Successful Grizzly Hunt

[Camp Cook]

Shot a Grizzly

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I was out prospecting for 3 weeks with my son in Northern British Columbia, Canada I knew I would be working in this area so applied and won a limited entry draw for spring grizzly figured if I had to shoot one in defense I may as well get to keep it.

Late on the evening of Sunday June 1 we were out prospecting/hunting on a very steep mountain hill side when we spotted way down below us a fairly big bear we at first thought that it was a big chocolate colour phaze black bear but after watching it for a while saw that it was a grizzly.

The wind was perfect for a stock so we decided to get a closer look...

When we were about what we thought to be 125 to 150 yards I decided that that was a close as we were going to go towards it but it was an awesome looking bear so I decided I would take a shot.

I was packing my Rem 700 LSS 375RUM with 300gr Nosler Partitions loaded to 2750fps my son had the same rifle but chambered in 300RUM with 200gr Swift A-Frames @ 3200fps.

The bears butt was facing directly towards me so I waited for it to turn and when it gave me a quartering shot thru the right lung and into the left shoulder I fired.

My son was watching thru the scope and told me my shot was perfect the bear was knocked almost off it's feet as it spun biting the spot that the bullet impacted.

It then took off into thick bush that you couldn't see more than 20 yards at the best.

It was getting late so after we went about 20 yards into the thick bush after the bear we decided to back out and come back in the morning.

12 hours later loaded with range finder and my Marlin 1895GS loaded with 525gr Beartooth WLNGC's and my son carrying his Dlask 8.5" barreled Rem 870 12 gauge with Brenneke slugs we went in after the bear.

Amazingly after only 75 yards my son spotted the bear laying on it's back which was a total relief for us.

When we walked up to it we were amazed at how big it was I had never in my life seen a grizzly this big so I dug out my range finder went back to where the bear was stnading when I took the shot and saw that the shot was actually much further than we thought it had been about 230 to 250 yards not the 150 max that we thought.

I guess the bear was so big that we underestimated the distance.

After skinning the bear and getting the hide buried in some snow I phoned my buddy on a satt phone and got him to bring in 10lbs of salt which turned out to be not enough.

There is a guide outfitter that has been working this area for over 35 years and when he saw the bear he told us he has never seen one so big and stated that it maybe one of the top 5 mountain grizzlies ever shot in BC and could be in the top 90 in the Boone & Crockett...  I'm thinking it is a little smaller than he does though...

As a reference to size I am 6'3" 220 lbs and my son is 5'9" 220 lbs we figured that the bear is at least 4 times heavier than us and the outfitter/guide est it at 1000 lbs and "guesstemated" that it would have weighed as much as 1200lbs in the fall and would stand 11 1/2' tall...

After we got back to camp I noticed that we had dropped a knife sheath so after 5 days of wondering if we should go back in after it we decided to give it a try...

As we slowly/cautiously/noisly walked into the site once again carrying my 45-70 and my son carrying his shotgun we found the sheath about 25 yards into the thick bush but now curiousity had the better of us and we decided to advance to the spot that the carcass was about 20 yards from the site I was able to see into were the carcass should have been but that 800lbs body was completely gone...

I glanced over to my son staating "the bodies gone lets get out of here" to which we turned tail and made the fastest retreat that we could.

When we were a couple of hundred yards away from the thick bush my son and I stopped and regrouped it was only then that he asked me did you here that noise just as you were saying lets get out of here?

I'm almost completely deaf and hadn't heard a thing he then continued to explain the noise was like a huge body rubbing up against a bush or a tree...

I was wondering why his retreat was faster than mine...

Later I started thinking that only another huge grizzly could have moved that carcass so guys there is another huge bear in the area...

If your interested in a guided grizzly hunt pm me for the outfitter's info and I will pass it on as a favor to him.

Here are some pic's...







This is my son in this pic...

[Empty Quiver]

Looks like you've got your gold right there, congratulations.

[Redhawk1]

Great story and pic's, Congrats...

[jro45]

Big Bear Congratulations.

[ms]

I would have took the meat & fur I like bear meat.

[Camp Cook]

Took the hide it is going to be made into a rug but you never take the meat of a grizzly...

Due to the tricinocous that is very present in all bear meats but especially grizzly.

One of the unhealthiest meats a person can consume.

[ms]

References
10 Web pages
 


[edit] Signs and symptoms
Trichinosis initially involves the intestines. Within 1-2 days of contagion, symptoms such as nausea, heartburn, dyspepsia, and diarrhea appear; the severity of these symptoms depends on the extent of the infection. Later on, as the worms encyst in different parts of the human body, other manifestations of the disease may appear, such as headache, fever, chills, cough, eye swelling, joint pain and muscle pain, petechiae, and itching.

