Bear Hunting in Montana by Mike Dillon

I have been trying to harvest a black bear in PA for over 22 years-granted, I have missed a few seasons for one reason or the other, but nonetheless I have been at it since I was 12 years old. At my early ages, my preferred method for bear hunting (and really the only one that I knew how to do) was a spot and stalk method. I would walk slowly along ridge tops, taking time to look over both sides in the hopes of spotting a black bear. While this method certainly can work in PA, there are a number of reasons why it is not a very popular method. First, many of the ridges in PA have a swirling wind. One minute the wind is in your face, and within the next 3 minutes you can have a wind that is first at your back, then at your left side, only to finish at your right side. The bear's nose is their best defense-they have a sense of smell that is seven times greater than a bloodhounds, so a swirling wind, or any wind for that matter, is not your friend. It is also hard to spot and stalk the mountains and ridges of PA due to the amount of trees and vegetation, which make a long distant spot unlikely. Spot and stalk methods can certainly work for some species, but you have a lot against you when you can't see great distances.

For the past 7 years, I have been hunting bear by another method in PA-driving for them. Our season in PA has historically been limited to 3 days-usually in November around Thanksgiving. It is not legal to hunt over bait, nor can you use a FOXPRO. You can use hand calls, but it certainly is not a very popular method. You can use cover scents, but no scent that represents a food source. Driving has become the method of choice for the majority of bear hunters.

Driving is performed by splitting up a group of hunters. Our group consists of 20-25 people (25 is the maximum limit for a roster in PA). Half of the group in a given spot are drivers, and the other half are sitters. The sitters get into position by spreading across a pre-determined area, normally in a straight line, depending on terrain. The distance between the sitters can vary anywhere from 10 yards to 75 yards or more, depending on visibility. The drivers get into position some distance away from sitters, again the distance being determined by the terrain. When the sitters and drivers are both in position, the drivers begin to walk towards the sitters, hooting and hollering in an effort to scare a bear toward the sitters. While this may sound pretty easy, keep in mind that the drivers are going through the absolute thickest areas imaginable. Many times, a driver will have to get down on his hands and knees to crawl through the toughest jaggers and vegetation. Not only is the vegetation the thickest imaginable, but now also add the slope of the mountain, whether it is up, down, or cross slope, and you have a recipe for an experience not for the weak of mind or body. By the end of just one driving session, a driver is usually completely whipped-to the point of exhaustion at times in some of the toughest drives. But, now that he has completed his drive, the next location it is his turn to sit. When the drivers successfully push a bear to the sitters (they know this when they hear the gunshot), you can't imagine the adrenaline rush. We have been fortunate to get a bear or two by this method every year, the nicest one being a 400 pound chocolate bear. While I have never had a chance at shooting a bear myself by this method, it is nice to share in someone else's glory when they successfully harvest one.

Early this year, I was notified of a Grand Opening of a new Cabela's store in Billings, Montana. We have been attending as many of these as possible in an effort to support the store, as well as train the store employees. In-store training is far more effective than any other method, a win-win for the store, the manufacturer, and the customer. At around the same time, I received some emails from Troy Butler from Bozeman, MT. Troy and his partner, Tim Delph, were interested in representing FOXPRO for the many contests that they attend every year. He included in his email a list of their accomplishments and success at the contests-a very impressive resume. This kind of resume would be very appropriate for a new goal that we have in mind-a Team FOXPRO (more on this next month).

It was also during this time that I started thinking about hunting opportunities while at the Grand Opening. I am fortunate enough (or unfortunate if my wife is reading this) to travel all around the country, and I often try to mix some hunting in while I am in new areas. I have never been to Montana, but have always wanted to. And because of time constraints while in these areas, there is simply not enough time to first get the permission from landowners, do all of the necessary scouting to locate the animals, and then to spend time getting familiar with the property and its boundaries. It would be one thing if I always returned to the same areas, but that is rarely the case. And, since we are filming most of the time now, it is important to be as successful as we can to capitalize on what little time we have in a new area. That is why often times I rely on someone that is familiar with the area, and already has property available for us to hunt. For most of my hunting years, I have relied on my own scouting methods, locations, techniques, and time spent in the field to determine my own success. I would have never considered going on an out-of state hunt, as I would be relying on someone else's scouting to determine my own success-something I was never very keen on. But, I soon realized once I started traveling that given my time constraints, I would need the assistance from others in the area. I then thought of the email that I received from Troy Butler. The thought came upon me that I could see if he would be willing to take us out and do some coyote hunting. We emailed back and forth a couple times, and then this email came from Tim:

