Sorry it took me long long for the write up; I’m not a TBH junkie and completely forgot about it! My bad ha!
Anyways, this is the bear that I shot during our week in Manitoba with DOA Outfitters! We arrived a day early since plane tickets were cheaper to fly out on Saturday rather than Sunday, so we got an additional day of hunting! On our first hunt, Sunday evening, I was more than excited! I had never bear hunted before, let alone seen a bear in the wild! I had no idea as to what to expect, but I was ready for whatever! After about an hour in the stand I saw some movement in the brush and about 30 seconds later three little bear cubs came strolling out to feed. What an awesome site it was to watch them as they stood up to their full height to bow up to each other as they wrestled for a chance at sticking their snouts in the granola barrel! I was so caught up with watching them that I didn’t notice the HUGE sow that was watching over her cubs from behind some trees! After about 25 or so minutes the cubs got their fill and they meandered off into the woods. About another hour or so later a small boar came in to the baits. He was pretty skiddish, but once he got his paws on the barrels he didn’t care about anything. I could have gone and had a tea party with him and he probably wouldn’t have paid me any mind. I had actually found an old slim Jim that I had left in my hunting pack during whitetail season, unwrapped it, and threw it on the ground. Without hesitation the bear walked straight the the spot and gobbled up the slim Jim! Him and I have something in common apparently! He hung around another 15-20 minutes and went on his way. That was the last bear I saw on my first sit. What an awesome way to start a week long hunt! Or so I thought. My optimism slowly diminished over the next three days. My hunts Monday-Wednesday were very uneventful, meaning I didn’t see a single bear in those three days! Everyone else was seeing bears, but I wasn’t having the same luck. I’ll admit that those 6-8 hours sits with no action will definitely wear on you. Heck, it even made me miss those 2 or 3 hour sits I had made during whitetail season where I didn’t see anything haha. I have to give it to our guide Darryl though. He did everything in his power to make sure we saw bears...especially me since I was the odd man in the group getting skunked ever sit. He would pull cards and we’d look at all of them and he’d sit me at the spots with the most recent activity and still nothing! I know that is part of hunting, but it still gets discouraging when I started the trip on such a high note. Thursday’s hunt came around and I almost opted to stay back at camp and crush Labatt Lites, but decided I’d make one last hunt and if I got skunked again, I’d sit Friday out. Man am I glad I decided to hunt! I was the first person to be dropped off, which I dreaded because that meant you were the last person to be picked up and you had the longest sit out of everyone. I got in the stand about 3:15pm and decided to get comfortable to ride out the long sit. The area I was in almost looked like a swamp scene from a movie. A huge canopy of trees that blokes out the sun with fallen moss covered trees littering the ground. I thought a big bear had to live there! I dozed in and out of a nap for about an hour and a half, scanning the background for any movement. I got to where I couldn’t sleep anymore so I broke open the book I had brought. As I was reading I happened to catch some movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked up and there at about 12 yards stood a bear!! When we first arrived at camp we asked Darryl how to determine if a bear was a shooter or not. He told us the easiest was was to look at the ridge of its back compared to the bait drum that was standing upright. If the bear’s back was taller than the barrel then don’t even hesitate, just shoot!! I could easily see that this bear’s back was taller than the barrel height and the adrenaline immediately kicked in giving me the shakes! I slowly put down my book and turned to get my bow. However, the swivel seat I was in was partially rusted and was sticking, making a loud “pinging” sound when I moved. The bear looked straight up and at me. We sat there for a good minute, our eyes locked. He then turned and started walking towards another bait barrel, giving me the chance to actually get my bow in my hand, except when I turned, again, to get into shooting position the “Pinging” sound went off once more! Again he stared at me, but this time it made him uncomfortable. I had a tree in front of his vitals and could only see his rear and his head sticking out so I couldn’t draw back. He turned and began trotting off in a straight line with the tree where all I could see was his sides poking out. My heart sank! Three days of not seeing a bear and then I have an awesome bear in front of me and the dang seat messes it up for me!! What luck I thought. Then, all of a sudden, he turned right and came into view. I hurried up and got draw and let out my best bear snarl. He froze in his tracks and I let my arrow fly! It struck true and I watched as blood pumped out of him like a geyser! I wouldn’t have needed to follow a blood trail anyway because I watched him pile up about 16 yards away! That’s when the shakes really hit me! Like what!? Did that really just happen!? For all those people who say that hunting bears is like hunting a glorified raccoon, they are wrong! That had to be one of the hardest hunts I have ever been on, and I could not have asked for a better conclusion it!
Also, I have to brag on Darryl, who owns DOA Outfitters. When I said he did everything he could to put us on bears, he truly did! Even further than that, he treated us like family from the second we arrived. The hospitality he showed us was second to none to where the bear hunting was just an added bonus! We have already booked the same week next year and we can’t wait to get back!
