SC Living Outdoors
Well-known member
Some hunts aren’t supposed to be that tough. Buy a tag and go out and punch it. Easy peasy. That’s how I thought it would be for a color phase bear. It wasn’t like that.
In 2019 I went to Idaho for the first time in pursuit of a color phase black bear. I saw one bear. I love Idaho. It’s one of my favorite places to go. It’s beautiful but I was unsuccessful. In 2020 due to covid restrictions I was unable to go to Idaho so I went to Montana with the same goal of getting a color phase bear. I saw 4 bears but I was unable to connect. In spring 2021 we saw a few bears and I came close to making it happen, but at the end of the trip I still hadn’t been successful. My friend, Trent invited me back to Idaho to chase fall bears. I arrived the beginning of the season and on day 2 of my hunt I passed a very easy gimme shot on a small cinnamon bear. He just wasn’t what I was looking for. He was too small and I couldn’t bring myself to shoot a bear like that. I had too much invested and the dream of a big bear was still in my head. On day 3 we switched gears and drove across the state to a new area. That night just before dark a tank of a bear came in. One perfect shot later and I finally had my color phase bear. He only ran 15 yards before crashing. I was elated. It took 26 days, countless miles flown, driven and hiked. In the end it was all worth it. The bear was over 300lbs with an 18 3/4” skull. A fantastic finish to goal I’ve had for a long long time.
In 2019 I went to Idaho for the first time in pursuit of a color phase black bear. I saw one bear. I love Idaho. It’s one of my favorite places to go. It’s beautiful but I was unsuccessful. In 2020 due to covid restrictions I was unable to go to Idaho so I went to Montana with the same goal of getting a color phase bear. I saw 4 bears but I was unable to connect. In spring 2021 we saw a few bears and I came close to making it happen, but at the end of the trip I still hadn’t been successful. My friend, Trent invited me back to Idaho to chase fall bears. I arrived the beginning of the season and on day 2 of my hunt I passed a very easy gimme shot on a small cinnamon bear. He just wasn’t what I was looking for. He was too small and I couldn’t bring myself to shoot a bear like that. I had too much invested and the dream of a big bear was still in my head. On day 3 we switched gears and drove across the state to a new area. That night just before dark a tank of a bear came in. One perfect shot later and I finally had my color phase bear. He only ran 15 yards before crashing. I was elated. It took 26 days, countless miles flown, driven and hiked. In the end it was all worth it. The bear was over 300lbs with an 18 3/4” skull. A fantastic finish to goal I’ve had for a long long time.
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