Mike,
Troy thought that you might want to see if you can get a bear tag before you come out here, so you could go bear hunting too if you want. We get some nice bears up here and Troy has a connection to a ranch that he might be able to get us on again. Just thought I would let you think about it. I attached a picture of one that we got there a few seasons ago. See what you think.

Tim

As soon as I read the email, I was pumped! How cool would it be to shoot a bear while I was in Montana? So, I ordered my bear tag. In Montana, you are required to pass a bear ID test before you can get a tag. This test requires you to be able to properly identify from a distance a black bear or a grizzly bear. Easy enough, right? I must admit that I did miss one on the test. Then, more emails between me and Troy. It seemed every time that I would call Troy, he and Tim were out looking for bears. They certainly put the work in to locate some bears for me, but this wasn't their first rodeo. They have taken friends out before for bear in the past, and knew where to look.

Montana has a large number of color phase bears. I often times have said that my perfect bear would be a 400 lb chocolate-the perfect size and color in my opinion-and the twin to the one our group shot here in PA. Troy said that there is actually a better chance at shooting a chocolate phase black bear than a black bear. Now, I was even more excited than before.

I arrived in Billings, Montana on Wednesday May 6, 2009. Traveling with me was Abner Druckenmiller, who would be filming the bear hunt, and doing some Merriam turkey hunting himself, as well as helping out with the in-store training. We checked into the hotel, drove to the Cabela's store to get familiar with the route. They had actually opened early in what they call a soft opening, so we went in to get some last minute items (I needed to get a pair of Mossy Oak Brush lightweight gloves). We got something to eat, and headed back to the hotel to get some shut eye. We had a one hour drive in the morning, and we were meeting Troy and Tim at a McDonald's at 5:00 am.

The first day we decided to do some turkey hunting, as we had plans in the evening to attend a social. Since we couldn't dedicate the entire day to bears, it was Abner's chance to get his first Merriam turkey. Find out next issue if he was successful. Thursday evening, we had a howdy-do with some rep friends (FOXPRO reps), and headed once again to the hotel for some rest. On Friday morning, we got up early again. This time, however, we were hunting in Belgrade, Montana, a two hour drive from Billings. We got up at 2:45 am, got ready, and made the 2 hour drive to Belgrade to meet up with Troy and Tim at 5:00 am. From Belgrade, we had about a 15 minute drive. We parked the truck, and unloaded the 4-wheelers. We packed the gear on the quads, and headed to the mountain top.

I soon realized that bear hunting in Montana was quite different than what I was accustomed to in PA. In PA, there is not a spring season for bears. The popular way for hunting for bears in Montana is to locate them at a favorite feeding spot. A favorite feeding spot for a black bear that is just coming out of hibernation is a grassy meadow along a mountainside. Keep in mind that a bear cannot eat anything but plants until they lose their fecal plug and their digestive systems get back into order. What is a fecal plug? During hibernation, bears accumulate feces in the lower portion of the intestine to form a "plug". The fecal plug is simply feces that have remained in the intestine during hibernation and the fluid is completely absorbed out of it.

