Father/Son Bear Hunt

09 September 2010, 03:24

Here in Washington State there is a pretty good population of black bear. Aside from native lands though, it's all spot and stalk. This was an important hunt for me and my son. Last year we hunted hard, but came home without a bear. Not the case this year! At about 4:00 PM, my son shot this nice chocolate colored boar at 150 yards or so. A couple of us chipped in with some extra shots to keep it from escaping into the thick stuff. My son used a .30-06 that's been passed down through the family for about sixty years.

The next morning about 8:00 AM, I sent a single 260 gr Accubond 306 yards to take this boar:

We aren't bear hunters, just a couple of mule deer hunters who wanted to go after bear, so I hired an up and coming young guide to show us how it's done. He did a fine job. We spent some fun time afield, and were out of there with two bears amazingly quick. I was prepared to camp six or seven nights, but we only stayed two nights on the hunt. Now I feel comfortable that I know enough to hunt & properly skin the things myself.

It was a good father-son hunt. Since he was twelve he's wanted a bear-skin rug for the wall of his bedroom. Looks like he's got it now!

Mike

Legistine actu quod scripsi?

Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.

What I have learned on AR, since 2001:
1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken.
2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps.
3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges.
4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down.
5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine.
6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle.
7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions.
8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA.
9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not.
10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact.
11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores.
12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence.
13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances.