2024 was another hunting season that was rich with memories and a year that I will remember for a lifetime. I was very fortunate enough in being able to draw spring bear, branch bull, and a muzzleloader whitetail tag. With successfully filling two out of three tags, I was honored with spending ample amounts of time in the great outdoors.
The 2024 spring bear season was very slow this year. After putting miles and miles on the ground throughout the entire unit, I struggled to find any fresh sign of a bear moving around. Not even a single track! However, on May 29th, two days before the last day of season, little did I know that day would turn into a “beary” good year.
That morning, I decided to hunt an area that I have not hunted yet for my last hoorah. As I parked the pickup, there was a torrential rainstorm, but regardless of the weather, I got my pack ready and up the steep mountain face I went. After about half an hour of gaining elevation, the rain turned into snow. I decided to take off my pack and put on a heavier jacket to adjust to the weather change. After putting my pack back on, I walked no more than 10 yards before I saw a big bruin standing 125 yards away from me, staring in my direction. I was in complete awe, and it was so majestic seeing this big bear just standing there as snow was falling. I quickly snapped out of it and shouldered my rifle. With a clean shot, he folded. Usually ground shrinkage takes effect, but as I walked up to him, you would have thought ground shrinkage was a myth. After a couple calls to my dad and my manager at work, I got him all packed. The bear weighed roughly around 350 pounds. He scored 19 12/16", just a quarter inch shy of making Boone and Crockett but making it well into the Oregon record book.
Now to fast forward to the Oregon first season bull. This hunt tested my mental and physical strength to my breaking point, but failure was not going to be an option. The first two days of the season, I glassed up two different bulls and executed two different stalks, but they had other plans. Day three of the five-day season called for rain with winds up to 30-40 mph. Due to weather, I had to come up with a slightly different plan of attack and away I went.
As I got to where I wanted to be, I noticed elk feeding 200 yards away from me. Using the high winds to my advantage, I belly crawled up to a downed log and watched them feed. After watching them for a while, I noticed a second small herd coming to my left. I had elk on both sides of me now. After passing up two bulls, I knew the herd bull was somewhere. Then, I glassed up the herd bull at 330 yards quartering away uphill. I got down and got a steady rest. I was about to pull the trigger when I realized there was a cow right below him. With the high winds, I didn’t want to risk accidentally hitting her, so I called off the shot and waited. As he fed back into the timber, I thought I had missed my opportunity. All of a sudden, the herd got spooked by another hunter up high and they started running into the draw where I was set up. Knowing what herd bulls do, I knew he wasn’t going to run out into the same area, so I waited. Out of the corner of my eye, he made a loop and was coming back down to meet the herd. The wind died down enough while I got the .300 Norma Magnum steady and then took the shot at 270 yards. Once that 200 grain ELD-X bullet hit, he didn’t go more than 200 yards and expired in the thick timber. After several days of scouting, lack of sleep, freezing temperatures, loss of appetite, and having the mental strength of not giving up, everything fell into place. I was also able to achieve a goal of harvesting my fourth public land bull four years in a row.
I would like to thank everyone who has helped me in the process of achieving my goals and making these memories happen.