Andrew's Black Bear

Good friend Andrew Gillett smoked this sweet black bear.  He deserves this awesome bear as he puts a ton of effort into scouting for upcoming hunts.  Here is the story and the pics that he sent to me.  Enjoy!

"Early this summer, we went out to begin setting trail cameras in a few of our favorite whitetail spots.  While out on this first trip we noticed that the canyon had more bear sign than normal. 

When we returned to check the cameras a month later the bear sign was more frequent and very fresh.  I began to hope this bear would stay close for the next couple of months.  

When we checked the pictures, we had just one pic of the bear.  When we went back last weekend for one final look, we found bear piles everywhere, and it appeared the bear was starting to really stock up on the pinon nuts.  While glassing we spotted the bear making his way out of a feeding area and into the bottom of the canyon for a drink of water.  We decided to come back after the next season opened and try to find him again.

Yesterday, we made the 2 mile hike in the dark to our glassing area.  As we began glassing I started to lose confidence as I stared into the thick vegetation on the canyon walls without success.  It seemed like it would take a miracle to find a bear in all that thick stuff.  At 8:00 am I decided to move glassing areas to a place where I could see more of the canyon floor.  Shortly after moving I heard what sounded like crashing in the bottom of the canyon, but it was a strange sound that carried on for several seconds.  I radioed my buddy Mike and asked if he could hear the noise and he said he could but couldn’t see the area it was coming from.  There was a small rise blocking my line of sight to where I thought the sound was coming from.  I gathered my gear and quickly snuck to the edge of the rise, and crawled to the edge to peak over.  When I looked over the edge I could immediately see the source of the noise, the bear had jumped into a pool of water just 85 yards below me.  I tried with little success to compose myself as I grabbed my pack and laid my rifle across it.  Without even turning up the scope I settled the crosshairs on the 4 inches of back that were sticking out of the water and fired.  The bear hardly moved on impact and I was unsure of the shot, but soon the bear began to thrash and expired within a few seconds.  That’s when it hit me, I had achieved one of my greatest lifetime goals; taking a bear on a spot and stalk, otc hunt in the heart of coues country.

I feel very fortunate to have taken this animal and could not have done it without the help of a few great friends.  Thanks to my brothers in law Blaine and Josh who have both helped me set and check trail cameras during the past couple of years.  I also owe a huge thanks to my buddies Mike and Marc who sacrificed their opening weekend of archery deer season to come and help me chase this bear.  As always thanks to my wife and two boys who have been incredibly patient and supportive of my passion for chasing critters."

Congrats to Andrew!!!  I am jealous as I want to put a bear rug on my wall this year.