There are not many guys on this forum from my state but even so the most detailed I will get is that this occurred in Idaho.
This is a long story and while I am embarrased by some of what happened in this story, I cannot change the facts and will tell it how it happened.
Since I began hunting bears 6 years ago I had killed 2 bears, one black and one cinnamon phase both with a centerfire rifle. This year I decided to use the Lyman GPR that I built last year. The season opened on April 15 but due to snow I was unable to get into my bait site. After waiting a week and seeing very little improvement in the road conditions I decided to strap on my snowshoes and get started. It was just over a mile one way but by making several trips I was able to pack in my 35 gallon barrel and enough, popcorn, mollasses oats cooking grease and scraps to fill the barrel and dump the last 5 gallon bucket on the ground. I had also caught a few 4-5 carp that I let sit in a bucket in the sun for a week, these I hung from a nearby branch. I have found that bears don't prefer to eat rotten food but the scent still draws them in.
After one week I was surprised to find the bait had already been hit, and happy when the trail camera revealed it was a large cinnamon phase bear. After another week, that bear had not returned but a sow with 3 cubs that I had pictures from 2013 came back. The sow and all of her cubs are also all cinnamon phase bears. It was another week before the first bear returned, but due to work and family obligations it wasn't until this past weekend that I would actually get a chance to hunt the site. On May 16th I replenished the bait and checked the camera. The sow and cubs were still around and no sign of the lone cinnamon, but a new bear had been at the bait just an hour before I arrived. I decided to come back on the 17th to hunt. The snow is now gone so I only have to hike 1/2 mile to get to my site.
On Saturday I arrived, replenished the bait and got into my stand at 4:30 PM. 45 minutes later one of the cubs came down to the bait but stopped and walked back the way it came after a few seconds. Another hour went by and I heard a loud crash, peering through the trees I caught sight of golden brown hair and began to get excited until I saw it was just the rump of an elk. The elk left as quickly as it had come and I was left alone for the next 2 hours.
I knew I would have shooting light until about 9:15 PM so I let the mintues tick by. At 8:40 PM I caught movement and saw a black shape, eventually it moved and revealed itself to be the smaller black bear from the day before. The bear took his time moving towards the bait which gave me enough time to slowly raise my rifle. As he stepped into the open 35 yards away I pulled the hammer back and set the trigger, when he turned broadside I fired for his shoulder.
Through the smoke I saw him drop without so much as a twitch. I took my time reloading, I measured the 100 grains of 2F swiss black powder, started the .54 cal ball and patch, and then the bear began to get up. He dragged himself forward using only his front legs and I thought I had only spined him and I'd better get another shot into him before he made it to the bushes. Forgetting were I was in my reloading process, I capped the nipple and fired. The bear again stopped moving. Not realizing my mistake I got down from my stand and began to reload, since I didn't bring anything to swab the barrel with between shots it was difficult to seat the ball and in doing so I realized that I had only short started my previous shot.
I doubted that the short started ball had even reached the bear so I approached on an arch that took me behind the bear. He was down in some brush but still moving and I couldn't get a shot. I circled uphill to get a view of his head and shoulders. When I came around a tree about 15 feet from the bear as I raised my rifle he stood up on all fours and headed downhill into some thicker brush. I brought my rifle up to cover the clearing that he would soon come into. He came into the small opening at a walk and quartering away at 40 yards, I fired once more, dropping him.
Again I began to reload. I could hear the bear still thrashing, it was getting dark and due to the fouling I couldn't seat the ball. It had come to a stop about 15 inches down the barrel and refused any further progress. I tried to force it and snapped my ramrod in half. I looked down the hill and due to the brush and growing darkness I could no longer see the bear. My flashlight batteries were too low to give any useful light and my rifle was incapacitated. I was otherwise unarmed except for my belt knife.
Not wanting to confront a wounded bear in the dark I had no choice but to leave and come back in the morning. I've never had to do this before. I was confused about how the bear could have survived the first shot and racked by the thought he might still be alive and suffering. I had no explanation for what had happened and just hoped I would find him dead in that clearing or at least find him and end his misery.
