Saskatchewan Black Bear Hunt 2014

What an amazing trip we had! We were gone for a total of 8 days and 6 of them were spent hunting. It was a long drive! 12 hours there and 12 hours back. We got home at 2:00 am this morning.

We had decided to leave a little early and stay an extra day as well. We left when Kyle got off of night shift on Sunday (May 18) and decided to take our time. We did stop in Jaffray (30 mins out of town) because we seen a friend of ours out in his field hunting gophers with his bow, so that added another hour to travel time. Then in Calgary we stopped at the Bass Pro to do some shopping. We got to Edmonton at about 10:30pm and made the trek over to Jeanettes place to crash. We got to Jeanettes at midnight and spent the next 4 hours talking about hunting and the Extreme Huntress Contest since we are both in the 20 semi-finalists. It was really great meeting her and Travis, especially when we are both in the contest. I cant wait to see her again in June and hopefully in Texas in July!

The next morning we headed out and went back to Edmonton to check out the Cabelas. We did some shopping and I picked up a hoodie and we picked up a new pack frame. Then we went for lunch and I bought a new phone. We managed to get out of Edmonton at a decent time and were on our way to Loydminister to meet up with one of the guys we were hunting with that we met on Twitter...along the way hoping they weren't serial killers lol! We made it to Kerwin's at around dinner time and had a good visit and meal with him and his family. In the morning the 3 of us were on our way to Spiritwood to meet up with the other guy, Warren. We got to Warrens familys' ranch (which was gorgeous) and started loading the quads right away. We were heading for the family cabin.

It was a bit of a quad ride to get there but it was beautiful. The cabin was on a hill over looking a lake surrounded by poplar trees and croaking frogs in the marsh. It was very wet, so we got a little muddy and the frogs were everywhere! You could see them hopping out of the way of the quad. We dropped our stuff off in the cabin and we geared up to hunt the evening.

Hunt Day 1
The guys decided that while we were hunting they would go and check the other baits they had set up and sort of organize the camp area. So they took us into the stand where there was a big cinnamon boar coming in and was dubbed "Charra" because he was tall and gangly. So Kyle and I climbed into the stand which was only 18 yards from the barrels and played the waiting game. After a couple hours we had a coyote come in but he was nervous. So he didn't come right into the bait. Then about an hour after that this little blond cub came wandering into the bait and plopped his chunky butt down and started eating. He was only there for about 30mins when he took off running-there was another bear coming. A cinnamon sow with 2 cubs, a cinnamon one and a black one with a white V on his chest. She didn't stay long, she seemed agitated. About an hour after her and her cubs left she came back, but this time she had the little blond cub with her. She right away seen us up in the stand(it was on a poplar tree, so not much for cover) and was nervous. She let her cubs go and eat at the barrels but she would circle and try to catch our scent. Thankfully the BUCKED seemed to do its job and she never scared off, but she knew something was off with the tree we were sitting in. She was a gorgeous healthy bear and big! We named her The Queen. Eventually it started getting dark and we needed to spook them away, it didn't take much- just us talking. She took her cubs and left.

Hunt Day 2
In this area it seemed the bears only hit the baits in the evenings and during the night so we slept in. We got up and had breakfast then went out to check cameras and baits. Nothing had hit either baits. Warren was dumbfounded and frustrated. So we had to go to the back up plan- going to the forestry (government land). There were 4 different areas in the forestry we could sit in. We were put in one  that had lots of activity including a really large boar. Again Kyle and I were sitting in the stand together but this one was only 12 yards from the bait. It felt like we were sitting right on top of the barrel. It wasn't long and we had 2 small bears come in, brothers. A beautiful black one and a rubbed out brownish black one and both of them came up our tree to check us out. The black one came right up the tree on my side to get a closer look, then after he was done the rubbed one came up the tree right under our feet. After they were bored with us they went back to the bait. The bait had a barrel and 2 yellow crates tied together and it had a beaver in it and we watched the black one try to pull it out with not much success, his brother came over and popped it out in no time and took off with the beaver. Leaving us thinking, well great there goes the bait! We probably wont see any more bears.... We did see one more bear come in, again another small one just before the thunderstorm hit. The trees were blowing and it was pouring, but it only lasted about 20 mins and it cleared up. Just before dark we had 2 more small bears come in but never seen one that was a good size.

