My First Bear!

[DeerHuntGirl]

Figured I would share, so excited!

I had only been to this place once before, and been stalked by a bear. I don't know if it was curious or what but I didn't like it. I'm so scared of bears it is unreal! I had seen deer in the area as well so I decided to try again, just not as far back in the woods. I hunt on the ground, no stands, so I posted up at the top of the ridge 40yds from a well used deer trail. I had only been seated 30 mins or so when I heard something crashing through the laurels at the bottom. I thought it might be a nice buck so I clicked my safety off and readied my Marlin 30/30. My heart stopped when it stepped into the open and was not a big buck but a black bear... I knew it was also bear season as well so I took aim and apparently squeezed off the perfect shot (which I didn't know at the time). The bear ran back into the laurels and everything was silent except the pounding of my heart. After only a few seconds the silence was broken by the bears death cry. I thought I had just Pissed it off... Everything was quiet again after its final sigh but I was still too scared to move lol! I finally got the courage to walk down and sure enough the bear was laying 15yds inside the laurels! It was a female, no cubs, about 2-3 years old and weighed around 200 lbs. Field dressing revealed I had made a perfect heart shot! I had the meat processed and tried it, love it! I really can't tell the difference between bear and beef lol I want to get it mounted but not sure what pose would be best? I'll put a pic in my gallery, thanks for reading lol!

[BruceBruce1959]

Congratulations!! I would mount it the same way I remember seeing it with mounth open or not, other than that size is personal choice. Good Luck

[tator]

Hell go life sized, open mouth and scare every kid that comes around the corner in your house. hahahaha

at the cabela's in KC they have bears and other animals all over the place. At the entrance there is a brown bear standing on his hind legs with mouth open, a person could sit there and watch the amount of people who walk in and scream at it. hahaha <---- that's my plan for when I get to be HM's age.

[timberghost]

Congrats on the bear. I love the chances at bears. Everytime I get one I have it made into sausage, all of it. The only time that a Black Bear is really unpredictable is when they have cubs. They are nothing like the Brown or Polar bears aggresiveness but still can do much damage if ever provoked. Normally they are very quiet too unless you hear them first digging at a stump or rotted tree or something. I'd say go with the mouth open to show off teeth but others say those mounts are not realistic because a black bear doesn't show off teeth, snarling and growling. But I agree with tator. Or in Hm's case "mashed tators" lol

[Hellbilly]

here or a few pics of mine. shoulder mount with mouth open. pics aint to good from cell phone. need to find camera, but you get the idea of how it will look. also try to figure out were you will put it to see if you want a looking left,right or straight ahead

[Scorpion8]

Congrats on the bear! Personally I prefer closed-mouth mounts because the bears don't exactly have good dental hygiene, and the condition of the teeth can detract from the overall view of the mount. In fact you'll find more people inspecting it's teeth than enjoying your story. My $0.02.

[CircuitRider]

Congrates on the bear

[Hunting Man]

My PA buddy has 4 life sized mounts in his house. The very best one has the bear taking an upward step on a stone like hill just as if it were walking naturally. It is a great mount. I also prefer closed mouth mounts.

[rdrader2002]

My only comment would be to ask "Just where would you put it?" - regardless of half size, full size, or otherwise. I don't have any experience with bears, other than seeing them in zoos. I guess that I'm thankful that there aren't any bears around Central Texas.

And oh, BTW, congrats on having the wherewithal to still squeeze off an accurate shot. I'm afraid I would have been heading home having to change my britches.

RR

[Hellbilly]

Originally Posted by rdrader2002

My only comment would be to ask "Just where would you put it?" - regardless of half size, full size, or otherwise. I don't have any experience with bears, other than seeing them in zoos. I guess that I'm thankful that there aren't any bears around Central Texas.

And oh, BTW, congrats on having the wherewithal to still squeeze off an accurate shot. I'm afraid I would have been heading home having to change my britches.

RR

man you should come up to NC with us. we bear hunt on the ground with dogs and use pistols. Mine is a Ruger Super Redhawk 480cal. most kills or within 20ft or less