HuntnCarve & Bills Custom calls work for black bears

[Okanagan]

Hunting black bears with 14 year old grandson Riley, I used a predator call several times, mostly to get a bear to stop or position himself for a shot.

Below is a reenactment pic of Riley getting squared away for a shot at a bear toward the far wall of timber.



Bear #1:  Medium large bear that smelled us at 40 yards and started walking away picking up speed as he went.  I blew HuntnCarve’s call at him as he started running and he accelerated.  I thought, “Thanks a lot, Dave.”     The bear went down into a swale out of sight but came up into view 235 yards out.  This time when I blew a succulent note, he swung broadside, put his front feet up on a log and looked back like he was saying, “That’s a sound to die for.”  He almost did.  But Riley was struggling with a difficult rest on bad ground deep in logging debris, and neither of us was comfortable with a shot that long from a wobbly rest on springy limbs.  Riley said he was going to pass as I simultaneously recommended that he not shoot.

Bear #2:  Young bear that we decided to pass but I wanted him to hang around and let us look him over a bit more.  He liked the sound of HuntnCarve’s call, as he shows in photo below.



Bear #3:  We went back the next evening to look for bear #1 again in the same place, and in case we found him, I switched to Bill’s Calls higher pitched call to give him a different sound if we tried to call to him.  I've used Bill's Custom call before to get a spooked bear to circle me.  A sow and big cub distracted us, then a minute or two later a few yards walk around the hill Riley saw a larger bear that he passed at first because he thought it might be the sow.  We realized that it could not be the sow and it didn’t have a cub, but it smelled us and took off at a scrambling walk.  I blew Bill’s call and the bear stopped for 3 seconds just before it got out of sight, not long enough for Riley.  We ran around the road above the bear and got within 150 yards and it paused again at the sound of the call, but not long enough for Riley to skid to a stop, get set and get off a good shot.  Best memory of that bear is of it walking along a huge sun bleached log in the dusk.

Bear #4:  BIG bear Riley saw loping away from us in timber as we drove up a steep logging road toward a glassing point.  I blew on HuntnCarve’s call to try to stop and distract it as Riley pursued it into the woods.  He said that it kept stopping and going slow while looking toward the call.  He had an iffy shot through brush at it and tried to get a clearer shot but got nothing.  Good decision IMO.  Huge scat on the road and though Riley didn’t say it was a big one he commented when he got back to me that curiously the bear seemed super long as it flowed through the underbrush, appearing to be longer from nose to tail than the span of his long arms.  Hmmm....  wish we had a rematch with that one but we never found him again though we looked. 

Bear # 5:  Smallish bear that we spooked at 140 yards after stalking it from where Riley spotted it at 250 (while looking for the big #4 above).   Again, I used HuntnCarve's call in a try to get it to pause long enough for Riley to get closer or get a clear shot.  It dived off a steep break and we never saw what it did after that.

We did two regular calling set ups, first a short one in a basin to get a bear in the area to stick his head up or come out to have a look.  The other was a half hour stand with electronic call that we set up 1/4 mile ahead of where the big bear #4 was last heading.  No luck on either stand. 

FWIW, with 30 minutes left of his hunting time, Riley shot a bear offhand at 40 yards.  No need for a call except to blow taps.

[HuntnCarve]

No wonder my ears have been ringing the past few days?

Congrats to Riley!   And to you Clyde for hanging in there and coaching the young man.  Sounds like a great time was had by all.
Bill makes a great call.  I had the pleasure of having lunch with him and his wife a few years back.
Had a great time, just like when we all had lunch.
Hopefullly Riley shot that bear near the road.  I'd sure not envy you all trying to pack one out of that mess!

HnC
Dave

[Okanagan]

Yep, he was 40 yards above a driveable road we could access, so miserably steep and deep with dead limbs etc. that we rolled him down a few spots -- but it sure beat carrying one uphill!  Small bear which also helped.  A gift in the last half hour of the hunt.

Not sure what is up but logging companies are leaving tops and limbs where they fall and not even making skid roads.  Helicopter logging has been that way for years, leaving clearcuts so choked with wood debris that deer and other animals just stay out of them (and after one hunt, so do I!)  Now most all of the loggers seem to be leaving clearcuts so trashed that they are difficult to walk through.  They used to rake and bunch the trash wood into piles.  Maybe it recycles better into the soil long term to leave it lay.   

[Dave]

Congrats to Riley!  Sounds like it was a great time - plenty of action and success right at the end of the hunt.  Way better than getting that first one as it's all about the milage together!
I'm guessing that was Riley's first bear?  Wouldn't be surprised if it was his third, though, with the amount of time you spend with your grandkids!!   

[Okanagan]

Yes, Riley's first bear.  He had hunted them one season before in WA State without filling his tag, and then hunted longer and harder than our usual to get a bear up here.  Interesting dynamic to a grampa:  he has made buzzer beater shots in basketball but he gets a little rattled when it comes to shooting a bear.  No shame nor secret, just how real life is with real people, and part of the fun and growing to accommodate and overcome.  He missed a bear early in the hunt, then worked at it and settled down to make an excellent stalk on a bear we did not get, and an excellent shot on the last one through the center of ribs tight behind the bear's shoulder.  It made two or three steps and dropped.

Each child and grandchild is different.  Some need a boost of confidence, some need balance or humility, some are working out what they personally enjoy and dislike.  I am the most privileged grandad I know. 

I always wanted my sons to hang out with good men, and appreciate what such men built into the lives of my boys.  The ex-guide friend Riley and I stayed with influenced Riley's Dad for the good when he was a teen, and mutual respect is still strong between them.

I have been surprised at how many people comment on my time with grandkids, because it seems such a natural way to pass on the values important to our family.  No pre-planned conversational topics, no preaching, merely real life time together under conditions running the gamut from fun to stress.  (Two flat tires on the abysmal roads this time!  )  .   I write this merely to recommend grandchild time to those who can manage it.  It could be golf or beach or almost any activity as long as it is together and the grandparent enjoys it enough to do with the kid.

[coyote101]

Great story.  Congratulations to Riley and Grandpa.  Nothing better than time with the grandkids.

Pat

[FinsnFur]

Nice job Riley!   You both had to be pumped after a trip like that.
You done good Clyde 

[JohnP]

Time spent with the grandkids add time on your life.  Without a doubt some of most enjoyable times in my life.