Tactical Gearhead

Now, I don’t have as much time to post as much as my other 2 gearheads, but since I had to write a story about the hunt for one of my sponsors, I thought it would only be fair if I shared my bear with the TGH friends.   The hunt was filmed for North American Safari TV, which is a veteran big game hunting show on the Sportsman Channel.  The show is currently being edited and will air in the next few weeks.  In fact, you may be seeing more of me on the air, I have just signed on to be on the pro-staff of the show. Will keep you posted so you can tune in.

Hope you enjoy the story.

I had intended on hitting the road at 4:30am for probably one of the longest road trips I’ve ever been on where I was the one actually doing the driving.  For the sake of being thorough, I did not actually pull of out the driveway until I was an hour behind schedule.  I was wide awake with mix of caffeine and adrenaline. When I turned down a westward boulevard, a rainbow appeared and shot up from the tree line in front of me and reached upwards towards the early sunlit sky.

The 12 hour jaunt to get to International Falls was relaxing and uneventful.  As soon as we reached Canadian Border Patrol, I was asked a series of questions:

• What is the purpose of your visit?  Bear Hunting
• Where will you be staying?  Rugby Lake Lodge
• What town is that in? Dryden/Oxdrift
• How long will you be in Canada?  Til next Friday
• Who is in the car with you?  My sister.
• Do you have any firearms or weapons in the vehicle?  No firearms, just 2 compound bows.
• Do you have any alcohol or tobacco products? No
• Did you bring anything with you that you intend to leave in Canada?  No.
• Do you intend to bring anything back with you?  A bear? (smirk)
• Enjoy your visit.

And then we were on our merry way.  The first town we drove passed had the Canadian flag displayed here and there in front of homes, and scattered about some the streets.  I wondered at some point how they prevented a person from just walking from one country to the other when the entry point between the U.S. and Canada were managed seemingly by just one road.  And that’s when I noticed the two countries were separated by a water; a wide river way.

A few minutes into Canadian soil, things began to look different.  Shortly leaving town, I noticed I was supposed to be driving 90 – oh yeah… oh…KILOMETERS!  I was also informed that 90 Kilometers = 55 MPH, and that no such speed detecting device was allowed.  Over and across some more waterways, I was now entering wild Canada.  Where seaplanes were parked alongside the boat docks; and fly-in fishing lodge billboard and bluffs jutted alongside the winding highway.

We arrived at Rugby Lake Lodge that same evening on Saturday, August 14, 2010, at 9:00pm.; the weariness from the long drive settling in quick.  The plan was to spend the week filming the bear hunt with Blaine Anthony, the executive producer and host of North American Safari and his staff.  I’ve known Blaine for a few years, but having never met any of these people in person in my life, I felt instant connection with all of them.  That is the way it is with most hunters I meet, even for the first time.  It’s like we’ve been in the woods with each other before; braving the weather together; patiently awaiting our game together, and experiencing our successes and failures together.

The plan was to get out into the woods late afternoon on Sunday, so the day was spent checking in, getting our licenses squared away, getting to know each other and settling in.

This is my first bear hunt, so not knowing what to expect, I was prepared for everything.  Three storage boxes of gear, tree stand and safety harnesses, GPS, you name it, I had it.  What I didn’t realize was that Blaine had insinuated that I sit in a ground blind to bear hunt!  A thin blind, made of flimsy tent material that a big bad bear had just tore up to pieces! Was it a warning to stay out of their territory?  Was he serious?  I don’t really know this guy that well, and all he kept talking about was ‘keep the camera rolling no matter what!’

I thought about my other options.  I could be sitting in my climber, but how would I get down quick enough to get away from a bear climbing up toward me and pulling my climber sideways, leaving me hanging in a dangerous position?  If I sat in a fixed tree stand, I could at least be a little bit more stable as the bear tried to maul me from below, I could still try and send an arrow at his head as his jaws are snapping at me!

OK, ground blind it was.  Be brave, you are no chicken!  Besides, at least I was on the ground and all I had to do was run faster than my sister!

When Dave, our guide took us to our hunting spot, I cringed as I noticed the thin flimsy camouflage tent was crumpled on the ground.  I picked up the pieces of plastic support rods and showed them to Dave.  I looked at his face to pick up any signs of worry, or fear, but there was none.

