Canadian Bear Adventure (long read pics at bottom)

[bbdown]

Just got back from Canada from my spring bear hunt. Hunted in Saskatchewan with an outfit that I booked through Cabela's. I flew into Saskatoon and overnighted in a hotel. The outfitter, Brenden, picked us up at 7am and we started the 5 hour drive to camp. Eight of us piled in an Excursion and our gear in an enclosed trailer. Along the way we saw several whitetails but none looked like the big 300lb bruisers you'd expect. Close to Saskatoon it reminded me somewhat of Illinois. Mostly flat farmland with rich black dirt and a few distant ridges and small pockets of timber. The last 45 minutes into camp was a dirt road that was well taken care of but not very traveled. We passed very few cars. After arriving in camp and meeting the camp cook and a the rest of the guides we retrieved our gear from the trailer. Well, I guess the trailer was not sealed up too tightly. That 50 miles of dirt road left about 1/8 inch of dust covering our bags and gear. emoAngry The camp is situated on the shores of Canoe Lake. A fairly large lake about 9 miles across. Fishing season opened just a few days prior to our arrival so we're hoping it would be good. After shooting my bow to make sure the Delta luggage tourte testing crew didn't do too good of a job I was off to my stand.</p>

My guide the entire trip was Brendon. He and his brother are partners and owners of Northridge Outfitters. He was taking me and another hunter from Louisiana,Charlie,to our stands. After about a 20 minute truck ride through the timber the road narrowed and we got on the quad. Several miles later and we were finally at my stand. The setup was typical for a spring bear hunt over bait.A 55 gallonbarrell with small holes cut in it that they filled with used grease, oats and barley. They quit using beaver last year because the trappers started charging them $20/carcass. Thier success rates stayed the same without using beaver so they just quit using it. My stand was a hang on with 20 feet of climbing sticks. This was the same exact stand and sticks that I use so I felt very comfortable. The first night yielded only one bear but he was very entertaining. An hour before dark I could hear a bear huffing and puffing and stomping his feet off in the brush but out of sight. He sounded like a big bear looking for a fight. I could only catch a few glimpses of a thick black coat through the trees and thought this must be a big bear. With a sudden burst of speed he comes crashing into the open. Already standing with the bow in my hand my hard pounding like a drum I'm ready to tag out on the first night. And wa wa wahhhhhhhh. Just a little guy. I guess he was just testing the waters trying to see if another bear was at the bait. Because now he's as nervous as a girl of the night in church, cautiously tip toeing around the bait smelling the air. Big bears will attack and run smaller bears off the baits and from the piles of scat around the bait I'd say there's a much bigger bear around. Suddenly the little guy spooks and runs about 50 yards. I'm thinking the big bear is not too far away. Then the little bear for no apparent reason sprints back toward the bait and scales up a tree about 10 feet. Not sure what that was about but I'm guessing he was planning his escape route. He climbs down and leisurely starts heading back in my direction. Then like the last time he again covers about 30 yards and climbs a tree just in front of me by about 5 yards and we're looking almost eye to eye. Here I am with a stick and string in my hand staring at this bear whom is small but still about 150 pounds. I could't help but think my decision toboycott the bear spray may have been a mistake. This thing just covered 30 yards and climbed 15 feet before I could say "oh s---!" But after that spirited burst of energy he seemed to settle down and started chowing down on the oats. He would remain at the bait until Brendon came and got me on the quad at 10pm. Sounds late but that far north even at 10 o'clock I still had shooting light left.</p>

