****
Foreword
There are two types people when it comes to taking an animal’s while hunting… A hunter or a killer. A hunter is person that has the utmost respect for
the animal they are hunting. A hunter abides by all restrictions, laws, and limitations
set on the hunting of the animal. A hunter prides themselves on having and
abiding to morals, ethics, and standards. A hunter has a Ask-questions-first,
shoot-later mentality. A hunter is well prepared and plans ahead.A hunter is giver... and cares about all aspects of the hunt.
A killer is the opposite. An animal killer has little
respect for the animal they are hunting. An animal killer will often twist or
break restrictions, laws, or limitations surrounding the taking of an animal.
An animal killer often will have low morals, ethics, and standards, or even breaks
them when they do exist. An animal killer has a Shoot-first,
ask-questions-later mentality. An animal killer often does not plan ahead or is
ill prepared due to nearsightedness. A killer is a taker... and caring is not a priority.
Danielle and I pride ourselves on being extremely responsible
hunters. I know a few people who are anchored at the other end of the spectrum. Never have I thought that I would be questioning myself on where I
stand in that spectrum… but that is exactly what happened after my most recent
hunt.
****
Now that Danielle harvested her black bear, it was my turn
to see if I could bag a brown bear. The trail cam at my station and the
neighboring station has shown multiple brown bears of different sizes and colors
hitting the bait. One bear is a huge bruiser, but unfortunately he is very
smart and only visits the station around 2AM... and I’m not hunting brown bears
in the dark! He did however make a recent mistake and was at the bait station
around 5 AM, when the sun was rising. It was now my goal to see if I could be
in the right place at the right time when he makes his next mistake.
Danielle and I often say that we will not shoot something if
we don’t plan on eating it. That is not the case with brown bear. I do not know
a single person that eats brown bear. I have asked so many people, and even the
Native Alaskan friends that I have do not know anybody that eats brown bear (I
say this because Alaska Native People are very resourceful and have a tradition
of utilizing everything on a harvested animal).
I planned a weekend hunt without Danielle as she had to stay
home to participate in a graduation ceremony for her preschool class. I left
directly from work and arrived at our parking area around 6:30PM. It was an
EXTREMELY hot and sunny day (That’s about 70 degrees here… but seriously, our
direct sunlight is way hotter than yours). I loaded up the cart with my hunting
pack, 50lbs of dog food, and yummy smelling goodies. It was so hot on the way
in, that I ended up going shirtless… the second time in a month and something
that never really happens in Alaska. As I was walking in, I noticed something
promising… HUGE brown bear prints on the trail. I’m talking big enough to fit
my size 14 boot in!
Once I got to the bait station area, I was so hot and sweaty
that I feared my stink would scare off any bears. I quickly wiped myself down
and got all sprayed up with bug dope. I then had to make several trips in and
out to the station to carry everything in. After setting the bait and getting
everything nice and sweet smelling, I checked the trail cam. The trail cam
showed multiple different bears visiting at all hours of the day with the brown
bears typically showing up during the evening/night. This was exciting!
I climbed up the tree stand for the night. Over the course
of the next 3 hours, I saw a few black bears and a small brown bear. I sat up
there until 11:30PM at which point it was getting too dark to see anymore. I
didn’t see a big brown bear, so I called it a night and headed out. On my way
out, I saw many piles of fresh bear scat, but I made it back to the truck
without any trouble. I set my alarm for 3AM to hunt the next day.
I woke up early the next morning after a couple hours of
sleep to head back to the stand. I got there at 4:30AM, with a little daylight
showing. I sat there until 11AM and saw nothing the entire time. Knowing no
brown bears come out during the day, I headed back to the truck to nap and
waste time until later that night.
7PM rolled around and I headed back out. Again, it was so
hot that I went shirtless and I was still soaked from sweat. I knew I would
smell, but I could smell something else at that point that easily overpowered
my body odor… the carcass from last week. That thing was baking in the sun for
about a week and the last two days were extremely hot and powerful, and as a
result, that carcass smelled HORRIBLE! The weird thing about that is usually brown
bears scavenge dead animals like this almost instantly; but for whatever
reason, the brown bears visiting the bait station wanted nothing to do with it,
which I thought was odd.
