# My first bear



## brandonsc (Oct 23, 2015)

This is my first bear I've killed, he's also he first bear I've ever saw while hunting in almost 15 years. I shot him Thursday night about 515. I was sitting on the ground against a huge pine. I was sitting down about 10 minutes when he came in about 80 yards on the ride across from me. I shot him broad side with my 338 win mag. He turned quartering to me and I shot him a second time. He started running down the ridge across from me and ended up turning a few flips and growling at the same time. He stood up standing broad side at 25 yards and I shot him for a third time. He ran off about 125 yards towards the truck. I barely heard him death moan. I called my dad and told him I shot a bear and was gonna give him a few minutes. I started following the trail he ran down with no blood trail. I got to the road bed and looked down about 20 yards and he was laying there expired. The bear dressed at 290 pounds and was the largest of 6 bears checked in on dawson forest as of Thursday night. It was about 150 yard down hill drag to the truck and im thankful my two brothers and my dad showed up to help me drag him out. Can anyone recommend a good taxidermist? My boot on the Bears shoulder is a size 13 just for a reference and im 6'3".  I'd also like to thank Ga Dawg who made sure the warden kept the check station open So I could tag my bear.


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## brandonsc (Oct 23, 2015)

More pics


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## northgeorgiasportsman (Oct 23, 2015)

Awesome man!  They're fun to drag ain't they?


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## brandonsc (Oct 23, 2015)

I can't get the boot picture to upload right now I'll try to get it up shortly


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## AQuiverFull (Oct 23, 2015)

awesome bear. Congrats


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## brandonsc (Oct 23, 2015)

northgeorgiasportsman said:


> Awesome man!  They're fun to drag ain't they?



We put him on a tarp and drug him out


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## Fortner (Oct 23, 2015)

Congrats buddy!


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## yankeeredneck2015 (Oct 23, 2015)

Im having Chris mount my little bear, lol


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## mmcneil (Oct 23, 2015)

Good looking bear, congratulations.


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## Joe Brandon (Oct 24, 2015)

Man that is awesome!!!! I know you've been active and put in the effort. Great work!


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## Bam Bam (Oct 24, 2015)

Congrats to Ya!!!


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## model88_308 (Oct 24, 2015)

Congratulations! Good looking bear.


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## GA DAWG (Oct 24, 2015)

He was a good un...No way a man get one of them out alone. Harper's in Ellijay is a great taxidermist. I dont know what he charges though.  A bear anywhere is expensive but Id have to mount him.


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## The mtn man (Oct 24, 2015)

northgeorgiasportsman said:


> Awesome man!  They're fun to drag ain't they?



Like dragging a barrel.


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## brandonsc (Oct 24, 2015)

I drug him about 10 feet going up hill and I couldn't drag him any further but we had him on a tarp with one person on each corner and a drag rope around his neck took about 10 min to get to the truck


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## whitetailfreak (Oct 24, 2015)

Congratulations on a dandy.


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## gobbleinwoods (Oct 25, 2015)

cklem said:


> Like dragging a barrel.



a flopping one at that.


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## brandonsc (Oct 25, 2015)

By the time my help got there he had already got stuff


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## BROWNING7WSM (Oct 25, 2015)

Congrats


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## Joey Youngblood (Oct 25, 2015)

Great job!


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## tree cutter 08 (Oct 25, 2015)

Congrats on a good bear.


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## Vernon Holt (Oct 25, 2015)

brandonsc said:


> This is my first bear I've killed.   I was sitting down about 10 minutes when he came in about 80 yards on the ridge across from me. *I shot him broad side with my 338 win mag. He turned quartering to me and I shot him a second time. He started running down the ridge across from me and ended up turning a few flips and growling at the same time. He stood up standing broad side at 25 yards and I shot him for a third time*.
> 
> Brandon: Congrats on your very successful Bear Hunt.  Several of Woody's more successful Bear Hunters have stated numerous times that the Black Bear was not a very difficult critter to dispatch.  Implication has generally been that any caliber suitable for Whitetail would likewise finish off a GA Black Bear.
> 
> Seemingly, you had a different experience.  I know virtually nothing about the caliber rifle which you were using.  It certainly sounds like it should easily put one down for keeps.  Would you mind sharing with us where you three hits were placed?  Don't mean to reflect on the quality of your Marksmanship, but I am interested on why the very nice Bear was so difficult to dispatch.  Would appreciate any response


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## brandonsc (Oct 26, 2015)

Not gonna lie I rushed the first and wasn't exactly sure where I hit the bear he gave me a follow up shot so I took it. Once the bear came rolling down the hill he stopped broad side so I shot him for the third time. To ensure a quick clean kill. The bear still ran about 100 yards and did not leave a blood trail at all.


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## bigelow (Oct 28, 2015)

Nice


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## hunter84 (Nov 4, 2015)

Great bear


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## Dirtdobbin (Nov 6, 2015)

Good job Brandon you showed me the pics on your phone last weekend but these do it justice. Dad got one the following Thursday up on the mountain which I got to help drag on my way home from N.C. Thanks dad!! Haha. Let me know when you get in back wanna see the mount.


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## Rich Kaminski (Nov 6, 2015)

The cost is well over $125 per foot to make a rug. A full mount is out of the question for a black bear because they are too small and not worth the cost of a full mount. The best black bear mounts I have ever seen are from the stomach to the head and it looks like it is comming out of a wall. All taxidermists have books and you can look through them to determine the type of mount you want.


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## brandonsc (Nov 6, 2015)

Dirtdobbin said:


> Good job Brandon you showed me the pics on your phone last weekend but these do it justice. Dad got one the following Thursday up on the mountain which I got to help drag on my way home from N.C. Thanks dad!! Haha. Let me know when you get in back wanna see the mount.



Took me a min to figure out who you were haha thanks man


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## brandonsc (Nov 6, 2015)

Rich Kaminski said:


> The cost is well over $125 per foot to make a rug. A full mount is out of the question for a black bear because they are too small and not worth the cost of a full mount. The best black bear mounts I have ever seen are from the stomach to the head and it looks like it is comming out of a wall. All taxidermists have books and you can look through them to determine the type of mount you want.



Rugs are running anywhere from 175-225$ a foot and I had prices on full body mounts ranging from 1500$ to 4000$ 

My bear measured close to 7 feet once the taxidermist had his skull out


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## brandonsc (May 11, 2016)

I finally had a chance to get my bear scored he scored 19 5/16"


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