Well for those of you who haven't seen or heard it yet, I got my first big game animal of the 2006 season last night.





Some friends and I were checking out some oat fields we just got permission on when we spotted this bear and another that looked slightly larger. I had a bear tag and after some encouragement by my friends (we were supposed to be grouse hunting), I decided to try to sneak up on them. They were both fairly close to each other about 500 yards across the oat field which had been cut for silage earlier in the summer. Both bears were feeding on uncut oats along the edge of the field in opposite directions from one another. Using some small rises in the terrain I was able to keep out of site of only one bear at a time. Since the larger of the two was walking away towards the bush, I made the decision to try to get closer to the smaller one. With the wind in my face and the aspen leaves providing some noise to cover my approach, Iwas able to get to about 90 yards of the bear. By this point I could go no further so i laid down and waited for the bear to give me a good shot.

After a few minutes of waiting, I was startled to hear the sound of footfalls and sniffeing directly behind me. I turned around expecting to see the second bear getting ready to take a chunk out of me only to discover a lone mulie doe standing 10yards behind me wondering what the heck I was up to. With that scare over, I focused on the bear and when he turned perfectly broadside I pulled the trigger. My .280Rem did it's job and he dropped in his tracks. I was told by a better bear hunter than me that if a bear gives you a second shot take it, so I did. It turns out it wasn't needed as my first shot broke a shoulder and got both lungs. The bad news is that my second shot hit him in the head, ruining the skull. In the end, I am very happy with my first bear and hopefully I can convince my wife to let me get another next year.