Ricky, Mike and Danny: All in One Day of Hunting

Ricky

Ricky had never hunted bear before. He was a police officer, so he knew what adrenaline rushes were all about, but he had never experienced this kind of rush. Bear hunters all know what a thrill it is; Ricky had heard the stories, and he was looking forward to the whole experience.

On the first day of the hunt, Roger, the guide, took Ricky and Ricky's friend Mike out. We usually don't use ground blinds, but the guide had a few out in an area where he knew the bears were ripe and ready to pick!

Ricky felt nothing but pure excitement as he approached the ground blind. The bait barrel was nicely positioned with a good trail of vision to the blind. The blind was a well-built, four-foot-square box with a window facing the front, where he would be able to watch the bear at the bait, as well as a window out each side.

As he settled into the space, he thought of how the guide had described the ground blind, a "boxed lunch for bears," and he knew that this was exactly what he looked like to the bears. A smile crossed his lips. Roger made sure he was set and was off quickly and quietly. Ricky liked the guide. He was fun, really easy to get along with, and knew his stuff, just like all of the staff at Makwa River Outfitters. Roger was a professional chuckwagon racer, and he was going to be competing in a major race on Friday. Although he knew nothing about this kind of racing, Ricky made a mental note that maybe he and his friend Mike would go watch this enticing sport if they took a bear by then, and if the guide was right, they would have no difficulty with that. Anyway, this was not the time to think of anything except the excitement of the hunt.

It was a nice day, and the area he was in was an incredible panorama of thick trees, exactly what a bear would like to call home. After a while, a sow and her nearly full-grown cubs walked into the bait site. The sow was very aware that something was different about the area today, and Ricky knew that he was the reason. She kept looking his way and pacing while the cubs ate, oblivious to anything except their meal. She kept sniffing the air, and then she came about halfway between the bait and the stand and stopped. Ricky picked up the camera to video the beauty of the animal. She stopped only for a second to sniff the air one more time and then she kept coming. "Oh crap!" Ricky muttered under his breath. He dropped the camera and picked up his .300 Winchester Magnum in one hand and the pepper spray in the other. "Don't do it," he said softly to her. She walked by the stand as he watched silently, careful not to move and provoke her. Seconds went by without him knowing exactly where she was. He knew she was somewhere very close, but what was she doing? There was a complete and eerie silence. How could an animal of that size move without making a single sound? Suddenly, like in a high-intensity movie, there she was with her head stuck through the side window only inches from his head! This is as raw as hunting can get! There was nothing but a few measly inches of air between him and those teeth that could rip him apart in a few painful minutes. No fence, no bars, no zookeeper: this was nature in the middle of the dense, rugged Saskatchewan forest, and it was at its most dangerous. Unlike the risky situations he had encountered at work, here Ricky was the one who wasn't supposed to be there. This was her turf, she had every right to protect her cubs, and Ricky knew that protect them she would. This is one of those moments when time stands still. It felt like many minutes went by, but in reality it was probably only five seconds. Ricky wasn't keeping time; he was just very aware of the danger, while knowing that he had both the pepper spray and the gun at the ready. Which one he would use would depend on her next move, and the terrifying question was: would he be fast enough? "Don't do it," he kept saying to her silently in his head. He didn't want to shoot her, but if it came down to his life or hers, it would have to be hers, or he would die trying! Finally, she satisfied herself that he wasn't the danger she had first assumed, and she walked back to the bait. Ricky wasn't sure if he was more relieved that he was safe or offended that she thought him to be harmless! The sow returned to her cubs, who still had no idea that there was any kind of impending danger. Slowly Ricky relaxed his grip on the gun, thankful that he had given her no reason to engage a full attack.

