Fall Bear? Almost Time! - Larry Weishuhn

“Got forced into it! Colorado officials in their infinite wisdom decided to shut down their spring

black bear season. At the same time, they shut down baiting for bear, an ideal way to get a

good look at a bear before pulling a trigger or releasing an arrow.” Stated a Colorado resident

friend of mine when I queried about coming to hunt black bear with him.

I love hunting black bear and doing so I had to adjust if I wanted to hunt bear in Colorado. At

the time I was doing the wildlife management work on a sizeable property in the far

northwestern corner of the Colorado, just above Dinosaur National Monument. The ranch was

set up primarily for mule deer, but also had a decent sage grouse population and unfortunately

a growing elk herd. “Unfortunately” because as the elk herd in the area increased we were

seeing a decrease in the quality and number of mule deer. We also occasionally saw cougar

tracks during my tenure with the ranch. I never did see a black bear track. So I had to look

elsewhere in Colorado to hunt bear.

The closing of Colorado’s spring black bear season and baiting created an interesting situation. I

was determined to take a bear in that State. As luck would have it at the time, I was spending

my year hunting with a .30-06 for a series of articles for SHOOTING TIMES where I served as the

Hunting Editor. On those hunts I also carried, where legal, a .44 Mag revolver. I was also

Hunting Editor for SHOOTING TIMES’ other publication HANDGUNNING. If an opportunity arose

to take additional animals, I would use my .44 Mag loaded with Hornady ammo to do so.

In doing the series of .30-06 articles I had hunted black bear in Alberta during the spring. Now I

was Colorado hunting with Dick Ray around Pagosa Springs. My primary target was a bull elk.

“Elk should not be a problem.” Said Dick when we first talked about my hunt. “Mule deer

numbers are down in our area. You may not want to buy mule deer license.” I decided to do

so, just in case we encountered a mule deer.

First morning of our hunt we found a nice 6x6 which I was able to put down with one shot, but I

shot him a second time for insurance. It took us the rest of the day to get my bull out of the

mountains and the meat properly taken care of.

For the next three days we hunted mule deer, but saw only a few does, fawns and a couple of

young forkhorns. We did however find a remote waterhole around which were an abundance

of bear tracks. I made note of where it was and how to get back to it. If I got so fortunate to

take a mule deer, I intended to drive to the nearest Colorado Game & Fish office and buy a bear

license.

Fifth morning I got extremely lucky and found an older buck. He had four typical points and a

browtine on one side and a messed up left beam with eight points. I was able to put him down

with one shot from my .30-06. We spent the rest of the day getting him back to camp and

properly taking care of the venison.

Next morning early, the last day of that particular hunting season, I drove to the nearest Game

Department office to buy a bear license. What should have been an easy chore turned into

something quite different. The person behind the desk accused me of having already killed a

bear and now wanting to buy a license. I would never do such a thing! Frustrated, I asked to

speak to her supervisor. After a “discussion” he instructed the female agent to sell me a

license. There was just enough time left in the day to drive directly to where I could walk to the

waterhole we had found surrounded with bear tracks and hunt for a couple of hours.

Leaving the Game Department office, I noticed a Game Warden following me. As I pulled up to

the gate of the property where I intended to hunt that last afternoon. I waved the Game

Warden to come up to where I was.

When he pulled up, I realized I knew him. We had hunted together in the past, and I had also

given wildlife conservation talks in his district at his request. We had a quick visit which I ended

with, “If I can shoot a bear this afternoon, I’m calling you to help me drag it off the mountain! I

want you to see I have just shot it and I want you to call “that” officer who did not want to sell

me a bear license, who accused me of having a bear down and buying a license afterwards was

wrong!” He smiled.

I got to the waterhole with two hours of daylight remaining. Earlier I had seen tracks of several

bears including a couple sets of tracks made by some big bears. Even so, I made up my mind to

shoot the first bear to come to water rather than wait for a bigger one which might not put in

an appearance until very late.