The next night produced no bears at the same bait site. But the night was not a waste. The guy from Louisiana was there with his wife. I'll try to be nice here. A very typical New Yorker with no filter and no volume control. There was not a person in camp who after just a few minutes talking to her hated her. This is no exaggeration. She went to the stand with him this night. Neither night did Charlie see a bear. Others in camp were seeing 5-10 bears every evening, but mostly small bears. One older gentleman did take a decent bear not a giant but a respectable bear. Well....she would not have this. She spent most of the night telling Brendon that he was going to move Charlie, he should bait with this, the stands should be moved here, we should hunt in the morning not just the evening and on and on and on. This continued the next morning. I sat quietly as did most just rolling our eyes at each other and shaking our heads. Right up until she mentions that I'm not seeing bears and I should be moved too. I politely told her that I've been on several guided hunts and previously worked as a mate on sportfishing boats and there's one thing that I've learned "Don't guide the guide" your paying him for a reason. It's because you couldn't come here and do this on your own. If you could you wouldn't have spent thousands of dollars for him to guide you. This accomplished two things most importantly it shut her up. Secondly, all the guides were just around the corner and heard me politely lay into her. More on that later.</p>

The third day me and a father and son team rented a boat to try our luck at fishing. None of us had ever fished forany ofspecies in the lake, mainly northern pike and walleye. The guides are all natives and only commercial fish with nets when the lake freezes over. Yes, when the lake freezes over. Not sure how they do it but that's what they do. This small band of natives was cast out in the 60s from the First Nation, from what I understand, because they were not pure and had too much French blood. Anyway none of the guides or the outfitter was very knowledgeable about fishing. Fishing was not part of or included in the trip but was there to take advantage of. We started out trolling and 15 minutes into it I hooked up with a little northern. A real success as far as we were concerned. A new country, a new lake, a new species and we connected. We would continue trolling picking up a few fish here and there.We got to a spot that seemed to hold lots of fish so we stopped there and made some casts and hooked up on almost every one. The fish struck the lures with a vengence swallowing my 6" broke back hard bait getting both trebles everytime. They have large mouths and put them to good use. After catching several I switched to a spoon. That made unhooking and releasing the fish easier and I continued to catch fish the same. Tried walleye fishing for about 45 minutes with no luck. We had the boat all day but called it quits at around 1pm. That gave us plenty of time to get cleaned up and eat before heading out at 4pm for our stands. All fish were released. After taking a shower I noticed in the back of my guides truck a large metal cylinder with hair sticking out of the small holes that were cut into it. As I got close the unmistakable smell of a beaver. I don't think anybody else noticed it and nobody made mention of it either. Brendon saw me and told me he would be taking me and one of the guys I was rooming with to new stands. And Charlie (husband of the mouth) was going with another guide. Thank goodness. Even a short truck ride was more than I could bear. We dropped Jeff off at his stand and Brendon told me we had a long ride to my stand and that metal cylinder in the back was a beaver he went and shot that morning. He wasn't kidding about the ride. Thirty minutes by truck on old logging roads then another thirty by quad. This night I saw several bears at least 7, maybe more. I think some of them would leave and come back but they all look so similar. One bear stood out but like many old wise animals he sensed something was not right and did not come into the bait. I would not release an arrow tonight but took several pictures. One that did come into the bait was definitely larger than the others but not a giant. On the long truck ride back Brendon acknowledged to me that he heard what I told "The Mouth" and was appreciative. Never suggesting that was why I got the beaver but I'm certain that was the case. Back at camp two others punched their tags with bears. One an average bear and the other a real nice boar with a giant pumpkin head taken by Mike my other roommate. Not a large body but a head that would definitely make the Pope and Young minimum of 18 inches. The three of us stayed up late talking and BSing. I got around to showing them the pictures I had taken and both said I was nuts for not shooting the one larger bear that came in.</p>

Day four started out as a lazy day with breakfast and everyone just sitting around camp. My roommates, a father and step-son team, wanted to split a boat for a few hours. Iwas not going to turn down some fishing even if we could only fishfor three hours. I took them to a spot we caught a couple of fish the day before.A picturesquespot with a nesting pair of bald eagles over head. Fishingin this particular spotwas much better than the previous day. Literally catching fish on every cast. This continued for about an hour and a half. When the action slowed to a fish only every 5th cast we decided to try for walleye, again unsuccessfully. </p>