For the next two hours he watched the sow and cubs, as well as two other bears, come and go. Then a big black bear with a brown patch on his back came in, and as soon as he saw it, Ricky knew this was a shooter. The bear sat with his back to the blind, scooping food out of the bait barrel and eating. Ricky put the gun up and waited for his opportunity. "Calm down, calm down," he repeated to himself. Ricky waited patiently, but the bear never gave him a good shot. Then, out of nowhere, another nice black bear came in, and now there were two nice-looking bears. For 25 minutes Ricky compared the two, moving the scope from one to the other again and again. Both bears were similar in size, but finally he decided that the second bear had the nicer coat. He was really shaking now and repeated over and over, "Calm down, calm down." As the black bear stood up, the sun shone on its black fur, and Ricky was struck by the sheer beauty of the animal. He just knew it was showtime and took careful aim. The bear looked over at the bait barrel, and then the moment Ricky had been waiting for arrived: the perfect broadside shot. Ricky pulled the trigger and the bear dropped straight down. The adrenaline rush was incredible! "I felt like I was walking on air. What an awesome feeling!" Hours later, and in fact days later, he still felt the effects of this "ultimate rush." The bear weighed in at 300 pounds; for a spring bear, that is a nice size. Ricky saw seven different bears on the first day of his hunt and was heading home with a real trophy.

Mike

In the meantime, after setting up Ricky, Roger delivered Ricky's friend Mike to his blind. Now, Mike is no stranger to us, and we love every minute that he is here. He always brings us something interesting. I recall the first year we met him. It was two years ago, and he phoned when he was quite close to camp, so I went outside to greet him. I didn't know much about him, but I knew he was a policeman, so I pictured a big, burly kind of guy (which, in fact, he is). I had enjoyed our prior phone calls and email messages and was looking forward to meeting him in person. I was watching up the road for him, and from two miles away I could see a vehicle. We don't get much traffic down our road, so there was no doubt it was him. As I continued to watch, I thought, "What is that? It's... it's... it's a Mini Cooper! Now how in the world is this guy going to take home a big bear in a little Mini Cooper? He's gonna have to strap the dang thing to the roof!" As he parked in front of me, he uncurled himself from behind the steering wheel and walked over with a big smile on his face, all ready for his hunt. Anyone who has ever had to go through a vehicle rental agency knows that sometimes there is a surprise or two. The main thing was that Mike was here and ready for his hunt. The year after the "Mini Cooper year," Mike had a tremendous hunt. He saw the bear he knew he wanted, and although he noticed it limped a bit, he still chose it. He had no idea it was a three-legged bear! Between my guides and me we had many, many years of experience, and no one had ever seen a three-legged bear. How unique is that? The missing leg was possibly the result of a fight many years before, as it was well healed and the bear got around very easily without it. So now Mike is known as "the hunter who showed up in a Mini Cooper" and "the hunter who took home a three-legged bear"!

Anyway, back to the story at hand. Roger also had a ground blind set up for Mike. As Mike approached the blind which was a four foot square building similar to the one that Ricky used, he noted that it very much showed the signs of an aggressive bear in the area. The corners were chewed up and there were claw marks all over it. The Plexiglas of the front window had been ripped off, and when Roger opened the door, he closed it again before Mike could get in, walked back to the vehicle, and came back with a fresh plank to replace one that appeared to have been completely chewed up and spit out! Naturally, this caused Mike a bit of apprehension, and thankfully Roger did not call this one a "boxed lunch for bears" as he had with Ricky. It would have made Mike sweat just a bit more! As the guide stood there with the door open and all the confidence in the world, Mike thought, "Well, if Ricky can do this, so can I!" and quickly stepped into the blind. Once inside, he could see that Roger had indeed repaired the blind to complete satisfaction and safety.

He hadn't been in the blind very long when a bear came into the bait. It is amazing how quiet they are. One minute there is nothing there, and the next minute there is a bear, with no warning! Mike picked up the video camera, and although we never got a copy of the video, this is what you would see:

Scene 1: A black bear at the bait barrel...

Scene 2: the bear stops eating and turns his head toward the blind...

Scene 3: the bear turns his body and starts walking toward the blind... closer, closer... closer.

Scene 4: the camera drops and everything goes black!

I think this says it all!

A wild bear coming straight toward you is nerve-racking, to say the least! It didn't take Mike long to have his Marlin .45-70 at the ready. Silently, Mike said to himself, "You might not be a big bear, but if you come through this window, you will become my bear rug!" That bear just kept right on coming. Mike noted that the bear did not show signs of aggression and appeared to be only curious, but what would that wild bear do once he realized that Mike was a possible threat to him?

