(After some prodding, I went back and added the story. I hope you enjoy).
This picture was from last fall in Colorado. I'd just shot this big old boar from way too close. It was one of my most memorable hunts; I'm glad my Dad was there to share it with me. I like it when I'm browsing old pics and am flooded by memories.
-Vig
(http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z135/jrvalc/100_2685.jpg)
The bear story starts where the elk story ended. Or, to be more accurate, where the elk's life ended. Exactly where it ended, over what remained. The closest tree that I could comfortably hang a tree stand on was about 75 yards away, and that aspen coincidentally held my tree stand about 13 feet up. It was a good elk stand near a waterhole, proven by the gut pile in front of me. The problem was there was only oaks nearby, and very few what looked big enough to support me.
I hung a tree stand anyway up in the nearest clump of oaks. The tree was only about the diameter of my arm only six feet up in the air, but it was the best chance I had to ambush a bear. I knew they were around because I'd seen the sign: piles of bear poop in the trail you had to strain your leg to step over. The evening before I shot the elk my Dad pointed out a bear track on the water hole that my five-inch fletch wouldn't span. "You'll know it when you see that bear," he told me.
It took a couple of days before there was any evidence of bear activity where we cleaned the elk. I had been sitting in the oak tree, six feet off the ground, morning and night. Finally, as my Dad and I snuck in just past daylight we realized that things had been disturbed very recently. I hurried into the stand while my Dad went back down to the pond in case another elk was going to make the ill-fated decision to drink. I stepped onto the platform and looked down to realize that whatever had disturbed the elk remains had drug them almost under my stand, behind some thick oak I couldn't shoot through.
I made a lucky decision to break a few of those branches and clear a shooting lane just in case the bear approached from my left side. I grabbed my bow, knocked an arrow, and stood surveying the situation when I thought I heard a noise off to my left. I froze, straining to make out what I'd heard. Then, getting louder with each repetition, was a breathing that sounded like something you'd hear from the overweight, over-indulging buffet regular on his fourth trip to the dessert bar. I slowly craned my eyes to the left to catch a glimpse, hoping it wasn't a sow with cubs.
Through the oak branches I got immediate identification of a legal bear. It was less than 60 feet away and moving steadily toward my position; I remember seeing the huge light colored hump on its back and its huge dark front paws as it walked toward me. I knew right then things were about to get a little western! I readied my grip on my bow and tightened the string in the groove of my fingers and shifted slightly to aim through the small gap I had just cleared in front of me. I consciously bent at the waist, knowing I'd be shooting near straight down. As the bear walked under me I looked behind his shoulder, drew back my GrizzlyBows longbow, and released the arrow.
There is some debate as to what happened next. I remember calmly sliding another arrow out of my quiver as I calculated distance and shot angle to try to get another arrow in the bear. Thankfully, as we found out later another arrow wasn't necessary. I watched it spin and jump about three times before it lined out straight away with a bad limp on its front right leg. My Dad, who if you remember, was on the waterhole 75 yards away, has a different recollection. He said he heard some commotion and looked up in time to see a dust cloud and me in the oak tree thrashing side to side. He heard someone growling and someone screaming and he didn't know which was me and which was the bear. When things finally settled down he called up to me "What's going on up there?"
"I just shot the biggest bear I've ever seen!"
He came up to meet me while I was still in the tree trying to gather my composure. He stood in front of my stand, less than six feet away; I didn't have to bend down to hand him my bow. He asked where the bear was when I took the shot... I laughed and told him it was exactly where he was standing.
With the help of two of my brothers we followed an exciting but easy blood trail. Thankfully, the shot had done the job.
Awesome! :thumbsup:
Nice bear!!! Tell us the story of the hunt.
That, is a big bear! Congrats!
Cool pic! It is nice to just sit back every once in a while and relive the good times in our lives.
Bisch
Please define way tooooo close.!!!I guess that's when things get a little too real, I guess thats little toooo close.LOL Been lookng to move to SW Co near NM nice area. nice JG
Great picture, thanks for sharing!
good pic and I like that bow...too.
THAT would be a great memory, enjoy !
Ya ditto. All the above!!
Story please
What can I say? Yes indeed it was a memorable hunt, wish you would share it with all the nice folks on TG. Remember what I said when we first saw his tracks? "You will know it when this guy comes by. (big track)."
