My mind started going 100MPH as soon as I woke up. I don't have anything to prove to anyone but felt panic over shooting a small bear. I knew I had to get up. Coffee was also calling ... loudly.
Mosquito bites reminded me to put my Thermacell into my hunting pack. Then I went through my hunting and fishing stuff to make sure everything was ready - or at least ready enough. I'm sure I'll forget something. At least the forecast weather for the first few days looks spectacular.
It took me a while to get the TV to work on satellite allowing me to watch all the terrible things that were happening across Canada and the world. Canada's reputation for being "nice" wasn't seeming very real. I wished I had a book or some other distraction.
After a larger breakfast than I ever eat at home, Tyler took me out fishing. Being alone in camp, I'm sometimes odd-man-out in a larger group, but this gave me lots of room to fish. Temperatures were cool but definitely not cold. We went up to Lamprey Right Bay and cast for pike. I caught a few hammer handles, but that was it.
We looped around to Stump Bay and cast there for a while. I tried a handful of lures but only had a few tepid hits. There is a tendency to think that choosing the right lure will mean catching a lot of fish, but I'm quite sure fishing is more dictated by the fish than the tackle. Still, changing locations and lures are about the only levers ... or just give up.
I did hook into a couple nice smallmouth bass. These weren't from areas that looked very bassy, so I can only assume that these fish thought they were pike.
Fishing over and after lunch Kevin took Mark and I a short way up river, dropping me off at Petrushney Bay. I've hunted this stand at least once before and didn't see anything from it. It was now a nice double-ladder stand that was easy to get comfortable - or at least as comfortable as possible for the first night in a stand in many months.
Once settled, the crows were crazy noisy. I know crows are considered really smart birds but do they have to talk about it so much? The mosquitoes were right on the edge of being annoying. They would come in by ones and twos. There was just enough wind that I wasn't sure the Thermacell would would work well, so I didn't use it. I was also assuming that they couldn't get through my heavier clothes I was wearing. This ended up being a BIG mistake. Once back at the lodge for the evening I had huge Manitoba welts all over. Lesson learned ... or not.
The weather was breezy to almost windy at times, while at other times it would get scary calm. I tried to keep still on the stand, but did end up squirming a bit more than I would like. Around 7:00 I saw a distinctive shape in front of me. Freezing, I saw a bear carefully moving through the brush toward me and the bait. It looked right up at me, backed out, but then changed its mind and went back in to the bait. The barrel was on its side and the bear next to it barely came up to the top (side) of it. I just didn't think this was a big bear - maybe in the 5 foot range. It stayed in the area for about 20 minutes, knocking the logs out of the way and happily eating popcorn. Maybe it was hoping for a movie too.
About 10 minutes after that first left, a second one came out. It was definitely a bit smaller than the first, and much more cautious. It only stayed for about 5 minutes, following nearly the same path away as the first bear.
I realized through the bear encounters that the weather had turned breathlessly calm. The mosquitoes had also amped up their aggression. But it was too late for all the movement that firing up the Thermacell would require.
Around 8:25 a third bear came it after sounding like an elephant stomping through the grass - bears making this much noise is not very normal. I guesstimated its size was maybe approaching six feet, but probably still under. It hung around eating candy and popcorn until right near the end of shooting light.
The path to get back to the boat landing was a bit of a twist and I didn't want to try to find it in the dark so I just sat quietly in ever darkening stand. A fourth bear came in much later. I never did see it - seeing just the black silhouette of a black bear against the black night. I'm not sure what it was eating, but it was chomping very, very loudly. Five minutes later I heard the boat come in. The bear didn't run until Kevin was very close to the area. I carefully and quietly got out and we walked back to the boat.
Mark hadn't seen anything - which I know makes it a long time to sit on the stand.
Back in camp, Curt had shot a small bear - not the monster he was after. About half the hunters had seen bears. One of the Texas guys had passed on what looked like a brute. Of course until one touches it it is Schrodinger's bear - both big and small, bears are so incredibly difficult to judge on the hoof.
I showed my pictures of the bears to a few of the guides. General consensus was that they were decent but not monsters. This didn't make me feel very good about not shooting - the previous year's two-bear sightings was fresh in my memory. The other experienced hunter from Minnesota agreed it wasn't a day one shooter - at least making me feel a bit better. After eight bear hunts, I still struggle with bear size and trying to reconcile that with what I know is out there, what I'll be content with and what kind of regret I might be setting myself up to live with. So much of hunting is mental and an exercise in personal psychology. I sometimes struggle with this since in the absence of any external influence, I'd probably be just fine with an average bear. But between the cost of coming up here, guides and other others, and this being my eighth hunt - there is an illusion of pressure. Yet I know the external is only an illusion.
Back in camp we had lasagna with enough garlic to kill Dracula. This was good, but a bit much when dinner is after I'd prefer to be in bed. Given the late hour - I think the Caesar salad - which had a really good spicy dressing - would have been enough.
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