# Nice bear a buddy killed on National Forest Saturday!



## buckeroo (Oct 22, 2012)

My best bear hunting buddy, Bill took this guy on a new to us part of the NF. This is one of the very few hunts I wasnt on since he and I hunt together. I killed a doe in the AM and had to babysit my nephew in the PM. 

Bill and I checked this place out two weeks ago. It was steep, remote and judging from the map, PERFECT bear country. We walked the entire ridge top two weeks ago and found bear sign galore above 2500 feet. It is the prettiest place I have bear hunted so far.

Bill called me at 5:15 Saturday with those words I had been waiting to hear: "Bear down, bear down!!!" Since we were babysitting in Dahlonega I jumped in the truck and had my wife drop me off and told her I'd be home when I got home...no telling when!

I started the 2.5 mile hike straight up to Bill. By the time I got there he had the bear 3/4 of the way skinned out. 
We guestimate it conservatively at 250-275. We had a tarp and put the skin in the tarp and as much meat as we possibly could in his pack. We had a heavy load for sure. Now that I have the experience of getting one out I cannot imagine having to drag one uphill! 

If you are remote you better pray he doesnt run down the side of a mountain! Even though we had 2.5 miles to walk out, it was all downhill and the drag tarp made it amazing! 

The hunt story goes like this:
Bill worked his was to the top, hunting the whole time. By about noon he had hunted his way to the best spot. He sat and had lunch and a nap and when he awoke he sat there for close to 4 hours and was just about to get discouraged and get up when he saw the bear coming down the trial at 100 yards. He had to watch the bear for over 10 grueling minutes with the wind swirling. Finally he had a 40 yard shot. He squeezed off the 180 grain 30-06 loads he had made and the bear buckled right there. He had me on the phone 30 seconds later. I have never heard a 55 year old man so giddy and I must say that I was on top of the world too. This was well over a year in the making and Bill worked hard for it. He is THE most accomplished hunter I know, but had never killed a bear until now. I can honestly say that I am just as satisfied to see him kill this as I would be if I killed it. I would have been right there with him had I not wanted to be killed by my wife. LOL

None of these pictures seem to do any justice to this magnificent animal. 







This is after we skinned it. Bill put the head,hide and paws on one of his fish scales that goes to 50 pounds and it maxed that out.
Can you tell ol' Bill just did some work from this pic!!!






Here's the contraption we used to get the hide out:





Nice black face!:


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## buckeroo (Oct 22, 2012)

I decided to pull out my phone and video me walking up on where Bill was on the mountain after finally arriving. 

Kinda goofy, but fun for me to watch. you may enjoy it too:


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## oatmeal1 (Oct 22, 2012)

Excellent!!! Great Story! Congrats. I like the way you stopped recording when he started talking about your honey hole.


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## buckeroo (Oct 22, 2012)

oatmeal1 said:


> Excellent!!! Great Story! Congrats. I like the way you stopped recording when he started talking about your honey hole.



HAHAHA! yessir! That was VERY much purposeful!


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## Y.T. (Oct 22, 2012)

Thanks for sharing!

Congrats to him on a fine bear!


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## GA DAWG (Oct 22, 2012)

Nice un!!!


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## pnome (Oct 26, 2012)

Nice one!  congrats!


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## Marlin_444 (Nov 1, 2012)

NICE Bear!  Congrats Bill and welcome to the club!!!


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## chevyman10709 (Nov 2, 2012)

congrats to the both of you


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## bfriendly (Nov 11, 2012)

chevyman10709 said:


> congrats to the both of you



This^^^^^^^^^^

What a beast!! Congrats!!


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## littlewolf (Nov 11, 2012)

Beautiful bear! That's some work there - ya'll earned that one.


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## GreasyMtHuntClb (Nov 18, 2012)

Congrats on the kill! What are the rules on checking a bear in if you have to pack it out like this one?  Are they still weighing it at the check in station despite being packed/carved out? Again, nice bear!


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## oatmeal1 (Nov 19, 2012)

GreasyMtHuntClb said:


> Congrats on the kill! What are the rules on checking a bear in if you have to pack it out like this one?  Are they still weighing it at the check in station despite being packed/carved out? Again, nice bear!



Check out Coasties reply on Killer Kyles Packing out bear thread.


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## Hunter1357 (Feb 23, 2013)

Nice bear there bud! congrats!


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