The bear wasn't in a hurry, just lumbering along. But it wasn't stopping either. It was heading for the "crack oak". We have one oak tree about 30 yards away from the stand that I swear must be dropping acorns laced with crack because every animal around seems to be drawn to it this fall.
Those acorns must taste great. As it was walking across in front of me from right to left, it was crossing at about 27 yards. I turned on the Tactacam first thing then started to track it in the scope. I glanced ahead for the best opening and was ready when it stepped into it. I squeezed the trigger and sent the 100gr Vented TOTA XL downrange toward its second target. The lumenok lit the way and confirmed a good hit, maybe a tick high, but still OK considering my stand height. The bear took off and veered downhill toward the ravine before stopping about 60 yards away briefly for a couple seconds. It then continued crashing through the thick cover as it headed into the ravine. The crashing sounded more like it was tumbling for a few seconds, then silence. There was no sound of anything climbing out of the ravine.I called my kids and asked them to come aid in the recovery. After about 30 minutes as I waited their arrival I recovered my arrow and found it nice and red.
I took up the trail and found good blood within five yards.
My kids arrived just after I took up the trail and assisted with the tracking and recovery. That turned out to be a great call because there is no way this bear could have been extracted from the ravine alone. The bear only went about twenty yards beyond my visibility so the crashing I heard was it literally crashing.
Here it is after we got it the 50 yards or so back uphill so we could drag it out.
And the slightly flatter version ready for a trip to the taxidermist...
This recovery was painful, even with three people. This bear is easily the heaviest game animal I've ever taken, and this experience has me thinking that I don't want anything that heavy again. I think whitetails will be the top of my food ladder going forward.
I've got plenty of work to do tomorrow trying to finish processing this beast. That's just another part of the adventure.
Here is the Tactacam video: https://youtu.be/ftNIYZDbeX4
