I had partially packed up the evening before so I was able to have a quick cup of coffee while I finished getting ready to leave. Dave had said to text him before I left and he would help me load up by bear. I felt a bit bad about this - these guides seem to work 24/7. But he met me near the freezer and I loaded up before a quick goodbye. I pulled out onto the road at almost exactly 5:00.
I decided to avoid the gravel road on the way home. This added about 20 miles, but no time and lessoned aggravation. It might have been partially negated by some construction, but it made the dark morning a bit easier.
I was listening to Congratulations, Who Are You Again?: A Memoir by Harrison Scott Key. It was pretty good. I got a bit annoyed by how he kept talking about how funny he was. There were some funny bits, but much of it felt a little bit forced.
As I motored through south Manitoba, I got one more sunrise, no doubt it would have been better if viewed through something other than a windshield; I did feel like I was one of the only people on the road.
I breezed through the border. "Have any alcohol or tobacco?"
"Nope and nope."
"Have a nice day."
I finished Congratulations and overall it was good. I liked the way his narrative told the story about how dreams change as he discovered he was already living his dream.
I find it frustrating how Ford allows me to sort of search for what I want on my USB stick, but then only teases and disables the ability to scroll. This is more dangerous than letting me quickly find what I want since I try and fail ... and try and fail ... and try and fail...
I may have to move up a few years and put my books and podcasts on my phone before I leave on my adventures. Or, heaven forbid, stream them...
US2 was surprisingly tolerable before I worked my way down to the interstate which was annoying, especially when I neared Madison. My sister texted me to suggest I go an alternate route since there was some kind of bike/marathon thing near where she lived. I got to her house with time to get caught up.
In the morning I was once again on the road for the last leg toward home. The final part of the drive went smooth enough. Indy sucked, but what else is new.
At home, SO had mowed the lawn. She is wonderful. This made the final work of unpacking, taking care of a bear and cleaning up much easier.
I woke up to a headache, but thankfully coffee magically helped.
I met Chris and Dave down by the dock at 6:00. We piled into the boat and motored out of the bay.
I was dropped off at "Earl's Stand" which was a newer stand and so one I had never sat in before. I really liked it. It was comfortable and a good distance from the bait with a blocking ridge behind.
I know mornings are less likely to be productive, but it was an absolutely beautiful morning. Temperatures were cool with just a light breeze. I love watching all the animals wake up; it even seems sometimes like the trees wake up in the morning. Loons were wailing in this distance - I live for these placid moments.
But no bears showed up. The most interesting thing that I saw was a weasel and it only stayed for about 30 seconds.
Dave came and picked me up late morning. Chris had seen the big bear right after he was dropped off, but wasn't situated yet. Likely that bear can be colored ... gone.
After lunch, I had a quick walk and then a nap before a final sit for bears. I was down to the witching hour. I met Dave, Chris and Lockler again down at the dock. We motored out.
We initially checked Chris' morning bait (Holiday), but it hadn't been touched. So we continued to go up river and I was dropped off at Ranger Station. I likely have sat on the stand before, but not for a very long time.
The bait is very near the shore. The wind had picked up and between the wind and the waves crashing against the shore it was impossible to hear anything. But after approaching 40 hours on the bear stand, having noise and wind to cover was not a bad situation.
Not much happened for a few hours. I replayed the past week's events over in my head. I found myself thinking about home, and regrettably work.
Movement beyond the bait caught my attention. I saw a bear at the edges milling around. I watched it for about 15 minutes. It finally came into the bait.
I watched the bear for a while longer. I was having a very hard time judging the bear's size; this can be difficult on the best of days, but with the pressure of the hunt winding down, it was even more challenging. I thought the bear might make six feet, but I was also realistic enough that thinking that could just be unrealistic wishfulness. But shooting a bear is a binary decision; either the bullet leaves the barrel or it does not. And what this also meant is that I may either go home with this bear or go home with a tag. I'm not sure I felt great about any of the choices, but ultimately one choice would allow me to smoke bear shoulders once at home. I waited for the bear to turn broadside and fired.
