[Posting this for D.Nelson]

I just completed my very first Black Bear hunts… back to back Saskatchewan, Canada and Thorn Bay, Alaska. What a fantastic time I had on both hunts. However, sitting in tree stands, although much like African leopard and lion blinds in which I have spent many hours, is considerably colder/snowier/rainier!!!! No less exciting, but it is hard to sit still when you are shivering. It took me five days on each hunt to connect with the right bear. I used my Custom Robar .308 and used 180 gr Federal Nozler Partition bullets. My shots were each about 40 yards.

The outfitter in Canada was Manley’s Outdoor Adventures in Love, Saskatchewan, owned and operated by Dave Nowlin and his wife Lesley. Dave told me I would recognize a BIG bear when I saw it. He even showed me “trail camera†photos of big and small bears that had been hitting the bait stations in the hunting concession within the last 2 days. On the late afternoon that my big, red phased, Canadian black bear walked in, my heart was pounding so hard I was sure it would hear me before he settled in. As a novice bear hunter and hoping to do everything right, I moved an inch at a time to raise my rifle off my lap. As I placed my cross hairs on his shoulder I thought I was going crazy. He appeared to have only 3 legs. After my shot and when I radioed my outfitter that I had just shot a big, red, 3-legged bear, Dave later reported that he thought “the woman†was seeing things.

Here are the trail camera photos taken from a bait 3 ½ miles from where I took my bear later in the day.






And here I am with my trophy



My husband and I packed up, departed Canada and we traveled on to visit friends in Alaska. Spring is late this year and according to what we were told there is very little vegetation and food source for bears just coming out of hibernation in comparison to normal years. But on the fifth day of hunting I was lucky enough to take my second black bear, albeit skinny in comparison to his Canadian cousin. He was a fully mature bear, with a patchy coat.

Great hunt. Unbelievable photo of the three
legged bear. wonder what happened to him? Grizzly, trap, motorcycle accident?

RM007

The consensus was that he lost his leg to a snare, since it was so high up on his leg. It was well healed over and when he moved he didn't appear to move awkardly at all!!!!

Regards, D. Nelson

Hey, Darin, congrats on yet another successful hunt for you and Bob!

How does one square a three legged bear, I wonder?

Neat that Ole Tripod's 'handicap' didn't seem to keep him down. Before D got to him, anyway.

I filmed a three-legged bear in New Brunswick last year. His leg was a similar length as the one in your picture. I wondered what the cause was as well. A snare would make sense. Mine was at a bait and seemed to be doing fine.

Nice photos. Had to check out any thread talking about someone with the name D. Nelson