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Hunting In The Rain ( TRIP ) |
 Director Dean Turner and his cinnamon spring bear  |
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| Source: | Dean Turner | Date: | September 1, 2008 | |
| The 2008 spring bear hunt was shaping up fairly well until the day before our annual trip. My hunting partner caved in to spousal pressure to go on a spring camping trip. I had spent too much time day dreaming about a spring hunt and practicing with my new Knight 50 calibre muzzle loader to give up now. I broke my own rule and went by myself. Three hours out of Whitehorse I spotted a large Black bear 200 yds from the highway. It was in a good location for a stalk and I could bring him in with a predator call. Unfortunately after I was all geared up and about to remove my trigger lock along came a tourist vehicle. Rather than spoil their experience or leave a negative impression I let that one go. – After four hours of driving in the rain I made camp and headed for high ground to glass the area. The cloud cover was very low and made visibility poor. It rained all night and the next day with just enough sunny intervals to wake up the mosquitoes. On the third day I put my camo rain gear on again and positioned myself on a ridge overlooking a valley with a river at the bottom. One squawk with my predator call and the bushes started shaking like a scene from King Kong and Jurassic Park. About 20 yards away out popped a three or four year old black bear. I had been looking for a larger cinnamon so I decided to pass on this one as well. It took a little yelling and waving to convince him I wasn’t lunch and eventually he ambled off. I went back to camp about 6.30pm to dry off but it started to pour again. I had had enough! I packed up my soggy equipment and hit the road. Less than an hour’s driving later I happened to look up from the road and saw a huge cinnamon bear 280 yds away on a ridge to my left. I stalked up to where it had been and saw him 50 yds further up walking away. I whistled and he completely turned around to face me. One shot fortunately, and he dropped. He was fairly easy to get back to my truck as it was all down hill. Getting him up and into it however was a very different matter. My hunting partner would have been very helpful. Although he was a very mature bear he was in perfect health. We got 188 Lbs of delicious boned out meat and a beautiful hide. One of his hind quarters will be roasted at the 2009 Fish & Game Banquet for those of you who would like a taste. |
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