This past friday, Rememberance Day, I was out on my trapline with my family(Wife and 4 and 6 year old daughters). I was building bobcat cubbies with my wife and the girls were chasing squirrels and playing in cow patties with sticks. The first cubby went fine and when I found a good location for the second, we decided to have a snack at the truck before lugging the tools up to the site I had picked out. I walked up the the small ravine about a 100 yards and started to gather sticks and branches. I could here my wife and kids coming up the trail behind me, and out of habit I took another quick glance up the draw to look for anything out of the ordinary. I almost came out of my skin when 20 yards up the bank to my left I locked eyes with a fat black bear crouching on its front paws studying me. A million thoughts ran through my head in a split second, I had no gun, no knife, and lots of potential danger. I half turned my head without breaking visual contact with the bear and yelled to my wife to get the kids back to the truck, some 50 yards walk for them. I stood frozen where I was, in case the bear made a move, I could hopefully fight it long enough to let my family get to safety. I felt a big load lift off my shoulders when I heard the truck doors slam shut, but I still felt anything but safe with an unblinking bear staring me down. For the first time in my life during a bear encounter, I had to really try hard to fight off the urge to run. Everything moved in slow motion as I started to move sideways back toward the truck without losing visual of the bear. I felt a little bit more relief when the bear maintained it position as I widened the gap, until I was finally back in the truck also. I fired it up, spun it around and started heading the 8 miles to my house and my GUN. At this point in time, my fear and shock at the bears boldness, had turned more towards anger and a strong desire to get even. The round trip took about 25 minutes, and I quickly hopped out, loaded the old .270 with 140gr Hornady's, and headed up the trail to see if the bear was still in the area. I couldn't believe it, it hadn't moved since I left, and was starring intently at me as I leaned on the nearest tree and glued the crosshairs on the center of its chest. BOOM, and then the next surprise, it came straight at me full out. I was already closing the bolt on the next round, when it suddenly broke off the charge and veared to my right, crashing through the scrub, and then all was quiet. I stayed put for a couple minutes, gun pointed in the direction I last saw the bear, and listened. I knew the hit was good and the shot was inside 30 yards, so I slowly circled above where the bear had disappeared from sight and spotted it piled up in the botton of the ravine. I lobbed a couple chuncks of wood down on it and watched for any sign of life. Nothing. I then decended the bank and poked the eye with my barrel, the bear was dead. I rolled it over, and found out that it was a sow in the 300lb range. I walked up the bank to where she had been sitting, and found the reason she had not wanted to leave the area, it was her den. I couldn't help but feel a little bit sorry for her, even though she had me real worried for the safety of me and my family.
Normally I always have a gun with me in the bush, but since I had my chainsaw along and was building cubbies, I thought I wouldn't need it. After the helpless feeling I had when confronted with that bear though, I won't be leaving it at home anymore. A good reminder to not take anything for granted in the bush, no matter what time of year it is.
RO <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