Love to hear the story on that one.
Congrats.
:campfire:
Nice!
I would sure like to know how close is too close.
Love those old photos...real nice.
Thanks guys, I love making memories. I went back and added the "story" to go along with the pic.
And, as another teaser... here is a pic from this past season. My Dad had another exciting experience that ended with this beautiful bear.
I guess I should call this one "Two guys and another dead bear."
(http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z135/jrvalc/Dadbear2012.png)
Awsome stuff. :thumbsup:
Great shooting!!
Great bear and story! Thanks for sharing :thumbsup:
Nice two see that you guys are still working the bear , elk , deer up there !! Been a while seen we had a camp fire together , this may be the year I come see y'all .
God bless and hope to see y'all soon .
Ray
Great story and bear , lets hear your Dad's story as well please. Drew
Great story, thanks for taking us along on your hunt.
Great story. Sometimes in the excitement our memory fails us (did I hit him there or not, was I bending, did I calmly get another shot ready?) I tend to think your father may have the better true story. LOL. Great bear and very nice story.
Thanks
Great story and beautiful bears! Thanks for sharing!
Great story, great bear, congrats! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
congrats,very well done.
Wonderful story, definitely have made some good memories ! Great job!
As the one brother who was not there for this kill, I have to say, the story never gets old! Joe, you are a killing machine. Can't wait to help pack out the next Pope and Younger one of you guys kill.
As you once said, it's about the journey, not the destination. Kind of cool when there's a stop along the way to give thanks for a large gut pile though!
Very nice bear, Now we need the story to that bear from last year too though.
Well here is my story from this year's bear. Joe and I had been hunting hard for the first week of elk season, with a bear tag each as a kicker. I finally shot a cow and it expired in the darkest, thickest stand of spruce, sixty yards down in a canyon. The next day we went in around noon and put a stand over the elk remains, hoping to get a shot at a bear. Finally, two days later, the pile had been disturbed, so I climbed up and waited patiently. Just before dark, I saw a dark bear down the trail, it looked like a decent one, as I watched for any sign of cubs, it hung out till dark, never coming closer. The next day I once again climbed into my stand at about 3 p.m. About 5 p.m. I noticed the bear below me about thirty yards distant. It slowly made its way to fifteen yards below and started grubbing around. It finally turned and offered a good shot. I drew slowly and picked a spot low behind the front leg. I was flooded with disappointment as the bear crashed away, unscathed; my arrow had gone low, a clean miss. After the excitement was over, I thanked the Lord for the clean miss. It was an interesting, dark walk out, almost a mile. I told the story to Joe back at camp that evening, wishing that the bear would return for another chance. The next day, after a late lunch, Joe wished me luck as I headed out once again. I purposely stalked in on the trail, but as I was approaching the stand I noticed the bear was just below, twenty yards distant. I knelt down in the trail, got an arrow on the string, and waited for the bear to make the next move. The bear approached slowly, measuring every step, headed up the trail right into my lap! As it went behind the last bush, I slowly drew my bow. I was on both knees in the middle of the trail. A head-on shot was not in the plan. At fifteen feet, I stared a hole in the bear's throat and released the wood shaft! The bear spun around and trotted away downhill. I was relieved that it didn't keep coming up the trail! I headed for camp at a brisk pace, hoping to catch up with some help for tracking. I found Joe glassing a canyon, right where he said he would be in case I needed him. We found the dead bear 150 yards away, right in the bottom of the canyon. And that's how we got the picture of Two Guys and another dead Bear! Of course, I used my trusty Grizzly Bow and a doug fir shaft, tipped with a Wensel broadhead for the kill. Grizz
Way cool dad and son!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
That is awesome to share your hunts with your father!! Congrats to you both :clapper:
Great for father and son to have these experiences together! Good job guys and thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:
Great stories guys!! Mike you're one if the best buddy!! Good to see you got out :)
Thanks Ryan, I have been recovering well, had a great hunting year, tell us about that buck! Nice!
Thanks Mike! Glad to hear your doing well. Tell Jane hi from Julie and I. Well see you guys in June.
Here's a link to the story of my buck
http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=122941
Take care and Merry Christmas to you and your family!
:thumbsup:
Good times and great memories. Every time I look at a picture from one of our hunts I'm reminds of how much I don't deserve the blessings I've received. Thanks for the kind words!