Montana Bear Hunt, Spring 2016

[elk_hunter]

Well, better late than never to recap this hunt - got caught up in work and summer activities with the kiddos plus school has kicked off again so before I head out for archery elk shortly, I figured I ought to squeeze in the thread.

Every time I think about or look at pictures/videos from this hunt, it puts a big grin on my face. The memories and stories to tell are forever etched in my mind. While some stories may be hard to believe, others wouldn’t cause anyone to blink twice. But such is what plays out with our outdoor adventures and what we bring back with us. This bear hunt, replayed in my mind again and again, continues to leave me in awe and my head shaking.

I am new to bear hunting and this was only my 2nd time hunting them. Honestly, the bulk of the story is a result of my best buddy who lives there in Montana and helped me with maps and spots to hike and glass. He really surprised me by taking time off his crazy work schedule to personally take me places that held bears in an effort to get me my first one. That dedication and commitment to see my success is an amazing gift. There aren’t many hunters or friends nowadays who connect you with hot spots that hold animals. I am forever grateful and hope someday I can repay that to him. Though, that is highly unlikely as this guy is so incredibly accomplished, he has already killed more animals than I ever will. But! I will do my best to pay back when the time comes!

 

[elk_hunter]

So, back to the story. When I arrived in Montana in late May, I had enough time to catch an evening hunt. The spot looked to be perfect with newly green hillsides and chutes just below the snowline. I was perched above a saddle where animals crossing would certainly be in trouble. However, a pair of douches on dirt bikes riding in a non-motorized area pretty much ruined the hunt. They were too quick to get any reasonable description. The country was beautiful, as is everywhere in Montana, and I enjoyed the otherwise solitude of glassing.

 

[elk_hunter]

The next two days found me in a completely different area and a pretty good pull to get back in the country where the bears were. In one of the pictures, you’ll see my hand next to a rather large bear print, and yes, the hair on my neck was standing up thinking about this monster roaming close by. The game trail I was following, as seen with the pictures, had fresh bear sign all over. Post-holing through snowdrifts was worth it as once I got back in deep, I spotted a bear just before dark crossing a meadow in a pocket of trees. He was a ways off but I figured I could close the ground before dark. I was correct about that. However, I underestimated/failed to consider where the bear would be once he made it to the trees on the other side of the meadow. Needless to say, my searching turned up nothing, even though I was following some hot tracks as seen in the photo.

 

[elk_hunter]

Pics...

 

[duckhunt]

Like it so far.

 

[elk_hunter]

I spent the next several days in a completely new area with my buddy, one of his good friends and their sons, which presented bear opportunities only to have them taken away by mega douchebag outfitters and hunters with no morals/ethics. Such is public land hunting I suppose. Still not easy to stomach. As seen in the picture, that pure, high mountain stream and boulder with the mineral layers was a great place to take a break and refill the water. Didn’t do much to take my mind off the douchebaggery, but the water and jerky were damn tasty. I relished those breaks since my buddy and his friend are freaking mountain goats; it was all I could do to keep my out-of-shape self up with their pace!

 

[elk_hunter]

Damn, don't know why the pics are rotated after they are uploaded; they aren't on my computer screen - sorry guys!

 

[elk_hunter]

After those debacles, work was calling the guys to return, so I headed back to one of the familiar spots I tried earlier where I lost the bear walking across the meadow and into the trees. As I was headed up a canyon, multiple shots rang out and bullets were way too close for comfort in my direction so I got the hell out of there in a hurry. As a result, I relocated to another area and found myself completely alone in the backcountry. I enjoyed seeing bear rubs and claw scratches (had no idea these existed and thought only the likes of elk and deer and those critters made rubs). Also fun to see bear hair caught in pitch pockets on the pine trees and wishing I had game cameras set up.

As I made my way through a dense patch of pines, one tree about a foot in diameter caught my eye. Literally every foot or so on the tree up over 20 feet were a pair of claw marks on opposite sides of the tree. I sat and stared in awe at this ritual tree that had been visited over the course of many years by the same bear and wondered why this tree and was he still alive prowling the forest. And then thought perhaps I should get the hell out of there in case I was intruding on his space!

 

[MT_elk]

Great story so far!

 

[elk_hunter]

In this new area, it was really cool to see so many healthy cow/calf elk working hard to get fat for the coming fall/winter. Before dark on the first day in this new area, I spotted a nice chocolate bear and while all the advice I had been given was to sit tight and watch for a bit before trying to stalk, I couldn’t contain myself and took off after the bear for fear of losing it. Wouldn’t you know it, I ended up losing it because I wasn’t watching where he was going and his rate of movement, etc. Lesson learned!

 

[elk_hunter]

 

[elk_hunter]

I was back the following day in this new area to try and find the same bear again. I hiked in early and sat and waited the entire day. I was determined not to chase until I had some sort of pattern on the bear. I was sitting at the edge of a small meadow where I could glass across the canyon, with my back against some new growth fir and pine trees. Probably just after noon, all of a sudden, I heard a twig break behind me. I’m not sure why I didn’t jump up screaming like a girl (because I had a feeling it was a bear) but I slowly turned my head to see two cow elk lay down 6 feet from me and both were just staring at me like what the heck are you?!?! The wind shifted after a few minutes and once they smelled my lovely, sweaty self, they bolted. Go figure.