It ran out of where I could see and I heard it moan. I knew it was over in seconds. After things quieted down I got out of the stand and easily found it. It was smaller than I thought, but one big lesson I've learned is that once the bullet leaves the chamber, I'm happy as long as what I am after is recovered. I knelt down next to the bear. It was a beautiful Manitoba bear with a gorgeous thick coat.
I know I'm unbelievably fortunate to have gone on nine successful bear hunts.
It was late, but I got back into the stand to wait to be picked up. A little after dark Carter, Lockler and Chris came to get me. Chris had seen a similar sized bear, but the stand creaked when he drew his bow. He was going home with a tag, but he had a very realistic view of the situation. As we left the bay, I sort of laughed at myself; by passing up on the larger bears Tuesday, I guess I had held out for a smaller bear. But I was peacefully content with where this binary decision ended up, even if it was a "last day" bear.
On the way back to camp, I felt the "Lucky Penny" in my pocket. As we boated through the rapids on the way back to camp, I threw the penny into the rapids. The talisman had become a distraction; I sacrificed it to the gods of the river.
Back at camp, the guides made quick work of my bear. We talked about the week as we all prepared to depart. I'm somewhat amused how quickly we get to know each other in bear camp. This was an exceptionally good group to hang out with. The people at camp are almost like family at this point.
Overnight rain meant finding any blood trail from the wolf went from unlikely to nearly-impossible. Carter and I talked in the morning and decided not to look for the wolf, but they would look next time that stand is baited. Given the overall picture, the chance of a hit was quite unlikely.
So that meant another morning of fishing after breakfast. Carter took me out fishing a few bays. Numbers of pike were pretty decent through the morning, but size remained stubbornly small. It was still fun and the weather was near perfect with cool temperatures an just a light breeze.
After lunch, we headed to the road stands for the afternoon. We were both on stands near Rice Lake with me being put at Duck Pond. It was a single ladder stand, nicely tucked into some trees. It was surprisingly easy to get comfortable even being a single since there was a hook for my bag and it creeked a bit less than some of the taller stands. It felt like I was very close to the bait.
Not long after I had been in the stand, I heard something pounding away from me that sounded a lot like a bear running. I couldn't help but wonder if a bear had snuck up behind me. About 15 minutes later, just after 4:00, I caught a glimpse of a bear on the ridge beyond the bait. A small bear had likely circled around, intent on eating popcorn.
It took its time coming in. It was a very small bear. I may be getting desperate at this point, but not four feet desperate.
But it was encouraging to see the bear so early. It was quite nervous and only stayed for a short time before running away.
The afternoon was glorious bear hunting conditions. Temperatures were cool but not cold. Much of the time there was breathlessly no wind. The only negative to these conditions was that every movement felt like banging gongs.
Around 6:00 I saw movement again. The same bear came into the stand; it was easily identified by a thin blaze on its chest. It again came in for a few bites before running away. I saw it again near 7:00; this time it did not come into the bait.
Sadly, that was the only bear that I saw that evening. Darkness came with Carter and Lockler coming in to get me.
Dave had picked up Chris. He had seen a sow with cubs and another bear that he couldn't get a shot at.
We were both down to the witching hour. As we ate our late dinner, we made plans with Dave for a morning hunt.
I ran into Matt as I was walking to the lodge. With bear in hand, he decided to head home due to family obligations.
So after a breakfast of ham and French toast, I headed out with Carter for fishing.
Temperatures had cooled significantly overnight to the point that it was almost cold in the wind of the boat ride. We stayed below the rapids and tried several bays. I caught a few pike, all of them small and one smallmouth bass. Fishing has been challenging this year; some years I can't even throw a lure without something jumping into the boat. The largest pike I've caught to this point is less than 30 inches.
After lunch, Lockler and Carter took Chris and me upriver for bears. Chris was dropped off again at Holiday - hoping to see the previous night's bear just a smidge earlier. I went to Bass Island which was quite a bit farther upriver. As we boated away, it felt more than ever like I was leaving civilization.
