This tri-color chocolate-phase black bear was the fattest spring bear in the northern Arizona mountains I’ve ever seen. They’d been out of hibernation about a few weeks. The rut was on, and this guy was chasing the other boar bears off the mountain. I had the bright idea to take a bear-shaped archery target and set it out, downrange 120 yards. He showed up and stood for a while. It took five men and a 600-pound winch (the winch kept stalling) to load him into the back of the truck.
My makeup in this photo is courtesy of charred pine.
That was a fun hunt and I’ve continued hunting on the Indian reservation there with another outfitter, taking two giant black bears with him. One made the SCI Record Book Top Ten muzzleloader bear in 2021.
By Deb Sieloff
