As I walked out of my cabin the loons were wailing. It felt like a magical morning. I know bear hunting is generally more productive in the afternoon, but I was excited to try a morning hunt. Part of me was also a bit bummed about losing a morning of fishing. We all have choices and priorities. Being such a morning person, I've always thought morning hunts are special.
I walked down to the dock and Dave was already waiting for me, "Let's go Big Guy." I guess that was me. Dave took me to Petrushney Bay again. I was happy about this. It felt a little bit late since it was just getting light when we left, but mid-morning is better and no sense tripping over stuff getting in before dark. Dave fill the bait barrel and I was in the stand.
Time passed quickly enough. Temperatures were cool making me hopeful bears would be moving. Several times I saw black things moving in the brush behind the barrel only to see it was 20-pound crows hopping around on the ground.
While it was a very nice morning, it wasn't a very nice bear hunting morning since I didn't see anything. Vance picked me up after getting Rebecca and we headed back in for lunch. She hadn't seen anything either.
We only had a bit of time in camp before it was time to head out for the afternoon. Carter had fed all the stands and said Reef, Holiday and Kendall Right were best so that is where the three of us went with me on Reef Bay. The walk to the shore was through foot-sucking mud so I borrowed a pair of boots just to get on terra firma. Unfortunately they had holes in them so I probably would have been better with my existing boots. At least it wasn't cold or the wet foot may have been painful.
I'm not sure if it was because I sat all morning or due to the stand itself, but it was incredibly difficult to get comfortable at first. This was made a bit more awkward since there was no front rail to lean stuff against. The floor was also a very open grate making it hard to position my shooting sticks. But soon enough I found the right way to sit to stay comfortable ... enough.
The weather was warm to hot and it was once again very windy. Unlike the previous night, there was no hiding from the wind since the stand is almost right on the water. The wind blew in from the west; it wasn't too annoying, and it did keep the mosquitoes away. The view out across the water was pretty.
I was hopeful as it got dark that the cooling temperatures would bring on bear movement. Sadly, there was none and as it got dark I heard the boat come in to get me. Cole had shot a nice bear very early in the evening - it was already skinned and in the freezer. Rebecca had shot one a bit before sunset and it was in the boat.
I was a bit upset about being the last person in camp without a bear. Or maybe I was just beating myself up about passing on those bears on the first hunting day in camp. Don't pass on a bear on Monday that you would shoot on Friday. I've never believed this before, but was seeing some wisdom in this.
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