Anyone carrying rifles into the archery woods?

[RufusB.Marion]

Hope everyone's season is off to a great start! Fresh off opening weekend I was curious who else is chasing bears right now.

Was quite hot in Northern CO, and on my end only saw bears moving at first light. Seeing a lot of sign down low, up to mid-mountain. Slowly chasing food down I'm imagining.

Would love to hear how it's been for you so far.

Cheers!

 

[roosiebull]

When I killed my bear last week, I was archery elk hunting in that area that morning, and saw a bear, made a play on him twice, but he was on a mission and when I was close enough, he was moving or in brush

That afternoon I had walked out 3 areas and zero good elk sign, it was getting late, so I decided to go back to where I was that morning and glass from the bottom hoping to see some elk to hunt the next morning.

As soon as I got a good view of the clear cut, I saw a bear feeding down a finger ridge, it’s a big wide open clear cut face, I would have to close 450 yds in plain sight with bad wind for half of the stalk… no realistic way to make a play with the amount of daylight I had.

I made a quick decision to get out of there, haul ass home, grab my rifle and come back… not a very realistic task, but it sounded fun to try… got out of sight of the bear, ran out, drove home, switched weapons, all while brainstorming a strategy if the bear was still around… I had enough time if things happen fast, and I have a good plan to get in range, but my wind will be iffy.

Long story less long, I got to the spot I thought I may have a shot, got set up really quick, and get a range, and to my surprise, it was just over 200yds.

Fun when a plan comes together, a hastily improvised hunt trading the bow for the rifle in an unorthodox manner, but it worked

My buddy was saying he wanted to go bear hunt but hadn’t because it’s archery season… I told him (knowing he is a courteous person with common sense) he had as much right as me to hunt his tag with a rifle as I do with a bow… if that’s the question, I wouldn’t worry about it, if you have common courtesy, I wouldn’t worry about it and go kill a bear, it’s not like you are going to target practice in a popular hunting area at 6:30am or 5:30pm… I would way rather have bear hunters around than target shooters

 

[RufusB.Marion]

Fun when a plan comes together

Thats awesome, congrats! Good luck on the elk hunt too!

 

[MountainMan83]

I will be heading in with a rifle bear tag alongside my buddy who is has an archery elk tag. I want to be a caller for him and make elk hunting a priority, but will be taking my rifle with me at the chance we run into a bear. Last year I solo bear hunted, bumped into some archery hunters, and ended up heading the opposite direction they were going. Just common courtesy to respect other hunters while sharing public land.

 

[Hot_tub_josh]

When I killed my bear last week, I was archery elk hunting in that area that morning, and saw a bear, made a play on him twice, but he was on a mission and when I was close enough, he was moving or in brush

That afternoon I had walked out 3 areas and zero good elk sign, it was getting late, so I decided to go back to where I was that morning and glass from the bottom hoping to see some elk to hunt the next morning.

As soon as I got a good view of the clear cut, I saw a bear feeding down a finger ridge, it’s a big wide open clear cut face, I would have to close 450 yds in plain sight with bad wind for half of the stalk… no realistic way to make a play with the amount of daylight I had.

I made a quick decision to get out of there, haul ass home, grab my rifle and come back… not a very realistic task, but it sounded fun to try… got out of sight of the bear, ran out, drove home, switched weapons, all while brainstorming a strategy if the bear was still around… I had enough time if things happen fast, and I have a good plan to get in range, but my wind will be iffy.

Long story less long, I got to the spot I thought I may have a shot, got set up really quick, and get a range, and to my surprise, it was just over 200yds.

Fun when a plan comes together, a hastily improvised hunt trading the bow for the rifle in an unorthodox manner, but it worked

My buddy was saying he wanted to go bear hunt but hadn’t because it’s archery season… I told him (knowing he is a courteous person with common sense) he had as much right as me to hunt his tag with a rifle as I do with a bow… if that’s the question, I wouldn’t worry about it, if you have common courtesy, I wouldn’t worry about it and go kill a bear, it’s not like you are going to target practice in a popular hunting area at 6:30am or 5:30pm… I would way rather have bear hunters around than target shooters

Congrats!!