Author Topic: bear and moose true story -update 2-17-07 -  (Read 3645 times)

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Offline Dand

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bear and moose true story -update 2-17-07 -
« on: November 26, 2006, 01:08:19 AM »



update 2-17-07
I finally caught up with Doug the other day - it was a hurried visit as we were at the airport both heading to other destinations.  Doug said Reed was using Corbon brand ammo, he thought it was a 280 gr bullet and probably hard cast. Doug is more of a hunter than a reloader I think.

Doug says he has reworked his account of the story for publishing in a magazine based in Wyoming.  Possibly the Wyoming State hunting magazine - I can't remember its been a long week for me.

Doug went on to say that he continues to replay the whole event and is still amazed that his shot was so effective.  He regrets not doing a more complete necropsy to follow the bullet path.  But with all the excitement and a ton of work ahead of him he just didn't think to explore more. But from the dramatic effect the bullet must have punched through the bear to the spinal column.  He also said that a "make sure" shot to the head had fully penetrated the head and lodged between the toes of a front paw.

That is good penetration.  In 1973 I was in on an experiment on a small dead brown bear that was then shot in the neck with a 357 mag 158 soft point. We opened up the unimpressive wound channel and found the bullet next to the neck bone with no visible damage to the bone.  In that case from about 30 feet, the bullet barely penetrated 6-7 inches of tough hide and neck muscles - I think modern loads (and bigger calibers) have come quite a way since then.

 He added that other mentioned that a bear much like this one had begun raiding some nearby camps and hanging around.  It could be this bear had developed some bad habits that lead to the problem.

Doug said he'd send me the updated version of the story when he gets back from vacation.  I'll see if its ok to share it here.

Dan

****************************
THE LONGEST MINUTE
Doug White
September 16, 2006

We all have read about or seen movies entitled, ‘The Longest Day’, ‘The Longest Yard’, or ‘The Longest Mile’.  Well, I am going to tell you about “The Longest Minute” of my life.

Reed Thompson and I had been hunting hard for five days.  The day was Thursday, September 7, 2006.  The weather had turned from beautiful sunny skies to gale force winds and the blasting rain that comes with fall storms.  Never has the weather dictated hunting time to us, so out we ventured into the Alaska bush.  Not seeing a single bull for several days, we decided to hunt an area downstream that had always produced one.

Late in the evening, we were walking down a raised half mile long finger of ground that was full of grass and alders.  This turf was slightly higher than the swampy tundra on either side of it.  We had slogged across the swamp as quickly as possible, during a sudden deluge, to get to the downwind point.  Our hope was that our passage would not be observed with the sudden increased wind and rain.  About halfway down the finger, Reed turned to me and said, “I think there is a moose up ahead.  It looks like two white sticks in the grass.  It would surprise me if it was not a moose.”  I glassed the area about one hundred yards ahead and to the left.  With Reed’s help, I zeroed in on the two white sticks and watched them for several minutes.  With the slightest movement, the two sticks transformed into a white paddle and then back to the two sticks.  The bull had moved his head ever so slightly.

I moved my scope out to ten-power and focused in on the two white sticks as Reed moved about ten yards further down the high ground.  Then as Reed focused on the white points, I moved to his location for a better shot.    Reed began moving toward our quarry as I watched for movement though the scope.  With nothing solid or high enough to rest my rifle on, I was forced to aim free-hand.  When Reed had taken a few steps, I saw the horns rock to the right and then back to the left.  The big boy then stood up and was looking directly our way.  Even with the forty mile an hour winds blowing directly at us, he sensed our presence.  I squeezed off a round from my Browning .338 and felt good about the shot, but the bull took two or three steps to my right and disappeared out of sight behind some alders.  Reed could still see him and shouted, “Do you want me to shoot him?”  I yelled back at him to go ahead because I did not want the bull running too far.  I heard his shot as I was scrambling forward to get a better look.  After a thirty yard hustle, I was able to see the huge fellow still standing.  I put another shot into him and watched him drop.  We both hesitantly, but with great excitement, approached this giant and realized that he was dead.  This was a mature bull with a beautiful rack and the biggest body mass I had ever seen.  The fun was definitely over; now, the real work was ready to begin. After consulting the GPS, we noted that we were a half mile from the slough and boat.  It was decided that both of us should return to the boat to discard unnecessary items and return with the gear needed to prepare and pack out the meat.  We placed red and blue handkerchiefs high in an alder bush so that the sight could be located from the adjacent high ground.  This was the easiest half mile hike of the day.  I was pumped up and excited beyond explanation.



