Part 3 of 3 - The Waiting Game - Alberta
Joe with his 2nd Alberta bear!
Hunter: Joe Rush
Cameraman: Zendal Carroll
The “end bait.” Zendal and I had heard Heather and Jason talk about this bait ALL week. The bait with the pile of bear crap that would suck up an ATV… the bait with bear tracks SO big you’d trip if you stepped in them! (you know… the ‘typical’ stories you hear in camp).
We weren’t sure why, but when we got to camp the bait had shut down. The bait was hit every other day or every third day which was not too consistent. At least we had a bit of a pattern to this bear’s activity. After a few days of no activity, we decided to try and entice the bear back into the bait, so we hung the black bear’s FAVORITE food, BEAVER to see if we could entice him back into the bait. That night, “end bait” got hit... so we did it again the following night and sat up on Zendal’s bear. THANKFULLY we were at ‘the thief’s’ bait because ‘end bait’ didn’t get hit AGAIN…even with the beaver. We figured this was due to the wind being so heavy.
We decided to sit the stand the following night anyway. On the way in we made a beaver scent trail by dragging a beaver behind the ATV. (a trick that Ralph taught us). Zendal and I sat watching that bait for hours…our confidence didn’t wane too much this night… we had dreams of monster black bears waddling in with broad shoulders, little ears and that ‘no brainer’ crease in the forehead! (As Ralph would call it… ‘the J-Lo butt’ on their forehead!) I was watching to the North when I heard Zendal whisper “bear… coming in on the beaver trail.” This bear, the best bear we’d seen all week, walked into the clearing, looked up at us and bailed off into the woods! We couldn’t believe it. So close, yet so far away. For those that know bear hunting… patience is a virtue, and Zendal and I had it. We figured this bear wouldn’t be able to resist coming back out to check the scene instead of missing supper. It wasn’t long, and we saw a black shadow moving through the woods to the opening where our bear had entered. He stood at the entrance, in the shadows, and wind checked for what seemed to be an eternity. He’d step out, and ran back in. Zendal and I quickly named this bear… ‘the peek a boo bear’… This bear had me on pins and needles! My knees shook and my breathing grew to what sounded like hurricane winds coming from my lungs! After filming this routine for about 20 minutes or so Zendal and I decided we’d take the first shot presented. This bear was constantly trying to wind us, and the wind had started to swirl in this little clearing where we sat. Finally, he decided to walk out broadside.
The rest of the story is simple… commonly told. In the heat of the moment… when you take the time… everything slows, you feel the calm come over you…your breathing comes under control… you squeeze your release… the arrow flies…turning and guided by the NAP quickspin speedhunters… it was over before the bear even knew it…in less than 30 yards. The awesome performance of a properly placed arrow was once again shown. No tell tale moans of a successful bear hunt were heard this night. It was simply over. Once again, Zendal and I share our joy of a successful hunt. This was not the bear with the tracks that you would trip in, or the bear that produced the black hole you’d lose your ATV in, but it was, without question, a great bear.