Spring Black Bear – The Third, and Final, Act
by: Tom Sorenson
The final act? Already?
Meat on the hill
Yup – this play is over, ladies and gentlemen. It happened on a somewhat cool afternoon, again with my wife, Shanna. When we pulled into our usual parking spot along side the gravel road, we could see someone had beaten us to the punch as a pickup sat empty and two sets of tracks led up the trail before us. I’ll admit to a small amount of disappointment. However, we weren’t far up the trail when we spotted our fellow hunters coming down the trail towards us – with a turkey. It turned out that this man had called a turkey in for his boy who appeared to be somewhere around 13 or 14, and the young man had done the job on the tom. We chatted for a while, and I asked if they’d seen any bears – or even any bear sign. They hadn’t. Well, we’d already spent two weekends in there and hadn’t seen any bears or bear sign, either, so I guess we were even.
The game plan was much the same as the previous week – lots of hiking and glassing, and lots of calling. Predator calling was something we’d started last year and in all the sets we’d had yet to call in a bear – call that a bit of foreshadowing. I don’t know the exact score, but I’d imagine it was somewhere around 30 sets and no bears. For the record, those are pretty bad odds. But the law of averages says that we were due.
We hiked a few miles and did a couple sets without seeing any sign when finally, the long awaited, much anticipated set up happened. Shanna was getting hungry right about straight up noon so we decided to stop in the bottom of a draw and have a cookie. The draw opens up nicely and is a likely looking spot for a bear to hang out, so after wed finished our snack, I started the fawn-in-distress call. From everything I’d read about calling bears, you are to call non stop, loudly, and long. It takes lung power – lucky for me, I’ve talked many a ear off in preparing for just such a task. After about ten minutes, the familiar discouraging feeling – something to the effect of ‘there are no bears here’ – began to creep in. I looked at the open hillside directly across from us…
Half in disbelief, I hissed to Shanna, “there’s a bear!”
Sure enough, along the open hillside, there was a light colored bear ambling along. I knew he was in range, so I stopped calling and got situated. I made sure Shanna was on him with the video camera, and touched off the shot. Shock of all shocks, it was a one shot ordeal – a rarity from this rifleman. I can’t express the pure excitement that flooded me. Bear hunting is a different kind of hunting, and for me, this was my first bear. I kept saying over and over, “I can’t believe we called one in!” And, to be honest, I still can’t believe it.
The mountain was alive with its springtime glory, and it was outstanding to share the experience with my wife.
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- The first of many???
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- Blondie
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- Meat on the hill
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- Flowers in bloom
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- This is why I love spring in the mountains.
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- Looking back up at the beautiful canyon.
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- Shanna and I with my first black bear
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- 5 1/2 feet this way, 6′ nose to tail
22 Responses to “Spring Black Bear – The Third, and Final, Act”
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Very nice bear, congratulations. Here in western Or. where I hunt there are extremely few colored bears, mainly black with a splash of white on their chests if you’re lucky. What a treat to have shared that with Shanna. Any idea on the bears age and what are your plans for the meat?
Thanks, Terry! It’s odd – the majority of the bears I’ve seen in this unit are color phase, but Dad has seen a lot of black ones in the same unit. I must have a knack for bringing out the colored ones!
Will find out the bear’s approx. age today – have to get it checked by the F&G.
Planning on making a lot of roasts with the meat – a few steaks, but they way the grain looks, I’m planning on lots of roasts. It has no smell whatsoever – looks like awesome meat! Do you have any recipes? I’ve heard they’re awesome smoked, but I have no smoker.
That is awesome that you were able to call him in. Congratulations.
BTW, Smoke the meat. It’s actually pretty good. My wife’s favorite. I wouldn’t go that far myself… she’s kinda weird.
That is awesome, and I am insanely jealous. What an experience to be able to share with the wife. I have one questions, though. Where’ the video?!!!!!
