Arrived at camp on the Sept 28th, and its was 87 degrees at 4 pm. We where hunting in extreme northern Humboldt County, not far from the Klamath River. My buddy Eric, and I set up camp, and got the sleeping bags ready for that night, which ended up being a smart move. We had heard from other hunters that there were a lot of bears around, and we had the week off to try to fill our tags. We began our hunt in an area that several bears had been taken in the past few years. I hadnt hunted this area for over a year, and was suprised to find it had been clear cut, darn it.
We changed plans and I moved us to a spot I had been on bears in the past. We parked the quads, and began a slow quiet walk on a logging road. I checked the wind with my puffer, and it was perfect, blowing right in our faces. We walked about a 1/2 mile and came into the area I had heard bears in the past few years. As we began a sharp turn luck shined on us, and we caught a decent bear crossing the road. She had no idea we were there, and Eric was able to put one right between the eyes. The bear dropped and was DRT (dead right there). After a couple pics, and tagging we walked back to the quads, and drove up and loaded her up. We later weighed her, and she was a solid 150 lbs. We took her back to camp, and finished gutting and skinning, and had the bag on her by 11pm. After a couple whisky drinks we were out.
The next morning we hunting another good area, and I could hear a bear in the brush. I kept trying to get ahead of the sound, but was never able too. Eric was tagged out, for bear, and looking for a buck. WIth no luck we went back to camp, and had lunch. I was back in the brush by 2 pm. This time I was hunting an area of white oaks. Again the wind was blowing in my face. After about an hour I saw a decent bear ,and tried an off hand shot at about 50 yards. Wow, I completely missed him. I spent 40 minutes looking for blood or any sign I may have hit em. Now I was bummed I had missed a nice bear, and probably scared any other bears off. I kept on the hunt, and about 30 minutes later came into a clearing. At about 120 yards I saw a nice bear feeding under a large oak tree. I was able to sneak up to a tree for a rest, and waited for a good shot. After the longest 5 minutes of my life the bear finally gave me a broadside shot. I touched off the shot, and saw the bear arch up his back, and take off running. I waited for about 30 minutes, and then slowly walked down to the area I had shot. I looked, and looked, and found no blood. That crappy feeling was washing over me, and I was getting seriously bummed. I kept looking, cause in the past I have seen that arching of the back, it usually meant it was a good center mass shot. I began to cut trail in circle pattern from where I thought he was when I shot. After a few minutes of nothing, I was really getting down. Finally at about 30 yards and over a small crest, I found him piled up.
I hooked up with Eric, and we spent the next 2 hours trying to find a way to get a quad to him. Erics GPS was on the fritz, so we went old school, and drug him up the hill and out the trial I had been on. Two hours later we got him to the quad. Back to camp we go, and agian we are in the dark skinning a bear. This guy came in at right at 220 lbs.
These bears were not big monsters, but we were happy with them. There is just something about going out on your own, spotting and stalking a bear. Hope ya enjoy the pics ,and story.
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