I've shot a couple of bears, but this is my first "black" bear. the others have all been color phase brown/blonde. not a monster, but pretty good for the area. shot him at less than 15 yards running at me.

Congrats!
Must have been exciting!

Congratulations we need details,what did you harvest him with?

well, my hunting partner and I had been on the blood trail of a deer for most of a mile (a WHOLE nother story!), and while i was in the thick stuff on my hands and knees, he as on the opposite hillside waiting for me to push the deer out. He hollers at me "You want a Bear?" "Yeah! Shoot it!" "He's headed right to you!"

sure enough, i heard crashing and footfalls as this guy comes barreling in on the trail less than 15 yards uphill from me. when the scope turned black, I fired, and the bear piled up and rolled towards me about 15 feet. i thought about putting another .300 win mag slug in him, but his breathing was very raspy and he didn't seem like he was going anywhere. within a few seconds, he died.

shot him through the shoulders and removed the top of the heart.

.300 win mag, 130 grain bullet at around 3500... the gun is better for longer ranges!

Congrats.

Any comments from black bear hunters outside of California?

I am a black bear hunter not from California. Nice bear. Good shooting. Way to stay composed. Looks like a 165 bear.

quote:

Originally posted by Gerrypeters375:
Any comments from black bear hunters outside of California?

is that fella from sweden not far enough from california for you? =)

we guessed him at around 150. i'm 235, if that gives you any idea.

quote:

Originally posted by Gerrypeters375:
Any comments from black bear hunters outside of California?

"not a monster" Understatement of the year.

What exactly do you do with a bear of that size?

And what is that contraption on the right edge of the pic? a dragging sled? that you drag with your wheeler?

quote:

Originally posted by MuskegMan:
"not a monster" Understatement of the year.

What exactly do you do with a bear of that size?

And what is that contraption on the right edge of the pic? a dragging sled? that you drag with your wheeler?

what do you do with a bear this size? eat the meat and i'm thinking a half mount for the rest. some day i'd like to shoot a great bear for a rug (perhaps one of your AK black bears! they'd cover my whole living room floor!). this one would be a little small for that... =)

and yes, that contraption is a drag sled, but no, we've never dragged it behind a 4 wheeler. the bear was a couple hundred yards down a deep ravine, and that hunk of plastic coupled with gas powered capstan winch (like a chainsaw winch, but infinite rope length) you anchor to a tree or rock is a real back saver. we've dragged lots of deer out of deep dark holes before we got the winch, but boy, that thing is the way to go!

Muskeg Man said it all for me. (P.S. to the PA poster - 165 lbs is practically a cub by north Canada and Alaska standards. BTW, how do you make such an estimate of weight from a pic that only shows a head? My own impression is that from the size of the ears in relation to the skull that it's really a very young animal)