I grabbed the 50bs of dog food and threw it over my shoulder
for the first load in. On my way in, I spooked a brown bear that was in the
area, but not on my bait. Bummer! I returned to the cart to grab the second
load. On my way in the second time, I spooked something else that was coming in
to the bait from the other direction… bummer again!
I got everything set up and ready for a night of sitting in
the stand. Within 20 minutes of being up there, a small black bear came in. 20
minutes later, a different black bear appeared. 30 minutes later, a small brown
bear appeared. This pattern continued to occur with black bears until about
11PM. At 11:15, a small brown bear appears to my left. He is very skittish and
hesitant to approach the bait. I soon realized why. As I was watching him, a
large blonde, brown bear appeared at the bait station after it crossed the
creek from the back. I now had two brown bears in the area, one scared of how
big the other was. The blonde bear on the bait was beautiful. It had real light,
almost gold colored skin with dark brown legs. It came in like he knew he was
king of the woods and didn’t care who else was in the area. The little brown
bear growled and scuffed trying to make the larger one leave, but the big one
just sat there without a care in the world. I knew this blonde bear was a
shooter.
Unfortunately, at some point during the week, the bears got
rowdy and decided to stomp and push my bait barrel around. They dented it and
shoved it around the tree so it was no longer in my sight from the stand.
Because of that, when bears approach the barrel, they would eat out of it in a
place I could not really see. I mention this because I had to wait there for a
while in order for the bear to present a shot. He actually sat down on his butt
looking up, kind of like if we were to sit Indian-style on the ground. This
gave me a clear shot at his chest.
It was very dark, but I could still see through the scope. I
pushed the safety off my rifle, aimed squarely at his chest, and squeezed the
trigger. BOOOMM. Now what happened next is important. The bear turned, grunted,
and moved the other direction. He slowly dropped down into the creek, crossed
it, and walked up hill on the other side of the creek. I paid close attention
to where he went.
I then dropped out of the tree stand and carefully made my
way back to the trail to the truck. I was not going to proceed after the bear
tonight because you do not want to approach an injured/dying bear, especially
in the dark. It was about midnight at this time. I got out my cell phone,
called up Danielle and she didn’t answer. I had to call my neighbor who went over
to our house to wake her up from the couch to get the news. I spoke with
Danielle on the phone and asked her to meet me at the parking area in the
morning to help me retrieve and pack out the bear. Keep in mind, it takes three
hours to get to the hunting spot, and the plan was to head in at 5AM in the
morning. Reluctantly, she agreed (Because she is the BEST wife ever!!!!!).
She showed up at 3AM and we got a couple hours of sleep. We
then headed in (with Tundra too) at 5AM to retrieve the bear. We get there and
examine the bait station. There was not a drop of blood anywhere! There wasn’t
any blood where the bear was sitting, there wasn’t any blood where the bear
walked, there wasn’t even any diluted blood near the creek where the bear
crossed. It was the weirdest damn thing. I shoot a .338 caliber rifle,
something that does more damage and hits/ kicks harder than most rifles used.
This should have made a mess of the bear on impact… but apparently, the bear
retained blood rather well.
We then try tracking the bear by following the path it
headed. Again, no blood anywhere. After we got to a point where we were not
sure where the bear went, we split up. We strategically covered a circle area
of about 1 mile in diameter, walking back and forth back and forth through
thick forest, alders, and creeks, scouring the woods for a dead bear. Tundra
was helping as well doing his best to find whatever we were looking for. At one
point, I thought that my gun may have been off site, so I recreated the shot
and set up a target the same distance away. When I shot out of the tree stand,
it nailed exactly where I was aiming! Well, after about 7 hours of searching,
we decided that we were not going to recover the bear. Throughout those 7
hours, my heart sank lower and throbbed
harder with disbelief and disappointment that I had shot an animal that will not
survive, and it won’t even be retrieved.
