Outfitter: Richie Outfitters, http://www.richieoutfitters.com
Location: Moose Creek, Selway Bitterroot Wilderness Area
Guide: Michael Richie
Weapons used: Ruger Bisley .45 Colt w/ 300 gr. LBT LFN cast bullets

I just got back from spending a week in the Selway chasing bears with Richie Outfitters. It's been a few years since I've hunted in the mountains, and I realized that I'm not 21 anymore!



On this hunt, while this was supposed to be a hound hunt, I also spent a day just glassing and a couple of nights on baits. You can take two bears in the Selway and there seem to be a lot of them there. We also saw a lot of whitetails, a few mule deer and a couple of herds of elk. The wolves seem to have done a number on the large ungulates; we didn't see any moose at all and they said that the elk numbers are down substantially. Morels are plentiful!



When I arrived, I found a clean, well organized and well maintained camp with well cared for stock. Richie Outfitters is a family run business and you can tell that they take it seriously. The hounds were supposed to be dropped off right after I was, but due to a little mishap they didn't make it until the next day. So, the first day my guide showed me around the area and we had a good dinner. While visiting one of the baits he had set up, his collie treed a small bear.



The next morning, we went out and started did some glassing, as well as some calling. One bear, that looked like a pretty decent boar responded to the call, but hung up about 700 yards away on the next ridge. He must not have liked something he heard, because after a while he turned and went back the way he came.

Day three we started out about 7:00 with the hounds. Over the course of the day, we chased three different bears up and down the ridges, through burns, deadfall and re-prod, but never managed to catch one. By the end of the day I was completely shot.

The next day brought more of the same. The bears just didn't want to tree, and in the thick stuff they were able to shake the dogs.

On day five, we started out again and struck a track right out of camp. After about a mile and a half chase, we treed this dry sow.





A few shots with the .45 and she was on the ground. I would guess she was probably in the 200 pound range. Her coat was in perfect condition.

Day six one very footsore hunter, two footsore hounds and a guide who never seemed to tire all gave it another run. Once again, the bear gave us a the slip after leading us several miles up a really steep and thick draw. That night I decided to sit on one of the baits. I made a ground blind out of a piece of string and my coat and set up about 25 yards from the bait. A small bear came in right away and I got to watch him for about three hours. It was really interesting to watch him, especially when he got his head stuck in the bait barrel.

The last day we tried the hounds again but didn't have any luck. There was a bait set up on Trout Creek where we'd had a lot of bears coming in. I decided that I'd give it one last shot before I had to leave, so my plan was to set up on the bait and see what came in.

About 200 yards from the bait, I saw a bear on the ridge watching me. He had in the open, so I hunched over, doing my best imitation of a bear walk and slowly kept moving towards the bait until I got behind a tree, where I stopped. The old boar took off down the ridge straight towards me. When he got to about 35 yards, I stepped out from behind the tree and got down on one knee. I had told Michael that if I shot one on that ridge, I was going to try and take out both shoulders and the spine on my first shot, so he wouldn't get into the reprod on the back side of the ridge. When the bear saw me, he paused and turned. At the shot, he dropped straight down and started rolling down the ridge towards me. My shot went a little high, as I broke his back, but not his shoulders. When he got to be about 15 yards away, he got up on his front legs and started pulling himself towards me, bellering and snapping his teeth. I ended up emptying my gun into him before he finally went down. I haven't seen anything besides my cape buffalo that took that much killing. Looking at him, he had quite a few fresh scars on his face. I think he'd been doing a lot of fighting this spring and probably wasn't in the best of moods.





I would guess he was probably around 325 pounds. His head is about the size of a basketball. His teeth were pretty worn, so I think he was an older bear.

By the time we got him skinned, quartered and carried down to the trail it was about 11 PM. After an hours ride in the pitch black, we finally made it back to camp.

If you're interested in a bear hunt where you have a lot of options on how you hunt, this is a great deal. My guide Michael was very hard working, knowledgeable and had the awareness to watch and see when I needed a break. You don't find that in too many 21 year old guides.

Pete

Congrats...great report. I am on the MT side right now doing some work, and it is truly beautiful out here...

Great report and nice bears !

2 years ago I did a blackbear hunt with dogs in Idaho and steep terain-I wish I had got in better shape !

sounds like a good hunt Pete, did you get any pictures of the dogs??

Love that brown phase bear. Very nice.

Here are a couple of the dogs. We used a redbone, a walker, a blue tick and a border collie. I only have pictures of the walker and redbone.

Bear Chops and morels, sounds like a good hunt.

Coming toward you to within 15 yards-- bellowing and snapping his teeth-- allowing the opportunity to empty the Ruger .45... Ya gotta love it!!



{Kinda reminds me of an encounter I once had with a Black Bear.}

-A beautiful experience. Nice scenery, bears, dogs & morels.

Thanks for sharing.