At first light I hiked in with back-up in the form of a friend. I had been able to seat the stuck ball and fire it out. I cleaned the rifle and reloaded before we headed up the hill. We found the bear dead, not 10 steps from where I had shot him in the clearing. The entire process from my first shot to my last had only been 7-8 minutes, but the overnight wait had made this one of the longest and most stressful hunts of my life. I was happy he had expired without travelling much further.
Upon investigation I found that my first shot had indeed hit him perfectly in the shoulder and exited the other side, but had only hit one lung. This is the first animal that I have ever shot from a tree stand and I believe I held to high for the shot angle. The short started ball had also hit him in the chest but had only penetrated the skin and was lodged against the ribs. My final shot as he moved away through the clearing had entered just in front of his left hind leg and I found the flattened ball embedded in his ribs on the right side near the top of his ribcage having penetrated about 3 feet to get there. That ball had taken the remaining lung.
Thankfully, being a smaller bear and with below freezing temps overnight he had cooled through and the meat appears to be alright. Because I use a fiberglass rod to clean my rifle I had left my cleaning jag on the rod at home and failed to bring it with me, if I'd had it I could have swabbed the bore between shots and not been left unarmed. Had I seated my second shot I am confident the ordeal would have ended then but in my excitement at seeing him start moving again I rushed myself and forget where I was in reloading, thanfully nothing bad happened from firing a ball that was only 6 inches down my barrel.
Overall, it was an exciting hunt. Baiting is hard work and carries no guarantee of success, being allowed to bear hunt both spring and fall I have baited 8 times in the last 6 years and only killed 3 bears. It was exciting to watch him come in and to wait for the first shot. The first shot went right where I was aiming and would have been lethal if I had let him have time to die.
He isn't the biggest bear I've killed, he measures only 5 feet nose to tail, but he is unique for this area where 90% of the bears are either cinnamon or chocolate phase and he has a very thick and beautiful coat. This summer I will tan him and make a rug to give my father for his new shop. The bottom floor is a shop and the top floor has a guest room and a game room. I will grind the meat into breakfast sausage and bratwurst in the next couple weeks.
This is a long story and while I am embarrased by some of what happened in this story, I cannot change the facts and will tell it how it happened.
Since I began hunting bears 6 years ago I had killed 2 bears, one black and one cinnamon phase both with a centerfire rifle. This year I decided to use the Lyman GPR that I built last year. The season opened on April 15 but due to snow I was unable to get into my bait site. After waiting a week and seeing very little improvement in the road conditions I decided to strap on my snowshoes and get started. It was just over a mile one way but by making several trips I was able to pack in my 35 gallon barrel and enough, popcorn, mollasses oats cooking grease and scraps to fill the barrel and dump the last 5 gallon bucket on the ground. I had also caught a few 4-5 carp that I let sit in a bucket in the sun for a week, these I hung from a nearby branch. I have found that bears don't prefer to eat rotten food but the scent still draws them in.
After one week I was surprised to find the bait had already been hit, and happy when the trail camera revealed it was a large cinnamon phase bear. After another week, that bear had not returned but a sow with 3 cubs that I had pictures from 2013 came back. The sow and all of her cubs are also all cinnamon phase bears. It was another week before the first bear returned, but due to work and family obligations it wasn't until this past weekend that I would actually get a chance to hunt the site. On May 16th I replenished the bait and checked the camera. The sow and cubs were still around and no sign of the lone cinnamon, but a new bear had been at the bait just an hour before I arrived. I decided to come back on the 17th to hunt. The snow is now gone so I only have to hike 1/2 mile to get to my site.
On Saturday I arrived, replenished the bait and got into my stand at 4:30 PM. 45 minutes later one of the cubs came down to the bait but stopped and walked back the way it came after a few seconds. Another hour went by and I heard a loud crash, peering through the trees I caught sight of golden brown hair and began to get excited until I saw it was just the rump of an elk. The elk left as quickly as it had come and I was left alone for the next 2 hours.
