LEGENDS
OF THE
SPRING
A
Pursuing big black bears in the mountains as winter recedes 'one of the most underrated big game hunts someone can do.'
STORY AND PHOTOS BY CASSIDY CARON
t the age of 10, my first big game animal was a small yet beautiful color-phase black bear. Countless evening hours were spent cruising the mountain roads after school with my dad until that perfect moment presented itself for a young and inexperienced hunter to harvest her first animal. It is engraved in my memory. To this day, spring bear is one of my favorite hunts. Every year, as the snow recedes and the wet earth smells of last fall’s composting leaves, that urge comes back. It is time to start the search for some legendary bruins. Even with many, many successful bear hunts behind me over the past 25 years, that promise of one bigger, one older, one more beautiful than any in the past keeps the excitement up. You never know what lies around the next
54
American Shooting Journal // July 2022
Author Cassidy Caron, age 10, with her first big game animal, a color-phase black bear.
corner, or in the next avalanche chute. You just might cross paths with a legend emerging from his secret den. Spring hunting for black bears is one of the best hunts you can do. Besides seeing a lot of bears, it’s a great way to assess how other species wintered in your favorite hunting
