Bear 2004

It all started out as a usual days hunt, trying to decide which stand to sit in that might be productive. I had a grand total of 9 ladder stands and 5 portables to choose from. We have roughly 400 acres of private land to hunt and another 1200 of state land close by. As I walked to the stand I day dreamed of seeing one of the nicer white-tailed bucks that roamed the property. The leaves were on the ground and with being dry...the idea of being able to sneak into my stand was nil. It was three o’clock in the afternoon when I finally got up into the stand and got all situated.

I have this stand roughly 18 feet high and with the use of climbing sticks that connect together and also securely attach themselves to the tree by way of ratchet straps. I used to use the screw in steps, but after a couple close near death calls of the steps breaking pushed me to the ladder stands and climbing sticks. Tip...never trust the metal screw in steps, check for any cracks or loose parts every time you use them.

This stand overlooked a small open field that I had brush cut with the brush hog and tractor earlier in the season. It connected to the edge of what used to be a creek but now a nice swamp with the help of our local beaver population. I had decided on this stand location because you had full view of two large beaver dams that the deer tended to use to cross into the field to feed in the evening.

Three thirty found me sipping on a nice cup of coffee surveying the brush for any tell tailed signs of an ear, tip of an antler, patch of brown that might turn into a buck. When hunting to you younger or less experienced hunters...never look for the whole deer. You should be training yourself to look for parts as listed above that might give the deer away.

I could hear rustling of the brush and leaves about thirty yards directly behind me. I slowly put the coffee down and stood up. My heart was now racing 100 miles an hour thinking this was the buck. It seemed like hours which in reality were a couple of minutes before two large coons (bandits) emerged from the underbrush and headed down to the swamp for their afternoon stroll.

Three forty five (3:45) found me using my dominate Primos grunt call followed by my doe bleat using the Primos cans in hopes of drawing the buck out. The day is November 1 and the bucks are becoming a bit more active as we head into the rut. I had just picked up my coffee again when my eyes caught movement up on the second beaver dam about 275 yards away.

There crossing the dam was this really large bear (large to me is anything bigger than a coon). I closed my eyes and opened them again to see if I were seeing things, thinking maybe this special blend coffee was special causing hallucinations. The bear was still there and heading in my direction.

I picked up my Remington model 7400 30-06 equipped with a 3-9 Redfield scope and put the cross hairs right at the top of the bears back and pulled the trigger. The bear never flinched and continued in my direction. I figured I must have shot high on the bear and placed the cross hairs next to the top of the front shoulder and squeezed the trigger. This time there was a response from the bear and it spun him almost completely around.

Now he was running full tilt in my direction and closing the gap to roughly 100 yards. He stopped in the tag alters and gave me another broadside shot. This time the shot causes him to spin completely around and at this point I can hear him growling and snorting.

Once again the bear started running in my direction and now I know he is pissed. If I didn’t know any better I swear he was running in the direction of the sounds of the shots in order to pounce on me. This brought him to within 45 yards and was running full tilt across the field. With that I took my forth shot and it landed more in the mid section of the bear which caused him to completely roll over.

Your thinking this must be the end of the story and at that point I had been wishing the same. The bear regained his composure still growling and snorting and ran into the woods directly behind me. This stand was placed along an over grown fence line boarding between the field and woods. By this time I can hear my heartbeat pounding in my ears and my body is telling me to breathe.

I can hear the bear running along the fence line in my direction, sounding like a freight train. The bear finally comes into view and stops directly below the stand. At this point the bear is so close that even with the scope turned down to three power the bear looks a bit fuzzy. I placed the cross hairs right on the front shoulder of the bear and squeeze the trigger.

Nothing happened, the gun didn’t go off. I turned the gun sideways to check the action only to find the four shells that were in the clip had already fired and the gun was empty. Trying to be as quiet as possible I removed the clip and start looking through my pockets for the second clip. At that point I realize my second clip is in my other hunting jacket, I have no shells and the bear is directly below my stand.

Thinking I was safe 18 feet in the air, the thought comes to me that a bear can and will climb trees. Three minutes pass which seems like a lifetime and the bear is still there. In attempts to try and scare the bear I begin  sliding the action of the gun back and fourth making loud sounds. This works as to giving my location away because of the loud commotion the bear looks directly up at me in the stand.

He at first is not quite sure what to make of it and decides to take off running in the opposite direction. I don’t remember much of how I actually came down from the tree stand for in the heat of the moment I may have leaped the 18 feet. What I can tell you is that I was running in the opposite directions a whole heck of a lot faster than the bear.

Once back to the house I not only grabbed the extra clip but also a full box of 30-06 shells just in case. My best friend and I tracked the bear and later that evening we found him 200 yards from the stand.

To read more on the adventures of the bear tracking, read “ Do bears eyes glow in the Dark?”

 

 

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