In order to best locate a bear at a feeding spot, you have to find a good vantage point to glass. A good vantage point is often found from the top of a mountain, overlooking other mountains in close proximity. There is an obvious difference when comparing the mountains of Montana to the mountains of PA. The mountains in PA, for the most part, have considerable more forestation, and have very wide valleys between mountains, making it almost impossible to effectively glass for bears. On the other hand, the mountains that we were hunting in Montana were very close together, as close as 100 yards or less at the base. They do have forestation, but there are also large areas of open meadows. These open meadows are the areas to concentrate on while glassing. The mountains are also much steeper, for the most part. Climbing these mountains would be a lot more difficult than the mountains that I am accustomed to. It is the combination of close proximity and wide open meadows that make it ideal to spot and stalk bears. The meadows to concentrate on are the ones that offer the greenest grass, as these are the ones that offer a bear the highest nutritional value.

It was also during this trip that I realized the importance of a high quality optic. I have to admit that this part will seem like an infomercial, but I can assure you that if you witnessed the same thing that I did, you would want to share your experience as well. Recently, Swarovski became a sponsor of FOXPRO. In the past, I have never doubted that Swarovski offered an optic that was of superior quality and craftsmanship over any other optic that I have used in the past. I have used other brands for years, not realizing the benefits of a high quality optic. After all, the majority of my hunting growing up was in thick forests mixed in with some small agriculture fields-not an ideal environment to warrant a high quality optic (or so I thought). On this trip, I brought with me a pair of Swarovski EL 10x42 binoculars and a Swarovski rangefinder.

At the top of the mountain, Troy and I began to glass for bear. Troy almost immediately spotted a bear in an open meadow. He pointed the meadow out to me, and I glassed the meadow. Right away, I saw the bear. It was feeding in the open meadow, but was too far away for a shot. This bear appeared to be a nice boar-and a chocolate one to top it off. At guess, it was around a 6 1/2 foot bear, a very respectable bear.

I have to admit that I was also not used to judging a bear by its length. Weight was always more of an indicator for bear size to me. One thing about a bear, however, is that its height will not change from spring to fall. Since a bear weighs a lot less in the spring than they do in the fall, it only makes sense to use length as an indicator of size rather than weight, at least in states that offer a spring season.

We decided to take the quad to another vantage point, and hope for a closer shot. It was at this new location that I realized the importance of a high quality optic. The bear was about 900 yards away, and there was no chance at closing the distance. We could only hope that the bear would come down the mountain, and offer a closer shot. I would glass the bear at length, and then glass other meadows. Glass the bear, check other meadows. My eyes were always in the binoculars. I soon realized that I was not getting eye fatigue at all. My focus started to concentrate more on the binoculars, as the bear was in no hurry to go anywhere. The detail that I was seeing through the binoculars was simply amazing. To compare, I asked Troy if I could switch him binoculars. I won't say the brand, but it is another popular brand of binoculars that I thought was of high quality. These binoculars were 12 power. There was absolutely no comparison. Even though the Swarovski's are 10 power, things were so much clearer. Details were much easier to pick out. Bears were much easier to pick out. Troy was also amazed at the difference in quality (I think Swarovski has another customer). Tim also compared with his binoculars, an even less quality brand, and just laughed. I could have easily glassed all day with these binoculars. The next time I go into a hunting store, and I see someone comparing glass in a store environment, I will probably laugh to myself. You simply cannot judge the difference in quality in glass inside a store.

At this point, it is also important to mention that I borrowed a friend's gun for this trip. The largest caliber gun that I own in my arsenal is a 7MM Magnum-perfect for bear hunting in PA were the shots are normally a lot closer, but in my talks with Troy in preparing for the trip, he stated that a shot could be anywhere from 75 yards to 500 yards. I needed more firepower, so I borrowed my friends .338 Ultra Mag shooting a 250 grain bullet. This bullet has about a 36 inch drop at 500 yards. His gun was zeroed at 100 yards. I had soon wished that it would have been zeroed in at 300.

The chocolate bear that we had been watching decided that it was time to move on, and worked its way back up the mountain instead of down. I never got a shot. We decided to move to another location, so we headed to the trucks, loaded up the quads, and went to another spot. While we didn't see any bears, I was amazed at the numbers of elk that we saw. There had to be in excess of 1000 head of elk. Man, I love Montana! We headed back to the trucks, loaded up the quads and headed back to our first location. We spotted for awhile, and then we saw another bear. This one was a nice black sow with a 2 year old chocolate cub (obvious by the cubs size). Cubs of this age do not rely on the mother bear, and would soon be off on its own, but I couldn't keep my mind off of the chocolate boar. I decided that I was going to wait for another opportunity at the chocolate boar.

