Seeing how we are on the subject of bear hunting I’ll keep the stories rolling for awhile. There are six Ansel “boys” and the fine looking lad holding the bears head is my youngest brother Dean. It’s hard to call him “little brother,” as he’s 5′ 11” and weighs about 225. Three of my brothers are police officers, and Dean-o is one of them.
Believe it or not, Dean was 17 years old when he shot this great bear. The story goes like this. Four of the”brothers” plus my friend Jim Chapman, were doing our annual Marquette bear hunt. For the first few evenings of our hunt we all had zeroed in on our favorite spots. Because Dean was “just a snotty nose kid” we told him to hunt around the cabin. Of course we made him a comfortable blind, right next to the kitchen wall, so he wouldn’t get lost. There had been a few bear nosing around camp, but the size of the tracks told us they were sub-adults! Dean fell for our line about the cabin being the “hot spot,” so he was quite content to sit in his comfortable armchair, and watch for ole blackie.
Opening evening we saw a few small bear, but nothing to draw down on. Dean said he thought he heard one, and we all said “yeah right!” We teased him about falling asleep in his cozy chair, and that he was probably hearing himself snore! He made some comment about getting a really big bear the next night, and we just teased him all the more.
Well the second evening rolls around, and we leave Dean snug as a bug in a rug, as we head off to do some real hunting, Any hunter worth his salt knows your not going to see any “big bear” wandering through bear camp! Right? Wrong! Old Dean-o starts hearing noises about 6:30 p.m. He said it sounded like a bear was tearing up stumps, on the ridge, behind the cabin. He said this went on for about a half hour before he got a glimpse of black coming toward camp from the ridge. He steadied his 30-06, as he hunkered down behind the woodpile, still sitting in his upholstered chair. That stupid bear walked within 60 yards of camp, and Dean anchored him with a perfect heart shot.
Dean’s bear was “NOT” a youngster, but a true trophy bruin! Notice the 3″ layer of fat on his belly! We did not get to weigh this bear, but it most certainly was in the 300 pound class. I have some better pictures somewhere, and will post them when I locate them.
Well needless to say little brother put a whipping on all us “know-it-all” big brothers. We only took one other medium sized bear that year, and Dean has never let us forget about his armchair bear. That’s not the only bear Dean has ever taken, as he ’s turned in to be quite the hunter. Dean now hunts with his bow, and has taken several nice bear over the years. And you know what? We don’t set him up in “special armchair” blinds anymore either!
Mike
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That’s great! A person just never knows where those guys will show up! Every year during elk season we try and figure out if they’re going to be up high or down low - Dad has to remind us - they’ll be where you find ‘em!
That is great!! I remember missing the biggest deer I have ever seen about 50 yards from my camp. the shot should have been an easy one but I had my head down walking up the hill not thinking a deer would be so close. When I looked up and saw two very nice bucks staring at me from 50 yards my jaw about hit the mountain