Oregon Spring Bear Down

[IL Hntr]

Great story and a beautiful bear. Congrats!!

[Joe Hulburt]

If you don't get a ticket from OSP I guess I will owe you an apology Kevin. I've never in my life heard of a case where three guys went out packing rifles and shooting at a bear to fill one tag and they got away with it. Seems really strange to me! I've taken 12 year olds out to kill bears and it NEVER occurred to me to be packing a rifle if I had no tag.

[arrowslinger21]

It is perfectly legal to carry rifles without a bear tag due to the fact that we both had cougar tags. A buddy went with me two years ago when I had a bear tag and had a cougar tag an carried a rifle an got a shot at one. He shot over it, but the point being that we see a large amount of cougar sign on every spring bear trip due to elk concentrations that are pushed down from higher elevations due to snow pack. There are a ton of cats here in Oregon and I am allfor taking any cat that I have the chance to legally. That's the reason I was carrying a rifle. I would not carry a rifle without a valid cat tag, but I do cat hunt still while bear hunting, including using predator calls. While I did not find one this spring, I saw three last year alone during bow season, and so i want to be able to make sure I am able to take one if the opportunity is present.

[arrowslinger21]

Also I will just add one more thing before I will be done with this thread. I have shot 4 bears myself out of the same area, all with valid tags, and I guided my brother to his first bear last when I also had a valid tag, but did not shoot at the bear as it was not needed. I felt no need going into the hunt to get my turn on a bear, and I only did what came as a necessary reaction in a very fast moving situation. I will answer to anyone that I need to for my actions, as I am man enough to accept what I deemed necessary. It has been an interesting couple of days with this topic, but I am now moving on from it as far as this thread goes. Thanks everyone for all the comments both positive and negative on the situation.

[JNDEER]

Also I will just add one more thing before I will be done with this thread. I have shot 4 bears myself out of the same area, all with valid tags, and I guided my brother to his first bear last when I also had a valid tag, but did not shoot at the bear as it was not needed. I felt no need going into the hunt to get my turn on a bear, and I only did what came as a necessary reaction in a very fast moving situation. I will answer to anyone that I need to for my actions, as I am man enough to accept what I deemed necessary. It has been an interesting couple of days with this topic, but I am now moving on from it as far as this thread goes. Thanks everyone for all the comments both positive and negative on the situation.

Hope you have a quide license!

Seriously, I know that you meant you "helped" your brother get a bear (at least I hope so), but you should be careful what you post on the internet.