One lucky bear

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contender

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Lake Lure NC USA
A couple of days ago, on my way off a job, as I left the private property, and entered public,, I saw this bear. He stood there for several minutes,, not 25 yds from my truck. Long enough to get my camera & get some pics. He was very, very lucky.
See,, it's still about a month away from bear season here,, AND my Ruger Bisley .480 was within hands reach. (That's the hood of my truck in the lower part of the picture.)

 

contender

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If it had been a month from now, I can assure you, if I'd tried to get out & get a shot,, it would have been fair. I do not shoot from a vehicle. And what isn't visible,, is the steep drop off to the bear's left,, and the hill on the right,, . Rough terrain for sure. Heck, even if I had shot him where he stood, he would roll down a steep ravine,, and would have been a chore to get him out.

Besides,, I never get that lucky of a chance during bear season.
 
Joined
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wtn ct usa
Oh Boy thats a beauty archery season for deer opened on the 15th here so i set out my first trail cam around 10 am opening day ( to warm to hunt ) at 11:15 it took the first picture about a 250 lb bear go figure but theres no bear season here :(

Gramps
 
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"Heck, even if I had shot him where he stood, he would roll down a steep ravine,, and would have been a chore to get him out."

You know 40 years ago, I didn't give a thought to where a critter might end up after my shot. The last 4-5 years, I've had that thought in the back of my mind during every hunt. It's not such a concern if the 'boys' are nearby but if I'm alone, I sure do the calculations before sending the bullet. Two of the bucks we shot last year tried to cross deep ravines. Mine made it across before a follow up shot put him down but Granddaughter's required 3 men and a girl plus a 20' tow strap to retrieve.
 

contender

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I know what you mean. Around here,, steep ravines are quite common. I could relate MANY, MANY hunting stories of deer recovery that were serious WORK! And yes, around here,, a bear is even harder. Bears like the extreme places all too often. Last year, a friend killed a bear that dressed 585. It took 6 men, 2 days to get that bear out. Johnny told me that if his son ever killed one in that area again,, he'd take him to the woodshed, no matter how big it was. I've seen many bear hunters tree a bear in a place that they knew it'd be very hard to get one out,, so they left it alone, calling it a successful hunt, w/o killing it.
Two seasons ago, I arrived at a spot where the dogs were following a bear, and I just missed seeing the bear. But watching the dogs, who were on the bears trail, and not too far behind him, amazed me at the cliff the bear took to run from the dogs. They ran to a spot, hung up, because they couldn't climb the way the bear had. Only 3 dogs out of the pack figured out a way around the cliff to strike the bear again. We had to catch 4 other dogs at the bottom of the cliff.

So, yes,, even i f I had shot that bear,, I knew I'd have a job getting him out. My helper & I discussed it a bit, and I said; "I don't know if I have a long enough rope to use to pull him back up that ravine." I would have tried to use my truck for recovery in that spot. Still,, it is a point of discussion among hunters here.
 

AzShooter1

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Surprise, Az
Just seeing a bear that close and getting a nice picture would be enough for me. At my
age and physical condition I'd never be able to carry it out so I do my hunting with my camera.
 

contender

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"Just seeing a bear that close and getting a nice picture would be enough for me."

We have a LOT of bears around here. I'm often working,, (nowhere near my camera,) and see bears. But many of them reside in cities, or in places we can't hunt. Between cities, gated communities, & sanctuaries, our local bear population is impressive. That was another reason this was a "lucky" bear. It wasn't hunting season AND he was in a place I could have hunted him. But I had also just left a gated community, where,, no hunting was allowed. We nicknamed him the "fringe bear." The ones in places we can hunt just don't stand still long enough,,, usually!
 

wolfsong

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I hunt deer and bear on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. EVERYTHING is either straight up or straight down! And deadfall tree trash piled high everywhere in between!
These days, at my age, game location is just as important as shot placement!

Side note: dead bears are like giant 300+ pound beach balls. They roll a loooong way!
 

contender

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We also have a lot of "Up or Down" terrain. NOT fun to drag one out of the ravines around here.

Bear season opened here the 18th. I've only managed (1) day out with a bunch,, and the dogs. Run one,, but it got away.
My helper,, he's been out several times,, & so far,, out of at least 10 days of chasing bear,, only (2) have resulted in a kill. Dogs on bears in these mountains is NOT easy. And so far,, at least 5 dogs have had serious injuries. 3 of them by one bear,, a bigger one. Guessed at 500 lbs +
 
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