Most symptoms subside within a few years. The most dangerous case is worms entering the central nervous system. They cannot survive there, but they may cause enough damage to produce serious neurological deficits (such as ataxia or respiratory paralysis), and even death.


[edit] Life cycle
The worm can infect any species of mammal that consumes its encysted larval stages. When an animal eats meat that contains infective Trichinella cysts, the acid in the stomach dissolves the hard covering of the cyst and releases the worms. The worms pass into the small intestine and, in 1–2 days, become mature. After mating, adult females produce larvae, which break through the intestinal wall and travel through the lymphatic system to the circulatory system to find a suitable cell. Larvae can penetrate any cell, but can only survive in skeletal muscle. Within a muscle cell, the worms curl up and direct the cell functioning much as a virus does. The cell is now called a nurse cell. Soon, a net of blood vessels surround the nurse cell, providing added nutrition for the larva inside.


[edit] Diagnosis
A blood test or muscle biopsy can identify trichinosis. Stool studies can identify adult worms, with females being about 3 mm long and males about half that size.


[edit] Treatment
Symptoms can be treated with aspirin and corticosteroids. Thiabendazole can kill adult worms in the intestine; however, there is no treatment that kills the larva.


[edit] Epidemiology
Trichinosis was known as early as 1835 to have been caused by a parasite, but the mechanism of infection was unclear at the time. It was not until a decade later that American scientist Joseph Leidy pinpointed undercooked meat as the primary vector for the parasite, and not until two decades afterwards that this hypothesis was fully accepted by the scientific community [1].

Infection was once very common, but is now rare in the developed world. From 1997 to 2001, an annual average of 12 cases per year were reported in the United States. The number of cases has decreased because of legislation prohibiting the feeding of raw meat garbage to hogs, increased commercial and home freezing of pork, and the public awareness of the danger of eating raw or undercooked pork products.[1]

In the developing world, most infections are associated with undercooked pork. For example, in Thailand, between 200 and 600 cases are reported annually around the Thai New Year. In parts of Eastern Europe, the WHO(World Health Organization) reports that some swine herds have trichinosis infection rates above 50%, and there are correspondingly large numbers of human infections [2].

It has been suggested that trichinosis may be one of several factors that led to religious prohibitions in Islam, Judaism, etc. against eating pork products, such as in the kashrut and dhabiĥa halal dietary laws. The medieval Jewish philosopher Maimonides advocated such a theory in his Guide for the Perplexed. This topic is controversial.


[edit] International Commission on trichinellosis
The International Commission on Trichinellosis (ICT) was created in 1958 in Budapest and is aiming to exchange information on the biology, the physiopathology, the epidemiology, the immunology, and the clinical aspects of trichinellosis in humans and animals. Prevention is a primary goal. Since the creation of the ICT, its members (more than 110 from 46 countries) have regularly gathered and worked together during meetings held every 4 years : the International Conference on Trichinellosis.


[edit] Prevention
Cooking meat products to an internal temperature of 165 °F (74 °C) for a minimum of 15 seconds.
Cooking pork to a uniform internal temperature of at least 144 °F (62.2 °C), per US FDA Title 9 section 318.10. It is prudent to use a margin of error to allow for variation in internal temperature and error in the thermometer.
Freezing pork less than 6 inches thick for 20 days at 5 °F (−15 °C) or three days at −4 °F (−20 °C) kills larval worms.
Cooking wild game meat thoroughly. Freezing wild game meats, unlike freezing pork products, even for long periods of time, may not effectively kill all worms. This is because the species of trichinella that typically infects wild game is more resistant to freezing than the species that infects pigs.
Cooking all meat fed to pigs or other wild animals.
Keeping pigs in clean pens with floors that can be washed (such as concrete). This is standard in Germany, where raw pork is a common delicacy and trichinosis is rarer than in the U.S.[citation needed]
Not allowing hogs to eat uncooked carcasses of other animals, including rats, which may be infected with trichinosis.
Cleaning meat grinders thoroughly when preparing ground meats.
Control and destruction of meat containing trichinae, e.g., removal and proper disposal of porcine diaphragms prior to public sale of meat.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention makes the following recommendation: "Curing (salting), drying, smoking, or microwaving meat does not consistently kill infective worms."[2] However, under controlled commercial food processing conditions some of these methods are considered effective by the United States Department of Agriculture.[3]


[edit] See also

[blackbear]

Took the hide it is going to be made into a rug but you never take the meat of a grizzly...

Due to the tricinocous that is very present in all bear meats but especially grizzly.

One of the unhealthiest meats a person can consume.

Are you referring to Trichinosis ? This can come from undercooked pork and can also be found in wild game spread by Roundworm (Trichinella Spiralis) larvae. This is usually found in 3Rd. world countries where domestic pigs feed on garbage. Unless you are eating undercooked bear meat from a bear that feeds in garbage dumps you have nothing to worry about. I have not seen research indicating that Trichichinosis is common in all bear meats.

