I just returned from my twenty five year old dream hunt to kill a black bear! We were hunting in Alberta where a hunter gets two tags and the opportunity to get two animals were certainly there.
We left Central Louisiana at nearly 6pm on Thursday the 14th. We arrived in Billings, Montana some 26 hours later. We drove another 14 hours Saturday and then drove another 6 on Sunday to arrive at the Riverstone Lodge near Fort Vermilion, Alberta. Upon arrival we stowed our gear then shot our rifles to check zero. None of our rifles had changed zero at all.
Monday afternoon I crawled in the stand at about 4:30pm while the guide refreshed the bait. Only ten minutes or so after he left the first bear arrived. Since he was about the height of the drum I sent a 405gr flat point from my 1977 Marlin model 1895 45/70 his way. My handloads hit true and the bear made it 16 steps from the point of impact to where he fell and let out the death moan. I waited ten minutes anyway and went to look at my first bear...an average boar. Since we neither had cell service or radios I hiked out the quarter mile to the woods road to leave a visual signal for the guide that I had indeed scored. Since I had another tag I came back to the stand after admiring my bear once more. About fifteen minutes after settling back in the stand I heard what I was sure was a bear come to investigate my dead bear who was just out of sight. I heard it for several minutes slowly moving away. It stopped and stated several times but eventually all went quiet.
I was still extremely tired from our 46 hour ride and took me a short nap since I figured it would be a while before things cooled off enough to see anything else. When I woke up there was a great big bear that towered over the bait barrel. When he turned quartering away just like the first bear I let him have a round from my 45/70! He ran the same way as the first bear only he made it about 25 feet further. The blood trail left by that old big bullet was truly impressive! After looking the bruin over I looked back to where my first bear had fallen but he wasn't there!!!
Remember this is only my second time to hunt bear and the first time was almost forty years ago. I was dumbfounded to say the least! I looked around in the area again and still could find nothing from the first bear. Knowing how far he was from the bait barrel I made a semi circular search and still couldn't find the first bear that I had double lung shot and had even touched his eye when I first approached him. Where was my bear??? I decided that before I messed up the trail I should black out and go wait for my guide.
I went and got comfortable next to the road and tried to take another nap but was too excited and confused to sleep. I knew the first bear was dead but couldn't figure out what had happened. After another hour and a half the guide came back by from baiting other stands and I was able to tell him my story about the two bears and how the first dead bear had disappeared. He rightly deduced what had happened immediately and set my heart at ease.
We drove up as close as we could get to the second and larger bear on the side by side UTV then winched the bear up into the back since there was no way we could pick it up. The second guide came on over in a while and he too figured out what happened and went straight to my first bear that had somehow disappeared. The noise that I had heard was my second, and larger bear, dragging away the first bear! It had drug it nearly fifty yards away and had buried it with sticks and leaves. The guys all said that while it's not unheard of for this to happen it doesn't happen often.
To say I had a wonderful experience is such an understatement! It's been a few years since I hunted with my 45/70 but I've got a sneaking suspicion it won't be my last. I had really wanted to use my 35Remington chambered Marlin but the miss fires I was having before the trip knocked it out of going with me. I had my 7600 Remington pump in 35Whelen on the trip but the way things worked out it never got the chance to hunt. Maybe next time!
We left Central Louisiana at nearly 6pm on Thursday the 14th. We arrived in Billings, Montana some 26 hours later. We drove another 14 hours Saturday and then drove another 6 on Sunday to arrive at the Riverstone Lodge near Fort Vermilion, Alberta. Upon arrival we stowed our gear then shot our rifles to check zero. None of our rifles had changed zero at all.
Monday afternoon I crawled in the stand at about 4:30pm while the guide refreshed the bait. Only ten minutes or so after he left the first bear arrived. Since he was about the height of the drum I sent a 405gr flat point from my 1977 Marlin model 1895 45/70 his way. My handloads hit true and the bear made it 16 steps from the point of impact to where he fell and let out the death moan. I waited ten minutes anyway and went to look at my first bear...an average boar. Since we neither had cell service or radios I hiked out the quarter mile to the woods road to leave a visual signal for the guide that I had indeed scored. Since I had another tag I came back to the stand after admiring my bear once more. About fifteen minutes after settling back in the stand I heard what I was sure was a bear come to investigate my dead bear who was just out of sight. I heard it for several minutes slowly moving away. It stopped and stated several times but eventually all went quiet.
I was still extremely tired from our 46 hour ride and took me a short nap since I figured it would be a while before things cooled off enough to see anything else. When I woke up there was a great big bear that towered over the bait barrel. When he turned quartering away just like the first bear I let him have a round from my 45/70! He ran the same way as the first bear only he made it about 25 feet further. The blood trail left by that old big bullet was truly impressive! After looking the bruin over I looked back to where my first bear had fallen but he wasn't there!!!
Remember this is only my second time to hunt bear and the first time was almost forty years ago. I was dumbfounded to say the least! I looked around in the area again and still could find nothing from the first bear. Knowing how far he was from the bait barrel I made a semi circular search and still couldn't find the first bear that I had double lung shot and had even touched his eye when I first approached him. Where was my bear??? I decided that before I messed up the trail I should black out and go wait for my guide.
I went and got comfortable next to the road and tried to take another nap but was too excited and confused to sleep. I knew the first bear was dead but couldn't figure out what had happened. After another hour and a half the guide came back by from baiting other stands and I was able to tell him my story about the two bears and how the first dead bear had disappeared. He rightly deduced what had happened immediately and set my heart at ease.
We drove up as close as we could get to the second and larger bear on the side by side UTV then winched the bear up into the back since there was no way we could pick it up. The second guide came on over in a while and he too figured out what happened and went straight to my first bear that had somehow disappeared. The noise that I had heard was my second, and larger bear, dragging away the first bear! It had drug it nearly fifty yards away and had buried it with sticks and leaves. The guys all said that while it's not unheard of for this to happen it doesn't happen often.
To say I had a wonderful experience is such an understatement! It's been a few years since I hunted with my 45/70 but I've got a sneaking suspicion it won't be my last. I had really wanted to use my 35Remington chambered Marlin but the miss fires I was having before the trip knocked it out of going with me. I had my 7600 Remington pump in 35Whelen on the trip but the way things worked out it never got the chance to hunt. Maybe next time!
