We had been baiting a bear stand for about two weeks now on Prince William Sound without so much as one hit. It was Tuesday and time to check the stand and re-bait. Since I own the boat and have to wait off shore, my friend Bob went in to bait the stand.
Within a couple of minutes of him entering the woods I spotted a black bear on the beach exactly where I had dropped him off. Bob was going to emerge from the woods about 100 yards down the shore so I drifted down that way to warn him.
Bob emerged, acting nervously from the wood line. I hollered at him and watched the bears movements as he traversed the shore to the pickup spot. The bear had wandered off so I picked my friend up and we told our stories. Bob had actually never made it to the stand, running into a boar on the way in that started circling him. He had dumped the bait and backed out. Apparently we had two different bears on the stand that night.
As fate would have it Bob came down with some sort of viral disease and got knocked down hard. It was now Friday, perfect waters on the sound and I was anxious to kill my first bear. As soon as school let out I hopped into the boat and headed to the stand.
My plan was to carry my tree stand on my pack frame and place it 5-7 feet above a present stand that was too low for my liking. I easily made it shore at high tide, gathered my gear and headed in.
I was carrying my Pearson Flame bow and an 870 Remington shotgun with 3 Brenneke slugs as my back up. My plan was to take my first bear with the bow if at all possible.
I eased along the trail leading to the stand. Since there was a good chance of a bear at the stand I circled down wind of the stand and snailed my way in. I got about 30 yards from the stand and starring me directly in the eyes was the biggest wild black bear I had ever seen. It had me in its sights and I was dead meat if the bear wanted me. I had on a pack, a bow and a shotgun: nowhere to run. We stared at each other for about five minutes before I spotted another bear, 50 yards behind asleep on a log.
Now I had two bears, one was on the ground and my stand was five yards behind a really big bear. Eventually the bear headed 10 yards back to the bait and I was somewhat relieved. Then out of my peripheral vision I spotted movement to my right. Another bear! Now I had three on the ground within 50 yards of me. This was my first bear hunt too!
The biggest one on the bait drove the latest one off and it headed into the brush. I eased forward to within 30 yards of the bear, still too close for me to climb into the stand. Look as I could I could not tell what it was, boar or sow. We had spotted a sow with cubs further down the mountain and I was worried it was she. I watched but she(it) had dug a wallow in front of the bait and was lying down. Then, the smaller bear spotted me and got me in its sights. It must have been really young as it was non aggressive.
Then movement from the right again as the other bear had come back. This time the bigger one drove this guy more in my direction along a depression. It got about 30 yards away, whiffed me and changed direction towards me. I dont need a cardiologist anymore as he headed right at me. At about 20 yards I hollered, bear stop. What else would one say to a bear? This confused him and he stopped and swayed a bit. He had my scent, had me in his vision and was now confused. He started to turn, offering me a quartering away, 20-yard shot. I drew my Pearson Flame back and let her rip. Perfect! Double lunged him right behind the shoulder and drove the 125-grain Thunderhead home.
He made a sound and took off running, thankfully towards shore. It wasnt 30 seconds and I heard the death growl. The broad head had done an excellent job. I headed over with less than 3 minutes elapsing. I tried to follow the trail but with a blood trail and two other bears on my mind, I lost it. I found a mound to climb, looked over and there he lay, 5 feet away, dead.
There was a steep slope down to the shore so I opted to drag him down to shore and clean him there. It was interesting doing the processing without any help but I managed the job, loaded the load into my raft and padded back to the boat.
I just got back from registering the bear.
Length 7 even
Claw to claw 7 4
Skull 6 13/16 x 11 11/16 for a total of 18 ½
Good enough for me for my first bear. Tomorrow I am going to back Bob up on the big one!
