We got a big CA bear yesterday morning! I hope those pics went through. I was not the shooter, and my friend wishes to remain anonymous, hence the face covering. He weighed all of 300+ lbs, and should be close to 6' I think. We dont trophy hunt, just got lucky to find this monster!! My friends first kill ever, so I couldnt be happier for him.
Story goes....
We started off at camp, and slowly hunted 2 miles into the wilderness. A clearing on a large hillside with lots of shrub caught our attention, so we wandered over to see if anything was around. I layed down against the hill to rest and watch, while my friend stood to my right around 30 yards away. After 5 mins, I saw a bear butt moving slowly away from me to my right, into a smal tree patch, beneath my friend by 30 yards and out of his sight. I quickly gave my friend the signal that something was right beneath us! He had no clue it was a bear. It was so cold I had trouble racking my bolt to chamber a round, but finally slammed it home and began creeping towards the tree patch. My friend had the better angle, and after a few minutes, while quietly sneaking in, he saw the brute standing there at 20 yards, eating some remains of something. Turned out to be a gut pile from a deer hunter. My buddy put the scope on him, and Bam!!! shot the bear right through the lungs! As he ran away I yelled shoot him again!!! Bam!! Right in the lungs again, and he was down for good at 80 yards, in sight. We still gave him 30 min to expire, to be safe, then walked in to see what we had. Hes an absolute monster!! Im no judge on trophy bear, but that to me is a trophy!! He goes into the taxidermist today, and Ill update with his size from a pro. My friend earned that bear through years of hard hunting, and his first kill is a blessing. Im happy to have just been there with good friends, to have enjoyed the gorgeous scenery we were in, and to have gotten so lucky to be successful. This is the second best big game hunt of my life, and I never killed an animal on either hunt. I could not be happier!!!
