To This Hunts Home Page | 

My Bear - I Get Lucky

Chef Klaus (Mike Ditchler) and I sat in our treestands, passing my camera back and forth, looking at pictures of the bear that had walked though our area an hour ago. Suddenly Mike looked at me, and his eyes darted to our right. No doubt about it, he had seen a bear. I looked into the brush and immediately spotted its big head. I carefully hung my camera on its hook and got my bow. The bear, a boar, cautiously circled and approached the logs that covered the bait. He was head on so there was no shot.

As Mike adjusted the video camera holder arm, it creaked and the bear looked up at us. Then it exited back to where we had originally seen it. Several minutes later it started back, this time coming in front of us, but behind a substantial amount of brush. 

I drew just before the bear stepped into the clear. It turned half way around and angled toward us again. He looked like he was going to leave.

He took a couple of steps back the way he came. Bad angle, still. I had my pin where it needed to be but I had to have a little more of a broadside angle. He took the step that I was looking for. My arrow smacked him just behind the right front leg and he bolted into the brush. I watched him bust through the brush. In 40 yards he went out of my sight and he crashed to a stop right away. Seconds later I heard a long sigh. Not a death moan, a sigh. We waited half an hour and got down. We found blood quickly. Since daylight was fading fast now I walked to the area where I had last seen the bear. The brush was very thick and I couldn't find it.  NEXT