Bowhunting.net
Hunting The Polar Bear - Day 4
By Roy Goodwin
Apr 5, 2006, 06:20
We woke early this morning, but were real slow crawling out
of the sleeping bags. There is something
about being all warm and cozy at the same time that you know you’re about to be
colder than you can remember, that makes you willing to delay the start of a
new day. Gradually peeking out of the
top of the bag I saw the ice that had formed on the top of the tent from the
moisture in our breath. Pretty good sign
that the tent was well below freezing, even with the kerosene heater running
all night.
Eventually we all got out of our bags and quickly started
putting on layers of clothes. I’ve found
that putting your outer layers under your sleeping bag before you go to sleep
works well to avoid dressing in frozen clothes come morning. Even camped on the frozen artic ice this
worked, because there were protective layers between us and the actual
ice. After setting up the tent the guide
stretched a blue plastic tarp over the ice inside the tent. Over the tarp he spread three foam mats about
three inches thick. The foam provided
both insulation and cushioning. Over the
foam he spread caribou and musk ox skins. Over these we spread out our artic
rated sleeping bags, crawled in and were cozy all night.
I promised yesterday to explain the tent set up itself. The first thing they do is pull the large
sled with the box holding all the supplies into position to block the
prevailing winds. Then the unpacking
begins. The tent is unfolded and laid
out next to the sled on the down wind side.
This way the sled box blocks at least some of the wind. Next they tie two corners of the tent to the
runners to provide something solid as an anchor. A 2” X 4” piece of lumber about ten feet long
is run under the tent at the ridge line, and then lifted up and supported on 2”
X 4” poles on each end. With the two
corners tied off to the sled this shaky arrangement stands long enough for the
lines from the opposite corners to be pulled out at an angle and secured to the
ice. The guide takes a hatchet and chops
a notch into the ice about 6” deep than another equal in size a few inches away
from the first. With a long knife he
then chips the ice away at the bottom of both notches to form a connecting
tunnel between them. Through this tunnel
he passes the line from the tent, which he then ties off to the ice bridge
between the notches. With experience it
is amazing how quickly these improvised ice tie-downs can be carved out of the
surface of the artic ice. He used this
procedure to tie off lines all around the tent, then the same thing to stake
out the dogs in small groups to eliminate fighting through the night.
Once the tent was staked out the floor was prepared as
explained above. The edges of the tent
were pulled out around the perimeter and five gallon cans of gasoline were
removed from the sled and spaced out equally around the perimeter to hold the
sides from flapping in the steady winds.
The plywood box cover from the sled was placed on the ice at the entry
of the tent to give us a place to stand to remove boots without getting the
bedding wet. It also provided a flat
surface for the two burner Coleman cook stove that went in one corner of the
tent, and the kerosene heater that went in the other. One cooler with food went between the heater
and the stove and served as a seat for the guide while cooking our breakfast
and dinner. The whole set up, including
staking out the dogs and unloading the sled, takes about an hour, but provides
a surprisingly good shelter from what is incredibly sever weather at times.
Dinner last night consisted of hot tea, bannock, and frozen
packages of prepared food thawed by boiling in a large pot of melted snow over
the Coleman stove. The bannock is a type
of bread that resembles a long cruller formed into a ring. The frozen half donut, half bread thaws
quickly and tastes pretty good. For
breakfast we had more tea, bannock, and frozen packages of scrambled eggs and
sausage. While not gourmet dining by any
stretch of the imagination, it is quick and easy and serves the purpose.
Once breakfast was out of the way it was time to break camp
and head east. This process takes a
little longer than setting up, as everything has to be carefully folded and/or
packaged and then placed in the correct position in the sled box. The last thing we did was organize the dogs
and attach them to the sled. The whole
process took the better part of two hours, but we were all finally on our way. The next three hours were pretty uneventful
as we made our way to the southeastern corner of the island. Just before getting to the point where we
were to part company we spotted real fresh bear tracks in the snow. They kept crossing from one side of our path
to the other; going in the same direction we were headed. This was encouraging!
After following the track a short while we all stopped to
glass ahead. The client and guide on the
lead sled had actually seen the bears running ahead of us before stopping. It was a sow and two cubs and they were
leaving the country in a hurry. At least
we were into bears! We glassed for a
while and then continued on. After
another hour of steady going we stopped and glassed again, but saw
nothing. When we started this time we
went to the south east toward the south coast of Devon Island and the others
went north east between the islands. We
bid each other good bye and good luck, and then continued on our personal
quests.
