Ultimately I decided that my original interpretation was (probably) correct. Bear 3 was a decent bear but not a Day 1 bear.
I'll think this until I overthink it some more.
The morning turned out to be one of those unbelievably still Manitoba mornings. Pictures in this amazing country on these kinds or mornings are almost like cheating.
I threw the lure into the lake some more. I caught another hammer handle pike which was pretty good for just a few casts off the shore in the bay.
After a bigger breakfast than I'm used to, it was off for fishing. I was in the boat with the guide Dave and we tailed the other Dave to some of the pike fishing spots.
Fishing was sadly slow. No, it wasn't. It was fishing in Canada! when the pike were busy doing other fish stuff. I initially caught just one pike and both Dave and I were happy that we didn't get skunked. We tried several spots and in the last 15 minutes at the last spot I brought in four more pike. None of them were huge, but it was nice to bring in a few.
After lunch it was back to the bears. I was dropped off by Bob at the Metros stand. This stand is really close and feels even closer - especially when the first bear made an appearance only 30 minutes after I was sitting. It never actually came into the bait, but milled around in the background.
Most of the rest of the afternoon passed fairly quickly. But the bears behaved differently than the previous night. Where the bears on the previous day were ambivalent to just about everything, all the bears on Day 2 were extremely skittish. They would saunter in quickly, maybe not even stop at the bait and quickly exit. A few would grab a few crunches of food before exiting again. None of the bears even took the time to knock the logs out of the barrels.
And the same bears would come in, leave, only to reappear later. There was never more than about 20 minutes between bear sightings which keeps things interesting. So I'm not really sure how many bears I saw, but I think it was five.
Bears are really tough to judge size on. Small bears do look small, and huge bears look like Volkswagens. But the bears between around 150 pounds and 300 pounds all look pretty similar. So they are like Schrodinger's Bear. Until I can walk up to them, they are both big and small. Once they are dead, then they actually get their size (at which point it is also pretty meaningless).
As the afternoon wore on, two small bears had come in and left when another bear came in from behind the barrel. Compared to the two previous bears it looked really good and from the direction it looked big compared to the barrel.
With it moving in and right back out, I didn't have too much time to think and took the shot. It ran partially up the hill immediately to my left and collapsed right where I could see it - it was actually closer to me than the bait was. They always look small on the ground (even reasonably big wild hogs look like cocker spaniels once on the ground). Still, I knew it wasn't a monster.
I waited a bit to make sure it was finished before getting out of the stand and walking over to it. I've never had the pleasure of dealing with a wounded bear, so caution is prudent. It was in the five to six foot range with a beautiful deep black coat. It was also really fat which is part of why it looked so big in those fleeting moments before shooting.
I packed up my stuff and trekked it back to the shore, putting my orange flag in the tree on my way. Then the waiting. I thought about dragging my bear out, but that can be hard on the hide and it would be a lot less work with the guide. I tried to get cell service on the top of the ridge but was out of range. So I just waited enjoying the wonderful evening. I did poke through some of the pictures that I took, and I think the really terrible picture below might be of my bear when it came in much earlier. Or maybe I saw more bears than I think I did.
I'm not sure why I had so many issues getting decent pictures of bears when hunting. Previous hunts have been much, much easier despite using (I think) the same equipment?
Soon enough Bob saw my flag and came in to get me. We wrapped Schrodinger's Bear in a tarp and hauled it out. I should have gotten a few better pictures in the bush, but I didn't think of that until it was in the boat.
We left and picked up Amanda at my stand from the previous night. She had seen one bear come in but didn't get a shot. Back at camp the guy from Kansas had shot and probably cleanly missed a bear in Blind Bay (tree branch?). One Arizona guy took a bear very similar to mine with his bow and the two guys from Missouri/Iowa hunting together (to get it on camera) each shot. Missouri shot a smaller bear while Iowa's would have to be looked for in the morning.
It was a late night of skinning/quartering and eating dinner. I did get a few more pictures of my bear back at camp but with all the commotion it was hard to do it right - and with three bears near the skinning shed it was a bit bloody. My bear wasn't quite the monster that I know is out there, but I was happy. Schrodinger's bear will be tasty and if I had shot a whopper I wasn't quite sure what I would do with it. If there is any disappointment it is that I'm done bear hunting now - this will be greatly tempered by the fact that it is now time for some serious fishing!
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