# Opening day bear



## northgeorgiasportsman (Oct 17, 2015)

I wish I had a story to tell.  I enjoy writing up a hunt report for you guys, but honestly, there's not much to report about this one.

I haven't been in the woods much.  2 jobs and 3 kids just doesn't leave a lot of time to hunt right now.  So I haven't scouted much and really didn't have a good idea of where the acorns were dropping.  My plan today was to go sit on a ridge until it got daylight enough to see acorns and spend the rest of the day scouting.  

Hunting was secondary to scouting today....until a few minutes after daybreak I heard something coming that I was pretty sure wasn't a deer.  This guy walks out down below me and crossed my trail.  He paused for a few seconds when he cut my trail, but then continued on until I whistled at him and the .270WSM put his lights out.

He tipped the scales at 380.  Not my biggest, but certainly a magnificent trophy animal.  







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## tree cutter 08 (Oct 17, 2015)

Hoss of a bear congrats!


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## gbscott4 (Oct 17, 2015)

Beautiful bear, congrats


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## whitetailfreak (Oct 17, 2015)

Yeah, he's grown. Congrats on a dandy.


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## GAGE (Oct 17, 2015)

Great job!


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## Bam Bam (Oct 17, 2015)

Congrats to Ya!


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## The mtn man (Oct 17, 2015)

This guy is a killer!!!!!


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## northgeorgiasportsman (Oct 17, 2015)

cklem said:


> This guy is a killer!!!!!



It takes one to know one.


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## northgeorgiasportsman (Oct 17, 2015)

Most folks will tell you, the hardest part of bear hunting is the dragging out.

I gave this one a shove with my boot and he rolled at least 75 yards like a log rolling down the mountain.  He came to rest in a logging road and I rolled him out and he rolled again until he lodged against a tree.  I did this 5 or 6 times until I had rolled him about 250 yards.  When I finally ran out of slope, I had to drag him about 50 feet to the edge of a field where I could get a front end loader to him.  

I can just about guarantee this was the easiest drag there's ever been for a near 400lb bear.


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## tree cutter 08 (Oct 17, 2015)

Thats the way to do it. I've passed on a few in hard to get to places. Get trigger happy when the drag ain to bad.


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## The mtn man (Oct 17, 2015)

northgeorgiasportsman said:


> Most folks will tell you, the hardest part of bear hunting is the dragging out.
> 
> I gave this one a shove with my boot and he rolled at least 75 yards like a log rolling down the mountain.  He came to rest in a logging road and I rolled him out and he rolled again until he lodged against a tree.  I did this 5 or 6 times until I had rolled him about 250 yards.  When I finally ran out of slope, I had to drag him about 50 feet to the edge of a field where I could get a front end loader to him.
> 
> I can just about guarantee this was the easiest drag there's ever been for a near 400lb bear.



I think I know where that was now, your dad took me coon hunting there, this drag story reminded me, steep ridge I could see how it rolled easy.


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## northgeorgiasportsman (Oct 17, 2015)

I still didn't get any scouting done.


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## The mtn man (Oct 17, 2015)

northgeorgiasportsman said:


> I still didn't get any scouting done.



It looks like you don't need to scout, lol


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## Joe Brandon (Oct 17, 2015)

Sir that is a dandy!!! Congratulations on a beautiful bear with a great story! Funny to me how things just seem to click when we go out and just try to have fun with no expectations. Congrats again.


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## brandonsc (Oct 17, 2015)

Is this the same bear that's on Georgia's dnr face book page?


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## northgeorgiasportsman (Oct 18, 2015)

brandonsc said:


> Is this the same bear that's on Georgia's dnr face book page?



Yes.  Officer Webb asked if we could snap a photo to document part of a Ranger's day.


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## droptinegirl1 (Oct 18, 2015)

Congratulations! That is a beautiful bear!


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## Killer Kyle (Oct 18, 2015)

Freaking jealous over here! That's a sight for sore eyes! Its been slow in the bear department for me lately, so its good to see a nice one hit the dirt. That bear is a dandy man! You'll get plenty of meat and fat off that one! What are your plans for the meat? Do you plan to keep any of the fat? I was really hoping to get one this year not only for the meat, but to keep a ton of fat to render and cook with.
Congrats on an awesome bear man. That one is a beaut!


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## Backcountry (Oct 18, 2015)

congrats!


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## northgeorgiasportsman (Oct 19, 2015)

Kyle, I'm planning to can the whole bear and render the fat.  We figure there ought to be close to 100lbs of meat.  That's a lot of stew mèat.


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## blood on the ground (Oct 19, 2015)

northgeorgiasportsman said:


> Kyle, I'm planning to can the whole bear and render the fat.  We figure there ought to be close to 100lbs of meat.  That's a lot of stew mèat.



nice one brother!


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## Joey Youngblood (Oct 19, 2015)

Awesome job! Congrats!


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## ripplerider (Oct 19, 2015)

Man that is a nice bear! Was 380 the dressed weight or live weight? Either way thats one heckuva bear. What did your biggest weigh?


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## northgeorgiasportsman (Oct 19, 2015)

ripplerider said:


> Man that is a nice bear! Was 380 the dressed weight or live weight? Either way thats one heckuva bear. What did your biggest weigh?



380 was live weight.  I didn't weigh my biggest one, but we estimated him at 450.  And after seeing this one at 380, I'm convinced the 450 estimate was pretty close.  He was quite a bit longer and every bit as fat as this one.


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## RNC (Oct 19, 2015)

Congrats !

Thanks for sharing your hunt


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## buckeroo (Oct 20, 2015)

Very cool and beautiful bear! What Browning is that?


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## Flaustin1 (Oct 21, 2015)

Its an A-Bolt.  Looks like the A-Bolt II Hunter but I could be wrong.


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## northgeorgiasportsman (Oct 21, 2015)

Flaustin1 said:


> Its an A-Bolt.  Looks like the A-Bolt II Hunter but I could be wrong.



It's an A-bolt I got a steal on about 15 years ago.  Guy bought it for his son, son shot it twice and said it kicked too hard.  I got it for about half price.  It's sweet.


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## Panhandler80 (Oct 23, 2015)

northgeorgiasportsman said:


> I wish I had a story to tell.  I enjoy writing up a hunt report for you guys, but honestly, there's not much to report about this one.
> 
> I haven't been in the woods much.  2 jobs and 3 kids just doesn't leave a lot of time to hunt right now.  So I haven't scouted much and really didn't have a good idea of where the acorns were dropping.  My plan today was to go sit on a ridge until it got daylight enough to see acorns and spend the rest of the day scouting.
> 
> ...



Fantastic!  That's a fine looking bear.  I 

A-bolt with VX-III 50mm?  If so, that's my exact same go-to rifle set up.  

Great job on bear.


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