ashersdad
Well-known member
I’ve been trying to help my oldest get his first bear for several years. We got close a few times but could never make it happen. This week that all changed and we had a bear hunt that will be hard to top.
We left super early and got to our area in Central Idaho at mid afternoon. Asher promptly took a nap. It’s amazing how much sleep teenagers “need”. As he was napping, I was glassing. What usually happens, happened and there stands a bear where there was nothing a second before. I quickly woke Asher up and got the spotter out. Sow with a cub. Off to a good start.
10 minutes later I spot another bear that was cinnamon color. He’s across the meadow so we take off. Before long we realize we’re going to have to get wet and I mean waste deep water wet but we trudge on. We’re still in knee high water when I look and can see the bear. I ranged him at 351 yards. No way to get prone in all that water so we improvise with the tripod.
I tell Asher to go ahead when he feels comfortable. He shoots and it looks like a hit but the bear whirls and runs. Asher is able to get off 2 more shots. We make our way over which involved another waste high wade through the river. We get to where he was and pick up his tracks. We only find 2 drops of blood but I told Asher it’s not unusual for a bear to not bleed much with their thick fur. 40 yards later I see him laying in the grass. Asher is beyond excited! And I was probably more excited than him. His bear is a beautiful light cinnamon color bear. Not a huge bear but a great first bear.
We quickly take photos and then skin and quarter the bear. We get him loaded into our packs and take off since we’re 5 miles from the truck and we have about 30 minutes of light left. We hadn’t walked 50 yards and Asher says, “there’s a bear!” I pull up my glasses and sure enough there is another dark cinnamon color bear but significantly bigger.
Well I figure I’ve got a tag so let’s try for it. My rangefinder is not working from the aforementioned river crossings but I estimate the bear is over 300 but less than 400 yards. I get ready and take my shot. I lose sight of him at the shot and Asher said he took off running. Crap! Well, let’s go check. We hightail it over there and he had only ran 20 yards. Now we’re both in awe of what has just happened.
We quickly gutted my bear and knew we’d have to come back the next morning for him. We got to the truck at 12:30, exhausted but happy. Went to bed and got up at 5am and headed back in. Everything went smoothly and we were back to the truck by 11am. We made it home that night 40 hours after we had left. I told Asher sometimes everything just aligns perfectly.
We left super early and got to our area in Central Idaho at mid afternoon. Asher promptly took a nap. It’s amazing how much sleep teenagers “need”. As he was napping, I was glassing. What usually happens, happened and there stands a bear where there was nothing a second before. I quickly woke Asher up and got the spotter out. Sow with a cub. Off to a good start.
10 minutes later I spot another bear that was cinnamon color. He’s across the meadow so we take off. Before long we realize we’re going to have to get wet and I mean waste deep water wet but we trudge on. We’re still in knee high water when I look and can see the bear. I ranged him at 351 yards. No way to get prone in all that water so we improvise with the tripod.
I tell Asher to go ahead when he feels comfortable. He shoots and it looks like a hit but the bear whirls and runs. Asher is able to get off 2 more shots. We make our way over which involved another waste high wade through the river. We get to where he was and pick up his tracks. We only find 2 drops of blood but I told Asher it’s not unusual for a bear to not bleed much with their thick fur. 40 yards later I see him laying in the grass. Asher is beyond excited! And I was probably more excited than him. His bear is a beautiful light cinnamon color bear. Not a huge bear but a great first bear.
We quickly take photos and then skin and quarter the bear. We get him loaded into our packs and take off since we’re 5 miles from the truck and we have about 30 minutes of light left. We hadn’t walked 50 yards and Asher says, “there’s a bear!” I pull up my glasses and sure enough there is another dark cinnamon color bear but significantly bigger.
Well I figure I’ve got a tag so let’s try for it. My rangefinder is not working from the aforementioned river crossings but I estimate the bear is over 300 but less than 400 yards. I get ready and take my shot. I lose sight of him at the shot and Asher said he took off running. Crap! Well, let’s go check. We hightail it over there and he had only ran 20 yards. Now we’re both in awe of what has just happened.
We quickly gutted my bear and knew we’d have to come back the next morning for him. We got to the truck at 12:30, exhausted but happy. Went to bed and got up at 5am and headed back in. Everything went smoothly and we were back to the truck by 11am. We made it home that night 40 hours after we had left. I told Asher sometimes everything just aligns perfectly.
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