2024 Bear Hunt Day 5 - And Then There Were Two

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.

2024 Bear Hunt Day 4 - The Meanest Sow In The Woods

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.

2024 Bear Hunt Day 3 - Goodbye To My Fishing Pole

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.

2024 Bear Hunt Day 2 - Stuck In The Middle

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.

2024 Bear Hunt Day 1 - Bombing The Nursing Home

It got cool enough overnight that the air conditioner quit, but it was humid enough outside to make it just clammy in the hotel room in the morning.  So after a quick shower and some futzing around, I packed up and hit the road.

It was early and still dark.  I love watching all the wind turbines all blinking in unison.

I passed through the most evil toll both in the world - Illinois tolls really suck - and I was into Wisconsin.

It started to get light right near Madison.  Traffic picked up just a little bit, but it was still early on a Saturday so it was never an issue.  Then I continue north and west.

I finished listening to The Ends of the World and it got a lot better as I got into it more.  Early in the book felt very repetitive, but later in the book there were a lot of interesting anecdotes about prehistoric animals, when they actually lived and how much time separated some of them.  I also came away with the belief that geology, paleontology and astronomy are all somewhat petty and driven too much by egos.  Being a scientist myself (chemistry), I can say I see this all too often at work...

There was one laugh-out-loud moment when the author was talking about the possibility of the dinosaurs' end and the huge asteroid that hit Mexico being completely coincidental since some believe the asteroid happened after the dinos were already dying out, and it was referred to as the "Bombing the Nursing Home Theory" - which I thought was really funny (maybe you had to be there...).  I also really liked how he went into detail about how some animals have adaptations to conditions and predators that no longer exist - meaning animals like pronghorns that are laughably fast compared to their predators are essentially running away from ghosts.  Although I guess they still can't outrun bullets.  All in all it was a pretty good book.  It ended on a mixed note which I found oddly comforting.  No matter what we (humans) do, on the geologic time scale, things will end up where they end up.  I am cosmically meaningless.

I didn't want to start a new book, so I listened to pod casts the rest of the trip.

The drive went well enough.  Temperatures started cool but got warmer.  Traffic remained light to tolerable the whole day.  I realized as I got near Eau Claire that I had finally started to relax a little bit.

As I continued heading north, the area got beautifully boggy and northy.  This kind of scenery always tells me I'm headed to an adventure.

I continued on to Baudette where I had a hotel at a fishing resort right on the river.  I loved the place - I may have to come up early on a future trip since I have never caught a sturgeon.  The view was absolutely gorgeous and right across the Rainy River was Canada.  I couldn't help think of my 2021 trip where I stared across the same river in Fort Fort Frances at the United States.

After wandering around for a little while I returned to my room to veg out before preparing to head across the border to bears in the morning.

2024 Bear Hunt Day -1 - A Year Older

I've been managing some health annoyances for years.  They were noticeably worse last year to the point that I was wondering if travel was going to have to be parked.  Either that, or I was finally compelled to "do something" about them.  This has not been easy ... or cheap.  I hate trying to navigate the complexities of the health care system.  I've spent more time with doctors over the last year than the previous 20 combined.  In a case of life imitates art in the form of The House of God, I was turfed to many doctors before I reached the actual surgeon.  But a few weeks ago I held my breath and put my life in the hands of a doctor.  My follow-up visit with the surgeon was exceedingly brief, "My work here is done."  I'm uncomfortable that things may deteriorate again, but am hopeful a few lifestyle changes will minimize that chance.  There are frequent reminders that I am aging, but all this crap has made me feel quite old at times.

And yet, more than anything, I'm ecstatic that my recovery has been rapid since I'm about to head north for my ninth bear hunt.  Unquestionably, I am very fortunate.

After a harried Thursday at work, there was nothing that required me to be at work Friday so I decided to work from home.  As a day before the Labor Day weekend, I was expecting it to be quiet.  And it was not.  I did get a quick dog walk in; it was so heart-warming seeing my older dog happy to have a cool morning walk and my younger dog able to walk with her bestie.  Oddly, I think my younger dog must have knew something was different since she slept in the "old dog spot" for quite a while.

Eventually early afternoon came around and I dumped a quote by Tupac Shakur into my Out of Office notification, wrapped up a few things and shut down.  I packed up my last things and was on the road.

I initially listened to the Henry James' story The Jolly Corner.  Spencer Brydon ends up walking his boyhood home being haunted by the ghost of who he could have been.  Timing was odd for a story about unlived lives.  A guy I used to work with just received a prestigous promotion at work.  It is totally deserved and I'm really happy for him, but it did make me think about how things could have been different for me.  Actually this whole concept of unlived lives is something I've been noodling all year...

