Fall Dreams and Anticipations

“You are aware we can’t bait bears in New Mexico.” Commented Bridger Petrini. I nodded. “But oak trees’ acorns and water are not considered bait.” Again I nodded. “Let me guess. You want to hunt that water hole just below Johnson Mesa, that one in the back of the oak tree covered canyon.”

“Bridger you are a mind reader! How did you come to that conclusion?” I replied smiling.

“Could be because when Dad was running Tri-State Outfitting and first got onto this ranch, and you came hunting with him that first fall, that’s where you wanted to hunt soon as you saw the area and all the bear tracks at that waterhole.” Again, I smiled.

“Yes Sir, that could be part of the reason. Richard and I were merely exploring when we found that waterhole. We mentioned our find to a couple cowboys. They grinned, told us all the years they had been on the ranch they had never seen that pond go dry. Because all the oak trees that seemed to produce acorns every year it was a place where they always saw bears when checking cattle, be it spring, summer or fall. They said when it got seriously cold, bears crawled into caves in the canyon’s walls to take a winter’s nap.”

I continued, “The first afternoon watched that water hole, a couple of weeks before the fall black bear season, I saw five different bears come to water including a gorgeous dark cinnamon and two monstrous bears. One of those was so blue there was a bluish sheen. The other was a Hershey bar colored chocolate.”

“Isn’t that the same canyon where you called in a big brown-colored bear when you and Bill Whitfield were calling and hunting elk?” asked Bridger.

“Yep! Shame the bear season wasn’t open at the time. Bill was below me about thirty yards away. I was filming of our then “Hunting The World” television show. We took turns cow-calling so there seemed to be more than one cow. We had a really nice 5×5 bull coming in. About the same time, I spotted the big brown bear stalking Whitfield, looking a whole lot like a find German shorthair moving stealthily toward where it thought there was a covey of quail. I quit calling. The bear was stalking Bill from the left. The bull elk was coming in from the right coming quickly.”

“It quickly became obvious the bear really was stalking Bill, obviously thinking he was a cow elk hidden in small motte of oakbrush. The bear was only about fifteen to twenty steps from where Bill was hiding and watching the oncoming bull elk. The bear was slipping closer to Bill. Much as I hated doing so, I jumped up and hollered loudly “Bill behind you!” The bear stopped, momentarily stared in my direction. The bull elk immediately turned and departed toward another part of the ranch. Bill looked toward me dumbfounded with a mean look on his face.”
“What are you doing!” Hollered Bill. Just then the bear stood up on his hind legs ten paces away and looked down on Bill, which was when he saw the bear. There was a momentary standoff. Then the bear turned, dropped on all fours and ran the opposite direction the bull elk had done.

A few moments later Bill stood at my side, looking perplexed, perturbed and a little angry. “Were you going to let that bear eat me???”

“Well…you gotta admit it would have made good TV!” I replied stepping out of his reach, smiling…”

“Yes Bridger, that’s the same waterhole and canyon. Every time I’ve been in that canyon or sat at that waterhole I’ve seen at least one bear.”

First evening I hunted the waterhole that trip I sat on the ground where I could see any approaching bear. I watched three come to water; two sows and a young boar.

It was dark, with only the light coming from a thin sliver or the moon to guide me back to my appointed pick up point. I did not unload my .45-70 Govt. handgun until I had opened the door to my guide’s pickup.

The second afternoon, I had two handguns with me; a T/C Contender .45-70 and a brand new Taurus Raging Bull chambered in .454 Casull. I had just gotten the Taurus, which was the “parent” of the Raging Hunter revolvers I shoot these days. Shooting Hornady’s 240-grain XTP Custom ammo, in the Raging Bull I could easily put six shot into a 3-inch circle at 75-yards. Shots at bear where I hunted would likely be 35-yards and considerably less.

