Well, Monday and Tuesday were action packed with lots of bears visiting the baits. I really enjoyed listening to "bear talk" as they postured and chased each other at the bait site and the surrounding bush.
Wednesday evening Ryan was taking me to a stand that had not yet been hunted. Once we arrived we found out the wind was really bad for that stand. We backed out of there and went to another bait known as "ladders". The evening went by and around 8 pm a young boar came in and fed for a while. Every once in a while he would whip his head up and look to the east. Finally, around 9 pm he whipped his head up, spun around and took off to the southwest.
I decided to go ahead and stand up as primetime was upon me. At 9:15 I heard some sticks break to the east. I turned to look that direction and saw a bear approaching at about 50 yards. I immediately knew that he was a big bear. Like Ryan had told me, when you see a big bear, you'll know it. There was no question about this guy. As he neared, I could see the long deep crease in his forehead and his bowlegged pigeontoed stance told me he was mature.
He walked at a steady but slow pace, stopping once to stand and scratch his back on tree. At 8 yards he stopped, quartering too and looked my direction. I was ready, arrow knocked. At 4 yards he was broadside on the pod trail, but his vitals were covered by brush. Again, he turned his head to look at me. Finally feeling satisfied that all was well, he turned and headed toward the bait. It was at this time that I was able to shift my feet where I needed them to make the shot. The barrell was around 13-14 yards. He stopped, quartering away.
I picked a spot, came to full draw and watched as the chartuese feathered shaft dissappeared through his ribs. He let out a deep roar at the shot and as he spun back towards me I could see the result of a razor sharp broadhead that had exited just inside the front left leg. He left the bait quickly and with power crashing through anything on his straight line run.
The time was 9:19 pm. I listend intently for a death moan only to come up with nothing. I sat and listened for 30 minutes and quietly got down and snuck out and made my way back to the truck. We decided it was best to wait until morning to begin the tracking. The following morning we took up the blood trail and found him about 75 yards later. He had died just out of sight only seconds after the shot.
Thanks again to Ryan, Ron, and Dave for all there hard work. Looking forward to doing it again sometime...or at least trying to.
Topic: TallTines Week at Manitoba Stickflingers--Fantastic! (Read 2122 times)