Then I switched to non-fiction in the form of The Ends of the World by Peter Brannen.

The drive went well enough.  Indianapolis is perpetually under construction.  There was one slowdown just as I was getting out of Indy, but it didn't last too long.  Then on into Illinois and my hotel.

The hotel was nice enough (I guess), but had been refinished by someone who doesn't know plumbing.  But it was only for one night.

2024 Lake Erie Walleye Part II - A Spectacular Day

Last year a large property near where I live went up for sale for stupid money.  The price dropped through the year to the point it got mildly interesting.  Unfortunately, it was more interesting to someone else at the same time and they put in a bid that was accepted.  I was disappointed, but also oddly relieved.  I'm quite sure, had our bid been accepted, that it would now seem like an albatross.  I had talked with the farmer across from the property a few times throughout the summer, "Mostly I just want it for deer hunting."  That led to further comments and connecting with another neighbor Doug on both of our love for outdoor activities.  A few road conversations through the summer and Doug organized a Lake Erie Walleye trip.  "I'm in!"

Timing was perhaps not ideal, but I've used very little vacation so far.  Going with a few people I don't know has the potential to be awkward, but being willing to risk awkwardness might be important once in a while.

So after a full day of work Wednesday, I snuck out of work at the earliest possible moment, feeling like I was dodging 3 layers of management in the process.

Once at home, I took the dogs on a quick walk before finishing getting ready for fishing and buttoning everything up.

Doug showed up right near on-time and we headed to pick up Pat and James.  Pat had extensive outdoor experience, but this was to be a first for James.

We all spent the time getting to know each other on the trip north.  Traffic southbound was ugly near Dayton, but heading north was as smooth as Dayton ever is.

We stopped for dinner at Steak 'n Shake, breaking my over-a-year streak of not eating at any restaurants.  The food was surprisingly mediocre and quite disappointing; I'll have no problems starting a new longevity record of restaurant avoidance.  We got to the hotel after dark.  The hotel was basic but also right on the water.  I bet on the right day it is pretty.  Pat and I shared a room; thankfully we were both ready for sleep soon after getting there.

I was surprisingly able to sleep until 3:23.  When I woke up, my brain went into overdrive so I tried to busy myself with my phone, but the cell signal was so terrible that this was not possible.  I may have traded a lung for the WiFi password at that moment, but didn't want to turn on the light to risk further annoying Pat.  As it was I felt like I was a baboon banging gongs in the room.  Coffee and a quick shower and we met for breakfast.  I was glad I brought a few apples since gas station food looked even more disappointing than the previous evening's fast food.

It took a bit to find the marina before we piled into Ned's boat and headed out onto the lake.

The lake had big slow swells which were remnants of the previous day's winds.  But other than that, the morning was spectacular with light winds and a gorgeous sunrise.

We started fishing where we ended my July fishing.  We had a few hits, but it was slow.  Other chatter over the radio was already mentioning the slow fishing elsewhere.  Even the perch fishing sounded terrible.  Later in the day a head boat mentioned barely 1 fish per person.

Ned did his best moving us around.  We brought in many catfish (Doug kept a few), a few sheephead and thankfully a few walleye.  Eventually we ended up on "The Shoals" which was still really slow, but at least we were catching fish.  We would catch one or two walleye on each drift; it felt like we were being titrated with fish.  A drop of one more walleye and Ned takes us around, "...one more time."  A few of the fish were quite respectable in size.

Later in the day it started to feel like work.  But it was one of the most spectacular days I've ever seen on Lake Erie.  Almost no wind, just a hint of swells and perfect temperatures.

After catching the unlucky 13th walleye, we seemed to be stuck.  We went back to our starting point, and I instantly caught ... another catfish.  The bite after that just stopped.

With only four of us we had a bit more room on the boat, and between the weather and banter, it was a great day.  Thankfully, all of our personalities worked well.  Not knowing anyone going in, I was glad none of the other guys were complainers.

Fish cleaning didn't take too long before we were headed south.  It took forever to get to I-75, but once we got there, getting home went pretty fast.  Thankfully Dayton cooperated.

During one lull in the conversation, I started to try to contrast my two recent Erie fishing trips.  Obviously the fishing was better in July, with better weather on this trip.  But the biggest difference was the people.  I thoroughly enjoyed both, but on the July trip, with mostly "work" people, I felt like I had to maintain a work filter at least loosely in place.  I'm not sure I ever really fit in anywhere, but on this second trip, I was a little freer to be something resembling me.

I got home right at dark.  A few minutes to button things up and I was in bed at nearly my normal time.  There is still much clean-up to do, which can happen over the weekend.

And the next (BIG) adventure is soon...