Gerald Martin
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2009
- Messages
- 8,987
After posting a video of some of the wildlife I seen this spring, I received an invitation from THeat to video him and his buddy Jeff as they tried to find a blackie for Jeff. I was more interested in getting video this spring than a bear hide for myself, so I was on that invitation like the proverbial fat boy on a cupcake.
Travis took us to an area where they had seen several bears the day before. Unfortunately for Jeff, no black bears were spotted that evening, but just as we packed up our gear to leave this big grizzly came ambling down an old road bed. I was able to get some quality footage from just the right distance (@500 yards). The bear's path was taking him toward the trail that we were going to walk out on so we were just a little apprehensive about our walk out.
Now here is where a bit of back story is necessary to appreciate what happened next. On our way into this drainage we ran across a black bear carcass that someone had shot at least a week before. They had skinned the bear and taken the meat but left the carcass right in the middle of the trail. It stank to high heaven and we had remarked that we couldn't believe a grizzly hadn't smelled it and carried it off.
On our way out, we were a couple hundred yards from the carcass when I started joking around and tried to freak Jeff out. I suddenly stopped and asked Travis, " Where's that carcass?" Unfortunately for my joke, Travis didn't catch what I was trying to do and said, " Its up here a couple hundred yards." We kept walking until we actually came to the spot where the carcass had been. Jeff was in the front, then Travis, and I was about 15 feet behind. As Jeff got to the spot all that was left was a bloodspot in the trail. We all stopped. Suddenly, less than thirty yards over my right shoulder, we heard an explosive huffing and a growl as the brush started breaking. He was coming in our direction and fast! We all started yelling as loud as we could and Travis and Jeff were going for weapons and bear spray. (Stupid me left the house in a hurry and forgot to pack my spray) Thankfully the bear stopped about 15 yards away and then retreated. The crazy thing was, the brush was so thick we could see the tops of the brush shaking and moving but we never actually saw the bear. None of us had any desire to get closer and confirm the species of bear with a visual.
Thankfully, the rest of the trip out was uneventful. I know I was buzzed on adrenaline for the next half hour.
Thanks for the invite Travis. It sure was fun and hopefully we'll see what we are looking for the next time out.
I hope you guys enjoy the footage.
https://vimeo.com/43375276
Travis took us to an area where they had seen several bears the day before. Unfortunately for Jeff, no black bears were spotted that evening, but just as we packed up our gear to leave this big grizzly came ambling down an old road bed. I was able to get some quality footage from just the right distance (@500 yards). The bear's path was taking him toward the trail that we were going to walk out on so we were just a little apprehensive about our walk out.
Now here is where a bit of back story is necessary to appreciate what happened next. On our way into this drainage we ran across a black bear carcass that someone had shot at least a week before. They had skinned the bear and taken the meat but left the carcass right in the middle of the trail. It stank to high heaven and we had remarked that we couldn't believe a grizzly hadn't smelled it and carried it off.
On our way out, we were a couple hundred yards from the carcass when I started joking around and tried to freak Jeff out. I suddenly stopped and asked Travis, " Where's that carcass?" Unfortunately for my joke, Travis didn't catch what I was trying to do and said, " Its up here a couple hundred yards." We kept walking until we actually came to the spot where the carcass had been. Jeff was in the front, then Travis, and I was about 15 feet behind. As Jeff got to the spot all that was left was a bloodspot in the trail. We all stopped. Suddenly, less than thirty yards over my right shoulder, we heard an explosive huffing and a growl as the brush started breaking. He was coming in our direction and fast! We all started yelling as loud as we could and Travis and Jeff were going for weapons and bear spray. (Stupid me left the house in a hurry and forgot to pack my spray) Thankfully the bear stopped about 15 yards away and then retreated. The crazy thing was, the brush was so thick we could see the tops of the brush shaking and moving but we never actually saw the bear. None of us had any desire to get closer and confirm the species of bear with a visual.
Thankfully, the rest of the trip out was uneventful. I know I was buzzed on adrenaline for the next half hour.
Thanks for the invite Travis. It sure was fun and hopefully we'll see what we are looking for the next time out.
I hope you guys enjoy the footage.
https://vimeo.com/43375276
