Manitoba Monster - Manitoba
The Monster and Freddy!
Beautiful!
Dean Ashton, Ken Gangler & Freddy!
Hunter – Freddy Lagos
Cameraman – Dean Ashton
The winter here in Illinois seemed to go on forever, and finally spring had arrived. I was getting the itch. No not that itch, get your minds out of the gutter people. You know that feeling you get when you've been cooped up all winter long and you just have to get out. Needless to say I was more than ready to head up to Ken Gangler's Canadian Sub Arctic Hunting and go 'Bear'N Down' baby.
I was lucky enough to be joined on this trip by Posse member, and my brother from another mother, Dean Ashton. We met up at O'Hare airport and started our long journey north to Gangler's. Two days and four flights later we made it into camp and met our guide John. John is just one half of the infamous Marshall & John duo of guides that you've all seen on the show each year when we hunt with Canadian Sub Arctic. To say the man knows his stuff would be a gross understatement, plus John was a great cook and just a blast to be with in camp.
The first night found Dean hunting, with me filming. It came and went without seeing a bear. There was some really nasty weather that we all figured had the bears laid up. Lightning, thunder and rain were all plentiful that night, and we got to experience first hand the joys of a leaky tent and wet sleeping bags. But when we got back to camp John had 2 slabs of BBQ ribs waiting for us, so the compromise was worth it.
Day number two, I got to switch places with brother Dean. We planned on hunting twice that day, an early afternoon hunt then head over to another bait if nothing happened on the early stand. Needless to say the second hunt that day would be Dean's, as my tag was about to be filled.
We got on stand about one o'clock that afternoon and settled in. At about four I saw a quick flash of black in the brush that caught my attention. Dean and I were now on full alert with our eye's scanning back and forth and our ears listening intently for any sign the bear was near. Then without warning, there he was, only forty yards from the bait and checking the wind. I froze as I whispered into my microphone to Dean "there he is, forty yards, trying to smell us". Upon scent checking the area and thinking everything was kosher, the bear started in towards the bait, boy was he wrong.
He meandered in and out of the bait a while before committing. Finally feeling comfortable enough to come in, lie down, and have a popcorn and cake frosting feast. After filling up, the bear stood up and was about to get out of Dodge. He was walking from my right to left towards a trail when he turned slightly, quartering away. I asked Dean if he was on him and he said "yes". Before the answer was complete my Beman and Spitfire were on the way. Luckily the shot hit exactly where my Tru Glo pin was settled on the bear's vitals. About half way back from the rib cage on the entrance side and right in the armpit of the opposite shoulder on the exit side. The bruin would went about sixty yards and he went down. When we heard the crash the celebration started. In case you are all wondering, NO, I didn't cry.
We got down, found my arrow, and started trailing the bear. As I stated earlier, the bear went about sixty yards so the tracking job wasn't too bad. Except for the mosquitoes that were as big as float planes that is. We found my bear a short while later and radioed John to come pick us up. Heck, if we got done fast enough there was still time for Deaner to get back in the tree tonight, and that's exactly what we did. Recovered my bear, got him down to the boat, got back to camp, changed clothes, and ate a sandwich on our way back to the stand for the evening hunt. It was an awesome day to say the least.
I would like to extend my deepest thanks to the boss man and boss lady for sending us up to Kens, Ken for having us, Dean for sharing the experience with me, and our awesome guide John for putting up with my stupidity all week. It was absolutely an awesome time and good Lord willing, I will be able to do it again.
For an awesome trophy bear hunt, click over to our outfitters page and look up Ken Gangler's Canadian Sub Arctic Hunting or log on to www.cansubarc.com for more info. I promise that this is one hunt that is all it's cracked up to be, AWESOME!