Manitoba Black Bear

[the nikster]

My wife and I leave in the morning for our guided black bear hunt in Manitoba.
Originally she was the shooter and I was going to observe but she has recently decided she might have a problem actually shooting a bear, GOOD FOR MEEE!!

We have about a 4 hour drive to the lodge and then a little sighting in and fishing for the afternoon while we settle in. We are both still really excited to be going as we planned this hunt 6 months ago and have just slowly watched the days pass by.

Our goal is a representative bear. Not a dink and not a giant. My wife is a budding taxidermist and is excited to do her first bear. Her deer have turned out really nice, here’s hoping.
Color phase? I’m not going to hold out for one but if the right bear comes along, sure, we would take what is available.

We have a trip to Alaska as soon as this hunt concludes but we want to get everything we can out of this before we go. That said, after the hunting is done I doubt we will stay at the lodge for more than just another night or two. The trip to Alaska will soon become too enticing.

Anyway,
I will try to post daily updates as time allows. Thanks for reading.

 

[ashersdad]

Good luck!

 

[the nikster]

This morning got off to a rough start. I went out to load the truck and all signs indicated my battery was dead. I used the key hidden in the fob to get in but nothing worked.
I had a colleague try to jump start but that also failed.
We read the owners manual and consulted YouTube. No good.
Finally a stranger suggested pushing the fob against the push button starter.
Vroom!! We were packed and on our way. We drove about half way with nothing to report then stopped at a local ladies only walleye tournament. Yep. Lots of fish. We decided to get a bite to eat.
This is the furniture in the restaurant where we had a quick lunch. I had Philly, she had BBQ, both were fine This is the outside of our digs for the next week. 3 bedrooms and 1 bath for just the 2 of us. Coffee, cable, laundry, everything is here. Inside the living room.
The place is much more than I expected. Lots of nice first impressions so far.
We had dinner with the hosts and sighted in the .375. Now we are back at the cabin awaiting morning.
In the morning we eat, check bait stations, eat again and then hunt the afternoon.
Saw a dozen deer tonight and about 100 snakes on the roads warming up.
Morning is 9 hours away….

 

[the nikster]

Morning has arrived.
Here is a quicky view of the cutlery my wife brought on her first bear hunt/skin.

Saw a doe in the front yard this morning.
Saw a fox on a bale of hay.
A gaggle of geese flew by and a herd of bison spent the morning out the back door. Great start. Off to get vittles.

 

[the nikster]

We had a pretty decent day.
After breakfast we went out to check and refill baits. 2 of the 3 we checked got hit last night but none of them were right for tonight wind wise. After checking baits we went back to the lodge for a lunch and a nap.
About 4:00 we were in our chosen stand for the evening. The barrel was about 55 yards away and the wind, what wind there was, was blowing in our face. The view. This little guy was worth every penny!!after 3 hours of non stop boredom, this dude put in an appearance. A bit small for the first night. I wanted a closer look so wandered over to about 10’
He wandered off in search of berries after about 20 minutes at the base of our stand.
A bit later my wife saw a white wolf in the trees behind us. I heard some splashes when it left but never saw it.
All in all, today was great. Tomorrow is looking like another scorcher.
Hard to believe it might get better.

 

[the nikster]

Today was similar to yesterday.
We had Bison in the front yard when we got up but missed the photo op.
We had toast and eggs for breakfast but missed the photo op.
Checked some baits, they were all hit, but missed the photo op.
Got to the stand just before 5:00
We sat around, she read, I watched until just after 7:00 when this guy showed up again.
He stayed on the barrel for 29 minutes then wandered off.
An hour later I spotted this guy slinking through the underbrush.
Initially we thought it might be the same bear but, this one was a bit smaller with a slightly darker muzzle.
They both walked and we headed off to the house soon thereafter.
3 sightings in 2 nights. Happy so far.

 

[the nikster]

Wednesday morning we got up to overcast sky’s and threat of rain in the evening.
After breakfast we headed out to check baits.
The first bait we checked had been hit so we stood the barrel up and put some drippings on top.
The next one, about 2 miles away, was getting hit hard so we reset it and headed back to the lodge.
Late in the afternoon we were back on stand. We had a short rain storm and then a little guy showed up and played with the barrel for about an hour.


We did not shoot again. We did have another bigger bear come in after shooting light. But it was just too dark to tell which way it was facing so we just watched.
When we got back to camp we learned that one of the other guys had got a 250# bear that evening.

Thursday morning my wife was feeling under the weather. It was a good day to miss.

I sat on the same stand as the previous night and endured 2 hours of drizzle. I watched the same small bear come in to the bait 3 times.
In the end it was just a great evening spent away from the office and I had no stinky bear to ruin it. I love my life.
The other hunter in camp shot a bear just after 7:00 pm during the heavy rains. I was too wet to take photos but I will get some photos of his bear for today.
Still having a great time with the girl of my dreams.

 

[the nikster]

Sorry folks, the hunt got over and we raced to our home in Alaska.
Friday I saw nothing. I had high hopes for the spot but nothing showed.
Somehow I ended up with no photos from the second bear. It was a 3 or 4 year old sow.
Saturday morning threatened another warm day. The afternoon delivered on the threat.
We checked on a bait that had been set but not hunted in a week. It showed good signs

We reset the bait and spent the next 4 hours wasting time with the owner of the operation.
At 4:00 we went back out and the bait had been hit. We set up a blind and waited. 30 minutes. 60 minutes. 90 minutes. 2 hours. At 2 hours and 47 minutes an old sow wandered out and presented herself. I accepted.
She was aged between 20 and 22 years old, barren with almost zero fat.
Great hunt. Now my wife gets to make a rug. Saw 8 bears in 6 nights. Highly recommended

 

[MT_Fin]

Nice, congrats.