This past May, I went on a bear hunt in Quebec.  Before I left, I was informed that I would see lots of bears and be able to take my pick from many bears which sounded great to me.  I have seen very few black bears in the wild and was relieved to hear I would see lots of bears.  It would give me an opportunity to see a few small bears and a few large ones so I wouldn’t make a mistake and shoot a 100-pound cub.  After practicing for several weeks, I headed north with dreams of big bruins dancing in my head.

            I was hunting with a few pro staff members for G5 and Summit Treestands, the National Sales Manager from Summit Treestands, a few government workers from Buffalo, New York and my friend from Knight & Hale Game Calls, Lawrence Taylor.  Most of the men I hunted with had hunted with this outfitter for several years and had experienced great success.  This year must have been an off year.  Rain became a familiar sight.  The pitter patter of raindrops on the bill of my hunting cap was a regular occurrence during the week of hunting.  By day three and four of the hunt, small mud puddles near my treestand quickly became small ponds.  Bear sightings were few and far between for most of us in camp.  Bears aren’t fond of cold weather and by the middle of the week, I wasn’t either!

            Hunters spotted the occasional bear during the week, but Lawrence and I didn’t see one.  By the fourth day, I had all of the ground squirrels who visited my bait sight named.  One cocky squirrel named Bubba almost got a broadhead in the butt several times but I was afraid the moment I let an arrow fly, a bear would arrive and catch me off guard.  So, reluctantly I kept my arrow on the rest hoping I would see a bear.

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            By day five, I was ready to go home.  After briefly talking with Lawrence, we decided we had had enough.  We agreed to go home early after five days of not seeing a bear or fresh sign near our stands.  When we returned to camp that night, something changed my mind.  Jack Code, a Summit Treestand Pro Staff member offered to let me sit in his stand the last night.  He had a Moultrie Camera near his bait and he said he would check it the next morning for me to see if any bears had visited the bait.  Code shot a bear at the location and one individual sat in the stand the night before without seeing a bear, but I told myself if a picture showed up on the camera, I would hunt that stand the last night.

Without this scouting camera I would have went home a day early instead of staying and harvesting my big bear.

            There was a large boar that had been captured on camera.  The problem was he came to the bait after dark.  I decided to hunt regardless and see what happened.  Unfortunately, the scenery was the same.  The squirrels came and went most of the evening.  As darkness began to fall, I decided to lower my bow to the ground.  As I grabbed my rope to hook up my bow, I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye.  It was a large bear.  He sniffed a tree covered in Bear Magnet, a bear attractant, and then sat on his butt facing me.  After what seemed like a decade, he stood and turned broadside.  With only moments of shooting light left, I shot him.  I heard the death moan a few seconds later and after six days of hunting without seeing a bear, I shot the only one I had seen.  I had seen him for only 3 minutes, but it was enough time to capitalize on the opportunity.

            A few things saved the day for me.  Without the trail camera catching the bear coming to the bait, I wouldn’t have hunted that night.  Having a quality digital camera like the Moultrie camera Jack Code had made a huge difference.  It gave me hope… and a glimmer of hope was all I needed.  The other thing that made a difference was remaining scent free.  The wind was blowing directly at the bear when I took a shot.  After six days of taking my Scent-Lok suit in and out of my ScenTote, I wondered if it was worth the headache of taking my suit off after every hunt and placing it in my ScenTote bag.  As the arrow passed through the 300+ pound bear, the answer was yes.  It proves that every minute you are on a stand, you have a chance of success.  That last night in the stand I thought about heading back to camp early.  Sticking it out until the end proved to be worthwhile.                                           

My 2008 Quebec Black Bear