I had a slower morning which allowed me to slowly start to feel human again. A morning nap helped even more, to the point I was pretty sure I would be able to be fully functional.
After breakfast Kevin and I went up above the rapids to fish for pike - although there wasn't any rapids at all with the low water level. We fished a bay for a while and brought in many pike. None of them were very big, but it was the best fish action I had seen on this trip. The river was calm, making it a truly spectacular morning.
Then Kevin brought in a nice Smallmouth and in taking is spoon off, he managed to brutally pierce his finger with the hook. He tried to remedy the situation, but we had to end the morning of fishing early to get better attention to his impalement. In the end, he went to the hospital which took most of the day.
Back in camp, Dalton, who was bow hunting the previous night, had recovered his bear - a nice boar.
Lunch was shore lunch which is always good, if not the healthiest thing to eat.
Then it was upriver to hunt at Metros. As soon as the mosquitoes came out I learned my lesson and got the Thermacell out. I don't know if bears can smell it, but it sure does work to stop those blood suckers.
Feeling much better than the previous day, it was pretty easy to get settled. I'd rather see bears, but watching the squirrels was entertaining. I wish I spoke squirrel since I'm sure they announce when a bear is in the area.
The wind picked up considerably which made it very hard to hear anything. This was made even worse since the stand is near the water and the waves also increased. While the wind died down a bit later, the waves never did.
At some point I noticed movement near the barrel which was not a squirrel. It took a few minutes to realize it was actually a turtle. I can only assume that the turtle wanted some popcorn?
As it got dark I saw movement on the far side of the barrel and watched a bear slowly work toward the bait. When I first saw it, it almost looked like it was waving at me - or I've been spending too much time on the bear stand.
The bear came in and knocked the wood out of the barrel. If there was some ambiguity about the first night's bears, there was none that this was a small bear. It only ate a little bit before heading off to the left, then coming back in for another mouthful. I had to really think, but I just wasn't at the same point as the previous year when I shot a small bear. Would I shoot something like this on the last night? I'd say I'll have time to think, but when a bear comes in, sometimes there is little time to think.
It stayed on until dark when Carter (and Cassidy) came in to get me. The full moon was absolutely mesmerizing.
Back in camp, Jody had shot a small bear. A few other bears were seen, but we are still at four people with tags in their pockets. Pork roast ended the day. The bear hunting glass is either half full or half empty, but either way, there are three days left.
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