Once at Bass Island, we walked in and I got situated. I was in fantastic spirits - I loved the stand and easily got comfortable. The stand had the right mix of open area and cover. Temperatures were almost perfectly cool. Wind was light and right in my face. There was a chance of rain so I wore my rain suit and I was very comfortable; I was falling into the groove of bear hunting.
Compared to the road stand with ATVs and vehicles in the distance, or even the previous night's stand where there was more boat traffic, Bass Island was unbelievably quiet ... at least at first. As the afternoon stretched into evening, I think every goose in Manitoba decided to hang out behind me in the bay somewhere. They were mercilessly noisy - flying in and out and doing all kinds of goose things. I could at times tune it out, but then I would hear it again and it overwhelmed the area.
I was sure I was going to see bears so I got a little excited when I heard footsteps behind me. But I knew it wasn't a bear; it just did not sound like it could be a bear. Looking to my right, I caught a glimpse of something blonde through the small trees, then I briefly saw a head. For the first time in nine bear hunts I was seeing a wolf. I always wondered what I would do if I saw one, since they are so dog-like and I'm quite the dog person. But I swung my gun in that direction. I also briefly noodled how much a shot might bugger-up my bear hunt. I know for many animals a single gunshot often doesn't elicit a reaction, but wasn't sure about bears?
The wolf crossed into a clear spot and looked up at me, then looked forward again. I had no time to overthink. I dropped the crosshairs and fired. At about 30 yards it was a gimme ... right? The reaction of the wolf was not what I expected if it was hit or if it was not. If hit, I figured it was drop instantly or if poorly hit run like the devil had just spoke to it. If I missed, I figured it was also do the skedaddle. What I heard sounded like it just walked away. I was ... confused.
I had about an hour and a half to overthink what happened. I so desperately wanted to go look for it or evidence of a hit. But I knew that while a gunshot wouldn't screw things up, me tromping around absolutely 100% would. I stayed put. I kept looking over where the wolf had been hoping for a miracle. At one point, I saw the butt of something dark with a long tail - I can only believe this was a much smaller dark wolf since I couldn't think of what else lived in the Manitoba brush that size and shape. I suppose it was also possible that I was hallucinating. The brain is the one organ of the body which does not tell us when it is malfunctioning.
Darkness came quietly.
Carter and Lockler came to get me. We looked for around 15 minutes, but on the ground everything looked different from the height of the stand. And with darkness, it was much more challenging to find any kind of sign. We piled into the boat and headed downriver to get Chris.
Chris had seen a few bears, but didn't get the clean broadside shot he wanted. Phyllis (his SO), was giving advice based on his trail camera - which was quite humorous. Everyone else had eaten dinner, so it was just Chris and I having a very late steak dinner. It was great, even if a bit much so late.
In the movie Pulp Fiction "The Wolf" comes to fix things caused by Vincent's ... um ... careless gun handling. I went to bed mercilessly beating myself up about the evening's situation.
Before 2023, my last miss on a big game animal would have been 2013. This wolf would be my second miss in less than a year; I did not want to believe I could miss at that range. Self-loathing can be a full time occupation.
Whenever I find myself beating myself up this much, I try to pull out any lessons to salvage my sanity. What are the lessons from this blonde wolf? First - don't rush the shot. I've had to learn this lesson many times and sadly will likely need to do so again. Second - stay focused on the task at hand. Bears are what I was after. Seeing the wolf was cool enough. Living this lesson in the split second I had to make a decision is easier said than done; the soul-crushing reality is that I don't really think I'll have learned this sufficiently either.
I went to bed hoping that Harvey Keitel would come and fix the evening's situation.
After the previous day's activity, I was surprisingly able to sleep well, but still up early.
We all grouped for breakfast before starting a new day on the water. Dave took a group of tag-outs up river, I went with Carter to cast for pike while two other boats went for walleye.
Fishing was a little slow. I did hook into a few pike, none of them big; although there was one follower which looked decent. I also got another decent smallmouth.
We once again ended the morning right near Kendall, but oddly the bay didn't produce nearly as well as it often did.
Back in camp we had shore lunch. It was good, but there was probably enough food for 30 people. Then it was a quick nap before heading out for bears.