I made up my mind that if tonight a decent bear came in I would let an arrow fly. After passing on several young bears came and left a decent bear came in. A tall bear but not as beefy as some of the others. It walked straight in right underneath me and laid down at the bait with it's rear end to me. There it stayed for thirty minutes. I went back and forth over shooting this bear then finally made up my mind as soon as it gives me a shot I would take it. The bear finally gets up and instead of checking out the other bait barrells starts to leave. Walking toward me but quartering. I had been at full draw since it stood up but I could not shoot. I had to wait until it got to or past me to take a broadside shot. Still at full draw I start following the bear turning my feet slowly to get in position once it's broadside. Then whoosh. What the ---- just happened??? The arrow was on its way. I still don't know what happened. I remember my elbow hitting my pack that was hanging in the tree but not sure if it was before or after the release went off. I practice with my gloves, headnet, jacket on all the time and nothing like this has ever happened. Maybe I was just not concentrating and inadvertently hit it. Anyway the bear runs about 10 yards and stops. Confident it was a miss I sit back down in disgust. The bear still standing there starts licking the inside of its leg. I can see blood dripping!! Still not sure of the hit but it's bleeding from the inside of its front leg. I figured if he's hit I might as well get another in it for insurance. I scramble to nock another arrow and now it's walking away at a pretty good pace favoring that front right leg just a bit. I guess him at 40 yard settle my 40 yard pin and let er go. Right over it's back. Great. Several more bears come in after that bear walks off. All of them smelling and licking my arrows. One of them decides to use one for a chew toy. I sit disappointed waiting to tell Brendon the bad news. We track the bear the next day for 3/4 of a mile (gps) through the spruce, aspen, and jack pines until the blood is no more. Brendon and Henry the other guide knew right away that it was only grazed but I didn't take my own advice and told them we wouldn't give up until we had no more sign to follow. They were right and said, that bear would be back at the bait tonight. I was really down and they tried to reassure me that the bear was only grazed and were so sure they would not assess the $250 wound fee. I kept to myself the rest of the day and was in no mood to joke around. That evening before we headed out Darrell, Brendon's brother and partner, told me to lighten up and have fun or he was going to send me home. He did make me feel better and as time got closer I was optimistic about that evenings hunt.</p>

