Beaver Pond Bear Excursion

June 17, 2013


Kyle decided he wanted to go on a bear hunt. He was supposed to be taking it easy after having minor surgery that morning, but of course he didn't listen. He said we would go for a drive and then just for a nice, easy walk. Nothing strenuous. So, Kyles mom offered to take the kids for the evening and we would be back to pick up the kids just after dark.

We headed out to an area that I grew up in, trail riding horses. As we were driving down the back road we noticed a blue quad coming towards us. Kyle made a comment that if it were my dad he would laugh. I looked a little harder and noticed the person on the quad had no shirt on. I told Kyle that I guaranteed it was my dad. Sure enough, my dad pulled up beside us, shirtless. He told us he had just seen a massive black bear just up the road about a half hour ago. So we followed him up to the clearing he seen it. We decided to drive up to a spot above the clearing and walk down a grown in road. We walked for a bit and decided to try out the predator call in one of the next clearings. We set up the rabbit and went and settled in. After 30 seconds I was getting eaten alive. The area we were in is thick with rich, green vegetation and buzzing with mosquitoes. We only sat for about 10 minutes before we both couldn't stand it any longer. We drove up to the top of the mountain and scanned the lower valley, trying to hatch out a plan. Do we stay in this area hoping that bear was still around, or do we go try somewhere else? We decided to try a different area, a quieter area.

We drove for a while seeing nothing. Soon the land started to change into mountains surrounded by marsh. The marsh was full of beaver huts. Kyle started to get a little more optimistic about the area. As we continued on I seen a massive black figure across the marsh make its way up the clearing on the side of the mountain towards the trees. I said," Bear, Kyle bear! " He stopped and backed up so we could get a look at it. I got first glimpse and said he's a BIG bear. Kyle jumped out with the rifle and set up. I was watching the bear through my binos and talking to Kyle. Mainly reminding him that he is supposed to be keeping it easy and that he would not be an easy retrieval. Once he seen the bear he didn't care, this was the biggest bear he had ever seen. He was a brute of a bear. Kyle yelled to try to get him to stop climbing. He did. And he turned around towards us, sat down and started looking down toward the marsh. He didn't know we were there. This bear was so big, he had no neck or ears. He was just a tank. I kept an eye on him while Kyle was getting ready. Bang! He took a head on shot aiming for his chest. He hit him and the bear took off up the mountain and to the tree line. I watched until he disappeared amongst the trees. We quickly grabbed our packs and set off down the side of the hill. The hillside wasn't too bad, a little thick, but we soon discovered there was no fast way around the marsh. We came to a halt where the mud was separated by a patch of water running into the larger part of the marsh. Kyle took the first leap and didn't make it. The water swallowed in around him up to above his knees. It was apparently deeper then it looked also. Seeing how deep it was on him made me re-think this trip down. I leaped as far as the mud would let me and I hit the freezing, black, smelly water. It was up to my waist. We then had a hike straight up a mountain. Hiking with soaked boots sucks. My socks were making that gross smooshing sound in my boots. And yes, I ended up with hot spots on my feet! At least they weren't blisters. We managed to get up into the tree line he had disappeared into. Kyle wanted to get back to the spot he shot him and try tracking him from there. We scoured the area and found no sign besides the spot he was shot. As we were walking through, searching we heard a moan. Kyle looked at me, I said I think that was him. It sounded like a bear moan. So we started walking towards where we heard it. Nothing for the longest while. We then heard this weird sound, it sounded like a moan but I wasn't sure. Kyle thought it was the bear again. So we followed the new sound. As we were going along I was getting suspicious of this "moan". I was starting to think the birds were taking us on a run around. So I slowed down while Kyle was trying to cover as much ground as possible. He eventually caught on to the birds as well. By the time he had I was standing on one of the ridges scanning the clearings. And right below me was a calf Moose, watching me. I started talking to her as I walked and she started following me parallel to the ridge, then turned and started to jog straight towards me. Made me a little nervous since moose aren't known for being the nicest animals. But when she seen Kyle coming towards me she turned and took off to the treeline where the bear had gone. Kyle didn't even know she was there. It was starting to get to dark and I didn't want to have to cross the marsh in the pitch black so we decided to head back to the other side where the Jeep was parked. Thankfully we found a dam we could walk across. But we ended up having to fight our way up the other side of the mountain. It was steeper then where we came down and full of thick vegetation and blow down. I didn't care, as long as I didn't have to go swimming again. We decided to come back in the morning to see if we could find him.