A few hours later I spotted the chocolate feeding out onto the same hillside as the night before. So, as patiently as I could, I watched and tried to pattern him. About an hour or so before dark, I was feeling comfortable enough to make my move. Out of nowhere, another, larger chocolate bear came running out of a patch of trees after the bear I had been watching and chased it over the ridge and out of sight for good. I thought oh hell, that’s just great, he’s probably in another county now. After waiting until dark just in case either one came back, I hiked out. I was really hoping the victor would come back and hang out in that lush green grass and present an opportunity, but it was not to be.

 

[elk_hunter]

After talking with my buddy about the events, he was pretty adamant that I not change locations and plan an ambush for either of those bears the following day. I was convinced that area was toast but decided to go back in after them. So, for my last full day of the hunt and the 3rd day in this area, I headed back toward where I had been, except this time, I wouldn’t sit at the glassing meadow but instead, I would go across the canyon and up a ridge and try to circle around and get the wind and elevation in my favor with the hopes that a bear would come out to feed that afternoon where I could intercept it from a reasonable distance.


The. Wind. Was. Absolutely. Horrible. Swirling every which way made it extremely difficult to execute this stalk. Beat into my head was that you might fool the eyes or ears of a bear, but never the nose. So, with that in mind, I began a slow, methodic dance up the steep ridge, bouncing between either side depending on the direction of the wind and the amount of cover available. I finally got into a position where I landmarked previously and figured if a bear was to make an appearance, this would be the zone. The wind did me no favors so literally every 20-30 minutes, I would hike up and over the ridge where I could glass and then hike back down enough where the wind would pull my scent downhill and away from the bear zone.

 

[elk_hunter]

Coming down to the wire, around 4:30pm, I had come up and over to glass when low and behold, I see a chocolate bear feeding on the hillside. Well looky what we have here…….. I ran to my pack, grabbed the rangefinder and rifle and came back over to a spot where I could lay down and settle in for a shot. It was awkward being perched on the steep mountainside but a solid rest no doubt! Then it turned into a little waiting game as I didn’t really have a shot I felt comfortable with and was hoping to get a broadside. The bear was feeding toward me and I wasn’t sure where I’d shoot if that was all he presented. But, the wait was a good thing so I could dry fire and settle my heart rate down quite a bit! And, just about 5pm, the bear finally turned broadside and having previously ranged him at 195 yards, I held the crosshairs dead on and squeezed the trigger.


The shot felt good but since the bear took off like a rocket, I had second thoughts about where and if I had hit him. That ended up being short-lived as the bear piled up in a ball about 30 yards from where he was shot! I literally couldn’t believe that the hunt, through all the highs and lows had culminated at this point and I was staring a couple hundred yards away at my first bear! There were only a few hours of light left on my hunt and I actually did it! Talk about cutting it close! Walking up to the bear, I felt like there was significant ground shrinkage - it looked so much bigger through glass - and frankly I was feeling a little embarrassed that I may have shot a young one.

 

[elk_hunter]

Upon inspection and skinning, I found that I shot him through both lungs and heart which is a confidence booster! He had a broken claw on one paw and had a funky mouth but I had no idea what that might indicate about his age. As you can see in the pictures, he had some den mites around his eyes but that was all they got and otherwise, it is a pretty bear with a hide full of soft hair that he hadn’t rubbed off! A bonus was when I rolled him over, he had a cool white patch on his chest!


The next chunk of time was occupied with skinning and deboning the beast, fumbling around on my first bear alone. But, sometimes, those are the best ways to learn. Once I finished, I barely got the hide/skull and all meat packed onto my Mystery Ranch. It. Was. So. Freaking. Heavy. I could barely stand up and was really wishing I had a packout partner! I spent the next 6 hours packing out of the backcountry, and to top it off, I had some hair raising, waaaaaay too close for comfort encounters with wolves who were interested in the bloody beast on my back. Thankfully I escaped without any attacks.


Early the next morning, I brought him to my buddy’s place and he got a chance to take a closer look at him. After measuring (squaring), he came out to 6’. We also measured the skull and while I don’t recall the inches and that doesn’t really matter anyway, it was a good sized noggin. So, it turned out that while I thought there was some pretty significant shrinkage, this was a bear of a lifetime. Talk about stunned and excited! Then I started thinking about preserving this success so, ka-ching, ka-ching….taxidermy bill, and soon the beast was on its way to be a rug in addition to a simple skull mount. I will probably never take a better bear in my lifetime and I am very thankful for the huge amount of luck I was fortunate to experience, thanks to my buddy.


When I checked him in at Fish & Game, the biologist was pretty excited. Estimates put the ancient bear at 20-25 years old based on several things including the missing and worn-down teeth. Interestingly enough, the bear had dual split ears; one natural from fighting but the other was intentional from a tag by fish and game. I couldn’t help but think about the kind of stories a radio collar could tell about this awesome bear’s life. The bear had zero fat on him and the biologist felt like he may not have made it through another winter, especially being so old. His claws were in basically perfect condition as he hadn’t been rooting in the ground; as you can see from his mouth, he had been using his nose/mouth exclusively.


This was an absolutely incredible experience where I put a ton of miles on the boots but got to see a lot of beautiful Montana on one of my most memorable hunts ever. Again, I am blessed to have such a great friend who put me into bear central. This will be hard to repay, but I’ll do my best!

 

[elk_hunter]

Pics...

 

[elk_hunter]

 

[elk_hunter]

 

[MT_elk]

Congrats on a great bear! Great story too!

 

[Festus]

Congrats! Nice bear!
Enjoyed the story.