Montana Spring Bear Season 2010

[Short Barrel]

Earlier I said I would try to post some pictures taken while bear hunting this Spring and also warned that I wouldn't promise any gratuitous trophy photos as most of my bear seasons don't end that way.

I have been hunting the same big,cinnamon colored boar for over 10 years now,OK, a little obsessed with..It has become kind of a joke wih my friends but that's OK.I've learned a ton about these fascinating animals and this country and just seen a lot of neat stuff along the way.It has gotten to the point now that some of the guy's wives have started to poke fun.that's OK too.I'm having more fun.

Occasionally,late in the season,I get weak and settle for a lesser bear but the planning and strategy continues.

The season starts April 15th but most bears are still asleep.Usually the only one out is Big Bart and he just cruises throgh sporadically.My first walk was April 17th,more for exercise and just to reconnoiter.I didn't get far up the trail when I cut his track going over a melted snow drift-maybe a couple days prior.Notice how wide the stagger of the track is.

 

[Short Barrel]

A little further up the trail-a favorite bear rub tree.It must be the curve.Fresh cinnamon colored hair on it.I always remove the hair so I know the next time if someone has been their.

 

[Short Barrel]

April 22nd,found a new rub tree I hadn't seen before.Notice the two,big hindfoot tracks ground into the topsoil as he scratched his back.This tree showed evidence of being used for years.Most of these trees have bite marks and claw markas at head level.

 

[Short Barrel]

I hope you can see from the picture but this is an old time water trough hand hewn from a huge log.Somebody did this with an axe.The Marlin is 33" long.Modern ranchers have rerouted the water to a metal trough further down the mountain.The bears love these troughs for drinking and soaking when they get hot.

 

[Short Barrel]

On the way back to the truck I found a pair of mountain lion tracks going down the jeep trail.

 

[sixshot]

Short Barrel, as always very nice photo's & story, I'm still hoping you whack that big bear, you earned him a long time ago, maybe this fall he'll make a mistake.
Recurve bows & lever guns, wow! I know you also have some very nice sixguns, hope one of them gets bear blood on it.

Dick

 

[Short Barrel]

April 26th.The weather has been so bad that I just steal a morning,afternnon or evening when it breaks and work permits.raining or snowing almost every day and cool.Bears aren't doing much.My "hunts" are more walks right now.Just trying to get the legs going and keep track of what's going on.

On the way out,I grabbed a couple shots of these antelope bucks.Beautiful.

 

[Short Barrel]

May 2nd.Spotted these 4 mountain goats crawling around and bedding on the cliffs,possibly a mile away but still very neat.One of my favorite animals.

 

[Short Barrel]

May 7th,the sun is shining but where I expected to see green grass is a solid blanket of snow.No bears moving.back to work.

 

[Short Barrel]

May 31st.OK,things are starting to move now.Literally.The big boar had been down the draw,feeding on fresh grass,left big tracks and this.

 

[Short Barrel]

June 1.All these pictures have been in a mountain canyon that I have always hunted for Bart.It's time now to check a nice creek bottom a few miles away,where I have seen his sign before.

This is a big rub tree.Foot shuffle marks on the ground and bite marks 6 1/2' up.Very impressive.There is a good trail,bailing down over the bank,into the creek bottom with several different sized bear tracks on it.One is big.

 

[Short Barrel]

This is hard to show in a photograph.A lot of times when the big bear walks over pine needles,grass or moss,he literally grinds the turf and you see the dark topsoil in each print.Very easy to identify.

Notice I'm upgrading to more serious weapons,Dick.

 

[Short Barrel]

I'm seeing more tracks here than anywhere so I have decided to sit as many mornings,evenings or afternoons as possible on this spot,when weather and work let me.

The treeline starts at the base of the ridge and there is a good trail just inside the treeline,leading to the lush creek bottom.The big bear has been using this trail.

 

[Short Barrel]

June 2nd.A beautiful evening but no bears.That's OK.I've sat thousands of hors like this.The theory is,if I do this long enough,he will come by when I'm there.At least that was my theory when I started this.

I'm sitting back,100 yds from the treeline trail because the wind swirls occasionally.The creek bottom is on my left.The sun sets over the Continental Divide,behind me.

 

[Short Barrel]

June 8th.I got up at 4:00 AM so I could sit the spot just after daylight.Man the nights are short this time of year.It was a quiet,beautiful morning but I decided to head home for lunch and slipped back towards the truck.It was way too windy now for good bear hunting anyway.

Halfway back,I saw this group of 6 whitetail bucks coming so I crowded mysel into the side of a cedar and got their portraits as they passed.Nice.

 

[Short Barrel]

June 10th.I spied this little antelope fawn lying in the grass,trying hard to go unnoticed.His mom tried to divert my attention but I got a couple pictures.This has been some bear season.

 

[contender]

Great pics,,and I could feel the hills making my legs tired,, and the soft feeling of walking in the snow,, or the excitement of finding sign,, or,,, ahh whatever,, it made me feel like I was out there!

 

[Short Barrel]

Well,the spot that looked so promising had seen no activity for a few days even thogh it looked like before that,was daily traffic.It dawned on me I might be screwing up because it was rut time for bears and Bart has a girlfriend up in the mountain canyon 5 miles to the North.I also knew this was her year to kick the cubs off and come in heat and I had seen this happen on the 7-8th of June.

I decided I better go back there and make a big loop through her territory and maybe I would get lucky.

I did that and found the big bear's track-only one set and others that may have been the sow's but they didn't seem to be together and not nearly the flurry of day after day tracks like I have seen when they have been breeding.

On the way,I found a patch of Arrowleaf Balsam Root which is supposed to be a favorite bear food in the West.