Danielle and I have talked about it pretty much at every
hunting trip… what if, we shoot something and we don’t kill it or can’t find
it? Danielle has always insisted that she will quit hunting because she does
not ever want that to happen again… to which I reply… it happens to every
hunter, it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. I used to naively say
that thinking it would never happen to me. I used to think… I’m too good of a
shot, and if a situation presents itself where I may not instantly kill the
animal from my bullet, I won’t even shoot. I used to think, that situation doesn’t
apply to me, every animal I have shot has been shot right through the heart. I
used to think, if my .338 didn’t instantly kill the animal, it would injure it
enough to eventually die without getting too far. I used to be right :(
During the drive the home from our failed recovery attempt,
I was an emotional mess. If you truly know me, I’m a mamma’s boy and my mom has
programmed me with very transparent feelings that care deeply for anything and
everything. I’m not afraid to speak the truth, and the truth is I shed a few
tears during thought. Again, I don’t enjoy killing, and to know that I likely
killed something with no observable outcome, it hurt. The thing that hurt the
most is that this type of hunt went against my typical reason and morals in
hunting. It was a difficult hunt for me to do in the first place because I had
no intent of using any of the meat that was on the brown bear. The sole purpose
of the hunt was to kill a brown bear, get my picture with it, and have a rug
created to show off the trophy. Granted, the brown bear hunt was allowed
because predator control is very much needed in the area where moose
populations are severely hurting, however, that was not on my mind when I was hunting. As I was
reflecting on the outcome, I was getting angrier and angrier at myself. I was beginning
to look at myself as a killer, and not a hunter. Why did I let the excitement
of fellow hunters about this new hunt pressure me in to hunting a brown bear?
Why would I personally shoot something that I had no intent of eating? What
happened to that bear? How did I miss the vital organs on such a big target at
such close range? Why did I give up so soon looking for the bear, when I could
have spent the entire day Sunday trying to recover it? What was I going to tell the
people I already notified that I had shot a bear the night prior? What was I
going to tell people that asked how my hunt went? I tore myself apart. A hunter
with morals to only shoot something they will eat would not have shot the brown
bear = killer. A hunter who spent enough time at the range shooting their rifle
would never miss an animal that bad = killer. A hunter should be able to
properly track a wounded animal in order to retrieve it = killer. This is the
first time I personally thought I was flirting with the animal killer label.
Danielle and I spoke later that day. We spoke about the
intent of such a hunt. How it is necessary to properly manage predators and if
predators weren’t controlled, moose would not be a resource for us. It was
discussed that although I did not find the animal, the purpose of the hunt was
served by eliminating a moose killer. We also discussed the inevitability of
such a situation eventually happening and that it was probably better that it
happened with a brown bear instead of a moose or sheep. I still wasn’t buying
it.
I spoke with many of my friends about the situation. All of
them had a similar situation where they have shot an animal and never got a
chance to retrieve the animal. Knowing that eased my worries, but still I
thought of myself better… thinking it’s unacceptable to allow it to happen when
I have control over preventing it. Of the many friends I talked to, two of them
had some good theories. One thought that because I was so close, the bullet
only hit soft tissue and didn’t have time to expand, passing completely through
without putting a large hole or hitting anything vital. The other friend (the
close proximity bait station owner) put the result in perspective for me and
actually changed my outlook on the hunt. He simply said, you didn’t hit the
bear. I knew in the back of my mind that missing the bear was a small
possibility, but it was something I didn’t want to believe either. Not hitting
the bear means I would have pulled my shot soooo bad, that it was off by a
foot. He justified his conclusion with many things: 1) There was no blood. I
knew deep down that a bullet from this range would drop at least a spec of
blood somewhere noticeable. 2) He didn’t roll. Bears shot in the upper torso
will typically roll backward at the impact of a shot, especially a .338. 3) He
didn’t bite at the entry wound. Bears that are shot don’t know what it is or
where it came from and they will bite at the site when hit. 4) He didn’t run. A
shot bear is a very scared bear. A bear that walks away grunting is more
typical of one that is conceding the food to something else that has driven it
off. For all these reasons, he swore up and down that I didn’t hit it, and that
I have to admit that I missed it horribly. He also said that I have to return
and actually take a brown bear, that the moose population is in such a horrible
state that as many bears need to be taken out as possible. The thing that
really hit home was when I was told that as a moose hunter that cares about the
outlook and availability of moose not only for myself, but for future
generations, this type of predator control hunt is necessary.