After another hour we stopped again to glass. This time the sled box was opened and the
Coleman stove was removed. In no time we
had pots of snow melting over the two burners and the coolers unpacked for
lunch. It seemed funny to stop and start
making a casual lunch out in the open.
It was just like having a summer picnic except at 30 below zero and in
fifteen mile per hour winds. The soup
tasted good and the hot tea and bannock hit the spot and were filling and
quick. Once the water was boiling Hans
jumped up on the sled box and started glassing all around looking for
bears. I lifted the ski goggles long
enough to get a clear look around, but all I saw was “white”. Hans yelled. “Bear!” and pointed to the
north. That got my attention! He could see it for a long time before I
could, even with his help pointing in the right direction. I swear everything just looked white to
me. The bear was moving in our
direction, so Hans said there was no need to interrupt lunch. We ate while we watched it come closer.
Not long after spotting this first bear, and while still
watching its progress toward us, Hans spotted a second bear on the same
course. Things were really getting
interesting now! Hans had decided the
lead bear was a female even before she was close enough for me to tell it was a
bear. While that was disappointing, Hans
then told me the second bear was a large male who appeared to be following the
female. He claimed that only bears nine
foot and larger usually followed the females, so he believed we were watching a
bear worth chasing. I was ready to give
up on lunch and get started, but the bear was still headed in our general direction
so Hans didn’t see the need to rush.
When the female got about 300 yards from us she hit our
trail and got the scent of the dogs. She
was off like a scalded cat. This gave us
a pretty good indication of what the male would do so we started packing up for
the chase. By the time the male hit our
trail and started to take off we were ready.
Hans and I were in the lead now on the dog sled following the bear, with
Travis pulling up the rear towing the big sled with all our supplies. In no time at all the bear was out of
sight. They can easily outdistance the
dogs at first, but they leave fresh tracks in the snow and tire easily. The idea is to stay on the track until the
bear slows down and the dogs close the distance. As the dogs get closer they get excited and
pull harder and faster. The bear, who is
getting tired, goes slower and slower.
In and hour, or four, you get close enough to let a couple dogs
loose. These dogs run ahead and easily
catch up to the bear. Things happen
quickly from that point!
When the first dogs catch up to the bear they cause the bear
to stop to fight them. This stops the
forward motion of the bear and also further excites the rest of the dog team
that is missing the action. The
combination closes the gap quickly. When
with-in a hundred yards of the bear it is time to stop the sled and get off and
get ready. They turn the rest of the
dogs loose to keep the bear occupied.
The dogs don’t hurt the bear, they confuse it. If anything, it’s the dogs that take a
beating. Quickly you start peeling off
layers of outer clothing to get down to the point where you can shoot the
bow. Then unpack the bow from the soft
case and run in close to the bear for the final shot.
To be honest, there isn’t much challenge to actually making
the shot. I was able to run in to about
fifteen yards of the bear, and even though pretty excited managed to place the
arrow behind the shoulder. This all happened so quickly that I was at full draw
calling for Hans to call the dogs away from the bear so I would have a clear
shot, before he had his rifle unpacked.
I was yelling for him to get the dogs, he was yelling to me to wait for
the rifle, and eleven dogs were barking like crazy…..it was pretty wild! Did I wait for the rifle, heck no, I had a
clear shot and was taking it before something went wrong!
The Muzzy tipped carbon arrow did its job as always. It zipped right through and got buried in the
ice beyond the far side of the bear. The
bear spun around at the sound of the arrow hitting the ice on his other side,
then spun back to look at me. In an
instant the dogs were back surrounding him and taking all his attention away
from the fur ball with the bow standing fifteen yards away. I have to admit that was a relief. In 6-10 seconds it was over, and the once cautious
dogs charged in to tug on the bear’s legs in victory. It was time for hand shakes and back slapping
all around. Hard as it seemed to
believe, I was standing over my polar bear on the second day of the actual hunt
and after six years of planning/waiting.
I’ll finish the day’s events with tomorrow’s installment, but have
included one picture to keep you all interested.
 |
| The hunt is over. The trophy taken. This is the time for reflection. |
Good hunting
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