May of 2006 promised to be an exciting month, my turkey hunting was going to be cut short but I wasn’t complaining about the reason. I’d be taking a trip, my destination was the Canadian wilderness and my goal was a black bear with a bow and arrow. On the 11th I was going to be flying to Fort McMurray via Toronto and Edmonton. From there I would board a bush plane that would take me into the Alberta wilderness, 70 Nautical Miles west of the booming oil town of Fort McMurray. Knowing that this great adventure would chew up most of the PA turkey season, along with having to work on Saturday May 6th, I took the first Monday of the season off in hopes tagging out on the first Saturday or Monday. Well my plan didn’t exactly go as scripted and I had no luck either day.
I had to move to Plan B. “Boss, I’m not working this Saturday, I have urgent family business to attend to.” Plan B didn’t sit very well with the boss man but too bad, so sad; IT WORKED! I thought “I have one more chance then it’s over, Ill get up super early, and hunt until noon!” (In PA there’s no spring turkey hunting after noon.) Well when I opened my eyes it was 7:45 AM! I sprung out of bed, grabbed my bow and blind and raced to my hunting area cussing myself out for sleeping in late. As I walked into my hunting area, 3 jakes were milling around the exact spot I was going to set up, as they ran off, I crept up, set the blind and decoys and settled in. The rest of the morning was incredibly quiet compared to the two previous days I had hunted the area. I got one half hearted answer to my call at about 9 am and kept hearing some faint noises to my left but I figured they were just song birds buzzing around.
Around 10 AM, my luck changed. I was looking at my bow when I glanced up and saw a Gobbler strutting at my decoy spread! He came in silent! I picked up my bow, slowly brought my Hoyt Trykon to full draw and settled my 20 yard pin in the wing pocket of the strutting tom, I waited for him to clear some brush and I released, Smack – Perfect Hit! He went down immediately and I was SO FIRED UP! My PA gobbler weighted 19 lbs and had an 8 inch beard, not the biggest in the woods but I couldn’t have been happier.
With my turkey on the ground my attention immediately turned to bear hunting. Although I was leaving in 4 days I couldn’t wait; as it turns out I wouldn’t be disappointed. My adventure started with a bush plane ride deep into the Alberta wilderness. On this trip I hunted with Alberta Adventure Outfitters, owned and operated by a master guide; Phil Mascaro. (Phil has guided over 60 sheep kills and personally shot 4 including a Dall with a bow) Everything about the trip was great, the camp, the stands, the guides and even the type of clients that hunt with Phil, all are top notch; and oh yeah the fishing is out of this world too! Beautiful cold water lakes everywhere that receive next to no fishing pressure; in one hour from shore I landed 8 pike and had countless hits, I couldn’t image what you’d catch with a boat set up for Pike and Walleye.
In this part of Canada the bears are abundant and your license comes with a 2 bear limit. It’s a relaxing trip to go on, you hunt until 1030pm because you are so far up north it stays light later, and you sleep in as long as you want in the morning. I hunted solely out of a tree stand set up over a baited area. Although I was by myself on this trip I would be attempting to video tape the hunt myself using a metal arm that attached to the camera and to the tree. The guide drops you off at your stand which we’d access by way of 4 wheelers and Argos. Getting to the stand, some of which are 30 miles from camp is half the fun! A winch on the front is an absolute necessity and I used mine more times than I can count. It was incredibly exciting to watch bears come in so close and interact with each other. I had more than one bear try to climb the tree I was in and they knew I was there! I had one bear come to my tree, and ate an orange that slipped out of my pack! It was hilarious and the whole time it ate I was talking to it, some of those bears just do not have a large fear of humans, which can be a little scary. The third day of my hunt started with use approaching the bait site with 2 bears already on it!
One ran when they heard us coming and as I watched it run away I could swear it had a chocolate coat, which is something I really wanted. The other bear however did the opposite, he actually walked up to us, 10 feet away, he was the same bear that ate my orange and he wasn’t a small bear by any means but he wasn’t the size I was looking for. The bear was so bold and he wouldn’t back down. My bow was in my hand and my guide was videoing with one hand and had bear spray in the other, fortunately for the bear he decided to leave us alone and I climbed into my stand and set up my video camera. About one hour later I heard 2 bears fighting in the ticket in front of me and my heart started to pound. Moments later a really nice sized black bear came to the bait site. He was defiantly a shooter but I wanted to wait and see what was in the ticket. A few minutes passed and there he was, a beautiful chocolate colored bear with a thick coat came into view and the fight started again! The big black bear chased the chocolate away but he didn’t go far and soon he presented me with an 18 yd shot. As I glanced at the camera to make sure the bear was in view I drew back and settled my pin in the mid section of the bear, I don’t remember releasing the arrow but it flew true and my Easton Axis hit the mark and my bear collapsed with in 10 yards. The black bear was somewhat bigger but I had a gorgeous color phase bear on the ground and on video and still had 3 days of hunting to wait for a true monster. The days came and went and I never got a chance to fill my second tag but I had no regrets. Filming myself ended up being very difficult but that is a funny story for another time.
During my trip I saw 13 individual bears, the Northern Lights, great scenery, experienced fantastic fishing, shot a great chocolate coated bear on video, and met some of the most interesting and great people I’ve ever met. My bear ended up squaring about 5 ½ feet, not P & Y but a great trophy in my book. This trip ended a fantastic month of hunting for me and will be a May I’ll never forget.
