Black Bear Hunting in West Virginia with a Yamaha Rhino SxS
::Continued::

Throughout the week, the cat and mouse game was replayed over and over as hunter and hunted tried to outwit each other. We as a group had managed to take 3 bears and on my final day of the hunt would be doing everything to find another. An old track from the previous day was located at sunrise and the experience of the hunters and the hounds would be tested yet again as the track wound through bottom land, clear cuts and eventually to a thick ridge top where the bear was eventually jumped. The radio came alive as the bear was seen for the first time after 2 hours of tracking. Dogs were put on its trail and the chase was on! The bear was another large male and immediately talk on the radio was to get to the dogs as fast as possible because they figured this bear might turn and fight and kill or wound dogs.

One of the black bears that was shot during our week long black bear hunting trip In the remote wilderness & mountains of Elkins, West Virginia

The train of trucks and SxS’s quickly made a move to the opposite ridge where by the dogs were showing they had indeed run down the bear and had it stopped. What wasn’t known was if the bear had decided to stay on the ground and fight or if it had taken refuge in a tree. I quickly exited a truck as the Rhino buzzed in and before anyone could tell me anything it was taking aim at an ATV trail that lead up a ridgeline in the direction of the bear and hounds. I left at a run but the freezing cold air took its toll as I did all I could to close in on the bear which was located nearly ½ mile away. I found the Rhino parked and could hear the dogs as I dropped over the ridge into a terribly thick laurel thicket that lined the side of the ridge. Busting through it with everything I had but it wouldn’t be enough as a shot rang out. The bear had indeed treed but was not staying there long and for the dogs safety it was killed by the Rhino driver as two other members did all they could to hold back dogs. I was within a hundred yards of the action but could not see a thing until I finally made my way to the bear. Excited chatter on the handheld radios quickly informed everyone that the bear was down and all was well, it was another successful hunt.

Luckily there was a skid road that ran fairly close tow here the bear now laid, but the Rhino would be of no use this time as trees blocked its path and steep terrain prevented going around the blow downs. The radio crackled once more and a neighboring hunter had a 4x4 ATV that he would use to assist in getting the bear out to a waiting truck. There would still be quite a drag for the hunters as they made their way to the ATV after it had worked into the area, but much less work thanks again to our favorite offroad weapon of choice! The ATV and SxS had once again proven their might and had indeed have become the horse and mule of our day. As I sat on the top of the ridge and reflected the week, I could only imagine another hunter of yesteryear holding the reigns of a horse on that very ridge as he thanked god for having such a fine animal to help him get his own bear out of there. Times have changed, our tools have changed, but sometimes the two era’s collide even if it’s in the middle of a ridge in West Virginia.