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What I'm about to tell
you was one of the best, exciting and most fulfilling days that
I have ever had.
This year, I have
been baiting in a traditionally great spot. I've been out every
week but almost no bears. I learned there had been an outfitter
in the area since I was last there, 8 yrs ago. I checked the
photos on the outfitters web site and they have killed a pile of
bears since I was last there. Anyway, Jerry Rivard, a friend of
mine, saw my dilemma and invited me to hunt with him on his and
Randy M.'s baits. I was grateful. (This is why I didn't make
Hinton).
We arrived there early
yesterday and checked the baits and refill them. Great set-ups.
At six pm, I snuck into my site, hoping to get one on the
ground...no luck. I pulled my gear up and was getting my safety
strap on when I noticed a small black coming in. It went to the
bait grabbed a donut and left. At the same time 2 ravens were
chasing each other and making a very unusual noise. I continued
getting my gear settled and again I heard the noise. I looked up
to see a 2 yr old 15 ft above me in my tree. He wanted down! The
rest was pure comedy. I climbed down leaving my pack (mistake).
I walked 30 yards away and the bear started down got to my pack
and started fooling with it, it looked like he wanted inside. I
ran in threw sticks at it to stop and it went higher up the
tree. This happened a couple more times and then I went up the
tree to get my pack. He went up but not high enough where I felt
comfortable getting my gear. I gave up and backed, I wanted to
hunt. You can't believe how much I laughed at my situation. It
was hilarious. Finally after about 45 minutes of slap stick, the
bear came down walked to the bait grabbed a donut and, you
guessed it, he ran back up the tree. Finally he finished it and
started down. I was going out smart this little b*******. I
quietly moved to within 20 yards of the tree without him knowing
it and I waited until he was down and heading for the bait and
then I ran for my tree. I won. He ran up a different tree, made
a hole bunch of noise at me and I had my tree back.
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It's about 7:15 by the time I get
re-settled. Over the next 2 hours, two rubbed out blacks and a
rubbed out small brown made it to the bait. A rubbed out black
and a beautiful almost white three year old approached but
didn't make it in. Most of the traffic came from behind. Jerry
told me that he'd been busted by a big brown that came in from
that way but got spooked and left. As a result of that advice
and cherishing my good fortune to be hunting an active bait, I
was diligent to restrict my movement to almost nil. That
diligence paid of.
At 9:15, I slowly looked over my
shoulder and saw a large bodied brown with a pretty decent head.
I didn't move a muscle. The bear slowly moved in 10 steps at a
time and paused after each advance. I didn't move. He then went
out of sight, to my right, under the tree. I stayed still. I
could hear him sniffing hard, taking large nose full of scent. I
didn't move. Finally, as my neck was still cramped to my right,
I saw him walking below me to the bait. At that moment, I knew
that I was about to take my first animal with traditional gear.
My Jack Kempf stealth was about to do the job. The bear moved
behind the bait and around to where it reached in and gave me a
broadside shot. I already had my bow in position for the draw
and started to pull back, but the bear backed out 3 feet and I
lost the shot. I let down. He moved back in and reached out
again to the bait and I started the cycle. I picked an off Color
spot right behind the shoulder and didn't take my eyes of it. I
concentrated and just as I was getting to my anchor the bear
started to move out again. Within that millisecond, I followed
his movement and released my 145 gr. Wensel Woodsman tipped
arrow and "pin wheeled" him right on my spot. The
arrow buried to the fletch slightly quartering toward. All the
practice and repetitions obviously paid off.
The bear ran off making some noise
indicating he wasn't happy. The noise stopped suddenly. I gave
it twenty minutes and snuck out of my tree, just as two other
bears arrived and put themselves in the way of my track. So, I
went and got Jerry and Andy and a 70 yd tracking job produced
the subject of the attached photo. During all of the bears
movement, it had the stature of a maturing boar. I thought it
might be P & Y. Upon recovery it turns out to be a
"she". Very few sows make book. Maybe, we'll see. That
would be a bonus but, in my book, she's a great bear, a great
trophy and a great accomplishment. I am very proud that I was
able to pull it off.
Written by: Gary M. |
