Broken Jaw

Written By: Fran Cross

My 2020 spring bear Hunt @ Crosstrails Adventures.

We saw him first on the trail camera. A big bear but yet something wasn’t quite right. Then we saw it. The bear’s bottom jaw was missing! I just couldn’t believe it. What did the bear go through? How did he manage to eat? That was some of the few questions going through my mind. My husband and I had our ideas on how the bear lost his bottom jaw. But, we could only speculate on what happened to him. We didn’t see what the bear went through. We have several different bait sites set up. He was seen on a few different ones.  

He didn’t have his bottom jaw. He would live on dandelions, grass, berries, and such. We notice he couldn’t chew on the beaver that we placed on the tree. Unless another bear ripped into it first. So he could use his paws with his claws to tear big chunks, which he swallowed parts whole. The first year we watched him on trail cam. We were surprised he lived through the year. Plus, every year after that.

I was able to go bear hunting this spring of 2020. I sat at the same site for four days. A mama bear took over the place with her little ones and kept chasing the male bears off. She seemed to have a set pattern when she and her cubs would come in. After the 4th day of hunting, it was decided I would move to a different site.   

 We’re in the woods waiting for bears to come in. All is quiet except the birds chirping and the wind blowing through the trees. The anticipation is high. Then we spot him. He ever so cautiously came to the barrel. A young male. But not the one I was after. He stayed for a bit then left. The young bear did this several times.

The second bear that came in was a young chocolate. He kept looking towards this one area of the bush. So, we knew another bear was approaching or hanging around. I watch the bears because, with animal behavior, they give you clues on what’s coming in or what’s going on. The chocolate left the sight. We then saw the cinnamon bear, but he wasn’t coming into the area where I could harvest him. The next to come in was a black bear. As he was approaching the barrel, I picked up my .270 and got ready. But Karl stopped me because he saw the bigger bear approaching before I did. We decided if I saw a broken jaw while hunting, that I would harvest him, which would be the right thing to do.  

The bigger bear came into view, and we knew that it was Broken Jaw. The entire lower half of his bottom jaw was missing. The black bear took off, and you could see him crashing through the woods… Broken Jaw slowly came into view. He did something different than the other bears. Instead of approaching the barrel like the other bears. He went off the side, and I thought I lost my chance with him. But he came back in. My adrenalin was going, and my heart was pounding.  

 I got my firearm ready. He first approached the beaver hanging on the tree. He then came to the barrel, and when he turned to face me, that’s when I smoked him. Right between the front shoulder blades. He went down instantly and expired quickly. I was so proud of the shot I did on that bear. It was an awesome harvest.   

  It took four of us to put him on the sled and into the truck to bring him home. At home, we weighed him. He weighed in at 687lbs.  

From field to the plate, is the best. Being a hunter eating wild game, taking the time to cut, prepare, and cook your wild game properly benefits to having it over store-bought meat every time. I love knowing where my meat comes from.