That theory didn't pan out so at midday,I decided to check back at the treeline/creek bottom trail and see if he came back.

 

[Short Barrel]

Well,I got back over there at about 3:15 And the big bear had been through,coming from the North,out of the creek bottom and down the treeline trail.I assumed maybe last night.Anyway this was good as the country to the South is very dry and he would have to come back if he wanted water.

I knew I had to sit till dark.It was an excruciating 6 1/2 hours with no action but I knew it was worth a shot.

This is my view of that treeline.The trail runs just inside it.this is how it looks at sunset.

 

[Short Barrel]

I sat again on June 13th with no sign.I came to the realization that I knew so little about what the bears did in that country to the South and if he was heading there,it should mean girlfriend and that could tie him up for several days.June 15th was the last day of the season.I would come back tomorrow.

 

[Short Barrel]

June 14th.I just decided I was not getting up at 4:00 AM.I was beat.I checked the weather and it was supposed to rain all day the 15th.I decided that this evening would be my last hunt.There is always the Fall season.

The first thing I did was slip up and check to see if he had been back down the trail.He had not.This was a good thing.

I was well rested and it was a beautiful evening except for the mosquitos that just came out of dormancy.I normally eat dinner about 7:00 so I had a couple snacks then.Despite the monotony of this and how many times I had done,not just this season but all the others,I felt very alert and couldn't keep my eyes off that treeline despite how dead it was just like the other evenings.

At 8:00 the shadows started getting longer in the trees and I could see my season coming to an end.I couldn't help but reflect on what a great season it had been,all the things I had seen and photographed.I knew the jokes would be coming but it's all part of it.

At 8:10,I saw a flash of reddish color in the treeline to the right.I instantly knew who that was before he was in full view.I had rehearsed him coming down the trail,stopping frequently to listen and test the air and I would take my shot when he pused in one of the small openings.Not so,he was going in a fast march through opening after opening,not stopping.

This is the bear I had waited over ten years to get a look at.Each time he passes through one of the bolts of sunlight,it was like a flash of copper.There was one larger opening just before he would disappear in the creek bottom jungle.He paused in it and man was he beautiful.The little Kimber barked and pushed my shoulder and the bear dove into the jungle.

Now what?The shot had been a little quick but should be good but always a little self doubt creeps in.My whole plan was to keep him from reaching the creek bottom but that just didn't work out.

I started gathering my gear,giving myself time to gather my thoughts and decided to wait 45 minutes.when it was time,I turned the scope down to 2.5X and slipped down over the steep bank trail,as quietly as I could.The ground was soft and moist,quiet walking and I could see every track but no blood.

At the base of the steep bank was a little run,an offshoot of the main creek and swollen to 5' wide by the frequent rains.At had hoped I would find him piled up on the other side but he continued and I would have to also.I have never worried about black bears before but as I entered the almost tunnel trail,I was wishing the Kimber was a shotgun.

Up in the open,where I had taken the shot there was good light left.The camera makes things look different but it was quite dim down in the jungle at almost 9:00 PM.I continued down the trail another 25 yds and saw a splash of color off to my left and there he was and still.

The creek bottom was so green that the cinnamon color really stood out.He had left the trail and hooked around to the left and lay facing back.I don't know if that was by plan or accident but there he was.The shot had been good,tight behind the front leg and the 180 gr Nosler Partition had done it's job.He had traveled about 100 yds.

It was a little hard to process it all but I was running out of light so I started skinning while I got my mind around what had just happened.Thunder clapped in the distance and the wind picked up.What a beautiful evening.The mosquitos were even happy that i came to spend a couple hours with them.

The bear was built like a tank and his muzzle was laced with scars.Every inch of the hide was flawless,not a rub anywhere.

It took an hour and a half to get the skin off and I quartered and hung the meat.The great thing about this spot is that I could get the truck up to within 100 yds.I used the packframe to get the hide up over the hill then two more trips for the meat.

 

[Short Barrel]

Quite an impressive creature and for sure,my most memorable season.There are a lot of bears in this country the color of this old boy.Thanks for coming along.

 

[T.A. WORKMAN]

Outstanding Hunt and story!!
Like anything else in life, hard work and persistance pays off!!
I've shot Blacks with a muzzleloader, but a big Cinnamon has to be the
ultimate!! Outstanding Bear.
Terry

 

[Stoots]

Quite an impressive creature and for sure,my most memorable season.There are a lot of bears in this country the color of this old boy.Thanks for coming along.

Fantastic!

Great story and pics, thanks for posting that!

:D

 

[luvmyruger]

Very nice story through weeks of hunting.

Keep us posted on the taxidermy work.

 

[G2]

NICE!! I really enjoyed your story, timeline, and pictures. Took me right along for the hunt. Thanks !! and Congrats!!

What do you do with the meat?

 

[sixshot]

Holy smokes, you got him, I'm as happy as you are, I know how very hard you've worked over the years for this special bear, I also know you enjoyed every single minute.....except for maybe the 4am stuff!
I know it will be a life size mount......guys, Short Barrel does his own taxidermy, along with all his other special talents. World class work from a unique individual, I'm honored to have met him, he's the real deal in every way.
Again, congratulations!!!

Dick

 

[contender]

I posted before the end of hte story. WOW!!!!!!!!!! Outstanding. I truly enjoyed each step & felt as if I were there. That is a lifetime trophy. What will he square? Skull?
He looks quite large, about 400 lbs,,,,???

 

[Sugar River]

Great pics!
Great story!

And a beautiful bear!
THanks for taking us along.

Is that Kimber a 308?

Pete

 

[mt]

What a great hunt, thanks for taking us along!

mt