Northwest Sportsman – August 2019

122 Northwest Sportsman AUGUST 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

HUNTING

to make my way down there to help

out. Dusk was fast approaching and

it would soon get cold (it was well

below freezing at night).

AFTER HIKING DOWN to John and his

bear, I could see why the bruin

had enjoyed the area. Lush berries

covered the ground, the creek was

gorgeous, and a protective rim of rock

stopped much of the wind. I met my

brother with a wide smile and hearty

congratulations hug and we worked

on the bear together. It turned out to

be a sow, and a smaller one at that.

But the teeth told a different story.

You can tell a lot about the age of

a bear by the teeth and this one was

older, for sure. Its lower canines were

all but worn down, especially on the

right side. The tips of the teeth were

blunt from years of use. Yellow plaque

covered them all and decay and

cracking was apparent. However small,

this was still a mature bear and a good

representative of what Washington

has to offer. Its coat was long and full,

primed and ready to insulate the sow

from the several dozen feet of snow

the area receives annually.

As we finished up, dusk was

well upon us. We had to put on our

headlamps as we loaded up our packs

with meat and hide. I took the hide in

my pack, John all the meat in his, and

we began our ascent back to camp.

We took a more direct approach,

As clouds rolled by and the sun

lowered towards the horizon behind

us, it was decided John would go for

it and sneak closer for a shot. Since

I love to predator call for bears, I

thought I would try from this distance

and see what happened. As I squalled

on the call as loud as I could, it took

a few seconds for the sound to reach

the bear, and it reacted oddly to it. It

became aware of the noise but ran in

circles for a few rotations and then

just went back to feeding, no longer

caring about the obnoxious noise I

was spewing out.

I watched as my brother cut to

my right and worked his way down

the rocky maze of boulders and

scree before finding his way to the

bottom of the brush-filled bowl that

had a small creek bumbling down its

center. It was fun to watch it unfold,

the bear distracted by all the food and

John making his way into position. By

the time he was in range of the bear,

it had worked its way further up into

the brush but was still visible.

John rested his rifle on a boulder

placed there long ago by a receding

glacier and I saw the muzzle jump well

before I heard the shot. I quickly cut

over and watched the bear’s reaction

as it spun and bit. Another shot or

two and it fell, coming to rest in the

prettiest of settings. I followed the

action as my brother approached the

bear and after a short time, I decided

E

vergreen State fall bear hunters

can head afield earlier in a

number of units as well as take

a second bruin in Eastern Washington,

thanks to changes approved in June

by the Fish and Wildlife Commission.

Part rule simplification, part

providing more days afield, the season

now opens statewide on Aug. 1,

adding two- to four-plus weeks in the

Okanogan, and the northeastern and

southeastern corners of the Eastside,

respectively. Those three zones and

the rest of state east of the Cascades

had also long been under a one-fall-

bear-only regulation.

Most people queried by the

Department of Fish and Wildlife were in

favor of the change, commenting that

it could help out ungulate populations,

make the regs easier to understand,

and provide more opportunity.

Bear hunter and harvest numbers

have been dropping over the past

decade, from 26,347 and 2,115 in

2008 to 21,065 and 1,389 in 2018.

Responding to concerns about

potential impacts to Eastside

populations, Anis Aoude, WDFW’s big

game manager, said that only 400 of

last year’s hunters purchased a second

tag, and out of those, only 31 filled it.

“I feel very comfortable with our

proposal that it’s not going to be

a conservation issue as far as bear

populations are concerned,” he assured

commissioners, and also vowed to

closely monitor coming years’ harvests.

Last year, the East Cascades zone

was tops with 271 fall bears taken,

followed by the Northeast with 246,

but hot on the latter’s heels was the

Coastal region with 245.

While harvests can be impacted

by conditions that make bears have

to travel more widely for food, putting

them potentially in front of more

hunters, days-per-kill stats can help

narrow down where to look. In 2018,

the game management units with larger

harvests and lower time requirements

included: Dickey, 18 bears, 30 days/kill;

Manson, 27, 38; Blue Creek, 44, 42; Entiat,

24, 48; Sinlahekin, 31, 49; Chiwawa, 31,

51; Mission, 29, 52; Nooksack, 63, 67; and

Okanogan East, 42, 84. –NWS

WASHINGTON BEAR

REGS TWEAKED

A bear’s mouth helps tell the

story of its age; the one the

author’s brother shot was an

older bruin, judging by its

worn-down teeth. (DOUGLAS BOZE)