Well, I got my first black bear this past Saturday!

Man was it something! My brother and I were south of Mt. Adams. It was a lovely morning, sun, blue sky, a real nice day.

We had been out behind our camp for about an hour when we decided take a break on a log in the shade at the upper edge of a mostly dirt/short grass clearing.

We had come out of the timber and crossed this clearing (about 75 yds across) and had just taken off our gear, when my brother says "Bear, big bear!" I looked, and not more than 30' from where we had come into the open stood this bear.

He was looking right at us from about 75 yards upwind. He stood there looking and sniffing for an eternity (60 seconds). There was a little bit of tall grass in front of us and there was a forked tree that I was looking through. We were pretty well hidden as long as we didn't move.

I eased off the log, shouldered my Marlin 336 in .35 Remington (1951 mfg.) and waited for him to give me a more of a broadside shot. He did just that. He turned slightly to his left took 2 steps and I fired from a squatting position!

He rolled head over heels, jumped up and took off like a bat outta hell!

We headed down to check for blood and couldn't find a drop. We split up and the brother went down the trail we had just come up and I went behind the bear.

Man! Was my heart pounding. Every story that I had read in Alaska Bear Tales was flashing through my mind!!

I oozed down the trail the bear had headed down and there he was! 25 yds away, down and dead! That 200 grain Remington Corelokt (and excellent bullet placement) had done the job!

The bullet went through the right shoulder, took the top of his heart off, pierced some lung and blew up the other lung and exited the left shoulder.

I don't have a weight on him, but it was all we could do to lift him onto our game cart.

I took this bear not 20 yards away from where I got my 1st deer and less than 100 yards from where I got my 1st elk!

Well....that's my story. Thanks for listening.

congrats on your first bear.
I hope to repeat your process this weekend and tag myself a bear.

Nice job and a good story

My friend is big into bear and keeps asking me to go but it's always at a bad time for me. Maybe one of these days I can get out.

That's awesome man. Bear taste good.

How big was he?

My buddy just got a bear and made it all into sausage and that was good stuff. I'd consider getting the hams smoked, and don't forget the ribs. Excellent.

One buddy who got a bear last year just cut it up himself. We BBQ'd a whole ham and it turned out great. Seasoned with just Johnney's, it tasted just like roast beef! Kind of rare even.

Congrats. They're not so easy to get without hounds anymore.

Give us some pics!

Congrats, I remember my first bear and the pounding heart. I just shot my eleventh bear last weekend and I still get that feeling.