Saskatchewan, Black Bears, and the Phantom - Oh My! By Barb Terry - Ten Point Crossbows
Jan 6, 2008 - 8:29:00 AM
Author's smile could be seen in the next county over her first bear trophy.
It all started one Friday when I was asked if I'd like to accompany our Dream Trip winner, Dan Ertle, on his Saskatchewan Black Bear Hunting trip. Of course I said "YES!" before the sentence was even complete - I'd been dreaming about Black Bear hunting for years!
At this point, I only had approximately 30 days to prepare for the biggest hunting event in my life! I immediately started researching everything I could about Black Bears. I went through my personal big game library at home and read nearly three entire books on Black Bears and bears in general, then on several occasions I picked the brain of a close friend of mine who is a Black Bear guide in Maine. I figured if I'm going on a trip of a lifetime, I'd better be prepared! I also spent hours prepping my equipment - clothes, boots and the all important Phantom CLS crossbow.
The Ten Point Phantom proves its worth, dependability and accuracy in the field.
Adding even more pressure to the hunt was the knowledge that the hunts were going to be filmed for TV! The show is Danny Leonard's "Outdoor Dreams Hunting Connection". Personally, just doing well and representing TenPoint Crossbows on this hunt was going to be stressful enough!
After 19 hours of traveling, I finally made it to Flotten Lake Resort with our four-person party - Danny Leonard the TV show host and cameraman, Dan Ertle the Dream Trip winner, Terry Kalush my cameraman, and myself. Flotten Lake resort is located approximately one hour north of Dorintosh in north-central Saskatchewan. It was after 2:00 a.m. and our host Derrick Remple met us with a smile and pointed us to our cabin. Only a few hours later, we were all awake and talking strategy. The game-plan was simple, Danny would film Dan and Terry would film me, then after Dan and I shot our bears we would turn into cameramen for Danny and Terry. Our mission was four bears in four days, on film - not the easiest thing to do.
Our Outfitter, Derrick, and Dave his Guide took us out on Quads and baited for us while we were getting ready to get into our stand. He also reminded us that bear hunting up there is "shopping, not really hunting!"
My first afternoon out found us in a platform stand with a creek winding around from our left and turning in front of us at 35-yards or so. The bait was maybe 20-yards from us and a little to the left. It was absolutely beautiful!
Our first attempt only brought one small bear in, twice. - although he did go straight for our homemade bait! Being my first bear hunt I could have easily been impatient and taken this bear but my studying prior to the trip paid off. I recognized that this was a small bear so I waited. When it got too late to film, Terry and I walked out of the woods and talked about strategy for the next day.
Dan and Danny met us at the trucks and told us about all the bears they saw and their plans to go back the next day. Dan was excited as he was telling us all about the extremely large bear that just wouldn't present a shot!
The next day I had this "feeling", I just knew I'd get my Black Bear! I told Terry, "today's the day - I feel it". After a hearty breakfast Terry and I created an extra special bear bait that he calls "Boargasm". I found out that it's not hard to make and it tastes darn good too! So good in fact, that I actually get busted eating it on the way out to one of the sites!
We decided to try our same stand one more time - with our special bait. Derrick and David took us out again and yes, they put out the Boargasm for us. They spread it on a tree to our right front, just across from the bait site.
The quads were only gone for three minutes before the first bear came loping in! It was also a small bear, but it went straight to our homemade bait! Luckily for us, it didn't eat too much of the Boargasm. That bear stuck around maybe five minutes and was replaced by a small dark chocolate colored bear with a beautiful coat. This bear acted spooky and left after a short time also and we have only been there maybe 15 minutes total!
We had maybe 10 minutes with no action when I tell Terry "here comes a bear!" This bear came in and the fun began! Just before the bear got to the bait, it decided to turn and run past us at a quick pace. About the same time I notice something moving up the hill. I imagine I must have sounded comical when I told Terry "there's a bear, and another one, another one" - we had three more bears coming straight in! Then, before those three made it to us, you guessed it! Another bear!
The three bears that came in first were a sow and her two cubs. They stayed on and around the bait site for almost an hour! Mom and her cubs hit both baits off and on while the bear behind them, the seventh bear, just wandered back and forth for almost an hour. One at a time the sow urged the cubs up a tree and out of harms way just two trees away from us! Then she got into the tree with them.
Once the sow was in the tree here came the seventh bear. Terry and I had already decided that it was a nice bear and I would take it if the shot presented itself. Needless to say, it was a short wait for the shot to present itself - maybe two minutes total! My bear stood on both hind legs, leaning on the barrel and presented me with a quartering away shot. I put the 20-yard dot/crosshair of the 3x ProView scope on the "perfect spot" and slowly squeezed the trigger of the Phantom CLS. I couldn't have made a more perfect shot!
The aluminum arrow with NAP Spitfire broadhead entered directly behind the right front leg, exited under the left front leg, entered the left front leg itself, and then exited through the left front leg - two entrance and two exit wounds on the same shot! The bear went 10-yards! That's it! Now I know that all of my preparations have paid off and I've made the perfect shot!
Now the fun part, waiting to get out of the stand with the sow and two cubs only two trees away! The sow tried pushing one of the cubs out of the tree but it wouldn't go, and we didn't want to provoke her. Finally we decided to ease out of the stand and get out of there quietly. Man, that was hard! I knew my bear was down and I couldn't go see it!
We had to wait at the trucks for almost two hours before the quads got back. Derrick and Dave thought we were kidding when we told them the bear dropped within sight! They're used to tracking bears all the time hit by rifles, and no way did they expect the quick, humane kills from the crossbow. When we arrived at the bait sight, my bear was only a short 10-yards from where I shot it! My shot went through both lungs and cut the aorta right off of the heart.
After several photos we finally got my approximately 200-pound bear loaded on the trailer and went back to the trucks where we waited for word on Dan's afternoon. Well, the luck continued! At just about the same time, Dan took aim and connected with an over 300-pound bear of his own! Wow! What a day for both of us.
Dan's bear went only 30-yards and Derrick and David were surprised again, that they didn't have to track the hit bear. They got Dan's bear loaded and met us back at the rendezvous point to do post-kill interviews. Ironically, during my post-kill interview coyotes started howling - considering the fact that it was a full-moon that night and my nick-name is the "Wolf Lady" or Wolf Mom"!
Thanks to TenPoint Crossbow Technologies for having faith in me and for giving me the opportunity to show off what the Phantom CLS can do. Also, thanks to Danny Leonard and Team Outdoor Dreams for all of his support and especially pairing me up with cameraman Terry Kalush for my hunt. Last but not least, a very heartfelt thank you to Derrick, Claire, David, Abe, and Drew from Flotten Lake Resort, they were all wonderful and made you feel like family. It truly was "shopping, not hunting".