But first, a story...
Before heading out on the last night of my 2023 Bear Hunt, Faith gave me a "lucky penny" that Maureen had given her before she shot her bear. That day was successful for me, and I kept that penny with my bear hunting stuff. I gave that penny to Matt since he had not seen any bears yet.
Kevin and Lockler (sp?) took Matt, Chris and I upriver to hunt. Carla and Sawyer were on road baits.
I was dropped off at Reef Bay. It was a new stand since I had sat there previously which I was glad about since it wasn't that comfortable before. While still challenging to sit for so long, it was a bit better.
I was able to get relatively comfortable. The view to the actual bay was pretty and I could see the few boats that went by through the day.
I let my mind wander. So much of hunting is mental. Days like the previous one are exciting with bears running around fighting. But days like this Day 5 are placid and almost spiritual. It is amazing to be able to sit in a place so peaceful. I wouldn't have been surprised if there were less than five people within five miles of me.
At one point a buzzard landed in a dead tree directly opposite me. It felt ominous; I wasn't sure if it was ominous for me or the bears. Probably both. We are all temporary.
I thought a little bit about my dad. I don't come from a family with an outdoor tradition, but he seemed to get a kick out of my hunting when he was still alive. This year marks a full decade since we lost him.
Weather through the morning started out cloudy, then it got sunny and almost hot, followed by a new bank of cold, breezy clouds rolling in. As it started to quietly get dark, a few sprinkles began to fall. I could see the boat out in the bay waiting to pick me up; about the time light and dissipated, Dave and Lockler came in to get me. I was glad they took a covered boat since it started to rain harder.
We went to get Matt and Lockler came back, "We need the shotgun. Matt got a bear." We all got out of the boat and easily found Matt's bear about 50 yards from the bait. It was still barely alive; Dave finished it quickly with a load of 00Buck. Matt seemed both thrilled to get his first bear while also mentally processing the whole situation. There were jokes about the truly "lucky penny."
After taking some pictures, we went to get Chris who had seen a decent bear. Chris was bowhunting, and there was just not enough light to be able to see to shoot.
Somehow Dave maneuvered the boat through darkness so thick it could be felt. How these guys do this is totally beyond me.
Both Sawyer and Carla and shot bears as well, leaving just Chris and I with unpunched tags. Carla's bear had been at the stand I was on the previous night. I suspect it may have been the bear I thought long and hard about.
After a pork pot roast dinner, I exited early to sleep. It was very late and it didn't take me long to get to sleep, once again going over how much of hunting is mental.
After the first night of bear hunting, morning started a bit slower. But I still got up early for coffee and rigged up my borrowed fishing pole. I cast a few times; the pole worked better than my old crappy one, but the brace that held the reel hit my hand in an uncomfortable way. Oh well - beggars can't be choosey.
Sunrise came to a beautiful Manitoba morning.
After breakfast, Kevin once again took Matt and I out for fishing. We went above the rapids. Fishing was a little better than the previous day. We hooked into several fish and the pike were on average a bit bigger. We still didn't hook into any whoppers, but at least a bit better. There was one keeper pike in the bunch that I didn't get a picture of (and regret that slightly). Both Matt and I caught decent smallmouths too. Matt's was much larger.
We ended the morning by Kendalls which is usually really good for smalleys, but I did quite well with the northern pike there while Kevin and Matt ended by jigging for walleye - catching a few keepers.
After lunch Vance took myself and Sawyer (sp?) out to one of the road baits. I was on Construction which was a nice comfortable double. When I first got situated, it felt a bit weird to not be near the river and there were no other animals running around. I was worried it could be a long lonely afternoon. I knew there were bears in the area since there was quite a bit of poop, including a pile near the base of the stand (which looked oddly human...).
Around 4:00 I saw a flash of black near the bait and three cubs came out. I've seen cubs before so I knew I could be in for a good show.
Even in the relatively short time I watched these bears, I could see distinct personalities of the cubs. The two larger cubs were aggressive and fought a lot. The third smaller one bolted at the slightest risk.
