There are three major species of bears on the North American
Continent: Ursus Maritimus, the great white Polar
Bear of the Artic; Ursus Americanus, commonly called the
Black Bear; and Ursus Arctos Horribilis, the grizzly. Some
insist that the big brown bears of Northern Canada, Alaska,
and the Aleutian Islands are a fourth species, but Dr. C.
Hart Merriam of the U.S. Biological Survey and the
Smithsonian Institution listing eighty-six variations of
Horribilis, includes the big browns under the grizzly
species. Color variations ranging from black through brown
to near-white in both Ursus Americanus and the grizzly have
caused other minor confusions, but the markedly different
facial characteristics of the two species, plus the
grizzly’s hump-backed body profile caused by the heavy roll
of the shoulder muscles, provide unfailing identification.
Most people fear the
grizzly. He is beyond any question the biggest, most
powerful, most dangerous beast in the Americas, if not the
world. His tenacious hold on life, and his fierce
determination to kill any attacker, are incredible. He can
smash through thickets that would check a tank; he is fast
enough in a sprint to catch a man on horseback; and he can
kill anything he can catch.
The grizzlies of
Northern Canada, Alaska, and the Aleutians are simply called
“Big Brownies”. They are known also as “Silvertips” because
their back and shoulder fun is often white-tipped, giving
them a gray cast.
One thing about grizzly
bears: you can’t really appreciate how big they are until
you’ve seen one up close. You can’t appreciate their
strength, either, until you’ve seen what they do to a slump
of trees they decide to go through instead of around. Most
of all, you can’t totally appreciate how absolutely fearsome
they can be until you’ve met one in hostile circumstances.
In fact, when a hunter has faced an enraged grizzly, that
charges him from close quarters, the word “awesome” takes on
a brand new and very personal meaning.
The best way I can
convey this is by relating my first experience on an awesome
grizzly bear hunt in British Columbia.
I booked my hunt with
Dennis Salsgiver of Davidson, Michigan who owns Grand Slam
Hunting Consultants. My guide was Ron Langdal of Smithers,
British Columbia. Ron has this area for a number of years.
He recently sold the area to Harry McCowen of Snowie Owl
Lodge, Terrace, British Columbia, but is still doing the
guiding for Harry.
After final
arrangements were made, I left Midland on May 7, 1984, at
6:35 A.M. and arrived in Smithers, British Columbia at 6:45
P.M. that evening. Ron Fleming of Love Bros. and Lee
Outfitters, a friend of Ron Langdale’s picked me up at the
airport in Smithers that evening. I stayed at Fleming’s
house that night in Hazelton, British Columbia. The next
morning, bright and early, Fleming and I drove north about
one hundred and twenty-five miles to the area I was to be
hunting in and met Ron Langdale, my guide for the hunt. I
also met Fredrick, a German dentist, that Ron Langdale was
guiding for black and grizzly bear. The German had his black
bear already but had not gotten a grizzly yet. It was
decided that I would hunt with Ron Fleming as my guide till
Fredrick, the German hunter, left on May 11th.
Ron and I had lunch and headed out to do some glassing and
to look over the area. As you can well imagine, I was ready
to do a little hunting. We saw three black bears, all too
small, one grizzly, too high, and tour mountain goats.
The area that we were
staying in is called the “Bear Pass” named rightly so. Ron
Langdale had pulled his camper trailer up there and this was
to be our home. It was parked on a side road just off the
main highway. All we had to do each day was drive up and
down the main road and glass the mountains, mostly on the
South side. The North slopes of the mountains were pretty
well snow covered. In the spring you watch the green grassy
areas in hope’s of seeing Mr. Griz lounging out there.
The splender of the
clue ice glaciers in this area is breath-taking, running up
into the mountains for miles.
On the next day,
Fleming and I saw five black bears, one grizzly, and seven
goats. Nothing worth going after. Ron Fleming is a very
enjoyable and interesting guide to hunt with. I also sighted
in my Ruger 338 Win. Mag. And Reminton 7 MM Mag. Boy, does
that 338 Mag. Kick! On May 10th, Ron Fleming and
I drove into Meziadin Jct. to get some gas. On the way back,
we ran into Ron Langdale and Fredrick. They were glassing a
grizzly way up on the mountain and trying to decide if they
should go after it. That evening I saw a large black bear
about a quarter of a mile up the mountain. Ron decided he
was large enough and that we should go after him. Well, what
a climb! If you have never been exposed to devils club, it
is quite a treat. You want to be sure and wear leather
gloves. I suppose I have to tell you about the black bear.
