HSi-ESi
Well-known member
I’ve never really had the desire to go after a Bear in Montana, but this year my desire to get out and hunt something coupled with the thoughts of getting some additional meat to pad the freezer stock over the summer had me convinced that a Spring Bear hunt should be on the agenda. My brother and I locked in some dates away from our families and began doing a little internet scouting. We wanted an area close to home – and Seely Lake / Ovando is about equidistant between Helena and Missoula – so we focused on that area. Neither one of us had ever really hunted for bears – so we were really approaching this as a combination of learning new country and scouting for elk. Any bear sightings would be an added bonus.
We met up Friday afternoon after getting last minute chores done around our houses. Setup camp quickly and then hit a closed logging road for an evening glassing session. No bears spotted and not much sign – but we had gotten a late start and hadn’t covered as much ground as we were hoping.
So Saturday brought a similar approach, but this time we headed further up the drainage. We threw snow-shoes on the packs in the morning – and we were glad we did as it prevented post-holing up over a mile or so of knee-deep spring slush. We found a nice rocky vista for our glassing session and settled in for a couple hours of glassing. We spotted 1 big, beautiful sow with a cub and watched them off and on for over a couple of hours. 2 different groups of elk were feeding around the hillside we were watching – but no lone bears to be found. As evening approached we worked back down the valley hitting the truck well after dark.
Sunday morning found us running up to a different drainage. We figured we needed more grass and higher elevations. We just hadn’t been seeing the sign we thought we should. The drainage we chose was kind of happen-stance – just bouncing along looking at the mountains and following our gut. Right away we started seeing some fresh sign right along the road. So we drove up until the snow blocked access to vehicle traffic.
We donned our snow-shoes again and starting working up the road, glassing frequently. About 15 minutes from leaving the truck I spotted a bear near the head of the drainage. It was about a mile and a half away or so, but we had plenty of time since it was around 4:30. We kept working up the road now at a faster pace. It appeared the road would lead us near the bear. 2 mountain goats were spotted, 1 nanny and a yearling. We wanted to watch them for a bit – but knew the bear was the reason for being away from the families – so we kept on task.
We could keep a visual on the bear off and on from the road, but as we got within 600 yards we lost the visual of the clearing. At this point we worked up by feel since we didn’t know the country at all. We left the road and started climbing up – and after about 300 feet of elevation gain we were down to bare dirt. So we jettisoned the snow-shoes and our packs near a small stream and kept heading up. There was some debate on how best to try and close the stalk. The afternoon winds really hadn’t set in yet so the wind was swirling erratically. We thought about crossing the stream and moving up the adjacent ridge – which once we got to the bear’s elevation would put us with a shot under 200 yards or so. But if the bear still wasn’t in the clearing – we’d have a tough time of re-positioning. So we decided on a direct assault from below the bear.
My brother stayed in the trees 50 or so yards to my left as we worked up the ever steepening hillside. He was packing his .45-70 Guide gun – so he’d cover any movement to his side in the timber. I was carrying my Tikka T3 in .300 Win Mag – so I would cover anything into and across the clearing. We moved a slowly and silently as possible – trying to stay at the same elevation. The wind was constantly shifting as we climbed and I was sure that the bear would bust us quickly and we’d be left with an empty clearing. After moving up 300 feet of elevation gain or so I could pick out features in the clearing that I had glassed from below. I knew that the bear should be near – but I didn’t see any sign of it.
I glanced up at my brother – he’d moved up a little ahead of me – but he didn’t have eyes on the bear either. I worked over the top of a downed tree and started to move up to a large ponderosa. The bear moved out into the clearing about 100 yards above me. Both my brother and I were on it with our rifles, but it was walking and I didn’t want to rush the shot. The bear moved behind a tree and I had to adjust to get a better shooting lane.
When the bear emerged on the other side of the tree it was picking up a little speed. I knew the time was now, so I led it a couple of inches and settled in for a lung shot. After the rifle jumped I saw the bear crumple and start rolling down the slope head over heels. It balled up and just kept rolling down towards me. I moved to the side a few feet to be sure and not get run over – and the bear came to a stop about 10 feet away.
The shot had entered behind the shoulder and taken out 1 lung. The exit was below the backbone on the opposite side of the bear and while he would pass quickly – I put another shot into the neck to end it.
Neither my brother nor I wanted to climb down to the packs and then back up the slope, so we would position the bear and let it roll down as far as it could. It only took 10 minutes or so to get the bear down to the packs and on a relatively flat spot to work through the skinning and butchering. The bear isn’t huge – I figured around 175 – 200 lbs. We did get some good pictures and had it wrapped into the packs soon enough.