I knew I would have shooting light until about 9:15 PM so I let the mintues tick by. At 8:40 PM I caught movement and saw a black shape, eventually it moved and revealed itself to be the smaller black bear from the day before. The bear took his time moving towards the bait which gave me enough time to slowly raise my rifle. As he stepped into the open 35 yards away I pulled the hammer back and set the trigger, when he turned broadside I fired for his shoulder.
Through the smoke I saw him drop without so much as a twitch. I took my time reloading, I measured the 100 grains of 2F swiss black powder, started the .54 cal ball and patch, and then the bear began to get up. He dragged himself forward using only his front legs and I thought I had only spined him and I'd better get another shot into him before he made it to the bushes. Forgetting were I was in my reloading process, I capped the nipple and fired. The bear again stopped moving. Not realizing my mistake I got down from my stand and began to reload, since I didn't bring anything to swab the barrel with between shots it was difficult to seat the ball and in doing so I realized that I had only short started my previous shot.
I doubted that the short started ball had even reached the bear so I approached on an arch that took me behind the bear. He was down in some brush but still moving and I couldn't get a shot. I circled uphill to get a view of his head and shoulders. When I came around a tree about 15 feet from the bear as I raised my rifle he stood up on all fours and headed downhill into some thicker brush. I brought my rifle up to cover the clearing that he would soon come into. He came into the small opening at a walk and quartering away at 40 yards, I fired once more, dropping him.
Again I began to reload. I could hear the bear still thrashing, it was getting dark and due to the fouling I couldn't seat the ball. It had come to a stop about 15 inches down the barrel and refused any further progress. I tried to force it and snapped my ramrod in half. I looked down the hill and due to the brush and growing darkness I could no longer see the bear. My flashlight batteries were too low to give any useful light and my rifle was incapacitated. I was otherwise unarmed except for my belt knife.
Not wanting to confront a wounded bear in the dark I had no choice but to leave and come back in the morning. I've never had to do this before. I was confused about how the bear could have survived the first shot and racked by the thought he might still be alive and suffering. I had no explanation for what had happened and just hoped I would find him dead in that clearing or at least find him and end his misery.
At first light I hiked in with back-up in the form of a friend. I had been able to seat the stuck ball and fire it out. I cleaned the rifle and reloaded before we headed up the hill. We found the bear dead, not 10 steps from where I had shot him in the clearing. The entire process from my first shot to my last had only been 7-8 minutes, but the overnight wait had made this one of the longest and most stressful hunts of my life. I was happy he had expired without travelling much further.
Upon investigation I found that my first shot had indeed hit him perfectly in the shoulder and exited the other side, but had only hit one lung. This is the first animal that I have ever shot from a tree stand and I believe I held to high for the shot angle. The short started ball had also hit him in the chest but had only penetrated the skin and was lodged against the ribs. My final shot as he moved away through the clearing had entered just in front of his left hind leg and I found the flattened ball embedded in his ribs on the right side near the top of his ribcage having penetrated about 3 feet to get there. That ball had taken the remaining lung.
Thankfully, being a smaller bear and with below freezing temps overnight he had cooled through and the meat appears to be alright. Because I use a fiberglass rod to clean my rifle I had left my cleaning jag on the rod at home and failed to bring it with me, if I'd had it I could have swabbed the bore between shots and not been left unarmed. Had I seated my second shot I am confident the ordeal would have ended then but in my excitement at seeing him start moving again I rushed myself and forget where I was in reloading, thanfully nothing bad happened from firing a ball that was only 6 inches down my barrel.
Overall, it was an exciting hunt. Baiting is hard work and carries no guarantee of success, being allowed to bear hunt both spring and fall I have baited 8 times in the last 6 years and only killed 3 bears. It was exciting to watch him come in and to wait for the first shot. The first shot went right where I was aiming and would have been lethal if I had let him have time to die.
He isn't the biggest bear I've killed, he measures only 5 feet nose to tail, but he is unique for this area where 90% of the bears are either cinnamon or chocolate phase and he has a very thick and beautiful coat. This summer I will tan him and make a rug to give my father for his new shop. The bottom floor is a shop and the top floor has a guest room and a game room. I will grind the meat into breakfast sausage and bratwurst in the next couple weeks.
Larry
