At 63 my bears seem to be heavier

[Ken Taylor]

I was really busy this past bear season as I gave an outfitter friend a hand adjusting his bear hunting system and giving his young guides a few tips. It's an 11 hour drive for me one way and I ended up making three round trips, spending about a week there each time.

In addition, a very late spring and many days of poor weather for bear hunting didn't leave me as much time to hunt for myself near home as I would have liked - but with some effort and good fortune, things worked out for me.

To make a long story short, I had been "playing chess" with this bear for 2 seasons now and about three weeks ago I finally got a clear shot (albeit brief) at him from my natural ground blind.

He gave me about 10 seconds at 17 yards and in 5 seconds more he lay still about 15 steps from there. Big bears don't go far when their lungs are deflated.

I used my 75 # Caribou longbow and a J&M Traditions cedar arrow tipped with a Tuffhead. Total weight 745 grains.

I was alone and had a heck of a time getting him out in spite of having a game cart... swamp, fallen trees, stumps, - and then there was getting him into the truck!
Heart disease is prevalent on my Dad's side of the family and I must take after my Mom because if I didn't, I think that I would still be out there laying beside the bear.

I couldn't weigh him but I have weighed many others. He was most likely at least 450 lbs live weight.

The first picture I took with a tripod, the second was the next morning.

I don't know why but the 2nd picture refuses to resize - I tried about 10 times!

       

 

[varmint101]

That's awesome, congrats!

[elkken]

A mighty fine bear ....

[Sam McMichael]

Good job! It looks like your plan finally stumbled together. Seriously, congratulations on a fine bear.

[Pine]

Thatsya very nice bruin right there .
Congratulations .          

[ron w]

Wow, what a beauty......well done!!

[jcar315]

Congrats!

[cacciatore]

Great job Ken, congrats

[Caughtandhobble]

Wow, that's a HOSS!!!

Congrats on a very fine animal  

[centaur]

Man, that is a stud of a bear!

[Ron Roehrick]

A beautiful large trophy, congratulations on a bear of a lifetime, well done.

[Gatekeeper]

Congratulations, Ken!

I always look forward to seeing your spring bear thread, and as always you didn't disappoint me! He is a dandy!

That's a cool looking blaze on him.

Guys, look for Ken's past bear hunting threads. Ken kills a giant bear every spring and makes the world safer one bear at a time.    

[bucknut]

Wow!!! What a hog of a bear!

[KyStickbow]

Very nice bear!

And still pulling 75# at 63....very impressive!

[Warden609]

         
Great pictures

[CoachBGriff]

Very nice!  I'm afraid a bear that big would have me a little nervous from a ground blind.... they say they're just big raccoons though...

[Chad Orde]

So awesome

[Shadowhnter]

Wow!!!!

[Broken Arrows]

That thing must have looked like a VW Bug rolling in, very nice!!

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Holy smokes!  Congrats Ken!