After some well needed sleep, due to waiting and worrying about the
gang that were hauling bears out the night before, it was time to get
back to work. Dave and Jim had bears to skin and meat to get in the
freezer.
Skinning bears.
The rest of us were back to running baits and of course some
fishing. Missinaibi Outfitters has some great fishing and you don’t
want to pass up any chance to wet a line.
Everyone came back for lunch around 12:00 pm. Greg thought we needed a
little more planning since he was worried to death about the guys that
didn’t get in until 3:30 am the night before. So after some discussion
we decided to hunt in groups of four, with word being passed from one
group to the other so the guys hunting on the lake baits wouldn’t be
wondering about what was going on.
Communication is a great thing. The meeting was adjourned and around
2:30 we headed towards our baits. Lonny (Bait 8), Mike & Dave (Bait
12), Russ (Bait 19), Justin (Bait 18), Ray & I (Bait 6) with Greg
and Kendal hunting the (River Bait). Greg and Kendal decided to hunt
the River Bait because it was being hit hard. Ray and I decided to make
the 25-mile trip to Bait 5 and 6 and hunt the one that looked the best.
Going hunting.
Day 2 was also as the first, “Successful”. Russ had a bear
playing games with him all evening but never came in. Greg and Kendal
saw a bear but it wouldn’t didn’t commit to the bait. Ray and I were
again left watching a huge Snowshoe Rabbit and squirrels.
Justin Holdren
This was the second evening I had hunted the bait. Yesterday, when I
went in, there was no bait barrel to be found, only the cable, which
was attached to the barrel. So I placed a small 5-gallon bucket, which
was about ¼ full of bait underneath some logs for the first hunt.
When I left, the bucket was still untouched. When I arrived the second
day the bucket and logs were scattered everywhere. After examining the
teeth marks in the bucket I knew there was a big bear in the area.
I re-baited the bucket and stacked some logs on top of it and climbed
into my stand. About an hour went by when I heard some noise coming
from a small ravine below me. Big black movement headed towards the
bait.
My heart was pounding as though someone was playing the drums on
my chest. The huge bruin walked as though he was in slow motion,
placing each foot down very slowly and cautiously. He walked up and
stood staring at the bait.
He needed to take a couple more steps to reach my shooting lane. You
can’t imagine what was going through my mind. I just kept telling
myself to pick a spot.
He finally stepped into the shooting lane and stopped. I drew my bow
and released the arrow. The arrow hit a small branch and skipped over
his back.
The bear bolted off down my entrance trail and disappeared in the bush.
He didn’t show himself the rest of the evening but in my mind I knew he
was out there. At dark it was a nervous walk out or should I say Jog. I
was glad to see the 4-wheeler.
Mike & Dave Holdren
(by Dave Holdren) While baiting all the baits we decided to hunt Bait
12. It had been hit the evening before and there was a lot of fresh
sign. Mike was doing the shooting and I would be running the camera.
We decided to put the Double Bull Blind right underneath a large pine
tree only 6 yards from the bait barrel. After putting the blind up, I
stood the 55-gallon steel drum up and re-baited it. We then climbed in
the blind and got everything situated.
It didn’t take long till I was asleep and Mike was on bear watch. After
a 15 min nap Mike whispered, “Dave get up here comes a bear”.
When I rose up and looked through the shooting window I couldn’t
believe my eyes. The bear was only 4 yards away walking right by us
headed towards the barrel. It didn’t have a clue we were there.
The bear walked right to the barrel and grabbed it, and attempted to
run off with it. The barrel hit the end of the cable and crashed to the
ground. You could have heard it from ½ mile away.
I told mike to get ready. The bear walked back to the barrel and gave
Mike a perfect ¼ away shot. The arrow, tipped with an Interlock 3 blade
expandable went through him like butter. The bear disappeared into the
bush.
We were both shaking like we had fallen through a sheet of ice into a
lake in January. Approximately five minutes later we heard its death
moan several times. We stayed there until dark for our group to show
up. At dark Doug, Lonny and Ray arrived and we were like coonhounds on
the blood trail. The bear only traveled 40 yards and expired.
This was the first animal I had tracked that had been shot with the
Interlock broad head. I was amazed at the blood trail and how easy it
was to follow. After carring the 200 lb bear out we field dressed it
and checked out the entrance and exit hole. It had totally opened going
in and exiting. The hole on both sides was bigger than a golf ball. It
had done its job.
Lonny Mitchell
When I arrived at my Bait, (Bait 8) it was the same way I left it the
night before. I put my Double Bull Blind up and climbed in. This was my
first bear hunting trip ever so I really didn’t know what to expect.
Around 6:30 I heard some noise directly behind me. The windows on the
backside of the blind were closed so I couldn’t see what was making the
noise. I had backed the blind up to a bunch of small pines so even if
they were open I wouldn’t have been able to see through them anyway.
The noise continued for ½ hour. Then out of the blue I heard a loud
smack on the ground and something ran off. My heart jumped in my throat
when I realized a bear paw had smacked the ground. I knew he was there
and he knew I was there due to the wind blowing in his direction.
I had some strawberry filling on my hands from carrying the bait in and
my mind was telling me that I was like a steak with A-1 sauce on it.
Later I heard sticks cracking and getting closer. Again it stopped
right behind the blind. It was like a stand off for the next 20
minutes. Every few minutes I would hear a stick break and what sounded
like something scratching tree bark.
There was only a few minutes of shooting light left when I heard the
bear walking beside the blind -- not 4 yards away. As I saw it in the
first shooting window I could hear my heart pounding in my throat.
The bear continued to walk by and up to the barrel. I drew my bow and
released the Easton arrow tipped with the Interlock EXP expandable
broad head. I couldn’t see the arrow hit but at 5 yards from the end of
my arrow I couldn’t have been off too much.
I waited about 5 minutes and headed to meet my group. After tracking
and hauling out Mikes bear we went back after mine. We quickly picked
up the blood trail and followed it without any problems.
I have to admit that tracking something that can eat you is a different
feeling. Doug was leading the way and continued to reassure me that the
blood trail was a good one. I continued to look ahead and Doug and Dave
were like bloodhounds on the trail.
In 70 yards I saw the bear lying just ahead. After a quick and cautious
approach to make sure the bear had expired I realized I had just been
face to face with a bear and won. When I examined the entrance wound I
was shocked at how far back the arrow had entered the bear.
Thanks to the Interlock broadhead it had made my marginal hit a successful
one. He tipped the scales at 300lbs and will be close to making the P/Y
scorebook. regardless of the score I am tickled to death with my first
bear. Thanks Missinaibi Outfitters for a great hunt.
