children were flagging me down as I neared where he had shot the bear. I had them jump into the truck and drove on down to where Jason was. We hauled the bear into the bed and began skinning. For the first time ever skinning, Jason did a fine job. His daughter Brianna videoed the skinning with Jason's cell phone and Jonah helped by holding legs out of the way. I have a few pictures, so I'll post them tomorrow. Since it is now 11:30, I'm going to either turn into a pumpkin or go to bed. Jason is pumped and still looking for a grizzly.

 

[Guy Miner]

Well, congratulations to Jason!

And good job on your part, helping him out.

 

[truck driver]

Sounds like you had a busy evening DrMike. Congratulations to Jason.

 

[SJB358]

Congrats to Jason! Was that with his 200AB load?

Way to go and what a great primer for grizzly hunting to come! Great work!

 

[DrMike]

Congrats to Jason! Was that with his 200AB load?

Way to go and what a great primer for grizzly hunting to come! Great work!

It was the 200 grain AB. He commented that the bear dropped quite suddenly. When we got the pelt off, I showed him that he had demolished the spine. I commented that they do drop quickly when hit in the spine.

 

[HOGWILD338-378]

Great story Dr and Congrats to Jason and yourself for being there to lend a hand as I am sure you guys do that a lot when ya got game on the ground! I would imagine a spine shot with a 200 gr AB would knock down just about anything it hit ! Never had any fresh bear to eat but from the looks of my upper 1/2 I am sure it would go down with ease! The little black bears around here end up on the Interstate or a lotta business with automatic door openers, like hotels and hospitals! They will walk up to the door and it pops open so you know a bear and his nose :roll: they are all the time walking into these places and causing quite a few folks issues! :grin:

 

[JD338]

Congratulations to Jason on his black bear. I hope he can get on a nice Grizzly.

JD338

 

[DrMike]

Okay, I'll update this account. Jason had built several loads for testing at my loading bench (http://noslerreloading.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=27400&p=279880#p279880). He wanted a load to use as he had drawn a grizzly tag for this area. We had shot his loads, settling on a 200 grain AB (F210, Nosler brass and IMR 4064). He has a Savage that is giving him good accuracy, especially when you consider that he hasn't done a lot of shooting. He is pretty eager to get out into the bush. I struggled to convince him that so long as the ground is fully covered with snow, there won't be many bears. We did go out with some others on Good Friday to do some shooting after a fine meal at the home of a lady in our church..

Nahum (to the left in this picture) had his 300 Savage (for which we are also working up loads) is watching as his brother Jeremiah shoots a 12 gauge camp gun Jason brought. The boys had a lot of fun with that particular shotgun.



Jonah also got a turn with the camp gun.



Eventually, we got down to work with Jason's rifle. I had set up a target at 100 yards. Even from this setup, he printed three in less than an inch. I explained that it would do, as I didn't want him poking at a grizzly much beyond that.



He has asked every time I see him if we should go out. Finally, at church on Sunday, I received a report of the first grizzly moving about. I suggested to Jason that we should go out this week. Unfortunately, on Monday I was committed to cooking for my wife as she was unexpectedly called in to work. I had just finished a wild boar chop (grilled to perfection, I might add) when my phone rang. I saw it was Jason. As I picked it up, I commented, "Don't tell me you dropped a bear?" "I did," he exclaimed. "And now I don't know what I should do." He was uncertain if he had shot a grizzly or a black bear as it was brown. There are not a lot of brown phase bears in this area, so I suggested he send me a picture and I would give him my take. He had dropped a fine looking brown phase black bear. He had tags for both, so he was not in any trouble.

We agreed that I would give him a hand as soon as I could find him. I finished my meal, gathered up my gear for skinning, put on my boots and headed out into the bush. He was about forty-five minutes from my house in an area where I had showed him a good looking grizzly last fall. I had suggested that if he went out, it would be a good place to begin looking. The pipe lines would show the first vegetation. He had followed my suggestion.

He thought he had shot the bear at about 80 yards. When I lasered the distance, it was 150 yards. I suggested that we needed to work on estimating distance. Here are a few pictures of the bear. Jason is clearly pleased; Jonah looks a bit stunned. It may have had to do with the fact that dad had sent them to the road (about a kilometer away) to make sure I didn't miss them.



Jonah and Brianna had carried his 243 (for which he has also recently worked up loads) because I had cautioned Jason not to unload his rifle. Because the boars are beginning to roam about, it was possible that one could come in on the kill site and claim the little blackie. I suggested to Jonah that his rifle was better than a stick in the eye. We lifted the bear to my tailgate and took a couple more pictures. Jason is still pleased (I imagine that it will be a few days before the grin will leave his face). Jonah is beginning to relax and Brianna is still very serious. Perhaps she is worried about the grizzly I said could come into the clearing.



Well, I have another picture, so I might as well throw in one more.



Jason opined that he needed to learn how to skin. He suggested that if I guide him, he would do the deed. Since he wanted to have the pelt rugged, I cautioned that he didn't want to get any holes in it. The bear was very fresh; he hadn't been out of the den very long at all. He still had a bit of fat, so the winter wasn't just terrible on him. Jason's workmanship on the hide was superb. He was careful and has a good looking hide to take to the taxidermist. He did a good job.

 

[.280 Remington]

Awesome Bear! I'm so jealous!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DrMike]

He is not the biggest bear in the forest, but he has a beautiful pelt. The children were amazed at how soft the underfur is.

 

[sask boy]

Thanks Mike, that is a great story. Jason is a lucky fellow to have such a learned hunter & friend as yourself to teach & guide him through his first bear hunt.
I hope that there is going to be some bear brats in the making soon! :wink:.

PS. Those photos were awesome.

Blessings,
Dan

 

[OU812]

Great looking bear, tell him congrats.

 

[Vince]

Great job by Jason.
He's blessed to have you as a mate.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

 

[gerry]

That is a gorgeous looking blackie, congrats to Jason The 200 gr AccuBond is certainly an all around excellent bullet for the 30-06. I have to say that Nahum has great taste, I have the exact same shirt that was given to me years ago!

 

[6mm Remington]

Way to go Jason and really nice of you Mike to help them out. Beautiful bear for sure!! Love that color. I went out last Saturday and saw quite a few deer and elk but no bears. Got snowed on too!

 

[.280 Remington]

I can't stop looking at that bear!!!!!!! Man what a beaut!

 

[salmonchaser]

Good story, mentoring can be challenging you are to be commended. That is a great looking bear and an awesome grin.

 

[NYDAN]

What an awesome story. Congratulations to all concerned. It is so great that you help others along as you do. Thanks for sharing the story and pictures.

 

[tecumseh]

Another congrats to Jason! Nice bear!

 

[russ808]

Congrats Jason. Thats is one nice brownie. Hes going to look great as a flat skin. Great job Mike, passing it on.
russ