Black Bear Hunt

MatthewG · 10-09-2005, 10:02 AM

Hey! I haven't posted on these forums for a while but decided it was time to start checking 'em out again. I went on a black bear hunt in Canada back in late August but haven't had the time to post about it till now with school and all. I've been dreaming about this hunt since my dad first went there two years ago. I live in the Chicago area and the outfitter, WFO Bear Hunts is located 60 miles N of Thunder Bay, so it was quite a drive, but I didn't really care.I was PUMPED.
We arrived at camp at around 2 or 3 so all we had time for was to change and get onto the stand. We brought both our rifles and bows. That night we decided to take the rifles, even though I wanted to take a bear with a bow.The weather was miserable, around 50 and rainy the whole time. Nothing came out. The following night I went out with my bow on what was supposed to be a "guaranteed" stand. Yeah right! I sat on that stand for three nights and saw diddly squat. The end of our hunt was drawing nearer so I was getting anxious to shoot one. Everyone else at camp had at least seen a bear. I was getting frustrated. I was sitting perfectly still every night, watched my scent, did everything right but nothing. Finally the fifth night, my persistance paid off.
I decided to switch stands that night. I was dropped off at my stand by a hunter from camp, Dave,at around 4 PM. I sat along the pipeline, which runs through all of Canada. It was pretty cold and windy. I sat there for 4 hours and figured that this night would end up like all of the others. At 8:10 i look under my stand and I see this big black blob. I'm just like Oh crap! My heart started racing. I was about 10 ft from this beast. After what seemed like an eternity, the bear started moving. He strolled around for about 10 min and finally approached the bait and quickly turned around.He never really offered me a shot. He came back and offered me that perfect broadside shot at about 15 yards. The bear charged off into the woods and Iwatched himas far as I could.After I hit the bear, I started shaking from the adrenaline and the cold but boy was I excited. I cautiously got off my stand after singing to scare off any bears LOL. I couldn't standwaiting to look for any signs of a hit. I couldn't see any signs of blood at the place where the bear was hit, but I wasn't too concerned. I got up on the stand again to wait for the hunter to pick me up as I wanted to avoid becoming bear bait. He finally arrived. We decided to wait for my dad and another hunter, Scott,who had a tracking dog. Now the fun begins.
It was about an hour/hour and a half since I shot the bear so we decided it was alright to search for him. Dave went to pick up another hunter, another Dave, and I told him I'd wait for him. So I waited on the pipeline while my dad, Scott, and the dog went into the woods. All of a sudden I hear, "Found him!" and then I hear "Oh $#!t! HE'S STILL ALIVE! GET THE RIFLE!" I got the rifle and ran in there as fast as I could. My dad put thescope on the bear and suddenly the bear got up and ran off. You see, the bear was hit in the liver and had lied down to most likely die but apparently it still had the strength to keep on moving. We wanted to turn around and come back in the morning but Scott said his dog was really motivated and decided to keep pushing forward. After follwing it for another 75 yards we realized that the bear had climbed up a tree about 30 yd high. We decided to shoot it down. My dad placed a shot right between the shoulders with the rifleand the bear landed with a great big THUD. The bear was still breathing heavily but no longer moved. And that's how how the most exciting night of my life ends. We dragged it out, took it to camp, and cleaned it out.Sorry for making this story so long but I am still so excited about the whole ordeal. This will surely be a memory that lasts a lifetime. I will post a pic as soon as i find the digital camera.

MatthewG · 10-09-2005, 10:17 AM

Can somemone hep me with the pictures? I keep making the pic smaller but it still says file too large.

throwingStarr · 10-09-2005, 10:41 AM

Congrats on your bear, i was up in my stand when i was able to shoot at one this pastSept., never thought i'd ever come across one though, it was pushed down by my hunting party one evening i actually thought i was looking at cattle moving in front of out in the timber about 35-40 yards out, it was black like the cattle out moving through the timberthen it popped out on a trail in front and to the left of me and it stopped under a fir tree branch and decided to turn away well it started walking out in front of me oh about 20 yards all the while i'm holding at full draw trying tokeep fulldraw , i must of used my thirty yard pin when i should've been on my twenty and the arrow went just over him and when it did i never saw something bolt out of there so fast in all my life anyway at least i was able to at least shoot at a bear.