[Camp Cook]

You'd risk it and eat meat that is contaminated with a worm that can invade your system not me...

As well as in BC the provincial government does not require a person to remove the meat of a grizzly they recognize that the meat is inedible and not safe for consumption.

This is the only game animal here that you are not required to remove the edible portions of because as far as the government is concerned all portions of the grizzly are in-edible.

Heres another thought natives do not consume the meat of grizzlies either mind you it could be because the grizzly could be their great great grandfather re-encarnated in the bear.

Oh and do not go by if a bear is not eating from a gabage dump that it will be free of trichinosous in almost every older bear it is present.

[blackbear]

If you think all bear are infected with Trichinosis then how about deer, moose and elk with Chronic Wasting Disease and waterfowl with Avian Flu, you better become a vegetarian. But then again plants are subject to acid rain, mercury....
What can you eat ? I won't argue the edibility of Grizzly, but you are way off on Black Bear.

[Camp Cook]

Chronic wasting desease is not in my area yet usually it effects animals that are feed commercial feeds that contain brain matter from dead animals.

We don't have that problem here in BC yet now Alberta the province right to the East of us has this problem.

I also didn't post my story to get into a pissing match over what you or anyone else thinks is right/wrong/acceptable to eat...

I not questioning you what you feel is edible meat so eat whatever you want myself I also have a choice to make which is I will not eat bear meat of any kind due to the risk.

[blackbear]

When you make a statement about Black Bear meat being unsafe to consume on a bear hunting site you can expect those with opposing views to express those views. Sorry if your feelings got hurt but in Minnesota it is a crime to discard meat of wild game, we call it wanton waste. The Minnesota D.N.R. gives instruction to all bear hunters on how to preserve Black Bear meat so that it can be consumed and enjoyed. I know little about Grizzly but I have been researching mature boar Black Bears for years. Congratulations on the Grizzly, Nice bear.

[torpedoman]

Chronic wasting desease is not in my area yet usually it effects animals that are feed commercial feeds that contain brain matter from dead animals.

We don't have that problem here in BC yet now Alberta the province right to the East of us has this problem.

I also didn't post my story to get into a pissing match over what you or anyone else thinks is right/wrong/acceptable to eat...

I not questioning you what you feel is edible meat so eat whatever you want myself I also have a choice to make which is I will not eat bear meat of any kind due to the risk.

don't think your right on the  commercial feed think it has infected the deer and elk herds in colorado that as far as i know don't get commercial feed.

[teddy12b]

Congrats on your big bear.  That's quite a story. 

[reb henderson]

Nice bear and great story!  Thanks for posting

[mattmillerrx]

Nice bear.  Looks like a great hunt.

[six_gunz]

Nice bear, Thanks for sharing the story and pics.

ms,
thanks for the info you posted on Trichinosis....I was curious about this and it's good to know that cooking it to the proper temp can prevent infection

[ms]

I never shot a bear but have had black bear meat. I got worried when I read what camp cook said about the meat.

[Camp Cook]

I just recieved an awesome update of the area where I shot the bear...

I had told the guide/outfitter for the area roughly were I had shot the bear and that we think that there is another big grizzly in the area due to the carcass being carried off.

He went to check out the spot the other day and as he approached it another huge grizzly started shaking trees and growling at him he was able to see the head and said it looks exactly like my bears brother.

[Sourdough]

Black Bear, or Grizzly both can be infected, just like hogs.  Therefore be sure to cook it throughly and there is no problem with eating it.  Here in Alaska you have to take the hide or the meat, of either bear.  Some people take both the hide and the meat, but we have that option..

Nice bear, like the color. 

[bscman]

Congrats on that amazing trophy--quite the experience too!

As for as trichinosis...
It's not different than E. Coli, salmanella, or anything else. It's of no concern if you thoroughly cook the meat.
If you're worried about getting trichinosis from a bear, you better stop eating pork too...and ground beef...and chicken...and any unpasturized milk or fruit drinks...and what about the peppers and tomatoes in the N/W? They were a source or e.coli too. Twinkies are said to cause cancer. Soda rots your teeth.

Need I go on? 

[blackbear]

Congrats on that amazing trophy--quite the experience too!

As for as trichinosis...
It's not different than E. Coli, salmanella, or anything else. It's of no concern if you thoroughly cook the meat.
If you're worried about getting trichinosis from a bear, you better stop eating pork too...and ground beef...and chicken...and any unpasturized milk or fruit drinks...and what about the peppers and tomatoes in the N/W? They were a source or e.coli too. Twinkies are said to cause cancer. Soda rots your teeth.

Need I go on? 

Twinkies?