The pack out was relatively easy thanks to the snow-shoes. We made it to the truck by 10:30 - and a couple of cold beers tasted great.
I’m really looking forward to cooking up some of the bear. If all goes as planned, this may be a yearly event. Regardless, we had a great time and a really fun stalk.
Pre-processing photos:
One with the pack / snow-shoes:
Skinned out and on ice:
We met up Friday afternoon after getting last minute chores done around our houses. Setup camp quickly and then hit a closed logging road for an evening glassing session. No bears spotted and not much sign – but we had gotten a late start and hadn’t covered as much ground as we were hoping.
So Saturday brought a similar approach, but this time we headed further up the drainage. We threw snow-shoes on the packs in the morning – and we were glad we did as it prevented post-holing up over a mile or so of knee-deep spring slush. We found a nice rocky vista for our glassing session and settled in for a couple hours of glassing. We spotted 1 big, beautiful sow with a cub and watched them off and on for over a couple of hours. 2 different groups of elk were feeding around the hillside we were watching – but no lone bears to be found. As evening approached we worked back down the valley hitting the truck well after dark.
Sunday morning found us running up to a different drainage. We figured we needed more grass and higher elevations. We just hadn’t been seeing the sign we thought we should. The drainage we chose was kind of happen-stance – just bouncing along looking at the mountains and following our gut. Right away we started seeing some fresh sign right along the road. So we drove up until the snow blocked access to vehicle traffic.
We donned our snow-shoes again and starting working up the road, glassing frequently. About 15 minutes from leaving the truck I spotted a bear near the head of the drainage. It was about a mile and a half away or so, but we had plenty of time since it was around 4:30. We kept working up the road now at a faster pace. It appeared the road would lead us near the bear. 2 mountain goats were spotted, 1 nanny and a yearling. We wanted to watch them for a bit – but knew the bear was the reason for being away from the families – so we kept on task.
We could keep a visual on the bear off and on from the road, but as we got within 600 yards we lost the visual of the clearing. At this point we worked up by feel since we didn’t know the country at all. We left the road and started climbing up – and after about 300 feet of elevation gain we were down to bare dirt. So we jettisoned the snow-shoes and our packs near a small stream and kept heading up. There was some debate on how best to try and close the stalk. The afternoon winds really hadn’t set in yet so the wind was swirling erratically. We thought about crossing the stream and moving up the adjacent ridge – which once we got to the bear’s elevation would put us with a shot under 200 yards or so. But if the bear still wasn’t in the clearing – we’d have a tough time of re-positioning. So we decided on a direct assault from below the bear.
My brother stayed in the trees 50 or so yards to my left as we worked up the ever steepening hillside. He was packing his .45-70 Guide gun – so he’d cover any movement to his side in the timber. I was carrying my Tikka T3 in .300 Win Mag – so I would cover anything into and across the clearing. We moved a slowly and silently as possible – trying to stay at the same elevation. The wind was constantly shifting as we climbed and I was sure that the bear would bust us quickly and we’d be left with an empty clearing. After moving up 300 feet of elevation gain or so I could pick out features in the clearing that I had glassed from below. I knew that the bear should be near – but I didn’t see any sign of it.
I glanced up at my brother – he’d moved up a little ahead of me – but he didn’t have eyes on the bear either. I worked over the top of a downed tree and started to move up to a large ponderosa. The bear moved out into the clearing about 100 yards above me. Both my brother and I were on it with our rifles, but it was walking and I didn’t want to rush the shot. The bear moved behind a tree and I had to adjust to get a better shooting lane.
When the bear emerged on the other side of the tree it was picking up a little speed. I knew the time was now, so I led it a couple of inches and settled in for a lung shot. After the rifle jumped I saw the bear crumple and start rolling down the slope head over heels. It balled up and just kept rolling down towards me. I moved to the side a few feet to be sure and not get run over – and the bear came to a stop about 10 feet away.
The shot had entered behind the shoulder and taken out 1 lung. The exit was below the backbone on the opposite side of the bear and while he would pass quickly – I put another shot into the neck to end it.
Neither my brother nor I wanted to climb down to the packs and then back up the slope, so we would position the bear and let it roll down as far as it could. It only took 10 minutes or so to get the bear down to the packs and on a relatively flat spot to work through the skinning and butchering. The bear isn’t huge – I figured around 175 – 200 lbs. We did get some good pictures and had it wrapped into the packs soon enough.
The pack out was relatively easy thanks to the snow-shoes. We made it to the truck by 10:30 - and a couple of cold beers tasted great.
I’m really looking forward to cooking up some of the bear. If all goes as planned, this may be a yearly event. Regardless, we had a great time and a really fun stalk.
Pre-processing photos:
One with the pack / snow-shoes:
Skinned out and on ice:
