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Jesse's Hunting > Hunting Articles > Hunting Articles Archives > Chasing a Dream - Wilderness Bear on Archery Tackle
Chasing a Dream - Wilderness Bear on Archery Tackle
Kirk Edgerton - JHO ProStaff
- Sacramento, CA
December 15, 2006
Having scouted this location only a few weeks prior and knowing it held not only a good number of bucks, but in particular, one large mature blacktail with 4 points per side. We made short work of the six mile hike in, loaded down with full packs and food for three days of back country adventure.
Along for this journey was my friend, Steve Brown. After promising him countless stalks and opportunities at P&Y black tails, I was disappointed as the summer fires had all but choked the mountain valleys with plumes of white smoke. The valleys which we were planning to glass were now limited to a hundred or so yards of visibility during the daylight hours.
We quickly found that the deer had made some unusual transitions due to the fires still some seven air miles away, before bedding and feeding high on the mountain and under a long ban of rim rock. They were now low in the valleys and as quickly as the sun rose; the deer were off to bed, which I thought was odd for being so far away from other hunters and pressure.
Glassing the backcountry pays off.
The author scans the canyons for deer. Wilderness hunting allows you to have vast expanses practically to yourself. |
After spotting only a few does either in pairs or quickly hustling by themselves to bed on opening morning, we spent the mid-day hours hiking to a small alpine lake to refill our water and make a plan for the evening hunt.
Steve decided that the ridge to our south was his destination for the afternoon and planned to still hunt the upper reaches, looking for a bedded buck or, hopefully, spotting one in the valley below. I, on the other hand, was perched cautiously just over the rimrock band, peering into the valley and hoping to see a buck to stalk.
As the sun began to set behind the mountains to the west and directly across the basin, I glassed more hurriedly, knowing the afternoon and the first day of the season would soon come to an end.
It came as no surprise when I spied a large black spot below. Knowing the free ranging cattle were using the valley to our east, I was sure a small band of them had found this valley as well for its fresh grasses and water. Dialing the knob on my 10x Bushnell’s, my heart began to pound as what I’d previously thought was a cow, turned its head and showed itself as a large black bear.
The bear was slowly feeding in a small series of meadows on the valley floor. Knowing I only had 45 minutes of legal shooting light left, I mentally marked his spot as he began to feed south by a large pile of white rocks. The white rocks would be my guiding point as I descended the mountain.
The valley floor was 800 vertical feet below with extremely steep sides, but knowing I needed to move fast, I broke into a quick run luckily finding a deer trail that showed me the easiest way down. Nearing the canyon floor, I slowed my pace, knocked an arrow, and scanned the large meadow I was now entering from slightly above.
Hitting the valley floor and nearing the white rocks where the bear was last spotted; I began slowly walking, listening, and constantly checking the wind. I spied the bear feeding on grass, 125 yards away. He was in the upper third of the meadow and although there was little cover in which to put together a stalk, I used a small rise on the eastern edge to hide my approach. When the bear would turn and feed away, I ducked down and eased a few yards closer.
At only 73 yards the bear caught my movement and sat facing me with his head held high, swinging his massive head from side to side trying to catch my scent. The thermals were in my favor and the green Predator Deception camo hid me very well. He knew I was there, but not what I was.
CA Wilderness Bear
One of the author's dreams was fulfilled with the harvest of this fine, California black bear. |
As the bear began to feed slightly uphill and out of sight, I cautiously eased up the slight rise certain that any moment the bear would appear and I’d get a shot, but; as the minutes ticked away, the bear didn’t show. Moving a few yards farther up, I was happy to see the bear had fed back down the hill and was now in the open. I was uphill and had some small trees to use as cover. Easing forward and ranging a rock at 47 yards, the bear began to slowly walk toward the rock, stopping just to the other side at what I guessed to be 50 yards. I came to full draw.
When the pin found its mark, I slowly squeezed the trigger and heard what sounded like my arrow hitting the ground, but the bear stood motionless. As I readied for another shot, his head fell heavily onto the ground and his body followed. There was no further movement, yet I nocked another arrow and readied for a follow-up shot.
I knew the bear was large and mature, but after waiting a few minutes and approaching him, I was pleasantly surprised as he turned out to be a jet black boar with a large white diamond patch on his chest. His paws were immense and teeth well worn. For me, it was the bear I had always wanted to kill and knowing I did this miles from anyone made the moment that much sweeter.
I called Steve on the radio and told him I had a bear down. I was happy to hear he had watched the events unfold. He had ended his hunt early and was perched high above on the canyon wall glassing below. He was watching the bear and wondering were I was when he noticed movement. That movement was me stalking the bear. Steve was able to watch the stalk, but trees blocked his view just before I released the arrow.
That night in camp, bivy sac pulled tight around my shoulders, I couldn’t help but smile as the realization of a dream had finally come to fruition. I had just harvested my first Pope and Young trophy, in the backcountry, with bow and arrow.
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