It was my first night of hunting during my return trip to Manitoba, my new favorite BIG black bear destination. The hours had passed quickly from my comfortable ladder stand, but without action. A snapping branch at 9:15 P.M. drew my attention to a jet black bear approaching in the fading light. My normally calm demeanor was shattered by my thumping heart responding to the largest black bear I had ever seen. Many years of outfitting boat based black bear hunts in Alaska’s south east islands assured me this was truly a world class bear. This bear, easily 7 ½ plus feet and more than 500 pounds, came not to the bait but from the left to the base of my 12′ ladder stand. I tracked him with my Matthew’s Drenalin but no shot was offered through the thick pine branches to my side. At 12 feet we eye balled each other, as he swayed to and fro, panting heavily. He certainly knew I was there, yet I hadn’t moved a muscle. He didn’t get this big without having a 6th sense to avoid the only danger in his woods. After a minute of this standoff, he just turned and walked slowly away, still never offering a bow shot. Just as he was about to fade out of sight, he turned toward the bait barrel and walked straight at me. He never took his eyes off me, and he never presented a broadside profile, then just spun around and ran off in a flash. Twelve yards and still no shot. At 9:45 he ghosted through a far opening and then it was too dark to shoot. Exciting first night even if no game was taken.
I was hunting at Sandy River Outfitters in central Manitoba. Harry Walker runs a first class operation in a huge area that is home to some of the biggest black bears on earth. He also offers incredible food and fabulous fishing. You just add the company and let the good times begin. I was there the last week in May 2007 along with 7 other hunters. At weeks’ end everybody had a rug for the hearth, a story to tell, a bigger waist line, and fond memories of a great week. I had come to try for a color phase bear. In all my years of hunting I have never seen one in the woods. I know many of you Rocky Mountain hunters are scratching their heads, but my hunts have taken place in areas where color phase bears are rare or nonexistent. I=2 0would have taken the first night’s bear if opportunity presented itself, but fate had different plans for me.
One of the great additions to modern bowhunting is the video camera. No hunt lends itself better to personal video than baited bear hunts. An increasingly common practice now occurring in bear camps across Canada is the nightly review of the days taped hunts. The first night we “oohed and aahed” over video of a pack of wolves driving a bear off a bait and running it up a tree. Not a night went by without sightings and pictures of these shy and cunning predators, a great bonus to hunting here. That first night Kevin Paulson, founder of Huntinglife.com had an almost two-hour video of a beautifully furred six-foot cinnamon colored bear he chose to pass on. He was looking for a larger and preferably black rug for his daughters’ room. Kevin had taken a blonde bear previously in Idaho. We agreed to swap bait sites the next evening since we had each seen what the other desired. This was the start of a great friendship, and I now am privileged to have been added to the pro staff of Huntinglife.com, the fastest growing and one of the most conservation oriented hunting web sites today.
Bear camp is unique due to the long hours of non-hunting time each morning, allowing a multitude of activities other than hunting. We had three teens in camp that week providing fun and energy for all. Fishing, quad riding, o r just joking around, they helped make each day a pleasure. Joseph Davin and James Kenny are cousins one year apart and they managed to shoot their bears within minutes of each other on Thursday night. This was Joseph’s first bear and he didn’t come down to earth for the rest of this trip. Also among the cast of characters was Tony, a CPA from Long Island, NY. He cracked us up with his nonstop Rodney Dangerfield routines. This was his third bear hunting endeavor, the previous two unsuccessful with different outfitters. He arrowed the largest bear of the week and finally “got some respect.”
A word about bugs here is in order. Spring bear hunting means bugs, lots of flying, biting, annoying, and distracting bugs! Movement is a dead giveaway to an approaching bear, and many, especially old mature bears (read large), will immediately abort their approach to the bait if they spot you moving around on your elevated perch. Once they establish the bait and start feeding, you have much more leeway with movement, and often can do whatever you want at that point. Every year many bears are never seen by bowhunters or only glimpsed in the distance because of hunter movement, like a wave or swat at a mosquito. We all used Thermocell insect repellant system and were bugs free. Some people worry about the Thermocell repelling bears, but we had no problems. Harry’s hunters have used them for the past several years with excellent results. Head nets and gloves work but the netting can rob valuable light at that so important last minute of shooting, and I shoot much better without a net covering my face.
The second day’s hunt started with a huge lunch that included a 41″ pike I had caught that morning. As I climbed into the cinnamon bear stand, I hoped my color phase jinx would end tonight. It was a beautiful setting with ideal weather, but bear action was nonexistent. At 9:45 p.m. I started to think about packing up when a loud racket broke loose with noise, grunting, branches crashing and breaking. I was at full alert as I spotted the cinnamon bear coming at a trot to the bait. With no hesitation, I sent a Beman matrix with a wasp broad head through the bear’s rib cage. I heard the bear go down 50 yards away after the double lung pass-thru. I’m certain there was second bear chasing this one, making all that commotion, though I was never able to confirm it. From the time I first heard the noise to when I released my arrow was less than two minutes. Things can happen fast during these spring hunts. My beautiful bear, while not a giant, was everything I had hoped for with a long, silky and unrubbed pelt. I am having a life-sized mount done as I write this story.
Spring bear hunting is a ritual I hope to continue to participate in for as long as I can draw a bow. Us East20Coast hunters have little choice but to head west or north, as we have no spring bear seasons here. Canada is a very affordable destination with many large bear populations for the traveling hunter. Harry Walker runs a great camp in Manitoba and I can’t wait to go back next year this time with my Black Widow recurve. I wish I could report my first night’s giant was harvested by a lucky hunter in camp, but he still roams the Manitoba wilderness..maybe next year we’ll meet up again.
If your looking for a hunt with Sandy River Outfitters Kevin Paulson and I will be back in Manitoba with Harry Walker next spring. Check out: Sandy River Outfitters