The next morning we got the kids up and all our gear loaded. Kyle had been up during the night trying to see if there was an easier way to get to the mountain surrounded by marsh. He discovered using google earth that there was an old road that would get us across the marsh and then we could walk in. As we were heading in it was pouring rain. He figured we wouldn't see any bears at all. We did. A little black bear that was as blond as blond could be. Just a little guy, but he was sure beautiful. I managed to video him but the video is extremely shaky because the hand strap was set for Kyles hands and way to big for me. So we continued on. We soon discovered the road had been washed out before we got to the marsh. We parked and got the kids out with their rain gear on and started walking the road. Luckily it was more like a creek then a marsh where we had to cross. So nobody got their feet wet...from the creek anyway. By the time we got to the tree line where we lost sight of the bear Easton was done, he was soaked, tired and crying. So I stayed with him down in the clearing while Pheonix and Kyle walked up into the trees to look. He didn't find him, but he did find some large rocks that had been turned over that weren't like that before and that only a bear could have moved besides us. So he figured he must have hit him between the ribs and should. Unfortunately, that is the nature of the hunt and mistakes can be made. We will be making more trips up there in hopes to see the brute again.

Nikita

Bear videos- June 25 Hunt

June 26,2013



We seen 4 bears in total last night. 2 bears were alone and the other was a sow with this years cub. It was an overall great night even though Kyle didnt get to take a bear. We saved a Painted Turtle from getting run over on the road. Although he wasnt very happy with me picking him up and moving him to where he wanted to go. He was hissing and scratching me with his back feet. We seen lots of whitetail, including a few bucks, and 3 bull elk. One was a massive bull already. Below are the videos we got. The first one is of the 2nd bear of the evening (the first didnt give us the chance, he was gone) and the other is of the sow and her cub.

 

Nikita

 

 

Bear hunting

June 4, 2013

Today Kyle had the day off and because I already got my bear he decided he wanted to have an afternoon/evening out. His parents said they would take Pheonix and Easton for a sleep over. Our bear hunt turned into a date night, and it was a beautiful day for it. So we got the kids stuff packed up, got in our gear and headed out to drop them off for their sleepover with Oma and Papa. We drove up to an area that Kyle had hunted just a couple days earlier that he had seen tons of bear sign in, and parked. We geared up and started hiking. Not even 100 yrds from the jeep we found pile after pile of black bear scat. Within a 20 yard walk there was 7 piles. We were able to identify that there was at least one cub in the mix. So Kyle was very optimistic about seeing a bear. So we continued to hike. The farther and higher we got, the bear scat got less until we had a period of no sign at all. We pushed on anyways. Then as we were examining a puddle and mud we found a bear track. But it was the wrong kind of bear. After finding the track we started finding grizzly scat, and it got more and more in quantity. We decided that we would turn around and head back to the jeep and go to a different area.

 We drove for a bit and noticed the temperature was dropping rapidly so we decided to stay in the jeep from  a bit and follow some of the old abandoned roads. Again we found lots of bear scat all over the roads, side roads and main. Kyle "tagged" one pile that was on the main road and it was so fresh it splattered up the jeep after being run over. The farther we drove the higher up we got into the alpine and into the snow. We stopped to glass one large clearing and Kyle announces that there was a bear in it. I immediately asks if it was a black or grizzly. Too be honest, i figured we would have ran into a grizz before a black up that high. He said it was jet black, so I started searching the part of the clearing he was watching and I finally found him after he moved his head. He was about 350yrds away from us and didn't have a clue we were there. Kyle grabbed his rifle and decided to try to get a better look at him. By the time he got up to the top of the clearing the bear had disappeared. I was Kyles eyes from the road and it was like he laid down and vanished. After a few minutes Kyle did the same thing to me. So I waited. I strained to hear anything but with the creek roaring behind me it was next to impossible. I waited and waited. Finally Kyle came walking down the road from way back and around the corner. He had gone behind a roll in the clearing that I couldn't make out from the road and found the bear heading that way as well. He had followed him until he could stop and get a really good look at him and decided it was about a 4 foot bear. Not what he wanted. So once the little guy was out of sight Kyle came back to me and the jeep. In the mean time the temperature had dropped down to 3C and I had all my layers on. It was too dark by the time he got back to the jeep so we headed home, happy that we at least go to see a bear.

Nikita