It was a tough sell, but everything he said made sense and
really did point to me missing the bear altogether. By me admitting that I
missed the bear, that would also mean that I could no longer pride myself on hitting
everything exactly how I planned… and I could no longer call myself a good
shot. Before I talked to him I was convinced my spring hunting season was over.
I wasn’t going to go back and I was going to prepare for fishing season. After
our conversation, I let his words sink in… and I eventually adopted them as my
own. I now believe that I did miss the bear, for whatever reason (it was dark,
I was nervous, it was the first shot of the season, etc.). I also now fully
support his idea that as a moose hunter, resource management is also my
responsibility, because if both bears and humans hunt moose without bears or
humans hunting each other, than there would be no moose hunting for anyone.
The following weekend Danielle and I decided to try our luck
one last time, and look for a brown bear. Little did we know, we would find
proof that I actually did miss the brown bear I attempted to shoot the weekend
prior. The beautiful, blonde brown bear has showed up on the trail cam multiple times, alive and unharmed :)
The bears were actually
nonexistent that weekend because a forest fire was burning nearby (check out
stories about the Funny River Fire). We had smoke in the air and ash dropping on us while in
the stand (even have it dropping on our house in Eagle River). This makes the bears
nervous and feeding is not on the top of their priority list. We decided to
pack up early that weekend and head home, putting our guns away for the spring
season. It’s now time to get the fishing poles and hiking boots out!
This is the first picture of the blonde bear after I shot at him on the night of May 17... he came back the next night. Seeing his picture helped ease my remaining worries. He was on camera a bunch during that week.
This is what our bait station looked like at the beginning of the season.Keep in mind that is a 55 gallon drum which is about 3 feet tall chained about 1 foot above the ground (for size reference later).
The first black bear of the season. (I didn't include many pictures of black bears on here, but there were a ton of them). This area allows 3 black bears to be taken per person per season... that's how many black bears are available.
This is the bruiser brown bear that showed up just about every night. He was pretty consistent and didn't like the day light.
Same bruiser.
Average sized (maybe a little on the small end) black bear for this area. Looks tin compared to the brown bear huh?
This is the blonde bear that I shot at. GORGEOUS bear.
Standing up and looking around. Next year I will trim that dang branch!
Another brown bear. You can see these brown bears all have different colored fur. They range from so dark it almost black (like the nighttime bruiser), to brown brown like this one, to blonde like the prior picture.
Typical result of the weekend hunts, oozing and peeling blisters. I finally found the ultimate blister prevention... a new boot lace tying technique and tape called Leukotape P. The combination of these two things prevents even the boniest of feet from rubbing. It also helps that I built up callouses too.
Smoke rolling over us while in the tree stand from the near by fires. After 200,000 acres burnt, the skies finally opened up on day 11 and receded the spread. It's now day 13 and it's still burning, but more controlled now.
The hazy and eerie color of the air and sky from the smoky air.
This is a curious little black bear I recorded on my phone.
After out last day of hunting, I decided to switch the camera to video mode. These are a couple short clips of a big boar that came to the stand during the middle of the day. I'm not sure if it's the nighttime boar, but I doubt it because of the lighter patches on him.
Well we learned quite a bit from setting up a bait station for the first time this year. People think it's easy, but let me tell you... it was way harder than I imagined. People also think that hunting a bait station is easy and "cheating". Baiting allows for selective harvesting. Shooting a sow and accidentally realizing it has cubs with it will never happen at a bait station. It allows for selecting bigger boars (the ones that kill cubs and feed on moose) knowing many bears will likely find the bait. Bait stations offer a better opportunity for a well placed shot resulting in a quick harvest (although I can not claim that point due to my recent miss). It allows for an easier introduction to hunting for friends and beginners hunting with experienced people. It also allows for more and closer observation of animal behavior... and picture taking.
And finally, for those that still don't think baiting is right, when you use worms, a minnow, or bait while fishing, does that feel like fishing or "cheating"? When duck decoys and a call are used to lure in ducks, does that feel like hunting or "cheating"?
No comments:
Post a Comment