Grandson Ben, his brother, cousin and uncle are all up in the high country hunting bears this long weekend. I texted Ben and asked how they were doing. I got the following text, photo with no words.
(https://i.imgur.com/Ofqq9CK.jpg)
No words needed right?
They appear to be doing pretty well
Text him back that there has to be a story that goes along with that picture, but you can wait till they are back home to relay it to you.
The two brothers hiked down last evening (7 miles) and I was surprised to see them at a family do this morning. Their uncle and cousin stayed up there to hunt some more. They kept the horses up top with them for the final pack out.
Ben went up into the open alpine expecting a long shot across the rolling plateau of huckleberries and meadows or across a canyon. He has practiced out to 600 yards and is confident. For the second year in a row, he killed a bear at 15 yards.
He spotted the bear and was moving closer. While the bear was out of sight from Ben, the bear moved toward him and surprised him when it popped out of brush at 15 yards. He and his brother were planning for the brother to take the first shot at a bear, but Ben was alone at the moment and the bear was at almost point blank range. Bang.
Large boar, super fat that is snow white and Ben thinks has a slight berry smell to it. They plan to pack some of the fat down to render for pie shortening.
Good job. :yoyo:
(https://i.imgur.com/oCon0f2.jpg)
Photo of Ben's bear. Pretty country. He spotted the bear from 2000 yards away, from a ridge above, and the bear was down near their camp where there is more timber. Long approach and stalk took about an hour. The bear kept walking and moving, so he basically walked faster than the bear and caught up with it, in and out of cover for both of them.
Lush coat on this bear, very nice. Very few berries in the high country this year, and no concentration of bears like last year.