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I have read all of the other stores of our great adventure and at Jerry's urging I though it was time for my story.
I hunted at Jerry's bear camp last year and I enjoyed it so much it was a simple decision to rebook for this year. When that decision was made we (being Jerry, myself and Stan) decided to recruit Al to go along. I have to say that Al had some misgivings about hunting bear over bait, but he decided that he was in. (Ask him what he thinks now)
I recall the planning, booking flights and rental cars, making a list and checking it twice, sometime three times, knowing that were going to a wilderness just added to the excitement.
Well the departure day arrives we meet in the Atlanta airport, I help Al get everything checked in and were off to the gate. You have heard the story about Walmart closing on Saturday and Al's failed attempt at meeting the French lady, our drive to camp and of the other side stores which were many.
My hunt:
It starts with Stan telling his story of poking the bear in the nose, well when he told the story at dinner the lights went off, I had to try a "on the ground" hunt.
Luke took me to the bait, pointed out the chair in the hole and the little two foot high blind and said here ya go and leaves me.
After about 5 minutes I realize that this gives a whole new meaning to "up close and personal" and really so when the first bear shows up and your close enough to see the bugs flying around its eyes.
It was almost like a parade of bears, cubs would show up feed a little bit and leave sows would come in look around and leave, they were most likely the same bears but who knows. They would come in look over at me, and buy now the distance to the barrel had changed from yards to inches, its very unnerving to have a bear look at you that close and then walk over too get a closer look, not sure what you are but wanting to find out.
A lull in the action and then a good sow and a small bear show up, game on, she looks at me walks behind the barrel and starts to move off from my left to right, changes her mind and starts back the direction she came in from. As she is walking past me I come to draw she stops broadside at what seemed like three feet but was really three yards, (still darn close) and I make the shot, she's off like a flash lots of crashing and noise and then all is quite and I hear what I think is a soft moan, not the loud death moan you sometime hear.
It becomes deathly quite and the action is I believe over. I am still in the chair in the hole three yards? feet? from the barrel and hear a bear "whoof"(SP) and turn to my left, there is about a 12 inch opening thru the undergrowth and standing there at about 5 yards is a big boar, he is scent checking the barrel, stands there what seems like and hour but really only about a minute and just turns and walks away.I decide at that point that I should leave the stand and wait for Luke to pick me up on the road, which he did shortly, we came back to the bait, found some blood and decide to back out and let Jerry decide when we would go in after her. Just a side note here, alto there are large trees in the wilderness, the under growth is like a jungle, the bear trails are beat out paths but outside of that you have to fight your way thru and you can become disoriented very quickly, you never go in without a GPS.
Next morning were on our way with Bear Dog Jerry's tracker, short look complete pass thru about a 50 yard recovery. She was a very good bear, about 175# very old with a beautiful hide with no rubs, I'm very happy.
This is my second hunt and second bear with Jerry and the "Georgia Boys" will be back next year if the Lord has that in his plans.
This is my story of my hunt but the trip was/is so much more. The planning, the anticipation, the hanging out with friends, the new friendships and the strengthening of old ones, the late night dinner with retelling of the days hunts, the shooting at bottle caps (aim small miss small) during the day, the morning devotional that started small but by the last day the whole camp was attending. Then before you know its time to leave.
We all have a book of memories and I hope more to add, the book isn't full yet.
I have two bear skins and three grand sons, so I need one more.
Years from now they will tell their friends:
My granddad shot that bear in Canada, and with a bow
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And hours discourse with a good friend is better than a days meditation.....
Topic: Russell Outdoor Guides- Bear Camp Thread (Read 1947 times)
