Elk herds and bear turds

code · May 18, 2012, 10:31:55 PM

My Grandpa(Okanagan) and I went on a five day black bear hunting trip on Vancouver Island last week. We saw twenty-one bear,

thirty-six elk,

four deer,

and three grouse

. I had eight bow stalks, one rifle stalk, two bow shots passed at a tiny bear and a rubbed bear. I also passed half a dozen easy rifle shots, one at a Pope and Young (possibly Boone and Crockett) black bear

. I took five bow shots one missed at fifty-two yards and the other four were taken at the same bear at 40yds, the last shot hit him just behind the shoulder

. We found a bitten off arrow and a good blood trail for fifteen yards before we lost it.

We also enjoyed a four mile canoe trip down a river to salt water and up another creek. Had a great time fishing Grandpa caught one steelhead and three rock-fish I caught two rockfish

. Pictures by Okanagan to follow. No regrets of past bow or rifle shots. We really did have an awesome time and would love to do it again. the location of our hunting camp is ***************, thought you might be interested

.

Cody

Okanagan · May 18, 2012, 11:39:39 PM

It was a mighty fine hunt. Couple of grampa comments: First, seven men looked with flashlights in the dark for two hours for the hit bear, and then Code and I came back the next morning and spent 3 more hours looking. One of the few blood trails in my life I've failed to work out. Steep, thick thorny brush, and the most likely routes tramped over.

Second, my comment on the size of the bears when asked was that one or two of the big dominant bears we saw were the kind that you measure to see how big they are. One might have been B&C, and was likely to make Pope & Young, but no way to know till measured. They were shooters by pert near anyone's standards!

Some bears photographed as we stalked them.

Code within 150 yards of a bear and moving up quickly while out of sight of the critter.

Code did two stalks barefooted because he said he could be quieter. About three minutes after he hit the bear with an arrow, I took a pic of his feet. he'd covered about a quarter mile of brushy, rocky clearcut at that point, on a stalk he thought would be 70 yards when he started. He took off his shoes out in the clearcut and never did find them again!

Code stalking a bear another evening.

Okanagan · May 18, 2012, 11:46:47 PM

Some elk & steelhead. Code took nearly all of the pics.

This last pic is of a steelhead taken from a logging road bridge above him. A bear waded down this stretch of river a couple of days later.

KySongDog · May 19, 2012, 05:33:31 AM

Great story and pics, thanks! Losing that bear was a bummer but things like that happen unfortunately. The experience of the hunt is what matters and remembered over the years. That'll be the hunt where Cody lost his shoes!

You guys had a great time! Wish I was there.

HaMeR · May 19, 2012, 11:09:02 AM

I 2nd everything Semp said!! Congratulations on a fine hunt & many more great memories!!

FOsteology · May 19, 2012, 04:45:22 PM

Beautiful countryside, and sounds like a great time was had. Bummer on the loss of the bear.... but, it happens.

The bear in the second picture looks like an absolute toad!

shaddragger · May 19, 2012, 09:29:23 PM

WOW What a trip!! Awesome work, stalking and getting a shot at a good bear! A trip for a lifetime for anyone!

Okanagan · May 19, 2012, 10:41:15 PM

Fosteology, those gift binoculars got a work out! Cody glassed a bunch of elk and bears, and he used them to pick out steelhead in the streams below. He planned a photo of the binos lying on a bear just for you, but such was not to be. I'll post some pics of him glassing with them however.

Photo above is looking from behind some old log handling equipment.

We camped in a smallish dome tent under a 16x24 foot tarp, but amazingly, it never rained. A loose group of friends have gathered each spring, a few to hunt, a few to fish and a few just to hang out, cook, yarn with friends and help pack meat. Code is 14 years old, and 6'1". After we left I found out that everybody thought he was 17 to 19 years old.

FinsnFur · May 20, 2012, 07:22:48 AM

I'm with these guys, that looks like a trip to remember forever.
Thanks for taking us along via those pics. Much appreciated

Carolina Coyote · May 20, 2012, 07:28:30 AM

Great story and what a trip, plenty of game and adventure, beautiful scenery, Life is Good!!

cc

FOsteology · May 20, 2012, 05:43:06 PM

Cody,

Glad to hear the binoculars are worth a spit! I'm positive before the year is out they'll help you with a bear, deer, or some other animal.

I absolutely love bear hunting. I haven't had an opportunity to hunt them for the past 3 years. Perhaps next year I'll load up the truck and take both my boys up to Western Washington and try calling in a bear for both of them.

Hidehunter · May 20, 2012, 06:19:54 PM

Really enjoyed reading about your trip and looking at the pics. Glad you guys had a great time.

code · May 20, 2012, 07:22:39 PM

Fos,
If you come out here send me a pm. I may be able to meet you for a hunt.
Cody

JohnP · May 20, 2012, 07:39:04 PM

Don't know what to say that hasn't already been said, except WOW!

FOsteology · May 20, 2012, 07:40:40 PM

Cody,

Are you and "Grandpa" Okanagan out on the wet side of Washington? I've done some hunting out in the Olympic National Forest just outside Amanda Park. From Humptulips up through Forks.

Okanagan · May 20, 2012, 09:20:31 PM

I live on the Canadian side for now. Non-residents have to have a guide but BC makes an exception for close relatives of BC resident hunters. I got a "Permit to Accompany" that let me serve as Cody's "guide" when we hunted in BC last week.

I grew up in WA and have hunted elk on the West side of the Peninsula around Amanda Park. Beautiful country. The timber companies wiped out the bears in the 50's and 60's but they are finally coming back in numbers out there.

The number of bears on Vancouver Island defy imagination for hunters in most places. A guide friend gave me a tip on how to locate dominant bears and I saw more big bears last week than in my entire life before, even when hunting the same area.

To Cody: why don't you start another thread called something like Bear Stalks, and tell about some of the stalks you made. If you are OK with it, then I will tell my perspective on the same stalk, and we can link some pics to specific bears, etc. Usually I held back near the end and watched or glassed as Cody stalked. Some of them in the timber I never saw what was going on. If you are not comfortable with that, don't feel like you have to. Or if you prefer, I will start the first one and then you can tell your side.

Dave · May 21, 2012, 10:39:06 AM

Wow does that all sound incredible!!! Hunting, fishing, stalking, canoeing, tracking, more stalking, and all with your grandpa (or from everyone elses perpective, with your grandson/son/daughter, because I know I'd love doing that with my son or daughter).
Love the pics and will be looking for the detailed stalks Okan would like you to start up!

Okanagan · May 21, 2012, 12:09:11 PM

Quote from: Dave on May 21, 2012, 10:39:06 AM
Wow does that all sound incredible!!! Hunting, fishing, stalking, canoeing, tracking, more stalking, and all with your grandpa (or from everyone elses perpective, with your grandson/son/daughter, because I know I'd love doing that with my son or daughter).
Love the pics and will be looking for the detailed stalks Okan would like you to start up!

Thanks for the good words. Yep, it sounds incredible to me, too. I am blessed to get to do this with a grandson. And we got to hunt a place so rich with game it sounds like a tall tale from Jim Bridger.

I'll see what Code posts and maybe start a stalking topic if he doesn't. I just put up a post in the Calls forum about using BigB's predator call on a bear, and that post has some stalking in it.