2012 Last minute bear.

[FemoralArchery]

I hunted for 7 weekends to get this bear. I packed my bow for the first 4 weeks, saw lots of bears. Either too small or could never get a shot. Picked up my rifle and helped two of my buddies take cows in the same area, hoping for a bear to come along. Well, we got the two cows, but no bear. I had conceded after the 6th weekend that I was done bear hunting and decided to focus on elk hunting with a rifle. My buddy asked if I wanted to go back to the same area I bear hunted to pick up a shed that he saw from across the canyon, I agreed to go. We took our time getting there since the shed wasn't going anywhere. Well after daylight we spotted a bull not too far from the road. He was a giant. We guessed him at 360+. My buddy got a good look at him through the binos and confirmed that this was one of the bigger bulls we'd seen up there. Unfortunately my elk tag wasn't for this area...

After about a 9 mile round trip to get the shed horn and a couple others we found along the way, we were headed back to the pickup. Its about 3:30 in the afternoon. As we are walking up the trail, some movement catches my eye. I look over and see what I think is a chocolate bear sitting in a tree just 40 yards off the trail. I'm pretty sure I did a double(maybe even a triple)-take. Sure enough there is a bear sitting in a tree. I call to by buddy who had walked by and he came back and we confirmed it was a nice bear. I took the shot and the rest is history. I would have been happy with this bear at any point during the season, but I was especially happy with it since it was a somewhat random series of events that brought me and this bear together.

[LckyTylr]

Nice Bear . . . MORE PICS!!!

[ElkNut1]

Sometimes it's better to be lucky that good, I like those times! (grin) Great looking bear there bud, congrats!!!

ElkNut1

[cantgetdrawn]

Congrats!

[cnelk]

nice bear!
what was he doing up in the tree?

[FemoralArchery]

Thanks guys.

I guess she was taking a nap. She was sitting in the top of an old broken off poplar trunk. There was kind of a little hollowed out spot, probably 25 feet up in the air. There weren't many people around, so I don't really know what she was doing, no hounds in the area.

Tyler, I wish I had the presence of mind to take some more pictures, but this was the only pose we did, the one I posted, and one with me holding my rifle in the same spot. Looking back, I should have taken some side pictures, maybe got her out in the sunlight... Hindsight is 20/20.