|
A good friend of mine
has always said that "the last day is as good as the first
day." There is a lot of truth to that. As hunters, we must
persevere regardless of the weather, the bugs, mud, other
hunters, disturbance from industry activity, Murphy's Law, Buck
(Bear) Fever, just bad luck - the list goes on and on.
The spring bear season
of 2005 was no different. We had put out the bait earlier than
usual, just because David came home from university that second
weekend of April. It was a good excuse to get out to the bush,
get things ready, bait up and set up the trail camera.
David and I always look
forward to the spring bear hunt. There is something magical
about hunting bears, whether it is spot/stalk or over bait.
Bears are such fascinating creatures with a multitude of
personalities, attitudes and mannerisms. Each is its own
individual. When hunting over bait and putting in the time and
effort that we do, we get to watch a lot of bears over long
periods of time do a lot of neat things. It always fascinates us
- we never get tired of it. Well, maybe occasionally. It can
make for long days when the sun sets at 11:00pm and home (and
bed) is an hour and a half away.
We go hard once things
start happening, usually waiting until the middle or third week
of May before we really get excited. This year was different.
According to the trail camera, our first hit was April 16th and
by the end of April we were getting decent action but nothing
big. Into early May, more bears were starting to show up and it
appeared we had some decent ones there. Most of the activity was
at night. It was too much to take and we started to sit.
Our trail camera is a
digital unit from Greg Potyok (treebarkcameras.com) and it has
worked great for me the past couple of years. We built an
adjustable bracket and mount the unit about 12 feet up a tree,
ten yards from the bait. A ring of barbed wire circles the
camera to keep the curious beasts away. One thing I have noticed
is that most of the bears have NO pattern as to when they come.
Over the course of the spring, we were getting 70-80 pictures in
a 24-hour period (set on a 3 minute delay) and the only
consistent bears were a big sow and her three yearlings (all at
night) and a small brown sow (any time of the day or night). The
other bears (possibly fifteen different ones) were mostly at
night but at random times. Some came every day and others once
in awhile. Others were there once and we never seen them again
(on camera or in person). We have pictures of two colored bears
that we never did see in person, and a friend at his bait 4 ½
miles away, has two others on video (large blonde sow and big
boar) we also never saw. Bears are like people and with their
different personalities; they can act just as differently. But
no matter what the bears decide to do, you have to be there in
case HE comes in that particular night. That is what makes it
exciting and the anticipation always runs high.
With the earlier than
normal activity, we started sitting about the first of May but
just for two or three days a week. You don't want to get burned
out before the best part of the year comes. The "Bear
Rut" occurs the last part of May through the middle of June
and this is when the big boars really start to move in search of
the "lady bears." That is when we sit long hours and
as often as we can.
David and I took a young
friend (and new ABA member) out May 20th to see if we could get
him his first bear with his bow. The night before we had seen a
decent boar that we figured would make a good "Andrew"
bear. Nice size, chunky body, super coat and had the start of a
crease (may indicate a P&Y type bear). It was a perfect
night with a light breeze and only a million bugs - usually they
were in the zillions!! Our Watkin's Insect Repellant (28.5%
DEET) saved the day once again. We saw a bear as we made our way
to the bait, and it arrived at the site the same time we did,
but it wasn't the one we were looking for. It fed briefly and
left only to return in about fifteen minutes with three buddies.
They all entertained us for a while and we were finally
convinced the bigger bear was indeed the one from the night
before. Andrew took his time, the bear gave him the classic
broadside shot, the arrow was a complete double-lung pass
through and 75 yards later he had his bear. It worked out great.
Top
of page |
|
We continued to sit but things
seemed to slow down considerably. I believe it was largely due
to the amount of moisture and sun we had that allowed everything
to green up fast and lush. Bears do not rely on the baits as
their sole food source but use it much like we do when we go to
Dairy Queen for a milkshake after supper - it is mostly for a
treat or snack. These bait sites also serve as a meeting place
and boars will make the rounds to see who is in the neighborhood
and if the ladies are ready for courting.