He was at least a 400 or 500 pounder. I got three shots off
at him and never raised a hair. He was either close than I
though or I was shaking too much and had bear fever. What
can I say. It was a nice exercising evening. On May 11th
in the morning on Hanna Ridge, we saw a grizzly sow and her
two full grown cubs. It must have been at least two to three
miles over to that ridge. Ron Lagdale and Fredrick had gone
over there the day before. We decided to keep an eye on that
area because it looked very good. Later we took Fredrick to
Meziadin Lake and Harry McCowen picked him up and flew him
back to Snowie Owl Lodge. Ron Fleming left also, so only Ron
Langdale and I were left in camp. It was now time for some
very serious grizzly bear hunting.
Ron and I discussed
over dinner that we would get up early and glass the
Surprise Creek, Hanna Ridge area the first thing. This slope
looked very good to Ron since we’d seen lots of grizzlies up
there and when Ron and Fredrick were up there they saw a lot
of tracks in that area.
On May 12th
at 7:15 A.M. we spotted a large lone grizzly on Hanna Ridge.
It must be two to three miles over there and a steady climb
all the way. We have all day to make it. I don’t think this
grizzly is the sow we saw the day before because it looks
larger and there are no cubs around. Another good sign was
that it just bedded down under a couple of large pines on
the side of the slide. Maybe this will be my lucky day. We
headed up the mountain at 8:21 A.M. I’m carrying my 7 MM Mag.,
the one I won last year at the awards banquet for the
membership drive. Besides, I shoot it a lot better than the
338 Mag. We climbed through a beautiful Hemlock forest and
reached the bottom of the slide area about 10:15 A.M. It
didn’t take Ron very long to get his bearing before he said,
“Dale, that bear should be bedded down right up there under
those pines approximately 200 to 225 yards”. I’d just taken
my backpack off and laid it down when Ron said, “There he
is! Get down and get a good rest over that log. He is about
125 to 150 yards out. The wind is OK, he is moving up hill
and when you’re ready, let him have it, take your time and
breathe deeply”. I couldn’t believe me eye’s when I got him
in the scope! He was angling up hill from my right to my
left at about a 45° angle. My first shot was just behind the
left front shoulder. When I shot, he charged up hill about
25 to 30 yards, then started to lose ground. He then turned
and headed back down hill. My second shot was placed just
between the front shoulders on his back. I can remember Ron
saying “give him another one!” On my third shot, all I saw
was brush and no bear! Then I heard Ron say “he’s dead!” I
said, “are you sure, are you sure!” Ron had been watching
the whole affair with his binoculars, when he said “let’s go
get him”. I almost went into a state of shock. He said,
“your first two shots hit him good, on your thirst shot he
was already piling up”. It took us a while to work our way
up to him. The snow had slid down the side of the hill and
layed over most of the tagalders and we kept breaking
through to above our knees. All the time I kept thinking
what if he gets up and attacks us while we are knee deep in
this snow! There were grizzly tracks all over the place. We
finally got within 20 yards of him and I couldn’t believe my
eyes. What a monster! It took the two of us all the strength
we had just to roll him over, so we could slide him down the
hill to a flat spot.
After a lot of hand
shaking and back slapping, the work started for Ron. Four
hours later Ron had him completely skinned out and skilled.
I’ve never seen a better job of skinning other than maybe
Chris Hixson. We packed the hide in Ron’s backpack. I
carried the skull. The hide alone had to weigh at least one
hundred pounds. I think Ron was happy to get started because
of all the other tracks in the area. It took us till 6:00
P.M. that evening to reach the pickup truck. When we got
back to camp that night, Ron squared the bear out. He was
nine feet, ten inches from paw to paw and nine feet from his
nose to his tail. Squared, that made him a nine and one-half
footer. Skull size as best we could tell was well over
twenty-five inches, almost twenty-six.
What more can I say but
AWESOME!