And then, we spotted it. This time, it was closer. We knew that in order to get into position, we had to change our location. We headed to the quads, and raced to the new location.

Once at the new location, we had to walk a bit to get to the top of the mountain. We stopped at the top, and glassed the bear once again. To get closer, we would have to close the distance by hiking down the steep mountain. We did so as quickly as possible, and got into position. The adrenaline rush was as you would expect. I tried to set up my sticks, but with the slope of the mountain, it was difficult. I rested the gun on a jacket on the top of a large rock, and tried to steady my aim. Not completely solid, but it was the best that was offered to me. Ok, take my time, check the distance: 530 yards. Remember that this gun has a 36 inch drop at 500 yards. Hold a little higher than 36 inches. I also soon realized that guessing 36 inches at 500 yards wasn't that easy. Find a mark to hold. Slowwwwly squeeze the trigger. BOOOM. I shot just under the bear. Reload, hold a little higher on a running bear. BOOOM-another miss, this time right behind it. This is when I had wished that the gun was sighted in for 300 yards vs. 100 yards. My mistake-I was simply not familiar enough with the gun that I was shooting. Now, it was almost dark, and I had to hike up the mountain back to the quads, and then back to the truck. I didn't sleep well that night.

On Saturday morning, we got up early once again, but because of our commitment at the store in the afternoon, we went turkey hunting instead. I couldn't stop thinking of the bear that I had missed. I had only one more day left to hunt.

On Sunday morning, we got up again at 2:45 am, and headed to Bozeman. My last chance. We were headed back to the same place that I missed the chocolate. We unloaded the quads, and went right back to the mountain top. There she was again-the nice black sow. I decided that I was going to go after her, as she was a very nice black bear. But, in order to go after her, we had to make quite a move. We had to drive quite a distance in the truck to get to the other side of the river, and to get access to the base of the mountain that we were about to climb. I knew that the climb was not going to be easy, but I wanted to get a bear.

At the base of the mountain, I looked up. I was about to climb the steepest mountain in my life. At 36, I felt a little nervous and excited at the same time. We had to climb almost to the top of the mountain to the meadow that the sow was frequenting, and hope that she was there when we got to her level. Paying attention to the wind, we headed up. We stopped often to take breaks, and not get too winded. I had actually expected to encounter a rattlesnake in the rocks as well, but we were fortunate. Maybe luck would be with me. We headed up further. We got close to the meadow, and started to ease up even slower. We knew we had to be getting close. Was she still even there? We couldn't see as far as I thought we would be able to, which made things difficult. We walked slowly toward the pine trees in front of us. At that point, the wind changed for the first time and blew toward the meadow. Then, we heard the rocks stir. We were within 20 yards of her! The disappointment was almost sickening. We had successfully managed to get within close range of the bear, only to have the wind shift at the last minute and give us away. We hiked up above the meadow. Maybe we will get a shot at her going over the top? Maybe we were just grasping at straws at that point. I remember laying down at the top, and just staring into the sky. I somehow forgot about the bear for a moment, and just took it all in, enjoying the beautiful landscape. That's when we heard it. Something was coming down a tree in front of us. We hurried to our feet, and headed down. We then switched to running cross slope through the rocks. I just so happened to look down behind me, and spotted her. There she was, 50 yards in front of me at the base of a tree. I pulled my gun up quick, and fired. She instantly fell. I had actually expected her to get back up, but she never did. Everything had finally come together, and I was fortunate enough to harvest my first black bear. We soon discovered that the bear was actually very old-at least 13 years. Her teeth were completely wore down and yellowed. She did not winter well at all either. But, she had a beautiful black coat. She is now at the taxidermist where I am getting a rug made for camp.

I will never forget the experience, and can't thank Troy and Tim enough for sharing in my glory. Someday, I hope to repay them.