Everyone was up early and running baits and fishing. Everything had
been going as we had planned. This afternoon would again be a
successful one. Justin Holdren decided to hunt bait 17 which Jim Combs
had taken his bear from the first night. Lonny took over as cameraman
for Ray and would be hunting bait 20 again. Russ was determined to take
his bear off of (Bait 19) and I would be hunting with Dave Holdren and
be his cameraman on (Bait 5). Greg and Kendal decided to hunt the river
bait again and were going to get on the stand at 12:00 noon and hunt
till dark.
Greg and Kendal saw a bear but it never came in to the bait site. Ray
and Lonny, Dave and I must have been hunting camera shy bear because
nothing showed up at either bait.
Russ Grimes
I arrived at the bait to find it had already been hit. I re-baited and
climbed in the Double Bull Blind. Four different times a bear came
towards the bait only to run off before I could get a real good look at
him. I made up my mind that tomorrow I was going to be an all day hunt.
My bait had been hit every day by 2:00 and I was going to be there when
he hit it tomorrow.
Justin Holdren
I went in around 4:00 and baited the barrel and climbed into the stand.
Around 6:00 I heard something coming from directly in front of me. I
picked up the black movement as it worked towards me.
The bait barrel was to my right so I knew I would have to sit tight
until he got to the barrel. This was a nice bear but nothing like the
one I had missed the night before. But this was my first bear hunt so I
decided to take him if the opportunity presented itself.
The bear walked into the bait opening and never slowed down until he
reached the barrel. I slowly stood up and raised my recurve bow for the
shot.
I drew and released the arrow. The arrow went right underneath the
bear, sticking in the ground by his foot. The bear ran about 7 yards
and stopped, looking around to see what had happened.
I had already knocked another arrow and drew the bow. I told myself to
calm down and pick a spot. This time the arrow hit right where I was
looking. The bear smashed through the brush and crashed within view of
the stand. I had just taken my first bear with a bow.
I met up with Russ, Doug and Dave and we hauled the bear out after taking some hero shots.
My bear weighed around 200lbs and I was very proud of him. On my side
was a knife that my grandpa had made for me before he passed. I told
him then that it would be with me when I shot my first bear. Well
Grandpa I know you were watching.
Thanks Missinaibi Outfitters for helping me keep my promise.