About thirty minutes before dark, having earlier seen four black bears which looked like younger sows and the same young black boar from the day before come to water, I spotted a bigger bear slowly feeding its way toward the pond and me. I suspected it was a boar and he stopped under several oaks to gorge on acorns. This bear was bigger bodied, had small looking ears compared to his head which was masculine and chunkier looking. Too, his front feet’s wrists were thicker looking. Finally, the bear was a water’s edge. It drank deeply. He turned his backside toward me; a boar, no question. I raised the Taurus, cautiously and quietly cocked the hammer, even though it was a double-action and rested it in the crux of my home-made tripod shooting sticks. Then I waited for the bear to turn broadside. Soon as he did I lined the open sights on the boar’s vitals, about 6-inches behind his shoulder, midway top to bottom of his body. He stared at something to my right, providing perfect shot placement. I silently said a prayer asking help me put the bear down quickly and humanely. I pulled the trigger. At the shot the bear swung around to bite where my bullet had struck. I thumbed back the revolver’s hammer, quickly aligned sights and put a second shot into him, trying my best to break the on-side shoulder. No sooner had I pulled the trigger, I again thumbed back the hammer of the Taurus .454 Casull. The bear was going down. Even so I shot him a third time hitting him in the other shoulder. Hammer cocked on a fourth round I watched the bear fall to the ground. If he so much as wiggled I planned to put another bullet into him. He did not move. After thirty seconds, I opened the cylinder, removed the spent brass and loaded in three fresh Hornady XTP rounds.

At the bear’s side I marveled at his luxuriant black coat. No doubt the boar was mature, teeth worn, and scars about his head. I suspected he would likely weigh 225 to 250-pounds and square a bit over six-feet. Later that night in camp he weighed 231-pounds. Skinned and meat in the cooler to be used primarily in sausage, but also a few roasts, I squared his hide. Tip of nose to tip of tail, added to tip of left front claws to tip of right front claws, the total divided by two, I came up with a “square” of 6-feet 2-inches. A right respectable bear!

That hunt happened back in 1998 shortly after Taurus introduced their .454 Casull Raging Bull revolver in 1997. Back then I was the hunting editor for “Handgunning” magazine.

That was then. These days I hunt every opportunity with two Taurus Raging Hunter handguns, a .44 Mag and a .454 Casull. I am continually amazed how accurately both shoot with a variety of Hornady ammo.

During the past three or four year I have again become enamored with lever-action rifles, specifically Rossi’s R95s. My current R95 rifle is chambered in .30-30 Win which I really like shooting and hunting with. Recently I borrowed a friend’s .45-70 Gov R95 to shoot and become familiar with because I have one ordered which I intend to use this fall. With my .30-30 Win, shooting Hornady’s 160 FTX LEVERevolution, I have taken a couple of whitetail bucks and several wild hogs. My .30-30 Win is now topped with a Stealth Vision SVT 3-18×44 Illuminated, 34mm tube scope (www.stealthvision.com). I love the fact it has an operational operable lighted reticle which is so important when light conditions are less than ideal, and, when hunting black-haired animals. That is one reason I have one of the Stealth Vision scope on my .30-30 Win R95. That scope was designed for shooting extremely long range. but it also works perfectly for hunting and shooting close range when light conditions are poor.

Hunting in far northern Alberta I was able to take a monstrous black bear that squared 7-feet 9-inches. The big boar came in late during a rainstorm. The bigger light-gathering tube and lighted reticle allowed for precise shot placement.

I have already stocked up on several boxes of Hornady LEVERevolution 325-grain FTX. The borrowed R95 .45-70 really likes that particular load. Shooting at 75-yards I can clover-leaf three shots.

On my Maine bear hunt with Randy Flannery in September shots at a big bear should be less than 50-yards. As soon I get my R95 .45-70 Govt, I will mount a SVT 3-18×44 scope and spend time at the range shooting at 25 to 100-yards, just in case for some reason I might need to take a “longer” shot. But then I will also shoot at distance out to 200-yards because I also plan on hunting deer with it.. I have a couple of places I hunt in eastern Texas where most of my shots should be no longer than 75-yards. But there are also some open creek bottoms and food plots where a shot at 200-yards might be required to take one of the specific mature bucks I am after there this fall. I want to be prepared. With the scope’s dial up capabilities I will determine exactly where the bullet strikes at 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175 and 200-yards.

It is going to be a fun-filled, lever-action rifle hunting season, interrupted occasionally by hunting with my Raging Hunter revolvers. Come on September!