Next thing I know he is half way up the tree in a split second (like a spider monkey), with rope tying the top of the blind up to create a makeshift tent that we could sit in.  It worked pretty well and when he got down, he gave us the signal that we could get into it now.

It was actually fairly roomy and comfortable, except for a few lumpy rocks here and there making it difficult to balance the 5-gallon bucket we sat on; but we found a way to make it work and be somewhat comfortable.  I installed my freshly sharpened broadhead, and pre-loaded my arrow onto my bow.  We rearranged our gear and made sure that there was no way to bump into anything that would make noise while I would draw back my bow.  Patty prepared the video camera for filming and during the uneventful evening hunt, she managed to capture me eating a Slim Jim beef stick, unsuccessfully blowing bubbles with some gum, and filming some B-Roll footage.

Since we had no cellular service, the time on the cell phone was incorrect, and I couldn’t figure out for the life of me why it said it was 7:30pm, and it was pitch black out.  Since I could no longer see my sight pins on my bow, and we had no camera light, we decided to pack it up and head back to my truck, which was parked a half a mile down the road.

I have a fair sense of direction, but not so much in the dark, with vicious bears lurking around every corner.  In the haze of my flashlight, I was able to pick up a light foot trail, of which Patty argued was not one, so we headed in her direction for a few feet.  I persuaded her to come back to my trail, and I lead the way though I did not feel so confident about where it was heading.

We came to an area where the ground was bare, we were standing on a giant rock embedded in the ground, all of which did not look so familiar and I stopped to turn on my GPS.  I looked up and it looked like we were about to be lost in some seriously thick and vast Canadian wilderness!

At that very moment, Patty’s flashlight caught the top of the huge yellow scaffolding, that wonderful, big and bright yellow structure which did happen to be parked on the same road as my truck.  That was all we needed to tell us that we panicked for nothing, we were literally inches away from the road and I thought we were nearly lost for days with only a Slim Jim to fight for and no water to drink!  I don’t know about you, but I have never been so excited to see scaffolding in my life!

Day two of my bear hunt, our very experienced guide rounded everyone up and got everyone dropped off at around 11am.  I love bear hunting, as I am use to deer hunting, where I am literally kicked out of my warm cozy bed at 4 in the morning!  This really is one heck of a relaxing vacation!  We get up at our leisure, make breakfast, shower, and mosey on down to the blind whenever we happen to get there.

On this day, we very quietly entertained ourselves with a book, some cat naps in between being on the look-out.  The typical sounds in the woods started to come back.  As time passed, the squirrels began chirping, Chickadees were comfortably fluttering near us, but it was becoming a little bit discouraging to have seen no sign of a bear all day.

I glassed the occasional movement with my Vanguard Endeavor ED binoculars.  It is extremely important to have quality glass when you’re hunting any type of game.  Bears are extremely quiet, with their slow and cautious gait; there is no sound when they just appear out of nowhere.  For a bear hunt, if you can spot your game long before it gets nearer to you, you’ll have more time to settle down, regroup and prepare for your shot.

Patty smacked me in the arm, we dropped the cell phone, she grabs the camera, I duck down and a decent size bear is headed right to our blind.  He looks towards me, but does not see me.  As soon as he begins to walk toward us, his nose catches a whiff of the food in the bucket hanging on the tree about 20 yards away.

His nose is now taking over, and leading the way and he headed right for the bucket.  He gets up on his hind legs, digs a paw into it and licks food from his big left paw.  I draw back my bow and hold.  Then his head is in the bucket and he offers me a shot.  I am mentally picturing the position of the lungs and when everything is lined up; the sun, the stars (I was holding forever), I loosed my arrow and I can see the arrow is headed right for the middle of his body.

At that moment, he comes down on all fours and begins to run away.  He doesn’t make a sound, so I don’t know if I actually hit him or scared him away.  I regretted not using a lighted nock on my arrow. It would have made the flight of the arrow a little easier to see.

He didn’t run more than about 60 yards until he expired. He was a fair size bear, and one that I am proud of.  I look forward to the bear roasts, stew and trying some of my friend’s recipes.  I will never forget this first bear hunt.  The lifelong friends I’ve made, the laughter I’ve shared at camp, and the memories that will stay with me until the end.