Successful Hunting

Here you will find all my(Justin Ott’s) bear hunting stories, enjoy!

Hunter: Justin Ott
Date of Kill: May 18, 2008
Time of Day: 6:00 pm
Weapon: Bowtech 70# Tribute with G5 Montec 100 grain broadheads and 5575 Gold Tip Pro Hunter Arrows.
Shot Distance: 20 yards angled up into tree 30′-40′

As the snow melts and the ground greens up with new growth, spring bear hunting is the first thing that comes to mind. This year we wanted to try something new by taking a boat into an inaccessible area to hunt trophy black bear. Due to conditions and logistical problems we could not line up proper transportation to explore the new area. We decided to go to our failsafe bear hunting area that holds great numbers of black bears.

When we arrived at camp we already had seen 2 sows, one sow had 4 cubs and one sow with one cub. Optimism was strong as Sid and I were off to a good start with sightings of the always healthy black bear population in this northern management region of BC.

The hunting started with a couple more sightings of shootable bears, 1 being a coloured bear with a cinnamon coat but it was too small. There was a few instances of me trying to convince Sid to rifle a bear but Sid surprisingly stayed true to his word of holding out for a 6’+ (nose to tail length) bear or colour phase coat by not shooting any suspect blackies.

In the morning I made a spot 350 yards away of a black bear feeding, we decided to make a stalk. First objective was to get downwind of the bear without being noticed and then make our way through the logging slash without being herd. The bear was oblivious to me when I ranged him at 32 yards, close enough for a shot with a bow presented itself. The stalk went perfect but I decided the bear was too small and we passed on him, I took a few steps closer and stood up only to see him stare at us and run for the tree line.

We decided to look down a couple far off logging roads and we got into bow range of a few more bears, none offering a clean shot so I had to let the arrow down on a few occasions. In total we had a good dozen stalks but either the bear was not big enough or the bear was not offering a good shoot by position or by brush blocking the shooting lane. I was beginning to think I was going home bearless.

A black bear ran across the logging road without even stopping to look at us and bolted into the trees. After looking into the thick forest we could not locate the bruin and we started talking while heading back to the truck. As I took my seat I thought I saw the head of a black bear through the trees. I put the 10 power binoculars to my eyes and saw the bear sitting on its hind legs. “Look Sid, the bear is right there.” The hunt was on, I looked into the forest and the bear started snapping its teeth while making aggressive movements. The bear was not pleased with us entering its domain. I herd the bear climb the tree while continuing to try to scare us out of his area with his tactics. I made my way around the tree to get a clear shot, at this time the bear was 30-40 feet up the tree. I settled my 20 yard pin just behind the rib cage as the arrow would move up into the vital area with the steep trajectory. A solid hit, the bear started bleeding out heavily while supporting itself on a branch, as It’s life started to wane the bear hung on the branch with nothing but its jaw. A clear display of this animal’s toughness was shown to me as it hung on for deer life despite being arrowed. I shoot again to help speed up the expiration of the bear and eventually the bear falls out of the tree. Upon inspection of the vitals, both the bears lungs and liver were destroyed.
The bear measured 5’5” from nose to tail and was my 4th black bear, my 3rd with a bow and arrow. The trip was a great success especailly since we got to see so much game, it was a real pleasure. The game count was; 30 black bears, 45 deer, and 4 moose.
 

Hunter: Justin Ott
Date of Kill: May 19 2007
Time of Day: 12:30 pm
Weapon: Bowtech 70# Tribute with G5 Montec 100 grain broadheads and 5575 Gold Tip Pro Hunter Arrows.
Shot Distance: 15 yards

The spring bear derby of 2007 was especially neat for me as I got to take my younger brothers along for this great adventure. My brothers Mark and Andrew recently purchased a rifle and practiced at the range after completing their hunter education course. I was very excited to take them along as I knew they would get a great opportunity to shoot a bear at our bear hunting spot.

The first night we crashed at a long time friend’s house nearby before heading out to the wilderness. We quickly setup camp and then started hunting the in the afternoon. I went with my friend and Sid took my brothers the other way. When we connected at dusk coming back to camp Sid explained that they didn’t see anything but then Andrew could not contain his excitement with his first black bear in the back of the jeep. I had learned that Andrew made an exceptional 175 yard free hand shot on his first big game animal ever in order to harvest his first black bear.

The next morning we did not see anything and came back to camp to do some fishing and grab some lunch. While Sid and Andrew were fishing for trout, I decided to cook up some moose burgers. Just when the burgers were almost finished, I looked behind me and there was none other than a standing black bear smelling the BBQ filled air. I quickly grabbed my Bowtech and cocked a Gold Tip arrow tipped with a Montec and drew back on the bear as he started to climb a tree, it was a close shot at 15 yards and I hit him perfectly. The arrow lodged into the tree and he broke it off and climbed 30 feet up only to lose his death grip and fall out of the tree. It measure 5’6” nose to tail and was a boar.
It was my 2nd archery bear and 3rd bear in total. Sid and Andrew came back from fishing all proud that they caught a few fish but immediately realized their lunch time activity was not nearly as productive as mine.

After making quick work of the cleaning and field care, Mark wanted to go and try for his own bear. Just after leaving camp we spot a bear on the top of a knoll. From 40 yards Mark raised the .303 British military rifle and pumped a round into the bears cavity. The bear started to move towards us and I told Mark to shoot again. After taking 3 shots the bear finally went down and Mark had his first ever big game animal, A black bear boar.

