Steve Bartylla brings you along as he bowhunts Northern Wilderness Outfitters in Alberta, Canada

Day One
Taking turns behind the wheel, Trevor Wildon and I drove straight through to the main lodge. My initial reaction was wow. Not only was it beyond nice, the head mounts of the two Boone & Crocket bucks, engaged in a fight, is the most impressive mount I’ve ever seen. As I stared in awe, one of the guides pointed to a spot along the field and told us that they had both came from there. Then he pointed to another landmark tree along the field and told us that another of the Booners on the wall came from there, and that this isn’t even their good area!

Because we were four hours early, Larry Golliffe, the outfitter and guide, suggested we make the three hour drive to the wilderness camp and get in an extra day of hunting. Obviously, he didn’t have to ask twice. Before he blinked, Trevor and I were in the truck.

Pulling into camp, we had the village of tents to our self. Quickly unloading, I setup a target and flung a dozen arrows. Confident I was in the zone, I hit the shower and was ready to roll. The timing was perfect. As I stepped out of the tent, a tall redhead introduced himself as our personal guide.

Having just returned from freshening the bait line we’d be hunting, Dale Giggie smiled like a cat after eating a canary. “You’ll get one tonight,” he told me confidently. “I’ve got six baits that are completely cleaned out each day. None of my baits have been hunted yet, they all are getting hit and they’re all yours.”

Dropping us off, he gave us a rifle and a walkie talkie. “I know you guys are bow hunting, but this is for backup. If one looks like its going to come up your tree, put him down. If you get one, need anything or just get bored, call me and I’ll be at your tree in less than ten minutes. I’ll just be down the trail a little, observing the bait I’m thinking of putting you in tomorrow.”

No more than fifteen minutes after Dale left, a sow and her three yearlings worked their way down the cut line. As the sow ripped and torn at the logs covering the bait buckets, the yearlings wrestled and playfully chased each other around the site. Having tore open the bait, each one grabbed a chunk and ran back the way they came.

Over the next hour, they came and went, snatching scraps of bait and vanishing into the bush. At one point, we heard them introduce themselves to a new comer. Apparently they didn’t much care for his arrival. In the distance, we saw the boar staring towards the growling sow. Not threatened, he calmly proceeded to the bait.  Standing broadside, legs extended forward, he ate his fill of bait and left.

With Trevor’s stand slightly offset in the same tree as mine, I didn’t have any problem picking up his whispering demand to know why I hadn’t shot. “I had perfect footage of him,” explained Trevor. “It would have been beautiful.” Before I could even finish explaining that I wanted to hold out a bit longer, I caught movement coming down the cut line.

The lone sow grabbed a piece of bait and walked to the base of a nearby tree and sat down for dinner. After repeating the process several times, she slowly vanished into the bush. Knowing that sows kick their yearlings out prior to breeding, I told Trevor to stay alert.

With a flicker of black, I nudged Trevor and positioned my feet. Painfully slowly, the bruin worked its way down the cut line. Placing its paws on a fallen log, it sniffed the wind for well over a minute. With the wind having switched an hour before, the flow of the breeze detector showed that we should be toast. As it crossed the log, I was more than a little thankful for the quick shower and Scent-Lok and Scent Killer combo I had working for us.

Veering off for the spot the sow had sat, it paused to sniff the ground and eat a scrap left behind. With my Mathews at full draw, I settled the pin of my Truglo behind the extended front leg and sent the Easton on its way. In a surprised jolt, it spun and began down the cut line. Leaning more with each bound, it flipped and let out the death moan. Having traveled less than fifteen yards, Trevor caught every second of the encounter on film. The Rocky Mountain Snyper had done terrible damage to the lungs and heart, resulting in an incredibly fast, humane harvest.

Before we could even get down from the stand, Dale had responded to our call. A quick photo session and the bear was in the truck. Heading for Northern Wilderness Outfitters’ skinning area, Dale dropped us off at camp just in time to meet Dr Dave and outdoor writer Lisa Price. With an incredible meal out of the way, we headed for bed.

In less than a two and a half hour sit, we had seen seven different bears. I can only imagine how large that number would have grown if we hadn’t harvested a bear with four full hours of shooting light left. 

A two and a half hour sit, seven bears seen, a full belly, a hide being salted and a skull getting boiled. All in all, it was a very good first day of a hunt that wasn’t supposed to begin until the next day.

A successfully first day that wasn’t even supposed to be.

To book a spectacular bear, trophy whitetail, moose, caribou or elk hunt, contact Northern Wilderness Outfitters via their web page or by phone:  Toll Free 866 204 8299 ext 0644. On the web at www.huntingalberta.com
  For those looking for every advantage in understanding whitetail deer, Steve Bartylla's column Becoming A Student Of Whitetail Deer is a must read.