At the boat, we left our heavy rifles.  We gathered our pack frames, game bags, ropes, and knives.  After Reed repositioned the boat, to compensate for the upcoming low tide, I asked him, with hand signals, if he remembered to get the handguns.  He did not understand my award winning charade performance, but I let it pass after observing his revolver strapped to his chest.

Upon returning to the moose, we were hot, sweaty, and wet.  The rain had abated for awhile, so we removed our rain gear and hung them in a small tree about five yards perpendicular to the moose’s belly.  Reed removed his revolver, hung it on a branch opposite his jacket, and brought to my attention that it was hanging there.

With darkness approaching, we decided on removing the top front and rear quarters, tie them to our pack frames, gut him out, and then roll the behemoth over to cool through the night.  We would return in the morning to finish up.  Two non-spoken traditions when hunting are: whoever pulls the trigger 1) does the gutting and 2) hauls the horns out of the woods.  After removing the two quarters, it was time to remove the internal organs.  After cutting, tearing, and ripping, I had removed all but the heart and part of the esophagus.  Darkness was settling in pretty fast and I could barely move my arms.  At this point, Reed said that he would trade places with me.  Instead of moving up behind the moose, I just scooted to the rear leg area and watched Reed crawl up inside the gut cavity.  After a couple of cuts the ordeal was over.  As Reed pulled the heart out and tossed it behind us, a loud “HUFF” snapped us to our feet.   Turning around, we saw standing before us, on his hind legs a large, chocolate brown grizzly bear.  The next minute seemed to last an eternity.  The term surreal is so over used, but the next minute was dreamlike, bizarre, fantastic, and unreal.

The bear was standing next to the tree where the pistol was hanging.  We both started shouting and waving our arms back and forth, as we moved somewhat to our right, toward the tail end of the moose.  The bear came down off his back legs, onto all fours, and started circling to his right -- toward the head of the bull.  My only thought was to get to the gun so that we could scare him off.  I sensed that he charged us from the head of the moose as I broke for the gun.  Reed commented later that the bear vaulted over the moose and went straight for him.  Halfway to the tree, I tripped on a fallen log and went down on all fours.  From my peripheral vision on my right, I saw the bear going after Reed, who had moved into the tall (5 foot) grass.  It appeared that the bear had knocked Reed down and was standing over him.  My worst fear was that my friend was being mauled. I did not know how I would get him back to the boat and then home.

I grabbed the holster but was unable to remove the revolver, regardless of how hard I tugged.  As I looked up, I saw the bear charging toward me.  I started backing up as I continued screaming and hollering at the bear.  I was frustrated that the pistol would not break free from the holster.  With the bear almost on top of me, I fell over another log.  I did a back drop and felt him grab my left leg.  His huge head was above my lap, just out of reach of my holstered club.  I tried to hit him with the pistol but a crazy thought entered my mind that I could scare him into thinking I was going to shoot by waving it back and forth.  Unable to remove the pistol from the holster, I tried to shoot through it, but the strap held the hammer down on the single action revolver.  Just when I thought all was lost, the bear rose up, pivoted 90 degrees to his left, and was gone.  The grizzly had charged back in the direction of Reed as he had jumped up and yelled once again.   Later, Reed stated that he had seen the bear knock me down and thought he was mauling me.  The thought entered his mind that he was toast.  He was alone in the grass with no weapon.  I was down and I had the gun.  When the bear started moving toward him, Reed dropped back down into the low wallow area where he had fallen during the initial charge.  Reed saw the bear’s face about a foot from his own.  He could hear the bear trying to sniff him out.  At that point, the bear stood up, pivoted to his right, and charged back to me.

When Reed distracted the bear from its attack on me, I had time to concentrate on the holster.  I saw a buckle with a strap running through it.  I could not figure out how it held the gun in place, so I grabbed the buckle and attempted to \rip it off.  To my surprise, the buckle was actually a snap and the strap peeled away.  As I pulled the revolver out, a sudden calm came over me, and I knew everything would be fine.  I looked in the direction of Reed only to once again see the bear charging at me.  He was about ten feet away coming up and over the initial log that I had tripped over.  That was when I pointed the revolver and fired at center mass.  The .44 magnum boomed in the night and the boar fell straight down, his head three feet away from where I stood.  As he fell, he bit at the ground and ended up with a mouthful of sod.  I stood in a dumbfounded stupor.  I had no expectation that the pistol would kill the bear.  My hope was that the shot would sting the bear and help scare him away along with the flame and loud report.  As his head sagged to the ground, I shot him three more times in quick succession, out of fear and anger.

