Chocolate Fix - Manitoba
Joe and his chocolate fix.
Hunter: Joe Rush
Cameraman: Zendal Carroll
When you think of chocolate… you might think about milk and cocoa and SUGAR; creamy and sweet. But if you’re like me, I think ADRENALINE. Adrenaline Outfitters in Manitoba, Canada near the Riding Mountains. The area is known for color phase bears, and Adrenaline is known for BIG ONES! This combination had me feeling the need for a serious chocolate fix! Zendal and I headed up there to spend a week with Russ, Joel, and Rod. The spring had been cold and wet and for the most part, not very good conditions for bear hunting, but this did not deter us because we know anything can happen, at any time, when it comes to hunting. It was the middle of the week, and Zendal and I had already seen a 7 ft plus. While Zendal was hunting, another hunter in camp (Chad Bell) had shot a 7 footer and we had passed several younger boars, one of which was a chocolate phase!
We’d been waiting all week to get into a place they call “the hole.” Our good friends Hoppy and Sage Kempfer from Osceolla Outfitter’s had hunted this stand the week before Zendal and I arrived, and the wind had driven them out the couple times they hunted it. With Hoppy being an outfitter and expert hunter, he knew that if the wind was wrong, you need to get out of the stand or you run the risk of spooking those bears off the bait. Thanks to their sacrifice, Zendal and I were able to sit that stand in a great wind the following week! (Don’t feel too bad for Sage… he killed his first ever black bear on another stand on the last night!) Joel was confident they had two bears over 6 foot using “the hole” and we were going to do our best to reduce that number! Once we got to the bait site, we quickly realized WHY it’s called “the hole.” The path in is almost straight down hill. After sliding half way to the bottom through the mud, Zendal and I got to our stand. The stand was located on the hill side, and as I looked up the hill to my left, I was looking UP at the bear trail coming down the hill!
Zendal and I sat patiently waiting… in the POURING rain… for our bears to show. We had a couple of encounters with a cub and small boar while the rain came and went in cycles. It was late afternoon when I spotted some movement up the hill. I looked up, and sliding down the mud bank towards us was this roly-poly fat bear trying to keep his footing. I instantly knew we had a shooter bear coming at us! I whispered to Zendal that I’d spotted a bear coming… then I said “it’s a shooter AND…IT’S A CHOCOLATE!" Zendal immediately said I was ‘crying wolf’ and figured there really was no bear, let alone a CHOCOLATE. I assured him this big ole’ bruin was coming right down the trail to us! The bear waddled down the trail and stopped at the base of the tree, looked up at us for a moment and then began to walk deliberately into the valley to claim what he’d claimed every day since the guys at Adrenaline started baiting! Now, Zendal patiently waiting for this bear to clear so we wouldn’t spook him, starts filming. This bear kept Zendal and I on pins and needles as we waited for our best shot opportunity. We drew on this bear 8 times before he finally gave us the shot we’d been waiting for. When I finally squeezed the trigger on my Little Goose release, my Alphamax sent my Beman arrow through him with ease, the Spitfire leading the way…
It was a long night since the ‘rules’ at Adrenaline are we are supposed to slip out of the woods and find our bear the following morning… I can’t thank the guys enough for all their hard work and dedication… it’s awesome to hunt with not only good people, but TRUE bear hunters that know BIG BEARS! When Joel, Zendal and I found him the next morning, we were so happy (and of course I was relieved).
Thank you Russ, Shelley, Joel, and Rod for all your hard work… and I’d be amiss if I didn’t say thanks to JR and the Muskrat Creek Lodge for keeping us well fed… just like they do their bears!
They say EVERYONE loves chocolate and I guess I can see why, now that I’ve been to Adrenaline Outfitters…