splatek
UAEC
I’m not much of a turkey hunter, which usually leaves my spring for trout fishing and/or scouting. This year things started to change about two to three months ago when @twincedargap started talking about a western spring bear hunt. I had a very short window of time when I could make it happen, but it worked out.
We hunted two different ranges. Over 70 miles hiking, most at elevations at or above Georgia’s highest peak. Many, many more miles in the Jeep looking for the bears. Hard to put into words what the experience was like, but I learned a lot. We saw turkeys, elk, mule deer, whitetail (so many whitetail), moose, grouse, huge rabbits, trout, trash fish (I mean white fish), black bears and grizzly. I think pictures do it more Justice.
Camp
Glassing, ridges, etc.
Forgot my spoon so had to get creative
These stumps can really stump a new hunter. Can’t count how many times we glassed up a burnt stump thinking it was a feeding or bedded bear.
About three days before our hunt was over we bumped two bears less than a mile apart in the Jeep. Also saw a griz that day. On the last half of the last day we decided to get back to that road and creep along on foot. Started at 4100 feet climbing over a 1000 feet, slipping along at a snails pace. And almost exactly where we bumped a bear just two days previously we turned a corner and there was a large, gorgeous chocolate black bear. I was not prepared for this. I was prepared for a 300 yard bipod shot. I fumbled, took too long and by the time I got the crosshairs settled all I had was a Texas heart shot for about a second and then he was gone. I was gutted. We walked until dark bumping another bear even closer to where we had bumped the second bear in the truck. We both said “hunt where the bears are, not where you want them to be.” They weren’t on the big hillsides to be glassed as we watched in every YouTube video available. They were in a thick cover terrain feature with vibrant green grass in patches of clover.
I could chalk this non harvest as a loss, but I learned so much. Experienced big country. Took in the sights. Saw a ton of game; shoot we got so close to a mule deer we joked that I should throw a rock at it (I didn’t). I learned about gear choices. Built camaraderie. We joked on the way to the airport that for all the videos and research we did about western spring bear hunting, we ended up getting on bears and hunting then the same way we hunt them back here on CNF.
This trip made me a better hunter. Period.
We hunted two different ranges. Over 70 miles hiking, most at elevations at or above Georgia’s highest peak. Many, many more miles in the Jeep looking for the bears. Hard to put into words what the experience was like, but I learned a lot. We saw turkeys, elk, mule deer, whitetail (so many whitetail), moose, grouse, huge rabbits, trout, trash fish (I mean white fish), black bears and grizzly. I think pictures do it more Justice.
Camp
Glassing, ridges, etc.
Forgot my spoon so had to get creative
These stumps can really stump a new hunter. Can’t count how many times we glassed up a burnt stump thinking it was a feeding or bedded bear.
About three days before our hunt was over we bumped two bears less than a mile apart in the Jeep. Also saw a griz that day. On the last half of the last day we decided to get back to that road and creep along on foot. Started at 4100 feet climbing over a 1000 feet, slipping along at a snails pace. And almost exactly where we bumped a bear just two days previously we turned a corner and there was a large, gorgeous chocolate black bear. I was not prepared for this. I was prepared for a 300 yard bipod shot. I fumbled, took too long and by the time I got the crosshairs settled all I had was a Texas heart shot for about a second and then he was gone. I was gutted. We walked until dark bumping another bear even closer to where we had bumped the second bear in the truck. We both said “hunt where the bears are, not where you want them to be.” They weren’t on the big hillsides to be glassed as we watched in every YouTube video available. They were in a thick cover terrain feature with vibrant green grass in patches of clover.
I could chalk this non harvest as a loss, but I learned so much. Experienced big country. Took in the sights. Saw a ton of game; shoot we got so close to a mule deer we joked that I should throw a rock at it (I didn’t). I learned about gear choices. Built camaraderie. We joked on the way to the airport that for all the videos and research we did about western spring bear hunting, we ended up getting on bears and hunting then the same way we hunt them back here on CNF.
This trip made me a better hunter. Period.
You forgot your spoon. Haha. Sounds like an amazing trip buddy.
