Well readers SORRY for DELAY for my account !!! Thanks to JC,ALAN,Doc etc for the 1st Annual BEAR QUEST photos and all the text on the adventure.The Bear Quest started months ago with all the preparation & bait collecting that had to be done,close to 2000 miles driving just to pick up bait,then there was the unwrapping of hundreds of pounds of sweets and thanks to the help of many for the teadious task.Close to 400 lbs of salt water fish was made into a brine and then sat out in covered 5 gallon buckets for 5-6 weeks and then used as STINK bait to draw bears attention to bait site over long distances.After the 2 bait trips totaling close to 2300 more miles to prepare 17 sites the hunt started early evening the 22nd of JUNE.The boys started to show up one by one, trailer was loaded,trucks where loaded,food & grog for 12 hearty traditional bowman and we where on our way close to an hour ahead of schedule,9 pm.Driving through the night the 5 vehicles where buzzing with tails or previous adventures and action to come.Having BARRY WENSEL on the trip was a dream come true for me being a huge fan of the RAMBLIN REDNECK since I learned about the hard core bowhunter & his twin brother many years ago.Although Barry is a celebrity/god to many of us Traditionalists I can say he is a regular guy who puts his hunting clothes on and hangs his bow up just like you & me !! MY goal on the 1st annual BEAR QUEST was to see to it that everyone had the time of their life as well as BEAR action like every other friend that has accompanied me to LaTUQUE on all the past hunts!! Any & ALL hunts that everyone arrives back home safe & sound whether game is harvested or not should be considered a success.We all now deep down inside that when the game you are pursuing is taken that is the icing on the cake.The more hunters there are in camp the chance of problems or confrontation occuring multiplies,I must say the BEAR QUEST was like an old fashion barn raising with everyone getting their hands dirty so to speak whether it be baiting,doing dishes,setting up or breaking down camp along wtih all the other chores that go along with an adventure like this.I made it a point to tell everyone that I wanted to be the 1st NOT the last to hear Complaints,Compliments or suggestions :-)It was a pleasure to hear compliment after compliment.
We were fortunate to have extremely cool weather for this time of year in LaTuque with the coolest being 51 degrees one evening.One evening was lost for hunting due to thunder/lightning.We still had fun around the campfire and caught up on some well deserved sleep.I started hunting the 3rd night my usual ritual seeing as it is more important to me to see that everyone has a great hunt than myself killing a bear.As luck would have it I had quite a bit of Bear action be it the beautiful SOW & 3 CUBS I got to admire on 2 different evenings or the 2 different bears I watched the FIRST morning I have ever sat in a BEAR stand on a SPRING hunt ! Everything came to a head on the LAST evening of the hunt when TIPPIT aka DOC-TARI came into to be camera man for me.This would be the 2nd time we where on the bear stand together since we became friends,the 1st time being when the tables where turned and I was cameraman for TIPPI.That evening he arrowed a bear,BUT my camera detected DEW and I was not able to get footage.This occured BEFORE TIPPIT was fitted with hearing devices and I communicated with him from treestand above by tapping him on shoulder with curved branch that measured about 4 feet long :-) What fun that was.
I decided to do a HONEY-BURN my last night of hunting in hopes it might entice a BLACK-GHOST into the bait site with plenty of shooting light left.The burn worked great puffing white smoke (several perfect smoke rings)for close to an hour the wind direction was in our face causing the Sweet Aroma of the simmering honey to satisfy our Sweet-tooth.
About 8 pm we got our 1st glimpse of a bear behind the bait about 70 yards off,Tippit & I are unsure if it was the same bear that appeared about 40 minutes later or not.The 2nd bear tip tiptoed in without making any noise coming into about 7 yards,but after standing there for about a minute or so then dissapearing back behind bait.About 15 minutes later I heard one branch snap and in he came again only stopping short of bait to munch on some scattered bait from evening before that I missed when we rebaited earlier in the day !! To avoid a bear from stopping short of bait and satisfying his hunger with bait scattered about out of range I always make it a point to pick up scattered bait and place it in drum or wired bucket at bait site,I did not see the scattered bait this time !! I figured the jig was up.Luckily the nervous boar had a big appetite like all my friends in camp and he commited to the right side of bait crib.I had to keep telling myself to wait until he is commited and fully engrossed in feeding until I let bowstring slide away from my fingers.With the baits being about 18'away the slightest noise will alert bear when at bait so I took it for granted TIPPIT had the film rolling and did not motion to him nor even look up!! As it turns out the arrow was captured in flight as it entered the right side of Bear,the yellow fletch showing up plain as day.We did not move a muscle once the bear ran off hoping to hear the tell-tale " death moan which by the way is NOT the bear bellowing in pain,BUT the air escaping from diaphram as the bear expires.TIPPIT captured all that audio as well even though his bionic ears could not pick it up.I looked up at him and smiled and we climbed down and walked to the bear which traveled about 75 yards.The selfbow & WOODIE BLACKWELL glass knapped head (made from Computer Monitor glass) worked flawlessly and I was able to recover fletch end of arrow where it broke off as he made his last run.The head and foreshaft was recovered when JC & TIPPIT so kindly skinned & boned out my bear on last morning as I helped in breaking down camp.I plan to reglue arrow back together :-) Thanks Woodie for the " WORKS of ART " you fastened to the RAPTOR archery wood arrows I sent you.The bear I arrowed on the bait site called the " DELI " had 3 claws missing from one paw,his coat a bit thin in spots but all in all a good Quebec Spring bear specimen.For me this hunt will never end because I can replay the entire adventure over & over again in my mind.I apologize for not submitting a photo of bear as we came upon it,I am better at doing the grunt work than the electronics end of a hunt.As the saying goes " A man must know his limitations "
I will get my protege' Alan to post picture for me :-)
Well although 2nd Annual BEAR QUEST is almost a year away I have started planning already to TRY to top 2007' Quebec adventure.
Hope to see you all along the trail somewhere............... T.Phillips
Topic: Quebec Bear Hunt--2 Bears Arrowed on Video--added pg 42!! (Read 21850 times)
