day 139 9-4-09 Fri

9-4-09 Fri
Day 139-226 to go
5:00PM – 8:10PM

Weather: Sunny, calm 67°, 30.14 steady

Bagged: Nothing (bear hunting with bow)

Partners: Tom Weber, Jeremy Pank

Location: Northeast Minnesota: Old Ladder Stand.

Comments: The bear gods were and were not smiling on me tonight! I did have a rather large bear come into the bait at 7:50 pm. This bear was as long as the bear estimator stick Tom had placed beside the bait. That is to say he measured four feet from the front of its shoulders to the end of its rump. The only obstacle to me harvesting this bear was its relative position in relation to me. You see, he came straight into the bait and laid down. I had a perfect going away laying down shot, but this should not even be considered when using a bow. I had made up my mind that the only shot I would take on this trip was a perfect broadside or slightly quartering away shot.
This bear was quite comfortable in its eating position and did not appear to be moving anytime soon. He was so close I could hear him eating the bait. With darkness fast approaching, I decided if it was not going to give me a shot I might just as well film it. Well this bruin was so close that it heard the motor of the camera turning the film! It then got nervous and walked off the bait. It quickly decided it wanted more food and came back. At this point I put down the camera and picked up the bow. It did make it back to the bait, but within seconds it knew something was amiss and it crashed off through the brush.
Tom and Jeremy did not see any bears tonight.