Well done Tom! Predator calling is not always as easy as it sounds, it does take a bit of patience and commitment to call, but as you now know, the rewards can be very sweet!
Would love to post this story on our blog if that’s OK with you. Let me know!
Tom I love the way the picture of the pack out is composed. It really speaks to me like a centerspread in a magazine layout. I can see it with Text all around…
HMMMM….
Cory – You must be confident your wife won’t be reading this blog?
I really enjoyed my brother’s bear fried like venison, but I definitely want to try it smoked.
Arthur – Patience is a virtue.
Will get the video completed in a few weeks – perhaps a month.
Marc – absolutely, feel free to post away. I should have contacted you before I tried this calling business in the first place!
John – Hmmm, indeed.
May have to shop it around. The problem I have with it…that was one lopsided pack! At least it felt like it was on my back!
Tom and Shanna, Way to go, I can imagine this must have been a rush for both of you. Hard for me to imagine “my little girl” out hunting bear. Looking forward to some bear roast.
Jeff – Thanks! It was a blast…the mountains are incredible this time of year, too. And don’t worry, Shanna took good care of me!
It’s funny – I was skinning the bear and had Shanna hold one of the legs to make it easier and she said, “I wonder what mom would think if she knew I was skinning a bear?”
Tom,
Great job! Congrats on an awesome color phase bear. That had to be an unbelievable rush calling it in! Great pics and can’t wait to see the video. Congrats again!
Jeremy – Thanks. It’s been a long time since I’ve done a video as I haven’t had much time, so I’m looking forward to sitting down at the editing desk again!
Way to go Tom. 6 foot nose to tail is a very respectable bear, and the color phase makes it even more so. We’ve taken over 40 bear around our camp and have yet to see a color phase, although our neighbors said they saw one last year. How nice that your wife was able to experience the adventure as well.
Nice job Tomas! Clean kill and looks like a pretty hide and a good job skinning. Aunty Christy is impressed as well.
Mike – Glad to hear your verification of a good bear…you’re my bear expert! Strangely enough, color phases are quite common out west for one reason or another.
Ray – thank you! It is a great hide – I’m planning on getting it made into a rug.
Congratulations! Isn’t it amazing when a hunt works like it’s supposed to? Gives me hope for my first bear hunt, which I hope to take this year. I know the perfect hunt is the exception, not the rule, but I’m pretty sure your hunt will motivate me anyway
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WOW – Congrats on your first bear Tom and to share it with your wife is an added bonus! That is amazing that you were able to call it in. Here in MS they are endangered species for now. Also, love the pictures – worth a thousand words.
Tom, a hefty congratulations from the SoCal Bowhunter! I loved how this story played out in the past few weeks and so pumped you were able to hunt down your first black bear. It is a beaut! Love the photos and description of your calling. That will be good to remember out here in California. Looking forward to the video and let us know how that meat is… I am drooling over here just thinking about it. Congrats!
NorCal – bear hunting is awesome….bear meat, I’ve found out, is even awesomer! I know you’ll appreciate that with all your grammar ties.
Marian – thanks! Too bad you’ve got so few of them there – they’re a very neat animal!
Al – and thank you! I really think calling works, but you’ve got to be willing to go at it frequently. Like I said, I think I probably did 20-30 unsuccessful sets before this one came in.
And to all who have enquired about the meat, here’s what we’ve done: Pot roast=awesome. Hamburger for tacos=awesome x 2. Slow cooker with BBQ sauce (Like pulled pork…pulled bear??) = Outstanding. I think the general consensus is that bear meat – at least in the springtime – is just plain good meat.
Congratulations Tom!
Bear hunting is the one thing my husband wants to do that I absolutely refuse to do with him. Call me chicken if you want and I’ll flap my wings and bawk
I do love bear meat though so hopefully one day Hubby will get to go shoot a bear.
-Jenn
Really nice bear. Love your blog – I look forward to each new post. Thanks for sharing this experience.
Bill W.
military surplus
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