8th Day Of The Hunt

Mike Ditschler is an energetic and interesting guy. He owns four of the Chef Klaus restaurants in the Southside Chicago area, Chef Klaus's Steak & Seafood, Country Kitchen, Whistle Stop, and Orland Oasis. They are all well known for their top notch food and excellent service. This hunt is Mike's second bear hunt with Fred. 

Mike generously pitched in and did some of the cooking on both hunts. So far he has prepared some very un-bear camp things like struffed french toast, real omletts, a huge deep fried turkey, and steak that would make Ruth Criss take notice. We're talkin' good food here.

After breakfast today I went to Canoe Canada to upload and Mike went to his stand and put up another ladder stand for me to use this afternoon. When I returned to camp I told Mike I wanted to see him shoot his bow. He was ... well ... inconsistant. Then as he went to shoot one of the prongs on his rest slipped loose. Fred adjusted it for him and he grouped better, but the arrows were low and right. I adjusted his sight pin and he started putting them where they outta go.

When we finished the practice session it was time to hunt I went with Mike to his stand. Fred and the Duck went to Chicken Road. 

Mike and I were in our stands at 5:30. An hour later I saw a bear walk up 25 yards behind us and sit down. It sat there watching the area for nearly an hour before it started to move.

Once it was finally on the go the bear circled wide to our right and turned into the brush 40 yards in front of us. Mike keeps his bow in a treestand bow holder and I noticed that it was still there instead of in his hand. I signalled him to pick up his bow. He did, nice and slow. And then he quietly stood up.

Just before 7:00 the bear approached the area behind the bait and then circled around in front of it, presenting Mike a perfect 10 yard broadside shooting opportunity. But Mike hadn't drawn yet. I signalled for him to draw. He did, but he waited too long and the bear turned his butt towards us. A minute later it grabbed up a sweet roll and trotted off into the woods.

Twenty minutes passed and the bear returned and approached the bait from our left. 

The bear walked behind the bait broadside and I glanced at Mike and saw he was already at full draw. He shot.

And missed.

The bear retreated to the cover of the trees, ferns and tag alders and stopped. In a few minutes he headed back in our direction. This time the bear stopped 30 yards behind my tree. It stood quietly for a while and then moved out of our area. It doesn't get dark up here in Ontario until around 8:45 so we waited until the end of legal shooting hours and walked to Mike's SUV. 

I told him we had some work to do tomorrow that would help him get his bear.  To the Next Day's Hunt