Loading up into the truck I couldn't help but notice a terribly offensive odor coming from the bed. But the only thing back there was the quad and two sealed five gallon buckets they use to take the oats to the bait sites. Well in one of them Brendon says he scored some fish carcasses from a nearby fishing camp hopefully he says this will bring in the big guy into the bait that wouldn't come in the first night. The smell was almost untolerable setting Brendon off in a gagging fit every few minutes on the quad ride in. Fresh stink bait for the bait site. The bad news.....my stand is right straight down wind. Only takes one hour after he drops me off to spot my first bear. A very young, very small bear that runs into the bait and makes off with a piece of fish in the blink of an eye. No doubt a small bear that knows bigger bears are nearby. A short while later he returns this time a bit more cautiously. Before he can snag another piece of fish another bear even smaller than he runs him off the bait. He doesn't go far but the new bear has no intentions of sharing and makes that perfectly clear. Staging several charges driving the first bear 50-60 yards away then returning. But he was not easily detered and would slowly come back within just a few yards only to get charged again. This same scence played out several times until the smaller albeit aggressive bear had enough and gave him a bit to the rearend and jerking his neck sideways sending the retreating bear into a sideways summersault. Finally he gets the idea hangs his head and slowly disappears into the woods. After getting his fill the aggressor leaves too. A short while later the dejected bear reluctantly makes his way to the bait. But before he can get there he stops looks over his shoulder and sort of tucks his tail and voluntarily leaves the bait. To my left stands a rather large bear the largest I've seen on stand yet staring straight up at me. This is a good bear a short broad face, it's ears set wide on its head, and a broad blocky bodyI've already made up my mind this is the bear. I sit frozen with my back right up against the tree to lessen my profile. He knows this is were he's probably seen a hunter before. I don't know how he got there. I never heard him or caught a glimps of him but there he is just ten yards away and a mere 15 feet below. Satisfied that there's no trouble present he slowly and deliberately make his way to the bait. Before he even gets there and has a chance to lay down I release an arrow and watch it dissappear into his dense black coat. He growls and swipes his paw at the air behind him not knowing what happened he runs for the timber. I loose site but hear him crash then the telling "death moan". He's down and I'm sure of it. I'm super excited and can't wait for 10o'clock and Brenden to get so I can get my hands on this guy. But that's two more hours away. The little guy that keeps getting chased off the bait returns to try his luck once again. But sure enough before he can make off with another piece of fish here comes another bear. Another good sized bear similar to the one I had a chance at the night before but a more stout looking bear. The little guy is once again on the outs and quietly lays down and waits for this bear to finish. Nearly dark here comes yet another bear equall in size to the bear at the bait. I'm thinking two equally sized bears.......there's going to be a fight. This bear shows no fear and walks right down the trail without hesitation. As it gets closer I realize its the bear I shot at the night before. Tall and skinny and now favoring it's right front leg just a touch. The bear at the bait decides that the bear is close enough and starts walking toward the bear I shot the night before to challenge, or so I thought. After a few casual whiffs and licks to each others faces the new bear spins around and positions HERSELF for what bears do!! Right there in front of me!! Their courtship would continue for quite sometimegently rolling around on the ground climbing all over each other and standing on their back legstenderly pawing at each other. It was a scene right out of Wild America. They stayed right upuntil Brendon was just a stones throw away on the quad. But that's not the end of it.Now is when the excitement began.Remember the little guy? He's still there just 30 yards from me. He's been chased off the bait more times than I can count. He's had to sit by and watch thebig guy get the girl and now he's had enough. It's dark but light enough to see 50-60 yards and Brendon can see that the bear is there and is not willing to leave. He screams at the bear and bangs his flashlight on the rail of the quad. This only pisses the little guy off and he does a mock charge. Now he's directly under me and huffing and puffing and stomping his feet. Brendon racks a round in the shotgun and starts walking at the bear screaming the bear unimpressed charges again stopping about 8 yards before getting to him. Brendon holds his ground and doesn't shoot. He tells me to cover my ears hes going to fire a shot to scare him away. WHAT!!! Just shoot him already!! I guess the bear speaks English because with that he slowly turns and walks away. It's pretty dark now and with so many bears, a hot sow, and a little pissed off bear we decide to retrieve my bear in the morning.</p>

Back at camp my roomate Jeff has also shot a bear. They too decided to leave it till morning. The guides talked and devised a plan to get up at 5am get Jeff bear then come back to camp and we would go get mine. Day 5 of a 6 day hunt and everyone has tagged out. </p>

I'm up at 5:30 and here comes Jeff with his guide and no bear. Where's your bear? Jeff with his head down says "we left it". WHAT?!?!? Turns out overnight another bear drug it off into the woods and started eating it, ripping a huge hole in the hide. With that I wake Brendon up and we're heading out no good morning, no coffee, no nothing. That was the longest ride ever. My bear was fine. And as it turns out Jeffs bear was not that bad either. Brendon was not going to allow it to not be tagged anyway. The big pile of guts made it look worse than it was and we all agreed that a taxidermist would be able to fix it no problem.</p>

Overall a great trip and hope to do another in a couple of years.</p>

 

[josh.schreiber]

Cool story, and nice bear!

 

[Tenncrapie]

Thanks for sharing

 

[reliable]

Well written story, sounds like a lot of fun. Congrats!!

 

[shsimons]

awesome bear, I head for Canada next week for some feeshing

 

[SpurHunter]

Great story man! I felt like I was there most of the time with you. Of course I was WORKING!

 

[AThornton]

Nothing beats a trip to Canada in the summer! Congrats on your bear!

Sam, have a safe trip bud and take TONS of pictures!! Catch a big Pike or Two!

 

[graybullet]

Congratulations, that was a great story and a great bear. emoThumbsup emoThumbsup

 

[CurtisJ]

Congrats on a fine bear and that was a very good read !!! emoThumbsup