by Michael P. Morton
My once in a lifetime
Spring Kodiak Brown Bear Hunt
How long could this maddening wait go on? I had been perched on the edge of the rocky cliff holding onto the black birch tree for what seemed like an eternity. My muscles were once again beginning to cramp as I tried my best to keep the rifle steady on the area where we had last seen the Kodiak Brown bear. Still the mammoth boar lay hidden, firmly ensconced and resting in his freshly dug mud bed. As I peered through the scope I could see clumps of the still moist dirt hanging from the nearby low elder branches. Periodically I would catch a glimpse of stray patches of dark brown showing through the otherwise impenetrable alder bramble. The bear just would not budge.
In reality my guide, Bob Munsey, and I had been perched on the sheer edge of the 150 drop for only a little more than 30 minutes. Under the circumstances it seemed every bit as long as spending an entire afternoon waiting in a tree stand. Bob had his eyes cemented to his binoculars and I had my faced jammed to the eye piece of the Zeiss scope. Would he ever move?
It was hunting day six of the scheduled 15 day brown bear hunt. The first five days in camp were eventful. After unpacking and shooting my rifle we began spotting. During the five days we spent more than 70 hours spotting for bears. I quickly learned that even though I thought that I was mentally and physically prepared for the long hours of spotting, I was still got drained and had trouble concentrating. My guide Bob was a constant source of encouragement. He told me that I could not give up, that eventually we would see a bear that we could stalk. We saw several bears every day. Each time they were either too far away, to high on the mountain, moving too fast in another direction, or sows with cubs.
Day six had started like all of the other days. Then, Bob spotted a boar first thing in the morning, low on the mountain directly across from camp. After 7 hours of spotting and then a long up hill stalk we were now in the bears bed room. He was about 150 to 175 yards away directly in front of a large cluster of alder. During the stalk Bob had gotten a good look at the bear and when asked what size the bear was he responded, (while shaking his hand back in forth to indicate he was not sure) "he's probably better than average". Earlier, while I was watching, the bear had quickly rearranged himself. During his movement I could clearly see the direction his ears were pointed. He was facing directly away from our position. I was very concerned that when he finally got up that I would have no shot. . . . . .
As I settled the cross hairs back on the
vague dark brown blob, suddenly there was a very large bear filling the
scope. Oh No! Just as I had feared, he was facing directly
away! As he stretched off the cobwebs of his early afternoon siesta,
he moved the front of his body ever so slightly up hill. Slowly I
could see a few inches of his side and rib cage appear. I slowly
squeezed the trigger as the dark notch behind his left front leg appeared
for only an instant. Had my shot been good? Yes, the
shot was good!. When I finally reached the bear I stopped to say a short
hunter's prayer to thank God for the gift of the day and the hunt and this
magnificent creature. He was huge!! I could not reach
all the way around his head. His size was startling! The front
paws were much larger than a dinner plate, ending with claws that were
more than 4 ½ inches long. He certainly was better than average.
I would learn later that his hide easily squared more than 10 feet.
His skull measured 28 inches SCI. He is a Gold medal winner,
and number 41 in the record book. He was selected at the North American
Hunting Club's Big Game Animal of the Year, firearms, for 2002. What an
amazing animal. What an amazing hunt! I owe Munsey's Bear Camp
a great big, thank you Bob Munsey, you were wonderful.