Close encounter of the first kind!

I decide to go scouting for the big one last night. I I needed to try out some new boots and a pack I bought last week. I got too late of a start last night and then it started to rain but just after 6:00 AM this morning I found myself doing some serious bushwhacking. I seem to do alot of that when I go out. I was in some really thick pines and small aspens when I finally found a clearing that I could glass the surrounding mountainsides. While standing there I could hear a spring bubbling down lower in the pines. Then I could here something coming my way, snapping branches and huffing and puffing a little. I've heard moose make strange noises before and thought I was going to see another one. At the lower end of the clearing (about 60-70 yards) I could see something brown and tan coming out of the pines and thought it was an elk but then it came into clear view. To be continued....
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Hey Cowdel your posts are usually lots of fun, but there aint much to reply here to unless you TELL US MORE ABOUT THE BEAR!
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Are you sure I didn't see bigfoot?
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Well, no one can be sure till you TELL US! hehe
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MuleyMadness
Looks like we have narrowed it down to sasquatch or a bear. If it was making lots of noise.

Look forward to the rest...
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I'm sure you've got some high quality pics for us to enjoy right?
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Your right, I left little to the imagination. It was a huge cinnamon black bear. The first one I have ever seen in Utah. Me or my friends have never even seen any sign of them on the Wasatch Front before. So I concider myself very lucky to have seen it. Oh ya, then I went for my camera. Oh crap, I forgot I had sent it in to be serviced this week before the warranty ran out. ](*,) It was very exciting to see one that close but it did have me a little freaked out that I had sleeped out under a tarp only 1/4 mile from were I saw it. After seeing that post about that polar bear attack and all. I know apples and oranges, but still.
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MuleyMadness
Way cool, and yes you are very lucky indeed to have seen him/her.

cinnamon is the color correct? So was it a light brown color?

Congrats on a nice trip, and what about the "scouting for the big one" the other species you were after? See any of those?
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The area I was in was very thick and hard to see things but if I get a trail cam I might go leave it at that spring for a week. It looked like someone had a salt lick at the spring years ago. Due to the 3' impression in the ground from the critters digging for something. No luck glassing the distant ridges either for deer or elk. I did see a cow and calf moose though. The color of the bear was a mix between cinnamon and light brown.
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I should add that I had planned on going someplace else but the forrest service, state or someone has gated the road off to the trailhead. I was bummed about the exta 3 mile hike and 1000' in elevation climb, so I went to the spot were the bear was. I think I will give the first spot a try in a couple weeks. I hurt my foot a month or two ago and have been taking it easy but I think I can make the long hike now. Wish me luck.
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MuleyMadness
Good 4c !!

Dont forget the camera next time. :)
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waynedevore
Cowdell, I for one am real glad you did'nt get into the I saw a Sasquatch thing but forgot my camera =D> But I have no problem believing the bear story :thumb

mnmt
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That is the cool thing about getting out. You really never know for sure whats gonna show up. Could you tell if it was a boar or not? Was it an older bear with small ears?

I didn't know there are moose in Utah. I looked it up, apparently there are around 4000 of the critters. I think there are about 20 in Oregon. hehe. Anyway, blondes and cinnamons are the norm in Oregon. Last spring I took my first bear, a cinamonn. He was way deep in the breaks of a place called hell's canyon. It was the first time I was ever scared.... we got in the bottom of a deep draw and there was bear shit everywhere. The forage kept getting thicker and thicker. Up above we heard rocks sliding. I went to one knee, on the side of the canyon my crosshairs found a standing bear looking at us. I fired my 338 and above me my buddy fired his 7mag simultaneously. When I looked up from the recoil I saw the thing coming at us and I heard him put out a loud death growl. I fired again. I racked another shell and honed in..this time I realized he was just a dead bear tumbling down the bank. The first shot was at 22 yards and he piled up 5 feet in front of us.
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Honestly I don't remember alot of detail about it. I kind of wimped out and unzipped my fanny pack to grab my handgun and the thing stopped on a dime when it heard the zipper noise. Then ran off about 5 seconds later. It did seem to have a good sized head which made its ears look small. The forage was very wet, so its hair was probably wet in some places which is why it appeared to be two different colors.
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MuleyMadness
OregonEric,

Sounds crazy, where is the pics of your bear? :)
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bigbuck92
to bad you didnt have your camera. i seen a bear just a few nights ago while i was fishin sure was a cool site to see
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Oregonerics story reminds me of another story of the worlds largest grizzly killed this year. Have you guys heard that story. It's really amazing. I just heard about it yesterday and now I'm not sure I ever want to go into grizzly country unless I'm heavily armed.
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I can't seem to find any new stories of record bears killed lately. Do you know of a link? I lost the pics pf my bear hunt when my last computer crashed, but I'll see if I can dig them up somehow.
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Actually, it was from 2004. The bear was 14' tall and was 1600 lbs and had eaten two people a day or two before.
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Hey Cowdell that was the only story that I could find as well...But it seems that most the details are bogus like the eaten people and the world record and weight and the gun used. But otherwise the story is pretty accurate.
http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/bearhunt.asp
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I too made a trip out scouting this past weekend. We hiked about 20 miles into the wilderness and had a great time. We also saw a moose with its calf along with over a hundred elk and a few deer. I wish the reason i didn't get any pictures was cause the camera was in the shop, but mine found its way into the creek courtesy of my wife. We have been planning on getting a new one but I thought this was a little extreme. We were able to get the pictures off of the memory card but saw most of the game after the swim. I guess its time to get a new one. I'll hopefully be posting some pix soon.
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heres one we managed to save

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e120/tommousel/P1010267.jpg" alt="" />
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OregonEric, I could not find anything on that link you posted. So I don't really know what you are talking about with the story not being true. PM me your e-mail and I will forward the story I recieved. It is very graffic though. Be warned.
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