Well we are not bringing a bear back to Texas but Ivan and I had a fun adventure just the same.
15 hours into our drive to Idaho we got a call from the outfitter saying he had had a 4 wheeler accident and we needed to reschedule for next year.
After a fairly heated discussion we reached a compromise.
He agreed to have someone meet us in St Regis and show us how to find the camp and we agreed to guide ourselves.
First order of business was his 4 wheeler was crashed 100 yards down a rock slide and his side by side was stuck in a snow bank. After checking both out we decided to go after the side by side and spent a couple of hours getting it back on the trail.
This area of Idaho was as rough as any country I have ever hunted in with it being pretty much straight up and down with brush growing up through a million lay downs .
We only found 3 bait sites so we knew our odds were pretty slim but at least we were hunting.
Ivan logged one 14 hour set and we sat 5 or 6 hours every evening.
He never had a shot but I was able to shoot one.
About an hour before dark i was setting in a tree trying my best to control my shaking. I pretty much had all the cloths i brought but the mist blowing in a 40 mile an hour wind had me shaking all over.
I had a funny feeling and looked behind me up the mountain and there was about 100 pound black bear standing 15 yards away staring at the bait.
For no apparent reason he spun around and took off like a dragon was chasing him. 10 minutes later he was back below the bait but he would ease up close only to spin around and go taring off. He had done it 5 or 6 times before he cleared the brush enough for me to have a shot. I was watching him over the sights when he suddenly stood up staring back my direction.
Without even thinking about it the .62 caliber flintlock went off and the big round ball knocked him over a log backwards. I watched and the listened as he half ran half tumbled down the mountain.
After a 30 minute wait I eased over and started trying to climb down to where I believed he was laying. The drizzled had the ground and especially the logs slick as grease and after the third time I fell I decided I was better off to go get my grandson than to hurt myself with no one I the world knowing where I was at.
As I was hiking out it started to snow, I mean for sure enough snow almost a white out and We didn’t make it a mile before we almost had our own wreak.
We rounded a blind curve and almost slammed into 3 big tree that fell in the snow storm.
By the time we walked the 6 miles back to camp it was pushing midnight and still storming so we decided to wait until the next day to hunt my bear.
By 10;00 the next morning it had warmed up to 37 degrees and after clearing the road we climbed back up the mountain. I was not surprised that the snow had wiped out the blood trail but was still disappointed after 5 hours of searching and a dozen falls and tumbles through the brush we could not find my bear.
While it was not the trip I had hope for when I set it up, It was still a great week spent in the wilderness with my grandson. It is a memory I will carry all my life
15 hours into our drive to Idaho we got a call from the outfitter saying he had had a 4 wheeler accident and we needed to reschedule for next year.
After a fairly heated discussion we reached a compromise.
He agreed to have someone meet us in St Regis and show us how to find the camp and we agreed to guide ourselves.
First order of business was his 4 wheeler was crashed 100 yards down a rock slide and his side by side was stuck in a snow bank. After checking both out we decided to go after the side by side and spent a couple of hours getting it back on the trail.
This area of Idaho was as rough as any country I have ever hunted in with it being pretty much straight up and down with brush growing up through a million lay downs .
We only found 3 bait sites so we knew our odds were pretty slim but at least we were hunting.
Ivan logged one 14 hour set and we sat 5 or 6 hours every evening.
He never had a shot but I was able to shoot one.
About an hour before dark i was setting in a tree trying my best to control my shaking. I pretty much had all the cloths i brought but the mist blowing in a 40 mile an hour wind had me shaking all over.
I had a funny feeling and looked behind me up the mountain and there was about 100 pound black bear standing 15 yards away staring at the bait.
For no apparent reason he spun around and took off like a dragon was chasing him. 10 minutes later he was back below the bait but he would ease up close only to spin around and go taring off. He had done it 5 or 6 times before he cleared the brush enough for me to have a shot. I was watching him over the sights when he suddenly stood up staring back my direction.
Without even thinking about it the .62 caliber flintlock went off and the big round ball knocked him over a log backwards. I watched and the listened as he half ran half tumbled down the mountain.
After a 30 minute wait I eased over and started trying to climb down to where I believed he was laying. The drizzled had the ground and especially the logs slick as grease and after the third time I fell I decided I was better off to go get my grandson than to hurt myself with no one I the world knowing where I was at.
As I was hiking out it started to snow, I mean for sure enough snow almost a white out and We didn’t make it a mile before we almost had our own wreak.
We rounded a blind curve and almost slammed into 3 big tree that fell in the snow storm.
By the time we walked the 6 miles back to camp it was pushing midnight and still storming so we decided to wait until the next day to hunt my bear.
By 10;00 the next morning it had warmed up to 37 degrees and after clearing the road we climbed back up the mountain. I was not surprised that the snow had wiped out the blood trail but was still disappointed after 5 hours of searching and a dozen falls and tumbles through the brush we could not find my bear.
While it was not the trip I had hope for when I set it up, It was still a great week spent in the wilderness with my grandson. It is a memory I will carry all my life