My next sensation was hearing Reed’s voice ask if the bear was dead.  I answered, “Yes”. He then yelled at me to save the rest of the rounds because we still had to walk out, and he did not have any more bullets with him.  The minute was over.  We hugged each other for a long time, before packing out the two quarters.






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liberal Justice Hugo Black said, and I quote: "There are 'absolutes' in our Bill of Rights, and they were put there on purpose by men who knew what words meant and meant their prohibitions to be 'absolutes.'" End quote. From a recent article by Wayne LaPierre NRA

Offline WalkingBear

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Re: bear and moose true story
« Reply #1 on: November 26, 2006, 02:07:26 AM »
That's a great story.

I've always been a fan of the .44.  I know there are bigger calibers available, but I always go back to the .44.  It is my favorite caliber.

I wonder what king of handgun and load it was?


WB

Offline Daveinthebush

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Re: bear and moose true story
« Reply #2 on: November 26, 2006, 05:09:32 AM »
Thanks for posting Dand.

Hunt not with a gun big enough for what your hunting, hunt with a gun big enough for what might be hunting you!

Really brings the above statement home.
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Offline Dand

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Re: bear and moose true story
« Reply #3 on: November 26, 2006, 09:28:22 AM »
I too got to wondering about the load.  I don't often cross paths with these guys so I may have to give them a call. Looking at the nice binoculars Thompson is carrying, he might have a custom load for that 44.  I'm sure glad Doug kept his calm when he needed it. Clearly it made a lot of difference.

Makes me glad I was carrying my side arm, and that I did pass on the big moose I found in a similar jungle just at night fall.
NRA Life

liberal Justice Hugo Black said, and I quote: "There are 'absolutes' in our Bill of Rights, and they were put there on purpose by men who knew what words meant and meant their prohibitions to be 'absolutes.'" End quote. From a recent article by Wayne LaPierre NRA

Offline WaitsLong

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Re: bear and moose true story
« Reply #4 on: November 26, 2006, 07:32:46 PM »
Dand,
What would you do different, next time?
Would you leave the heavy rifles at the boat,
and make sure you had 2 big handguns + extra ammo ?
Or would you keep at least one rifle?
I think none of these questions are easy to answer, but
I would like to know how it affected you at a gut level
and a thinking level.
I appreciate that a handgun on your hip, could be better
than a rifle that is out of reach.

Everyone,
Is a bear most likely after you start gutting, because he
smells the guts? Or do bears respond to gun shots or gathering
birds?
I have seen films of different kinds of birds reacting to
the animal being shot, and they approach the area before you
can start gutting. Have any of you experienced this "smart-bird"
phenomenon.

Offline Dand

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Re: bear and moose true story
« Reply #5 on: November 27, 2006, 09:17:47 AM »
Waitslong:  Remember this isn't MY story, I just posted it. The guys in the story live here in the same town and we hunt similar areas.

As for myself:
I carry a 4 inch SW 57 in 41 mag with 265 Corbons in it - on my hip. Because my 7.5 in Bisley and Redhawk get so heavy and in the way.  I usually keep my rifle with me  - 300 win mag.And any extra weight is a real burden.  But I haven't had to pack a moose in a long while.  In this area I've only taken them (3) on  beaches where I could get the boat close. So far I've been lucky that way; I'm sure I'll shoot one that needs packing if the opportunity is good.  I do pack caribou quite a way - up to 2 miles but I try to avoid that too.

I'm not going to criticize these guys at all and I'm darned glad they came out ok.  I used to hunt alone only but have had partners in the last 5 years.  I think having a partner is smart, especially for moose - and mostly because its so much work.  One solo moose was enough for me - he was little and next to the boat but still I could barely get the hind legs into it.

As to your questions about conditions attracting bears: Hard to know. Sounds like in this case the bear may have been close in the first place.  I've taken a number of caribou in the general area and haven't had any troubles - but then they are in more open country. But it is one reason I try to get all the meat away from the kill site as soon as possible - even if only a couple hundred yards. These guys didn't get that chance - and moose are much much  harder to just haul off.

In Kodiak the talk had been that gun shots had become dinner bells for bears.  This was back in the 1980's when deer pops were very high and bag limits big (5 per person in some areas) with lots of gut piles in some areas.  Then there was a nasty cold snap over there, the deer population was thinned out and I don't know if bag limits are as generous now.  Haven't hunted over there since the late 80's.