Without hesitation, that bear shoved his whole head into the front window, and Mike pushed himself to the far back of the blind. Keep in mind that this building is only four feet deep, which doesn't leave much room for retreat. So there they were, Mike and the bear, eyeball to eyeball. The bear still appeared only curious. "I can sit still. No need to alarm a curious young bear. I can do this," Mike thought to himself, all the while aware of the gun in his hand and the bear's eyes staring him down. Then the bear started sniffing. It could smell something, and Mike wasn't sure whether it was the sandwiches he had brought for lunch or whether the bear was considering him as lunch. The staring match seemed to go on forever. In time, the bear decided the situation was harmless and that the bait in the barrel would be tastier than Mike, so he turned and went back to the barrel. Mike sighed in relief because this was too small of a bear to harvest.

Soon after, Mike heard a shot from Ricky's stand and knew that his friend had taken his first-ever bear. Mike smiled at the memory of the rush of excitement that comes with taking a bear and knew that Ricky would be on a real high right now. Mike didn't have to wait long for a nice bear to come into the bait site and present Mike with a nice clean shot.

What could be better than two friends taking their bears on the same day and both having staring matches with wild bears? These are wild animals, and it is not wise to look a wild bear right in the eyes, especially a boar. You must watch the bear without looking directly into his eyes; he could perceive it as a challenge, and most boars do not back down from a challenge. Mike and Ricky will remember these hair-raising moments for the rest of their lives, along with the awesome adrenaline rush that comes with taking a bear.

Reading this, you may think we are careless with our hunters and leave them in potentially dangerous situations. That is far from the truth. In every case our guides monitor and assess the situation, and they know a lot more about what is going on than they show.

Danny

On that same day, Danny (who had also hunted the same week as Mike the year before) was put in a tree stand miles away. Although Danny saw bears, the best part of his day was not a bear story.

As he was sitting there enjoying the day, he glimpsed something out of the corner of his eye. Ever so slowly, he turned to see what the movement was. "It looked like a really light-coloured blond bear at first," he told me, but it was in the forest and he couldn't get a good look at it. He kept catching glimpses of the animal as it walked among the trees. It stopped in a clearing, and as it turned its head, Danny's lips silently formed the word "wolf"! "Never in my life did I dream that I would have the privilege of seeing a wolf in the wild, and I will never forget it." He had told one of the guides that it was on his bucket list, but he didn't think it would ever come true. And there it was, only 20 yards in front of him. The animal was regal and fearless, and it is easy to see why so many legends surround it. Wolves carry a sense of power and confidence about them, and although there are many in this area, they are rarely seen. They are wise and stay out of sight of people. Even experienced local trappers have a challenge to catch them. This wolf had a unique coloration. Wolves in this area tend to be grey, some light grey and some dark grey to black, but the wolf in front of Danny was white. It wasn't an albino, as it had a touch of silver down its back. Truly a beautiful animal. The wolf never once looked at Danny, and we are not sure whether the wind was in his favour or whether the wolf, in his regal glory, simply did not consider this man a threat. Danny longed to pick up his camera but didn't want to risk the wolf seeing him move. He wanted this sighting to last as long as possible. The wolf went and stood under a low-hanging spruce bough, which camouflaged him well, and stared intently down the trail behind Danny while ignoring Danny completely. When the wolf turned and passed out of sight, Danny looked to see what had held its attention down the trail but saw nothing. Some time later, a sow and cubs walked down the path, and Danny realized the wolf had known they were coming long before they arrived.

The sow was quite entertaining. She stood up with her back against a tree and scratched. She looked like she was doing some kind of dance, and he had to smile at her comedy routine.

The next day up in the stand, Danny watched a rabbit run wildly across the trail in front of him, and he hoped the wolf might be behind it, but alas, it was not. It is amazing how certain events stay alive in our minds for the rest of our lives, and Danny's wolf sighting was exactly one of those moments.

Written by Kathy Dopko-Esler, from the stories Ricky, Mike and Danny told her while hunting with Makwa River Outfitters.