In addition to the rapid green up
keeping the bears at other food sources, the weather was against
us as well. For the first time in several years, we lost quite a
few evenings of hunting to heavy rain. Light rain doesn't bother
the bears (or us usually), but the rains we were getting kept
everything under cover. It also was hard on the bait as it gets
washed out and spoils rapidly. We weren't seeing many bears and
the camera wasn't capturing many on film either but we
persisted.
We rebaited and sat
Monday, June 13th and nothing came in -- the bait was completely
washed out from some more really hard rains. Both of us couldn't
go Tuesday because of work but we headed out Wednesday - the last
day. Weather was great and when we walked in to the bait, a small
bear was there already. He climbed a tree as we got into the
stands and we thought he maybe was one of the three yearlings from
the big sow. He played around for about two hours, left and then
came back with his brown sibling, confirming that they were indeed
from the big sow. We had no idea where #3 was. This was what we
had been waiting for all spring -- mom is likely out dating a
boar, has run off the yearlings and from her size, he is likely a
good one to boot. She may come back to check on her kids and bring
him in with her. Not the first time a man has lost his life over a
woman!!
|
Not the first time a man
has lost his life over a woman!! |
About 20 minutes later, we seen a
decent bear circling and as it made it's way along the creek, the
yearlings woofed and up a tree they went, watching this new bear.
The bear followed the creek and circled somewhat behind us and to
our right, not coming to the bait at all -- not sure why -- wind
was perfect. It had a short snout and may have been a sow but not
the mother of the yearlings. About 20 minutes after that, two more
bears came along a trail from the same general direction and as
the first one made his way through the undergrowth to the bait, I
knew he was a definite shooter. Those of you who hunt bears and
have had the chance to see BIG bears up close, know the feeling I
felt as he marched in to the bait, dominate and oozing confidence,
concerned about absolutely nothing. He had a small, vertical white
slash on his chest and I recognized him from one of the trail
camera pictures. He looked MUCH bigger in person!! He waltzed
right in, the yearlings scrambling up their trees even higher
(about 50') and he flopped down to feed. He moved around on his
elbows for about 10 minutes, stood up and turned to the one
barrel. No shots at all. I was a little excited (David, my guide,
would probably tell you I was more than just a "little"
excited) but I was concentrating on the "spot" - I
didn't want a repeat of the complete meltdown from the previous
year with a big brown one!! The other bear with him was a real
lanky, reddy brown boar (a traveling companion I guess). All of a
sudden, the big guy turned and started towards the tree stand,
head down and swinging side to side, sniffing hard and then
started to move off in the general direction of the other bear. I
was convinced now that this other bear was indeed a sow and he was
searching her out. I could only hope that he would give me an
opportunity - when they are in the rut, oftentimes they do not
even stop at the bait to feed, they are constantly on the move and
your window of opportunity is brief, if at all. He passed the
stand quartering away at about 12 yards, heading out. The arrow
was gone, entering ahead of the hip, right in the middle, angling
to the front end. He let out a woof and took off, crashing thru
the bush. The time was 10:10 -- we waited 15 minutes and checked
for an arrow and blood but decided not to push things. We slept in
the truck and took up the trail at 4:30am. It was easy to tell
where he went as the vegetation was knocked down and crushed. He
linked up to a bear trail and followed it, crossing a small beaver
dam. We decided to once again back off and called a friend, Les
Baird to give us a hand. We continued across the beaver dam and
found where he had turned off the bear trail. We found a small
drop of blood, then the arrow, then some more blood, then splashes
of blood, then HIM. He greens 20 11/16, has a beautiful hide and
is destined for a 1/2 mount. My quest for a 20+ bear with my
recurve is over - now I am at the back of the bus and it is
David's turn again. We are both anxiously waiting the spring of
2006!!
By: Brent Watson |
