I was a little nervous being on my first black bear hunt and being dropped off in the middle of nowhere on the Abitibi River in upper Ontario, Canada. I didn’t see anything all morning but I heard some noise across the cove. It sounded like Bigfoot picked up a log and hit a tree as hard as he could and then ripped the bark off of it. I explained this noise to my guide and he told me that it was more than likely a bear and it knew that I was there. He said that they will do that to try away people and other bears. That was a little unnerving as I was being dropped off at my stand again. It felt more like I was being marooned on an island.
That afternoon I heard a little more commotion and I am sure that a bear had either climbed up or down a tree. At about 7:10 I saw a bear walk into the water and start swimming across without any hesitation. I knew exactly where he was headed and I was going to be ready. The guides said not to nap in the tree because you cannot hear a bear walking through the woods. I thought that he was full of crap, how can a big ole bear get through the woods without being heard. Well he wasn’t kidding! If it wasn’t for me seeing him cross the river ahead of me I would not have heard him come in.
When the bear was in the river he looked big and long. I thought for sure he was huge. When he came in I noticed he was a very good bear, but not huge. He finally cleared the trees about 10 yards from me. He stopped and looked straight up at me and I felt like he was looking right through me. This look was not from a cute cuddly bear that you see on t.v., this bear wanted to make sure that I wasn’t a threat. He finally turned away and walked towards the bait and nonchalantly took a bagel as he walked by and went up the trail.
After a few minutes the bear came back down and before coming into the clearing he stopped to make sure I was still where I was supposed to be. He took the other bagel and again took it up the tree to devour it. When I think of bears I think of scratching, chomping, thrashing, and tearing up their food. They are actually very gentle with their food in which I noticed and was surprised about when I saw him take the bagels and how he ate them. Very shortly after eating the bagel he came down and again checked me out, but it was a little shorter this time, he was obviously getting a little more comfortable. He started getting into the barrel which at first was not going too well for the fatty. He knocked over the barrel and rolled it down the hill about 15′ which made some noise. He stopped and looked at me and around to see if anyone else heard it or moved. He finally tried stuffing his body into the 50 gallon barrel to get the 5 gallon bucket out filled with corn syrup and blueberry muffins. After some struggling and frustration he finally pulled out his prize and headed back up the trail where I had to listen to him lick and slurp his meal for the next 40 minutes.
Over the next 40 minutes I had a serious discussion with myself. This was my very first bear hunt and my first day in the stand. In comes the whitetail hunter in me that does not like to shoot the first thing that walks by this early in a hunt. Although I don’t have any experience in judging bears I could tell that this was a respectable bear. I figured from what I heard earlier in the day, I noticed he had some scars on his snout, and I had not seen or heard any other bears, that I knew of, I figured that maybe he was the dominant bear in the area. I also knew that this was going to be the coolest day of the week only being in the low 70’s and the rest of the week would be hotter getting into the mid 90’s and the big bears would not be moving as well. After this go around with myself I still did not know what I would do if he came back down.
Once he licked the bucket clean he decided to come back down by the barrel. I guess I decided to go ahead and let the air out of him. My mind went into autopilot. That is where your mind is at when you have done something so many times that it become repetitive and a part of you. It takes over when you are nervous and your heart is pounding out of your chest and echoing in your ears. He was standing broadside at 14 yards and looked straight ahead of him and that’s when I guess I drew my bow. From sitting there all day every joint in my upper body cracked and popped when I pulled back. I’m surprised he didn’t hear that and bolt. I let out a short breath and put my pin right behind the shoulder where the money ring would be and let the VAP Victory fly! He bolted and it sounded like a tank going through the woods. He tripped over a downed log and that’s where he stayed. I waited about 20 seconds for the notorious death moan and it finally came. Although I don’t regret shooting that bear it was a little weird and felt a little bad when I heard it.
Once I knew that he had fully expired I climbed down and headed up to retrieve my prize. The Rage chisel tip broad head had done its job and it looked like someone painted a path of crimson for me to follow. I poked him several times to make sure he wasn’t going to jump up and maul me to death. It was now about 8:25 and I knew it would be another hour before the guide was due to pick me up. I got out my digital camera and snapped a few pictures and put it on a timer so I could get in on one. I about broke my leg hustling back up the hill to get in the picture. I decided to go ahead and gut him and try and get him drug down to my stand next to the water.
I was kind of antsy to try out the drag strap on my new Hunters Safety System harness to see if it actually worked well. It does, but dang was that bear heavy, definitely not a whitetail deer. I was dragging him when he hit a tree and down the hill he went dragging me along with him. I was putting it in 4×4 digging with my hands and feet to get stopped when I got ahold of a small tree. Another ten feet and we would have had about a 6 foot drop off into the drink and I have no idea how deep it was there. I got him pulled up to me and finished the drag and had to sit down for a few minutes to catch my breath.
It was good and dark and I had gotten everything down out of the stand and was waiting for the guide to pick me up. It was calm and quiet when I heard something 80 yards away across the cove. I listened and I heard rustling in the bushes and something snap, loud. I grabbed my bow and flashlight and flew back up into the stand. A few minutes later the guide pulled up and congratulated me on my bear and thanked me for saving him the time by gutting and dragging the bear there. I told him my story and he reassured me that I had a good bear, definitely above average and no one should drive that far and pay that money and pass up a bear like that. It definitely made me feel good and it will be an experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life no matter how many more times I get to bear hunt again, if ever.
