2020 Black Bear Success

[Kristopher10]

Figured I’d share a pic of my spring bear with the forum. As with most spring bear outfitters right now I’m sure, they’ve had a tough go with hunters not being able to cross the border due to Covid-19. A friend of mine called me up and said come bear hunting as he had several openings, and work was a little slow, so I loaded up the truck and headed to B.C.





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[PaLuke]

Congratulations on a beautiful bear! Take care.

[badbrass]

WOW! Nice bear! Not your first I take it?

[Kristopher10]

Originally Posted by badbrass

WOW! Nice bear! Not your first I take it?

Believe it or not, it is my first bear lol.


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[bighorn1]

Beautiful bear congrats, love the color

[sage 13]

beautiful colored bear. What part of B.C. were you in? Hard to tell
but looks like could be a black/tan in the back ground.

[Kristopher10]

Originally Posted by sage 13

beautiful colored bear. What part of B.C. were you in? Hard to tell
but looks like could be a black/tan in the back ground.

That is a black/tan. It was near Williams lake area.


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[sage 13]

Originally Posted by Kristopher10

That is a black/tan. It was near Williams lake area.


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Was it with Bart or some of his crew.

[Kristopher10]

Originally Posted by sage 13

Was it with Bart or some of his crew.

No, I was with Logan Peasley. Relative of Bart actually. If I’m not mistaken some of the dogs came from Bart originally.


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[Bigwoodsman]

Awesome looking bear? Did you hunt it with the dog in the background? Or was the hound just used for recovery? Not judging just curious. Thats a very nice looking bear.

Congrats again
BW

[Positrac]

Beautiful Bruin. Congrats! Thanks for posting up some pics. That’s one of the things this place is short on these days. Cheers.

I’ve been on a few hunts with hounds and it is just about as exciting as it gets.

[hayseed]

Love the colour, congrats on a great bear!!

[Osky]

Great looking bear. Nice thick muzzle. Ears are down where they should be.
Congratulations on a beauty!

Osky

[sixpoint1]

Very nice, congrats.

[Kristopher10]

Originally Posted by Bigwoodsman

Awesome looking bear? Did you hunt it with the dog in the background? Or was the hound just used for recovery? Not judging just curious. Thats a very nice looking bear.

Congrats again
BW

We did hunt them with hounds. It’s really incredible what those hounds are able to do, so much fun to watch them work.


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[Kristopher10]

Originally Posted by Positrac

Beautiful Bruin. Congrats! Thanks for posting up some pics. That’s one of the things this place is short on these days. Cheers.

I’ve been on a few hunts with hounds and it is just about as exciting as it gets.

This was my first hunt with hounds. It was a ton of fun.


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[Bigwoodsman]

Originally Posted by Kristopher10

We did hunt them with hounds. It’s really incredible what those hounds are able to do, so much fun to watch them work.


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Thanks for that.

You need to tell us more about the hunt with hounds. Not to take anything away from the tree stand hunters or spot and stalk, but this sounds like quite the challenge with a Bow.

BW

[NewGuard84]

Nice bear and good job with the bow and hounds, must have been an adventure.

[Kristopher10]

Originally Posted by Bigwoodsman

Thanks for that.

You need to tell us more about the hunt with hounds. Not to take anything away from the tree stand hunters or spot and stalk, but this sounds like quite the challenge with a Bow.

BW

It is a challenge, it's also fun. The dogs were on the bear for about 3-3.5 hours. It was bayed up for a long time (bear still on the ground, moving slowly, or sitting in the creek to cool off), we made several attempts to arrow the bear while it was bayed up. First attempt we were kind of rushed, had to sprint 250 yards uphill to get into position when the bear popped out of the woods. As you can imagine I was out of breath which made holding the bow steady difficult. By the time I reached a point where I felt comfortable holding the bow steady, the bear was at 50ish yards (I don't like shooting at animals over 40yds unless everything feels right), and at the last minute one of the hounds darted into the shooting lane so we let him go to make another attempt. We caught up to the bear again, another 200 yard uphill sprint but this time I had a little more time to catch my breath before the bear came out. I could hear the bear coming through the brush so I drew back and a hound stayed right in front of him the whole time he crossed the logging path, had to let him pass again. This area is very thick timber so unless the bear crosses a road/path, enters a clearing, or drops down into an open creek it's very tough to get a shot while they're bayed up. We tried several times to catch up to the bear, but the brush was too thick and we just fell behind. The next time we caught up to the bear we thought it was still bayed up, sometimes they will just sit done for a break while the dogs bark around him. We moved through the thick stuff as quietly as possible a couple hundred yards from the nearest road and found out the bear went up a tree. And I mean up, probably somewhere between 120-150 feet up. Being in the tree might make it sound easy, but remember this is very thick timber. There was only one possible shooting location, and if I had stepped 4 inches in any direction I would not have had a clear shot at the bear. The sun was directly behind the bear, he was sitting upright on a branch with his front legs hanging over another one covering his vitals, and there was about an 8-10" window where I could hit the vitals if he moved his front legs. We got the dogs tied up and I waited for him to expose the vitals and I let an arrow fly. I caught him just under the armpit but he didn't seem to be phased by it so I made an adjustment and put another one dead center. It was about a minute later when he expired.

Hunting with hounds was a new experience and an exciting one. The chase is real and trying to guess what the bear is going to do and where its going to go is an adventure in itself. You can also put in a couple hours into a chase just to find out the hounds are on a tiny little bear. Sometimes after you set the dogs out on a large bear, if two bears cross paths somewhere they can start tracking the other bear. After I tagged out we kept hunting for another 3 days just for the fun (guide and his friend both had tags if we found a slob of a bear).

[weekender7]

Dang nice bear, congrats!

[Bigwoodsman]

Thanks for sharing your story.

BW

[sage 13]

Originally Posted by Kristopher10

No, I was with Logan Peasley. Relative of Bart actually. If I’m not mistaken some of the dogs came from Bart originally.


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good deal ya would think he got some of his dogs and his start with Bart.

[Ronaround]

Great Chocolate blackie.
Rug, 1/2 or full mount?

[Kristopher10]

Originally Posted by Ronaround

Great Chocolate blackie.
Rug, 1/2 or full mount?

Think I’m just going to get it tanned.


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[Stinky Buffalo]

Beauty of a bear! Congratulations!