I got my first bear last week in Washington

[Tommytrees]

the butcher called boo boo..... LOL!

I teased a guy at work the same, I asked him "what did you do, tie a nipple to the muzzle and hold it out in front of you"

???

 

[HARPERC]

Nice bear, nicely done!

Plenty of time, and second tags available.

 

[Ol' Red]

Nice bear and good story. I have many bear stories, but no bears. For some reason or another, I did not have a tag or a gun. Glad you got yours. I have to try harder I guess.

 

[-WARDOG-]

Congrats. How does it taste? It's always hit & miss with flavor.
Mesa makes a fine rifle.

 

[WeekendWarrior]

Congrats. How does it taste? It's always hit & miss with flavor.
Mesa makes a fine rifle.

He is surprisingly lean and the flavor is mild. I was hoping he would have a bunch of fat on him and taste faintly of blueberries, but he is a bit chewy and tastes kinda like a beef round steak or flank steak. I tried a backstrap on my buddies treggor that turned out a bit chewy, and when I got home I tried pan searing him and letting him go on low temp in butter with red wine and he turned much better. I'll probably cook him like Ive cooked most of my prior game meat - slow and low with some form of fat added like butter or tallow. He really picks up whatever flavors I toss in the pan. Maybe an herb rub in a dutch oven will go over well... Im happy.

 

[2ndson]

Congrats.
The bear does look like a dog.

 

[drahthaars4ever]

I did a backpacking bear hunt last week in Washington and shot this bear at 340 yards. This is my first bear. He is a smaller bear, maybe 180lbs. I shot him in the last few minutes of legal light and found him about 20 yards from where I shot him. Unfortunately I don't have any in-the-field pictures since it was dark by the time I got to him and my buddy and I were in a thunder storm. We hiked out the next day and I butchered the meat and cleaned his hair before freezing him. Im going to do a rug mount. Im very excited and grateful. I quite enjoyed this trip too, I will definitely be hunting bear again.

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Congratulations! My Montana sow black bear squared 5'6". And weighed approximately 200 pounds. She was 22 years old!!! Berger 180 at 460 yds. Caught the wind a bit and put it thru the liver. We found her about 100 yards away down hill.

 

[Ua26fitter]

Way to go!!!
I went out scouting for elk this weekend but called it bear hunting since I had the rifle with. Most of the huckleberry aren't ripe yet but just starting down low.

What unit did you get him in?

Kris

 

[P7M13]

Congrats. And at the same time, with your picture, I see my dog's head and snout, getting his semi-weekly bath. LOL.

 

[HRM Johnny]

Congratulations. Thank you for posting. Thank you for the picture.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Congratulations - I'm sure it was a hunt that you will always remember.

 

[johnb338]

I did a backpacking bear hunt last week in Washington and shot this bear at 340 yards. This is my first bear. He is a smaller bear, maybe 180lbs. I shot him in the last few minutes of legal light and found him about 20 yards from where I shot him. Unfortunately I don't have any in-the-field pictures since it was dark by the time I got to him and my buddy and I were in a thunder storm. We hiked out the next day and I butchered the meat and cleaned his hair before freezing him. Im going to do a rug mount. Im very excited and grateful. I quite enjoyed this trip too, I will definitely be hunting bear again.

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congrats.

 

[Wedgy]

Very nice ! Nothing like lots of hard work and adverse conditions to make a hunt that you will never forget.

 

[BAKPAKR]

I didnt mean little to imply his age. He is just little. A lot of folks post about their 300lb+ trophies, and even though my bear isnt that I'm just as proud.

Congrats on the bear. I am fairly certain that if you could go back in time and actually weigh these "300lb+ trophies" right after they hit the ground, a fairly large number of them would be no more than 180 pounds.