Jeremy's First Bear - Alberta
Jeremy's first bear.
Hunter: Jeremy Lengle
Day 1: May 23, 2009
Travel day. Eric Minichbach and I left Harrisburg, Pennsylvania around 6 a.m. EST and we reached Grand Prairie by 5 p.m. MST. It was a long day of air travel and waiting in airports. When we reached Grand Prairie minus one of Eric’s bags, it was very frustrating! He had his rifle but no clothing…haha!
Day 2: May 24, 2009
Our outfitter Mike Ukrainetz picked us up around 11 a.m. to make the drive to his house where we would be staying for the week. About half an hour into the trip, we received a call from the airline saying Eric’s bag had arrived in Grand Prairie. Mike made a U-turn and back we went. It was a load off Eric’s mind to know that he wouldn’t have to borrow clothing to hunt. When we arrived at camp, we unpacked our gear and prepared for the evening hunt. Mike had a meeting with all of us to let us know what he expected from us and what we could expect from him.
As I got settled into my stand that evening it started to rain. This would be a recurring theme throughout the week. I scrambled for my plastic bags and tape! I would be filming myself this hunt, so I had to worry about all the camera gear as well as my hunting gear. It eventually stopped raining and around 9 p.m. I had a nice 3-year old boar come into the bait. He looked up into the stand at me and immediately marched over to check me out! He stood up on his hind legs and gave me a good sniff. As per Mike’s instructions, I stared him down and eventually he went back to feeding...what a rush having a bear that close! I picked up my bow several times debating whether to shoot or not. Eventually I made the decision not to shoot thinking I would have plenty more opportunities...in hindsight I should have taken that shot because I was wrong! About a half hour later I had a nice cinnamon come into the bait and again elected not to shoot because this bear was smaller than the first one. It looked to be only a 2 year old. I guess I’m getting soft but, it looked like a teddy bear so again I passed. Big mistake again!
Day 3: May 25, 2009
Mike and I sat together for the evening. I gave him a few quick pointers on how to operate the camera and we got settled in for one of the few nights of good weather. As we were sitting there, I just happened to look up and see a gray flash moving through the brush around 60 yards away. Wolf! Wolf! I whispered to Mike. Just as quick, he was gone and never gave me a shot. It was the first time I’d ever seen a wolf in the wild and I felt fortunate to have laid eyes on such an elusive creature. Later that evening we had a small 2-year old bear come by the bait but never went to the barrels. He presented a 40 yard shot beyond the bait. Again, I elected to pass in hope of seeing something larger. Nothing else appeared that night. Eric ended up shooting a bear that evening but we waited until the next morning to recover it.
Day 4: May 26, 2009
It was a sleepless night for Eric. We ate breakfast and headed out to recover his bear. The bear was lying not far from where we stopped trailing it. What a relief. A few high-fives and photos followed. Hopefully the bear activity would be picking up. Mike decided to move me to a bait where another hunter in camp had seen a good boar. Unfortunately, the boar and his sow didn’t come in until well after dark when I was waiting for Mike to pick me up.
Day 5 & 6: May 27-28, 2009
No bears sighted.
Day 7: May 29, 2009
It looked like the weather was clearing. Again when I got settled into my stand, here came the wind and rain! As darkness grew closer, I started to come to terms with the fact I probably wouldn’t be going home with a bear. Then I looked over my right shoulder and saw black! I checked the camera and it was too dark for filming but it was still within legal shooting hours. The bear lingered around in the thick timber and I wasn’t sure I was going to get an opportunity. Eventually it circled around to my left side and committed to the bait. I never let it get close to the barrel. I had a window around 15 yards and I let the NAP Spitfire fly! The bear scrambled away breaking sticks and brush as it ran. I got down and looked at the arrow. It was covered in red! I climbed back in the stand and waited for Mike to arrive. I could hardly control my nerves. When Mike pulled up on the ATV, I had all my gear packed up. He took the bait thinking that I hadn’t seen anything once again. Then I told him that I was just clowning, gave him a high-five, and said I had connected. We followed the blood trail for about 40 yards and there was the black heap on the ground. A small sow but a trophy in my mind! I tried to hold out for a big boy, but it wasn’t in the cards. I was just thrilled to be going home with my first bear! We took some quick photos and drove back to the house. The bear had to be skinned and put in the freezer as soon as possible because we were leaving around 7 a.m. the next morning for the airport.
Day 8: May 30, 2009
Mike dropped us off at the Grand Prairie airport. We said our goodbyes and waited for one of our three flights in route to getting home. Another 12-hour travel day later, we were waiting at the baggage carousel in Harrisburg. Zero out of five bags showed up!!! We didn’t make it home with the gun, bow, or either of the bears we had taken! How frustrating. Between the weather and air travel, it was a very frustrating trip but we ended up getting everything back about a day later. Everything worked out in the end. Nobody can control the weather or the bear activity. As the old saying goes “that’s why it’s called hunting.” It’s always an adventure and that’s probably why we do it. It just wouldn’t be the same if you knew what was going to happen.
I’d like to say a big thank you to Mike Ukrainetz of Mike's Outfitting for an awesome hunt and the great hospitality. I’m definitely hooked on bear hunting and look forward to going back!
Happy Hunting!
Jeremy Lengle