The same night Sid capitalized and rifled a black bear to punch his first bear tag of the season, a black bear measuring 5’8”. It was a great trip and if getting 4 bears in 24 hours was not a good enough feat, being with my brothers as they harvested a pair of black bears in northern British Columbia certainly was.

Hunter: Justin Ott
Date of Kill: May 27 2006
Time of Day: 11:00am
Weapon: Hoyt 60# compound bow
With 100 grain Thunderhead broadheads and 5575 Gold Tip Expedition arrows.
Shot Distance: 20 yards

By the time I went on this spring bear black bear hunt I had been practicing for 8 months and was ready to take my first archery animal. I had tried to take my bow out the previous fall but had no success in punching a tag.

I was confident enough in my shooting ability to confidently take a black bear and since spring black bear hunting season was open and I knew where to find a plethora of black bears, I decided that I would have a good chance to harvest my first archery animal in northern BC on a black bear.

The trip to the northern part of BC for black bear became an annual adventure due to the success of this trip. Sid and me drove through the morning to get to are hunting spot in the afternoon and instantly I had put a stalk on 2 black bears, Sid was hunting with his rifle so he decided to give me first chance with the bow. It was a 250 yard stalk and the bears were in heavy brush by the time I got there not offering a shot. It was good to have the action but I was disappointed that I didn’t get a shot at one of them. About an hour later driving by the same area we spotted another bear on the road. We got out of the truck and tried to cut it off before it entered the thick forest cover. Sid made a great shot and harvested the 6’2” nose to tail black bear with his hand loaded .30/06.

The next day we started looking for black bears in a different spot and almost immediately we spotted one, It was not huge but since I had not shot anything with my bow yet, I thought I should take any good opportunity since my objective was just to shoot something successfully with my bow. I walked into the forest and ranged the bear between the trees at 20 yards so I decided it would not get any better than this for my first archery kill. I drew back, anchored, and released the arrow. The bear went another 20 yards before laying down to make his death cry. After high fiving each other and loading the carcass in the truck we discovered a fuel pump issue and coasted down the gravel road for 10 kilometers and got the truck running again. Luckily we made it into town and into the mechanic shop before the truck finally died.

Sid wanted a try with his bow to fill his 2nd tag as you are allowed 2 black bears a year in British Columbia. We headed out to the first area we tried successfully. On the way in to our hunting spot we found a black bear and Sid stalked it and shot it before it made its way down to the creek in the deep ravine. It was a hard pull but we managed to get it out of the ravine. After pictures we reflected on our successful hunting weekend, 2 hunters, 3 harvested black bears, 25 bear sightings all in 3 days.
 

Hunter: Justin Ott

Date of kill: Sept 10, 2005

Time of day: 10:30am

Weapon: .30/06 rifle with 180 grain Winchester sliver tip bullets.

Shot Distance: 150 yards

Area: Northern British Columbia, Canada

The annual tradition of hunting season began this year with an expedition of an 8 hour drive up northern BC with a new hunting partner, my Uncle Gerry. Gerry had been hunting for ions and I just recently got into hunting a few years prior, so it was good get out hunting together finally. My usual hunting partner Randy (now my Father in-law) went out to join a different moose hunting party that year so it was just the 2 of us.

  Bagging 2 moose the year before in the same area gave us high moose expectations, but that was not to be the case this year. I had seen a multitude of black bears in that region in years past but the other hunters I was with always frowned on bear meat and did not want to distract from the all important task of harvesting that supple moose meat. I decided to pick up a bear tag before commencing on this trip, bears always intrigued me and I really wanted to finally harvest one after seeing 5 a day in the area we hunted on previous trips.

We arrived at the same camping spot we reside at every year and set up the camper, we chit chatted with some friends we ran into on the way in who were just wrapping up the early opening archery season.

On day one around 10:00am while touring the area we would be hunting on "a secret road" a black bear ran across the logging road and disappeared into the timber. My Uncle Gerry turned to me and gasped "Did you see that, it was the size of a grizzly" I agreed and said that bear was indeed a "shooter." We barreled out of the truck and glassed a close by ravine which looked like a natural path for the bear to wonder through. After looking through my binoculars I finally spotted the seemingly gigantic black bear across the ravine hiding by a tree. I chamber a few rounds into my .30/06 rifle and take aim. I squeezed the trigger and the loud crack of the rifle thundering through the valley was replied to with an almost equally loud "whap "as the bullet connected to the black bear on target. The bear was hit good but still running on the hill, I keep shooting until the bear is completely anchored. I did not want the bear to hide and die under a root ball or bush making it harder than necessary to track.

A few celebratory congratulations are given and then the realization of dragging the bear out of the ravine begin. We walk to the bear and I get my first lesson in ground shrinkage in black bears, bears always look huge from far and since I have learned to better field judge, although the bear was not small, it was by no means the record book specimen we originally thought it was. The bear measured 5′8" from nose to tail.

Gerry, recently recovering from lung surgery was unable to help with the lugging, but after I tie a rope harness around my upper body and drag the beast to the truck almost fainting. A local friend helped me skin it for a rug, since it was my first bear I had not done this before. This lesson was invaluable as I seem to skin out black bears more than any other thing under the sun. I got the bear made into a full rug mount and is currently gracing my friends home. I unfortunately did not make a  European style bear skull mount.

 Visit this great resource for: black bear hunting tips