Mixed Emotions

[kidso]

For years, the allure of predator calling large color phased bears on the San Carlos Apache lands have beckoned to me in my dreams. Being a poor school teacher and a prudent family man always kept me from purchasing this relatively high dollar tag in the past. However, after suffering through three years of heck with an addicted spouse and recently cutting all legal ties with her through the proper channels, I decided to celebrate by chasing my dream.

 

Anyone who is a single dad knows how tough it is to break away from your children, especially when they are young, for any extended period of time. In the past three years, I had only been away from my young twins once a year for a single evening for a state side bear hunt. Well, I cashed in all my favors to plan a three night getaway for my San Carlos hunt, but knew that the sooner I could return, the better off the situation would be for my sitters and my daughters.

 

Last minute politics with the tribe found my buddy and I having to hire a guide that was not in our original hunt plans. We had a nice area picked out to camp near a large water tank that had bear activity according to people in the know. More importantly, the nearby mountains had lots of oak filled cuts that were perfect for predator calling.

 

I drove up solo the afternoon prior to my hunt, only to discover that my intended camping spot had been staked out by a dozen cowboys who were staging a cattle roundup in the valley. Chainsaws, hoops, hollering, and the noise of braying horses and mooing cattle filled the quiet valley. I knew that this could not be a positive angle when it came to calling on the south side of the hills, which was my intended morning target.

 

At bear thirty in the morning, my guide pulled up and I encouraged him to glass from camp after sunrise while I worked the mountain calling into its various ravines. On my way to the foothills at the mountain base, I came across a huge pile of fresh bear scat full of juniper berries. The odd thing about it, however, was its location on the cedar and juniper flats before the hills. Weird. I had never come across bear scat on the flats before, so imagine my surprise when I found a second plop a few minutes later in the same topographic area.

 

Well, I called my first ravine at 6am, and by noon, I had already called my away around to the north side of the mountain with nothing but a tricked coyote to accompany my efforts. I was puzzled and perplexed. Was the cowboy camp with its permeating bacon scent really a hindrance to my hunt? I returned to camp and my guide mentioned a cinnamon bear they had found on a deer carcass the week before. He showed me a phone image and I nearly wet my pants. I told him to take me there for a stand or two.

 

As we drove away, we climbed the mountain and hit a narrow road in a steep walled canyon. After a few minutes, I screamed at my chauffeur to stop his jeep so I could check out a pile of beat scat on the road. Again, it was fresh and full of juniper berries. Fifty yards up the road, we found another. Within a half-mile, we must have found nine piles of bear scat, all fresh within a day or two and all juniper berries. I lost at least an hour calling off the road and was perplexed when a big old boar did not come ambling over to investigate.

 

We drove on and wondered where these road walking bears were coming from and where they were going, as not a single juniper tree was spotted in this long, narrow, and steep-sided canyon. We drove on to the deer carcass spot and I called a few cuts, but cinnamon friend must have left the area. I told my guide to go back to the narrow road with the bear scat and when we returned, about two hours had elapsed, and a new still smoking bear scat greeted us in the middle of the road.

 

It was then that I noticed a small high cut perpendicular to the road. I quickly began to navigate its passage and came across three more piles of juniper scat in the next quarter-mile and a sly grin crept across my face as I finally put the puzzle pieces together. It truly was the best mind game that I have ever had with bears. But, after 10 hours of scratching my pounding brain, I had solved the riddle. Certainly Oedipus or Odysseus would be proud!

 

The bears were hammering the juniper berries and literally vacuuming them off of the heaven laden trees so much that they were gorged on their calories. Now, this was happening on the flats. However, with the cowboys nearby and all their stock and activity by the water tank, the bears had to head into the hills to find water and bed down. They were actually using this cut as a thoroughfare to one of those destinations. Their bellies were so stuffed from their fruity smorgasbord that they were indifferent to the call and had no desire to chase down a wounded mammal that was not a guaranteed meal. Anyways, they would exit this cut and swagger down this road dropping plops as plodded along. I found a little rain cache down off the side of the road and saw multiple sets of bear tracks on it. Thus, I decided to swallow my pride and bury my predator calls deep within my pack.

 

I set up in a few oak trees about 20 yards from the water at 4:00 that afternoon, with the anticipation of having a shot at dusk. I cleared away the crackling oak leaves from off the native soil, and lay down on my back to relax and listen to the sounds around me. Imagine my shock just 10 minutes later when I heard a thump and huff above above me. I sat up like springboard rising and saw this chocolate face staring me down at 10 yards. She was about five feet higher in elevation than I was, but all I saw was a beautiful brown head. In one fluid motion, I reached over, grabbed my rifle, pulled it up to firing position, and let one round push through her chest cavity.

 

In the blink of an eye it was over. I radioed my guide who arrived with his jeep in just two minutes and parked it 10 yards from my bear. We picked her up and gently laid her down on a tarp for skinning and processing. She was not the big old color phase boar I was dreaming about, but she was an amazing sow with thick and full chocolate fur free of rubbing. So, it was a bitter sweet moment I will treasure forever. Bitter, for it was my first bear taken that I did NOT call in, or have to pack out of a rugged and steep canyon. I actually felt a little guilty over that, as predator calling is my niche and I had stepped away from that for this bear. Sweet, because she was a nice color phase and I would be back in the valley by midnight to be home again with my girls.

[Lucafu1]

nice!

[218buck]

GOOD READ CONGRATS ON YOUR SUCCESS

[Kelney]

Congratulations and nice story. To bad they are shoving guides down our throats on the bear hunts but sounds like you made the best of it.

[MULEPACKHUNTER]

awsome, congrats.

[6ANut]

Great read, awesome bear and even better to see all that love you have not only for the bear but also your daughters.

[muledeerarea33?]

Awesome story and sorry about your wife.

[Dan]

Good story and congrats on your your bear !! You are a good man and one heck of a writer.

[capoeirajosh]

Great write up Keith! She's a beautiful sow indeed!

[Lucky Draw]

Congrats on a great bear!

[AZbowhntr]

That was a joy to read. You have a gift. And a great bear to top it off.

[Couzer]

Great accomplishment Bear Man Kieth!!!! Good write up!!!!

[Big Browns]

Great job buddy!!!!

[PRDATR]

Absolutely awesome, what was up with the whole guide fiasco?

[PelaPapas]

Awesome bear kidso! Congrats!