Anyways, this is the bear that I shot during our week in Manitoba with DOA Outfitters! We arrived a day early since plane tickets were cheaper to fly out on Saturday rather than Sunday, so we got an additional day of hunting! On our first hunt, Sunday evening, I was more than excited! I had never bear hunted before, let alone seen a bear in the wild! I had no idea as to what to expect, but I was ready for whatever! After about an hour in the stand I saw some movement in the brush and about 30 seconds later three little bear cubs came strolling out to feed. What an awesome site it was to watch them as they stood up to their full height to bow up to each other as they wrestled for a chance at sticking their snouts in the granola barrel! I was so caught up with watching them that I didn’t notice the HUGE sow that was watching over her cubs from behind some trees! After about 25 or so minutes the cubs got their fill and they meandered off into the woods. About another hour or so later a small boar came in to the baits. He was pretty skiddish, but once he got his paws on the barrels he didn’t care about anything. I could have gone and had a tea party with him and he probably wouldn’t have paid me any mind. I had actually found an old slim Jim that I had left in my hunting pack during whitetail season, unwrapped it, and threw it on the ground. Without hesitation the bear walked straight the the spot and gobbled up the slim Jim! Him and I have something in common apparently! He hung around another 15-20 minutes and went on his way. That was the last bear I saw on my first sit. What an awesome way to start a week long hunt! Or so I thought. My optimism slowly diminished over the next three days. My hunts Monday-Wednesday were very uneventful, meaning I didn’t see a single bear in those three days! Everyone else was seeing bears, but I wasn’t having the same luck. I’ll admit that those 6-8 hours sits with no action will definitely wear on you. Heck, it even made me miss those 2 or 3 hour sits I had made during whitetail season where I didn’t see anything haha. I have to give it to our guide Darryl though. He did everything in his power to make sure we saw bears...especially me since I was the odd man in the group getting skunked ever sit. He would pull cards and we’d look at all of them and he’d sit me at the spots with the most recent activity and still nothing! I know that is part of hunting, but it still gets discouraging when I started the trip on such a high note. Thursday’s hunt came around and I almost opted to stay back at camp and crush Labatt Lites, but decided I’d make one last hunt and if I got skunked again, I’d sit Friday out. Man am I glad I decided to hunt! I was the first person to be dropped off, which I dreaded because that meant you were the last person to be picked up and you had the longest sit out of everyone. I got in the stand about 3:15pm and decided to get comfortable to ride out the long sit. The area I was in almost looked like a swamp scene from a movie. A huge canopy of trees that blokes out the sun with fallen moss covered trees littering the ground. I thought a big bear had to live there! I dozed in and out of a nap for about an hour and a half, scanning the background for any movement. I got to where I couldn’t sleep anymore so I broke open the book I had brought. As I was reading I happened to catch some movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked up and there at about 12 yards stood a bear!! When we first arrived at camp we asked Darryl how to determine if a bear was a shooter or not. He told us the easiest was was to look at the ridge of its back compared to the bait drum that was standing upright. If the bear’s back was taller than the barrel then don’t even hesitate, just shoot!! I could easily see that this bear’s back was taller than the barrel height and the adrenaline immediately kicked in giving me the shakes! I slowly put down my book and turned to get my bow. However, the swivel seat I was in was partially rusted and was sticking, making a loud “pinging” sound when I moved. The bear looked straight up and at me. We sat there for a good minute, our eyes locked. He then turned and started walking towards another bait barrel, giving me the chance to actually get my bow in my hand, except when I turned, again, to get into shooting position the “Pinging” sound went off once more! Again he stared at me, but this time it made him uncomfortable. I had a tree in front of his vitals and could only see his rear and his head sticking out so I couldn’t draw back. He turned and began trotting off in a straight line with the tree where all I could see was his sides poking out. My heart sank! Three days of not seeing a bear and then I have an awesome bear in front of me and the dang seat messes it up for me!! What luck I thought. Then, all of a sudden, he turned right and came into view. I hurried up and got draw and let out my best bear snarl. He froze in his tracks and I let my arrow fly! It struck true and I watched as blood pumped out of him like a geyser! I wouldn’t have needed to follow a blood trail anyway because I watched him pile up about 16 yards away! That’s when the shakes really hit me! Like what!? Did that really just happen!? For all those people who say that hunting bears is like hunting a glorified raccoon, they are wrong! That had to be one of the hardest hunts I have ever been on, and I could not have asked for a better conclusion it!
Also, I have to brag on Darryl, who owns DOA Outfitters. When I said he did everything he could to put us on bears, he truly did! Even further than that, he treated us like family from the second we arrived. The hospitality he showed us was second to none to where the bear hunting was just an added bonus! We have already booked the same week next year and we can’t wait to get back!
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