These four bears were around for around two hours. The sow was a very good-sized bear. I noticed she had a large chomp taken out of the side of her face right near her right eye - almost certainly from a fight with another bear. I took a look at it through the scope at one point and could see it was red and oozy; it looked painful.
The bears would wander around, eat, fight ... it seemed to be a normal bear day. The more timid cub spent quite a bit of time in the tree next to me.
The sow spent quite a bit of time right next to me. She knew I was there, but seemed content to sleep. At one point all three cubs laid down at the base of another tree next to me while the sow went up to eat popcorn for a while. There was some obvious food-coma going on as they had eaten quite a bit of popcorn by this point.
After about two hours of fun, the bears got nervous and started looking away. Mom walked in that direction and while I couldn't see what happened, there was a knock-down fight which lasted a minute or so. All the cubs were in trees, including one hanging out in the tree right next to me.
They made there way down and out of the area and shortly another bear came out. It was smaller than the sow and not a shooter.
It stayed for a while until someone on an ATV came up somewhere behind me. It was close enough that I could hear the cooling system cycle on and off. It was really annoying and made the bear very nervous. The bear tolerated the ATV until it turned around and went back the other way. I thought I was going to be alone, but it only lasted a short time before another bear came out. It was a much nicer bear and I really thought about shooting it. But I could not get a good look at it since it immediately flopped down on the ground when it came in. It was definitely a 6+ foot bear, but I couldn't tell how much "+" it was.
It left and either came back or another similar bear came in with the same ambiguity for size. It stayed for a while before I saw another bear lurking in the woods beyond the bait. I could see cubs too, so I wasn't sure if it was a different sow, or the one I had already seen until I caught a glimpse of the chomp on her face.
She came into the bait and attacked the bear that was there. It was intense? Scary? Disconcerting? These two bears started tearing around the area in a skirmish that lasted several minutes. They were snarling and screaming and knocking down trees. At one point they tore, screaming their bear heads off right under the treestand. I wish I could have gotten video, but I could only catch glimpses of them. But seeing a knock-down, drag-out bear fight was wild. It was ... exciting.
Eventually the sow convinced the other bear to stay away, although I could hear both of them chomping their jaws at each other. The cubs came back out.
As it got dark, I heard Vance come in to get me. All four bears (sow and cubs) climbed the tree next to me. When Vance saw this he said, "Aww F*ck!" This is not what I want to hear my bear guide say. I ended up having to get out of the tree with the meanest sow in the woods about 6 feet off the ground and 10 feet away from it. She was still snarling and snapping her jaws.
Quite frankly, it was one of the most exciting days of bear hunting ever - even without ever firing a shot.
Back in camp Curt and Reagan (sp?) had both shot bears very early. Kelly and Glenn (sp?) also shot bears.
I was exhausted after dinner and fell asleep reliving snarling bears.
I had slept about as well as I ever do which was rare in an unusual place. Maybe I'm starting to relax? Maybe...
After some coffee and putzing around, we all met at the lodge for a big breakfast. Then Kevin took Matt and I fishing.
We went to a few of the bays below the rapids and worked the weedy edges. Fishing was pretty slow. Throughout the morning Matt and I combined hooked into somewhere around 10 pike. None of them were big, but when fish hit, it is still quite fun. A couple would have been keeper/eater size, but Kevin didn't say to keep any of them.
At one point my cast went wild. This happens, but it also made a funny noise - I had lost an eyelet near the top of the rod. I started to take they eyelet off to finish fishing, and when I did this I noticed the eyelet cup left a sharp edge that I didn't want near my line. When I started to gently push this down with a small pliers, the pole disintegrated at the joint. As best I can figure, it was a cheap rod/reel combo I could afford somewhere around 1992 during the poverty years of college. I have definitely gotten my money's worth out of it.
Thankfully Matt had an extra rod with him that he let me use. On my first cast I caught a pike. Matt balked (jokingly). "OK Matt, half of this fish is yours..." The mood in the boat was good even if the fishing was a bit slow.
By early afternoon we headed back to camp for lunch. I had time for a quick nap and a shower, and it was time to head out for bears.
