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Taking care of business.

The work begins!With a liver, lung or heart shot they go down quickly!  This was a good liver shot.The work is done.  The bear is packed and ready to load onto a packhorse.  Blackjack, one of my mustangs, is completely relaxed and carefree while packing my bear back to camp!

It's still spring in the Trinity Alps

There is no experience like hunting or camping in the high mountain wilderness areas!

The views and scenery are awe inspiring.

The Hunting Season is still open for Bear, Bobcat and Pig.  We still have openings!  "Contact Us" or give us a call.  The numbers are at the top righthand corner of each page.

John LaRue

packer,guide, and taxidermist harvested his second bear with a bow. 

Taking a bear, on the ground with a bow, is a thrilling experience.

Some would say that harvesting any large game animal with a bow makes it a trophy.  I tend to agree. 

Congratulations John.   

August, 2008 Bow Season: The '08 hunting season started out with a bang!  John and I started out that season with four tags to fill.  Our first trip out yielded both bear tags filled and missed opportunities to fill out our deer tags.  Now that's a good hunting trip!  On opening morning we had a large bodied forked horned buck wander right by camp, while we were still getting dressed for the hunt!  (We were getting a lazy, late start for the first day's hunt.  It was just past shooting light and we were still getting dressed!) John quickly got into position (not yet fully dressed) for a shot, but soon found himself surrounded by does.  As the buck came into range John was painfully aware of the does looking at him and was concerned they would bolt and blow his chances; if he drew his bow.  He agonized as his opportunity pass by. Realizing that John was not going to get the shot he wanted, I set down my video camera and took my bow in hand.  I stepped out in socked feet and bare chest to get ahead of the buck and set up for a shot.  A few short minutes later, everything was perfect for a shot.  "A deer hanging in camp on opening morning is a very satisfying experience, I thought."  But it wasn't to be.  Apparently I over elevated; using the wrong pin for the shot and a dry arrow was the result.  The buck trotted off just a little startled. He came by again, a short while later, I believe, just to tease us a bit.  That was to be my only buck opportunity on this trip.  John was to have two more shooting opportunities on deer before the hunt was over.  He was unable to capitalize on either one.  Well, that's bow hunting.  I had to leave the forest on Sunday afternoon to attend a Faith Based Funding Seminar in Sacramento, CA. I returned to camp on Tuesday to John's stories of missed bucks.  I thought it a good plan to hunt in the same area he'd missed, as he was planning to hunt a different area.   Another late morning on Wednesday, found me starting my hunt of the new area at 8 AM.  While searching for the deer John had missed, I noticed an area that absolutely begged for a bear.  While stocking through the area I kept my eyes peeled.  Within minutes I heard a twig snap and a moment later I spotted my quarry emerging from the woods some 90 yards off.  The black bear appeared to be  wandering generally in my direction, so I crouched down and waited to see what would come of the situation.  About 5 minutes passed and the lean bruin was pressing the outer limits of my "effective" range of 70 yards.  For the next 5 minutes it would wander around to within 40 yards, but without giving me a clear opening coupled with enough time to get off an accurate shot.  It became clear my target was thinking of leaving and with its exit, so too my opportunity would soon be gone.  At what turned out to be 63 yards (the longest shot I've ever taken in the field) the bear at long last presented me with a broadside shot.  Its head and right shoulder were obscured by a tree only forty yards off, but the vital area was clear for a clean shot.  The bear startled forward a step or two after being hit by my arrow.  The arrow had penatrated farther back than I had aimed, but was still well inside the vital zone.  The bruin stood contemplating what had just happened.  Seconds later the bear caught the sent of blood in the air and trotted off 40 yards down the hill from where it had come and out of view.   I called John on the radio and waited for his arrival before starting to search for the beedy-eyed little bruin.  I sat relaxing for a while and by the time John arrived enough time had passed to begin the search.  We found a spot at the base of a tree where the brown coated bear had stopped, just out of view.  We searched for more sign, but the blood stopped at the tree; making tracking very difficult.  John's sharp eye spotted the bear.  It was located just some 20 yards beyond where it had disappeared over the ledge; mostly hidden, in the hollow of a burned out cedar tree.John was to get his bear on the day before we were scheduled to leave.  Early in the morning John and his bear found themselves staring at each other with only 18 yards between them.  John quickly got set for a shot, but struck hard bone.  His arrow broke off at the point of entry and he was to discover that he had no blood trail to follow.  With me off in a totally different area, John found himself completely on his own. His difficult task was to figure out the situation and track down an injured bear!  A short while later John found his bear watching him from behind a tree and was able to vanquish him. This was no little task and an accomplishment worth recognition.  Good work John.