Since I failed to draw a spring bear tag in my state (I can only get one a bit over half the time), I started out with a 10 day backcountry spring bear hunt in my neighbor state that has "reduced price" bear tags for certain areas. I saw 11 bears. I also had 13 ticks on my body in a single day.
Unloading my trusty $200 Yamaha Phazer. I took the skis off so it would fit in the truck better along with the chest freezer and everything else. Pro tip: unbolt the skis on the ground before loading, then just launch it into the truck and the skis fall off at the top of the ramp when it becomes airborne.
I rode the Phazer 8 miles up the road and then started off with my too-small snowshoes. After some serious suffering I was finally below the snowline and made camp.
Next day I saw many elk but no bears.
I spotted my first bear randomly in the woods about 30-40 yards in front of me. I hemmed and hawed for a minute on whether he was big enough while he fed toward me to about 20 yards. Then he winded me and started running off, so I started blasting. I got two rounds in him and he managed to get about 50 yards down the hill where he died. Since he was only medium sized (under 200 lbs I reckon) I figured I would drag him up the hill to butcher on the flat ridge top. This turned out to be doable, but nearly killed me, so I forgot to even take a normal picture once I got him up there. Fortunately I took this one to document my poor decisions.
After butchering I loaded him into my pack along with all the rest of my food and gear and headed up the hill. This was very heavy, so as soon as I got up the first little patch of snow I got the meat cooling off, melted some snow for water, and stashed all my food and gear that I could. Then I continued up the hill with just the bear and the essentials. I spotted a small cinnamon bear on the way up.
Normally I have bullletproof ankles, but with 140 lbs on my back this proved to not always be the case. I twisted my good ankle pretty badly when I stepped on something uneven in the snow, before putting on snowshoes. I immediately iced it, but after a little bit I figured I better just keep going.
By the end of the day I made it to the top of the ridge and made camp on a few feet of snow. It was 2800' of elevation gain from where I killed the bear.
Next morning I started hiking the 4 miles back to the sled, but my ankle was not doing well. After about 20 minutes I decided to drop my pack and hike to the sled unloaded, and ride it back through the trees along the top of the ridge to collect the meat. This proved to be good idea, as the walking was not too bad without a pack, and the snowmobiling was only moderately sketchy.
After 16 miles on the Phazer I made it back to the truck around noon. I processed the meat, vacuum sealed it, and put it in the freezer, powered by the solar panels on the roof.
Next day I headed back out to collect my gear and food, and look for another bear. My ankle was feeling pretty rough, but ibuprofen and icing helped a lot.
Where the foot-powered journey began
Watched some elk for a while
Then more elk
Continued...
Unloading my trusty $200 Yamaha Phazer. I took the skis off so it would fit in the truck better along with the chest freezer and everything else. Pro tip: unbolt the skis on the ground before loading, then just launch it into the truck and the skis fall off at the top of the ramp when it becomes airborne.
I rode the Phazer 8 miles up the road and then started off with my too-small snowshoes. After some serious suffering I was finally below the snowline and made camp.
Next day I saw many elk but no bears.
I spotted my first bear randomly in the woods about 30-40 yards in front of me. I hemmed and hawed for a minute on whether he was big enough while he fed toward me to about 20 yards. Then he winded me and started running off, so I started blasting. I got two rounds in him and he managed to get about 50 yards down the hill where he died. Since he was only medium sized (under 200 lbs I reckon) I figured I would drag him up the hill to butcher on the flat ridge top. This turned out to be doable, but nearly killed me, so I forgot to even take a normal picture once I got him up there. Fortunately I took this one to document my poor decisions.
After butchering I loaded him into my pack along with all the rest of my food and gear and headed up the hill. This was very heavy, so as soon as I got up the first little patch of snow I got the meat cooling off, melted some snow for water, and stashed all my food and gear that I could. Then I continued up the hill with just the bear and the essentials. I spotted a small cinnamon bear on the way up.
Normally I have bullletproof ankles, but with 140 lbs on my back this proved to not always be the case. I twisted my good ankle pretty badly when I stepped on something uneven in the snow, before putting on snowshoes. I immediately iced it, but after a little bit I figured I better just keep going.
By the end of the day I made it to the top of the ridge and made camp on a few feet of snow. It was 2800' of elevation gain from where I killed the bear.
Next morning I started hiking the 4 miles back to the sled, but my ankle was not doing well. After about 20 minutes I decided to drop my pack and hike to the sled unloaded, and ride it back through the trees along the top of the ridge to collect the meat. This proved to be good idea, as the walking was not too bad without a pack, and the snowmobiling was only moderately sketchy.
After 16 miles on the Phazer I made it back to the truck around noon. I processed the meat, vacuum sealed it, and put it in the freezer, powered by the solar panels on the roof.
Next day I headed back out to collect my gear and food, and look for another bear. My ankle was feeling pretty rough, but ibuprofen and icing helped a lot.
Where the foot-powered journey began
Watched some elk for a while
Then more elk
Continued...
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