Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Bear Tales from Ontario.....

The past 5 weeks have flown by and our time in Ontario has come to an end. With the opening of bear season, this past week was incredibly busy as 9 bear hunters arrived in camp with the hopes of putting their tag on one of these ghosts of the bush.

Some left with great trophies, but all left with great memories and stories to tell. Every hunter saw bear and had an opportunity to get one. 5 harvested their trophies, 2 missed while two others saw bear but were waiting for bigger ones.

Although I did not take any pictures of the bears, (you are welcome Pam) I will share a couple of stories from the hunters.

An 18 year old girl arrived with her dad to hunt bears for her first time. She brought a tree stand to hunt out of so she was elevated to get a better view of the area and she would be 12’ above any bears that walked by. The hunting site I had selected for her did not have any trees that would support a tree stand however so she had to hunt out of a ground blind. She was nervous but agreed to hunt on the ground. Actually I think her dad was more nervous than was. When she returned she had a story to tell when a sow with 2 cubs walked within feet of her blind! She of course did not shoot but said she was scared to death and excited all at the same time to have such an experience.
Meanwhile her 19 year old boyfriend had an experience of his own. He was hunting out of a tree stand at a height of about 12’ when a bear walked into the area. It was not the big one he was hoping for and was not going to shoot so he just sat there and watched it.  Bear have very poor eyesight and rely mainly on their hearing and sense of smell. Well this bear knew something was in the area when it walked in following the exact same path the hunter took on his way to the stand. It is hard to say if this bear knew he was tracking a human as this area is so remote there is a chance it had never run across a human before. So here was this bear standing at the base of the tree looking and smelling straight up trying to figure out what was up in the tree. So what does a bear do when it is curious about something up in a tree? You got it, it climbs the tree to see what is up there. The hunter said the pucker factor was off the charts as this bear climbed the tree and smelled his boot before it climbed down and scampered away!

An even more intense situation occurred with a father/son team were hunting out of a ground blind when a bear came across their tent in the woods and did not like it. They said this bear charged their blind stopping just short and growled and snapped its jaws trying to intimidate whatever was in there. Let me tell you, they were definitely intimidated! They could not get a shot at it as it approached to the side and behind them but they did get a good look at it a couple times and said it was definitely a shooter bear!
But by far the scariest and most dangerous event occurred to me when I went out to pick up a ground blind from a hunter who had switched spots. He had left his blind out in the bush so I offered to get it since I was going to be in the area. I approached the blind without a care in the world, walked up to it, unzipped the door, ducked my head and slipped into the blind ready to dismantle it. It was then I came face to face with……a skunk! Well, not face to face exactly as this beast was as terrified as I was and was trying to get out of this 4x4 foot enclosure with his butt pointed right at me! I jumped backwards out of the blind in about a millisecond and lifted the blind freeing it. Although it smelled, it did not spray so I was able to take the blind down and get back to the vehicle unscathed.

I was also able to complete our Onaman Lake video this week. This was a particularly tough task as we had so much good video to share. I was finally able to whittle it down and am excited to present the long awaited, much anticipated video!

We are now headed to Wisconsin for a few days awaiting the wedding of our good friend Kevin where yours truly will be a co-best man. We are looking forward to a few days catching up with friends and family before we head back to our property in South Dakota! 

19 comments:

  1. Great job on the video Jim! You guys could have your own outdoors fishing and hunting show. The fishing seems as good or better than our experience at Reed Lake...amazing how hard it is to catch a fish small enough to eat. Quite the experience the hunters had with the bears. Safe travels!

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    1. After seeing your post on Reed Lake I would love to get up there. Especially to catch some of those lake trout that you were catching!

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  2. That could have been a Fatal attack if that Skunk had let lose with both barrels.
    Glad you survived to write about it proper.
    Be safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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    1. I was thinking about that, there would have been no way I could have escaped unscented had it let loose!

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  3. Nice video. I was hoping to start fishing but you make it look so boring. They practically jump in the boat. I remember fishing and I would maybe catch one, or two if I was able to hit one with the boat.

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    1. They practically do jump in the boat up there! We came back with two limits of walleye, perhaps we will have to have some next week when you come out!

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  4. I almost skipped this blog when I read about the bear hunters at the beginning. Thanks you for skipping the photos:) Crazy stories, especially where the bear climbed the tree by the tree stand. Loved the video! Barb is so funny behind the scene. She had me laughing out loud. Sounds like another great visit.

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    1. 'Tis this season! But rest assured, I will provide fair warning if I include any dead animal pictures!

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  5. Great bear stories, Jim! The boot sniffing one is wild. Glad the skunk decided to hold it’s scent. It would’ve been a long walk back to South Dakota!

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    1. I can't imagine how horrible that would have been or how I would have de-scented!

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  6. Great video. Certainly makes you want to come to Pasha Lake Cabins and put a line in the water. Glad you did not get sprayed by the skunk. Barb would have made you sleep outside for days ... and there are bears! Ha Ha

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    1. Thanks, it has been a while since we created a video. Although I enjoy doing it, I forgot how time consuming it is....

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  7. Those are awesome stories. Love the fishing video. You guys have way too much fun.

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  8. Great trip again! Lots of nice fish. Are you using live bait? Drifting minnows? Too bad everyone didn’t get a bear but they sure have crazy stories to tell. PS No double. Gotta have them on the line at the same time 😏. Love Barbs dance. Maybe you need to come up with your own?

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    1. Mostly minnows and vertically jigging. The key is being on the bottom which is why you see me opening my bail so often, to make sure the jig is on the bottom.

      And no, you don't want to see my dance, no rhythm at all!

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  9. I hate skunks..See you at the wedding, we are leaving for the Maritimes right after labor day, Bob and Lorraine with our beloved pooch Maggies ashes.

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  10. Great stories, none I'd like to have myself. Glad you escaped unscathed from you skunk encounter.

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