Kevin took me to Petrushney Bay (I still don't know how to spell it). I've sat in this stand several times; I don't think I've ever shot a bear here, but have definitely seen them.
It took me a while to get comfortable. Not because it was an uncomfortable stand - if anything the opposite. But just getting into the groove of hunting took some time. I let myself doze a little bit early on, knowing most activity would be likely to be later.
The evening passed very slowly. And the evening passed without any bears; this makes for a painfully long and slow time.
But there were many positives to the forced slow down. The absolutely enormous crows were fun to watch. There were some adorable birds (which I could not get a picture of) that kept sitting near me. Whiskey Jacks are fun to watch and have a lot of lore associated with them in Canadian history. Unfortunately, this luck can be either good or bad. And so it is. I have good luck to even be able to go on a Canadian bear hunt, but on this day I have bad, as I never saw a bear.
Thankfully the bugs were almost non-existent after the first few minutes in the stand. There was enough wind that it made hearing much difficult, especially since I was sitting in some quaking aspens. As often happens, when darkness approached, it got breathlessly still. I was surprised that even sitting where I was, I could hear the roar of the dam. I love being able to go to wild places, but it is truly difficult to escape the cacophony of humans.
I was the first hunter back in camp while the other people filtered in. Matt and I had not seen bears, everyone else had. Jody had shot a bear, but needed to return in the morning to look for it. Most of the bears were smaller - one woman had an adorable video of a very young bear; I'll always freely admit some cognitive dissonance at shooting bears... Kelly had seen five bears - all during the last 45 minutes on the stand.
After a very late salmon dinner, I bolted to go to sleep.
After a very hot and humid summer, it was almost nice to wake up to an almost cold room (without using air conditioning). Outdoor temperatures were near 50, so not exactly cold by bear hunting standards. Vance had asked that we not get to camp before 2:00. I wasn't sure that was possible, but having a slow morning wasn't bad. Still, too much time can be ... too much.
After I couldn't stand it anymore, I packed up all my stuff and hit the road. I was early, so I took my time. It was about an hour to the border and I breezed through. Including gun paperwork, I could have gotten out of there in about three minutes, but it took four since the printer wasn't working. I was in Canada!
I made my way north toward camp, stopping for coffee first, then fuel closer to camp. Lac du Bonnet was really smoky. I was worried there were forest fires in the area, but apparently the smoke was from almost a thousand miles away in Saskatchewan. I worked my way towards camp. There was no one parked at my cabin, so I parked there before going to the store. I talked with Maureen for a few minutes and saw Julia as she was running around getting things ready. I knew my cabin wouldn't be ready for a while. After being in the trucklette for so long, I was happy to walk all the way to the power dam. On the way back, I saw Vance and I jumped in the truck to tag along while he baited land-site baits.
We caught up as we went stand to stand. All of them had been hit well.
We went to Rice Lake and took the side-by-side for some of them. On the way back, the side-by-side slid off the firm (and I use that term loosely) ground and into the bog. We were stuck - as in stuck stuck...
We tried a few things to get moving before Vance slammed a pick-axe he had along for beaver dams into the ground. I gunned the side-by-side and worked the winch while he held the winch cable to the axe. We did this several times until finally we got unstuck. I gunned it to higher ground while Vance yelled, "Go Go Go." Except he was actually yelling "Woah Woah Woah." Thankfully the axe didn't damage the side-by-side and the cable didn't get caught in anything. We were back in motion and I got my Junior Guide Badge.
Baiting the stands was fun. There was some monster bear poop by one of them and full of blueberries - probably nearing the last for the season.
Beavers had dammed up several areas and Vance partially dismantled them; it seemed futile. Beavers are quite the engineers. I can't help but admire them at some level.
Once back in camp I had a few minutes to unpack and start to organize my stuff. It felt really good to be back at bear camp. I have had a few days off and small adventures over the last several months, but I was really looking forward to a week of hunting and fishing.
I went down to the lodge and other people filtered in. I will be lucky if I remember even most of their names before the week is over. Dinner was a Thanksgiving feast before calling it an early night.