I had been there about twenty minutes when a two-year old bear strode in. Immediately I had

my .44 Mag LER scope’s crosshairs just behind its shoulder. I cocked the hammer to shoot

single-action and pulled the trigger. The bear fell where it had stood. Again I cocked the

hammer ready to shoot a second time in case the bear stood up to leave. It did not. Assured

the bear was down I walked the 30 steps to where it lay, fully ready to shoot again if a second

shot was required.

I pulled out my license, notched the appropriate month and date, wrote in the proper

information and attached it to the boar’s hind leg. Then, I literally ran down the mountain to my

vehicle where I had a “bag phone”, this before cell phones. I called my warden friend. “This is

Larry. I have a bear down! Please come verify it was just now taken.”

The warden laughing, congratulated me then said, “I’ll meet you at the gate in a little while.” I

told him it looked like the bear weighed about a hundred and fifty, I would carry it to my pick

up and he really didn’t need to help me drag it off of the mountain but I wanted to prove to him

I had just shot the bear.

Back then I was “stout”. I picked up my bear slung and draped it over my shoulder and headed

to my pickup. I did not mind getting the coat I was wearing bloody. I wanted the game warden

to see the blood was fresh.

He was waiting for me when I got to the gate, a big grin on his face, right hand extended toward

me in a congratulatory manner. I shook his hand then asked him to come have a look at my

bear so he could see the bear had very recently been taken.

That hunt was occupying my mind as I sat in a ground blind on the Choctaw Hunting Lodge in

southeastern Oklahoma. This time with a TenPoint crossbow (www.tenpointcrossbows.com) in

my hand, rather than one of my .44 Mag or .454 Casull Taurus Raging Hunter revolvers, or a

Mossberg or Rossi rifle, topped with a Stealth Vision scope and loaded with Hornady ammo.

I will state upfront and forthright. I am not a bowhunter and frankly only a reluctant crossbow

hunter. I like hunting with guns; handguns and rifles! But the only time bears are reliably on

the Choctaw Hunting Lodge’s expansive property (www.choctawhuntinglodge.com) is the first

week of October during archery season, including crossbows.

Hunting on the Choctaw I sat in ground blinds from well before first light until dark. According

to trail cameras the Choctaw Hunting Lodge’s manager, Dusty Vickrey, bears had no definite

pattern of coming to bait. Bears, based on camera intel, might show up at first light, mid-

morning, high-noon, mid-afternoon or just before dark.

I hunted several days and finally did see a big bear. Based on many other bears I have taken it

would have easily have weighed in excess of 300-pounds. He showed up very late. I learned or

rather re-learned a valuable lesson. Black crosshairs are impossible to see against a black target

during poor light conditions.

For the hunt I had borrowed a crossbow from Nacolh Vickrey, Dusty’s wife who is also deeply

involved in many ways with the Choctaw Hunting Lodge. That was a couple of years ago. I

missed last year’s Oklahoma black bear season because of hunting moose in British Columbia,

Canada.

I am headed back to the Choctaw this coming first week of October to again hunt black bear

with a crossbow hoping to take an older mature black bear. I know there are some huge bear

on the Choctaw. A hunter on the portion of the sizeable property that is leased to hunting

groups during the 2024 fall bear season shot a bear that officially weighed 605 pounds. That’s a

big bear no matter where it is from.

I recently sent a couple of cases of Vineyard Max (www.vineyardmax.net) to Randy Flannery

which he will use in his baits. I have a feeling Maine black bears are going to love the aroma of

the dried red and white grapes skins and how they taste. Too, years ago when I was growing up

and we were showing Quarter Horses at halter, and my dad’s hounds we incorporated rice bran

into their diets. It was amazing how their coats shined after we had done so. I suspect

Vineyard Max will do the same with black bears.

I can hardly wait! I love hunting black bear!