Bear Paw

Breaking someones closed guard, begins with maintaining a strong base.  Place palm on opponents diaphragm and maintain constant pressure. With the other hand grab GI trouser at hip flexor and dig the same side elbow into their thigh, while the opposite knee stays outside their hip. Now with the elbow digging in, slide the same side leg back to break the guard. If needed, move from elbow to hand on the inside of the knee and push it to the mat, at the same time shuffle step and staple  their leg to mat.  Choose the pass.

From the full mount: Frame, hip escape, to half guard, to full guard. Trap an arm, same side put foot on hip, cut the corner, arm bar.

October 7, 2017. @1100, Sunny 60 degrees. After 2 days of searching, finally glassed a flock of 13 turkey feeding down a south facing slope/ field to a  creek drainage, the same one creek elk were feeding up. They stayed on private land.

October 7, 2017. @0800. Sunny 60 degrees.  Walking along a north facing ridge on a dirt road, we saw a herd of elk walking up the draw from a open field to the top of the ridge, where we found lots of beds. They were traveling along one of the only creeks that held a little bit of water. My lady & I saw 8 cows & a 5x5 herd bull. The herd bull was leading the herd from the rear. After the herd was running up the ridge, a solo cow trailed behind and kept eyes on us until the rest fled. 

October 6, 2017. @1130. Cloudy, 60 degrees. On a north facing ridge 80 yards away, stood a big 3x4 whitetail buck feeding on a finger. He stood up and stared at my lady & I for about 5 min before he ever moved his head. When I ducked down he spooked & bounced out.  Across the draw, we glassed 4 does feeding into the draw into a creek. We watched them feed unalarmed, but they were always on watch & listening.

September 19, 2017. @1230, rainy, cool mid 50s. Small 1 yr old buck with velvet, and a doe feeding on the south facing side of a knob. It was just above a gravel road.

September 14, 2017. Hot sunny day, mid 70's. @1430. I decided to let a day pass and go back down into the canyon. The bull was bedded on the same north facing slope, same contour line, except 1/4 mile sooner on the ski trail I was on. This time he was sleeping in front of a patch of willows and he didn't wake up until I had already passed him about 20 feet. He stormed down the ridge, sounding like a train ripping through the forest. As soon has he got up the adjacent ridge, he turned around and sounded off a high pitched bark. It was a thrilling experience. I think he was letting me know that he pegged me as a human. The bull didn't give me a third chance.

Go bySeptember 15, 2017 @0700. Sunny morning, 60 degrees. Entered the canyon from the bottom this time and jumped three bedded elk in between two creek beds @2800ft elevation. They were bedded behind some Willow brush about 5-10 ft off the backcountry ski trail. I found a fresh pair of tracks leading right to where they crossed the trail to their bed.

14 September 2017 @0900. Sunny morning 60 degrees. The herd returned to the same location to feed and were bumped by a hunter. The herd ran across the meadow, and up the ridge about 200 yards away. I tried to cut them off but they were gone. I worked my way across the ridge in the direction they were headed. @1100 I heard a branch break coming up the ridge. I was up wind,  found a shooting lane, and sat in front of smaller bush. A 3x4 bull walked 10 feet in front of me, big black eyes, sucking in every scent through his huge nostrils. The bull walked in the direction the herd went without ever scenting or seeing me.

September 13, 2017 @0930. Sunny morning about 55-60 degrees. Glassed 14+ elk bedded in a little meadow. First day of seeing cows.

September 12, 2017 @ 1430. Temperature high 70s. At the bottom of the pass, jumped a bedded 6x6 on the north phasing slope along a creek bed. The bull was bedded about 60 yards above the creek next to a wallow. He slept in front of a down tree that provided him back cover, and a full view of anything coming up the creek. I found a fresh set of tracks on the back country ski trail, and followed them straight to his bed. The bull spooked at 20 yards when my buddy & I we're almost right above him. He bedded about 10 yards off the trail.

September 8, 2017 @ 1530. Temperature: mid 70s - mid 50s. My buddy and I glassed two bulls, a 4x4 & 6x6. They were leaving a patch of timber at the bottom of a north facing ridge. They wandered around the middle for a while, then fed towards a timber patch that led to another meadow. Around 1830, two hunters spooked the bulls and they ran across the meadow into the timber to never be seen again.