The particular area of this story is known for bears.  They seem to like it more than similar country only a few miles away - don't know why - likely food and shelter is good. But that's one reason I don't hunt exactly where these guys did.  The other reason are the tides.  You can end up high and dry for 6-8 hours if you don't watch it.  Friends who have spent the night in a dried up skiff waiting for the tide have commented about all the night prowling they heard but couldn't see - they didn't sleep much.

I go farther up river (above tides)  and if I find a slough that seems to have more bear sign than moose, I move out. The bears probably have the moose run out and its not worth the risk.  Where Doug was hunting, he may not have been able to see much bear sign, and its well known locally that the area holds quite a few moose.

I shot a caribou close to where we later discovered a brown bear was hanging out. He didn't touch that kill for days, and didn't bother our meat in camp even though at night he went fishing on the other end of the sand bar where we camped, maybe 500 -600 yards long. Never reacted to our warning shots either.  So hard to figure.  Each bear encounter is a little different.

Some times it seems like ravens may announce a kill, or I think even tell you animals are around.  Some Alaskan Natives say the wolves and ravens are friends - birds spot prey, wolf catches it, ravens get the scraps.  Once I was waiting for caribou, but got bored and got too engrossed glassing a cow moose (season closed).  After a while I heard a lot of raven talk but ignored it. Next thing I know, a small herd of caribou sneaks by me too late for me to shoot. Now if the ravens get to talking I start looking around more. Mostly the ravens lay way back until I leave a kill area.
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liberal Justice Hugo Black said, and I quote: "There are 'absolutes' in our Bill of Rights, and they were put there on purpose by men who knew what words meant and meant their prohibitions to be 'absolutes.'" End quote. From a recent article by Wayne LaPierre NRA

Offline Sourdough

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Re: bear and moose true story
« Reply #6 on: December 06, 2006, 12:32:29 PM »
During Moose season I don't move without my .338 in my hand, or within reach. 
Where is old Joe when we really need him?  Alaska Independence    Calling Illegal Immigrants "Undocumented Aliens" is like calling Drug Dealers "Unlicensed Pharmacists"
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A 'Veteran' -- whether active duty, discharged, retired, or reserve -- is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America,' for an amount of 'up to, and including his life.' That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country today who no longer understand that fact.

Offline Is64.8

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Re: bear and moose true story
« Reply #7 on: December 20, 2006, 05:03:23 AM »
That's a great story.

I've always been a fan of the .44.  I know there are bigger calibers available, but I always go back to the .44.  It is my favorite caliber.

I wonder what king of handgun and load it was?


WB


I'm pretty sure that's a Ruger Super Blackhawk with a 7.5" barrel.

Offline williamlayton

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Re: bear and moose true story
« Reply #8 on: December 22, 2006, 01:11:40 AM »
This is from a flatlander so my thoughts may not have any validity.
It is also armchair quarterbacking.
I would think that those who are familiar with these parts would have thought of the possibility of intrusion from scavangers befor they left weapons away from theirownselves.
I have some amount of understanding of the weight and trouble carrying the boomster--However--It does seem improbable that experienced men such as these misjudged the consequences so poorly.
I read here and there of the dangers of this area and the commoness of the thought of being careful. It just does not come across to a flatlander as being a good decision.
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Offline Dand

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Re: bear and moose true story -updated 2-17-07 -
« Reply #9 on: February 17, 2007, 11:31:02 PM »
Check out my additions to the original posting.  I was able to get a bit more info when I finally caught up to Doug last week.  Amazing in a town of 2,500 people, our paths rarely cross.

Mr. Layton, regarding your comment on people unwisely setting down their arms.  Yeah you are  right but all the gear gets heavy and from the pictures you can see what kind of walking we have to do.  Any extra weight is a real burden and a full size Super Blackhawk is a lot of weight.

I've even grumbled about my 4 inch model 57  being heavy when added to a 8.5 pound rifle, and probably a 25 pound pack with ammo, lunch, saw, knives, and other stuff needed to hunt. Wrestle the hide and some quarters off a good size moose in this setting and you are doing some work.

Dan
NRA Life

liberal Justice Hugo Black said, and I quote: "There are 'absolutes' in our Bill of Rights, and they were put there on purpose by men who knew what words meant and meant their prohibitions to be 'absolutes.'" End quote. From a recent article by Wayne LaPierre NRA