Hunt Day 3
In the morning we got up and went to check baits again. One was hit but it was just a small

cinnamon, nothing worth staying in the area so we went back up to the forestry. Again we sat in a new area that had a lot of activity that included some big bears. Kyle and I sat in the stand together again and again the stand was only 12 yards from the bait. After a few hours a little boar came in. He went straight to the bait without paying us much attention and started filling his face. He started rolling around after he ate a ton of oats and gave us a good look...that yup he is a boar haha. After about an hour he slowly made his way away from us and the bait. At around 8pm a big bear came in cautiously. I got up and got ready. He came from directly in front of us and walked to the barrel smelled the top of it where Kyle had touched it ( he was the same height as the barrel standing up), walked to the ribbon that Kyle had tied and followed the same path Kyle took to the tree. He smelled the ladder and looked up at us then walked over to the tree (on my side of the stand...of course!). The whole time I wasn't worried...he was a big bear...big bears don't climb trees...I was wrong! He came up my side of the tree, right up under the stand...smelling the bottom of my boots. I was shaking so bad, just staring at him and he stared right back at me. He was beautiful...and big. After he decided to climb down, after what felt like a full 10 minutes, he walked away from the tree on my side so I turned and got ready just in case he gave me an opportunity. He stopped and turned broadside, I pulled back and....my bottom cam hit the stand when I released and my arrow flew above him. The smell of metal burning my nose and my mind freaking out that I damaged my bow. The treestand we were in had very tall arm rests, above my waist while standing. I was leaning over with my bow on the other side, but I must have naturally shifted after I pulled back and not realized. I missed him completely and after that he left. He came back to the stand a couple days later, he showed up on the camera but I never seen him again. I was really upset that I missed that big bear and possibly damaged my bow.

Hunt Day 4
Right away in the morning I checked my cam and limb. It wasn't damaged, just a small dent and some of the finish was taken off. I shot it and it was performing exactly the same as before so I decided it would be ok to keep hunting. This time I hunted in the same stand as the night before but had Kerwin sitting in the stand with me. It was a stressful evening! The first bear that came in for us was a sow with 3 black cubs. She did not like us being in the tree. The cubs went over and started eating and she came over to the tree looking up at us. You could tell she wasn't curious about us, but that she didn't want us there. All of a sudden she huffed at us and grabbed onto the tree to start coming up, Kerwin and I both stood up and started yelling at her and stomping our feet on the platform of the stand. She got off the tree and slowly walked out of our sight where you could hear her bluff charging our stand. I was freaking out. After the little show her one cub was curious about us. He came over and started climbing the tree...just what we needed. So we did the same thing. He didn't leave...and wasn't scared of us at all. He came back to the tree multiple times and I was starting to feel like I was talking to a naughty puppy telling him no.
After they left I was freaked out. I told Kerwin that if she would have came back to the tree I would have called it quits for the night. She scared the crap out of me. Later on we had another sow come in with 2 black cubs. The cubs came in to eat and she was walking in slowly behind them until she seen us. She stopped and turned around and left. She never came in closer then 40 yards from the stand. Her cubs weren't as brave as the ones before either. The one came to check us out and we were shooing him away and he just stared at us. Kerwin huffed at him and he came over and swatted the ground underneath us. He had some attitude. They would come and go until dark but the last time the came back in a friend had followed. The cubs gave him away. The one took off instantly and the other was hanging onto the side of a tree huffing at the other bear. There were trees in the way but if I leaned far enough over I could see the other bear. He was a big bear with a white V on his chest. I got my bow ready, feeling protective of the little cubs. Momma bear made her way over and bluff charged the boar and the boar took off
about 40 yards back. After he ran the cubs took off and mom followed them. The boar circled around back through all the blow down and followed her and her cubs. Rut was starting. By the time the 4 bears were gone it was time to climb down from the tree. Just before Kyle and Warren pulled up a bear had ran across the road in front of us in to where the bait was. Warren wanted to pull the memory card from the camera to see what was on it so him and Kyle went to retrieve it. We told them that there was a bear in there right now but they still went. A few minutes later you could hear yelling coming from the trees...apparently the little guy had some attitude and was not willing to give up the bait. But they came out unscathed! Afterwards we told Kyle and Warren about our night. They then told us about their night. They had an interesting night as well. A sow had chased a little boar up their tree. He came right up beside Kyle and stopped...and Kyle being Kyle he tried to pet it. So it moved to the backside of the tree and started heading up above them, so he slapped its paw. Warren was freaking out that he was going to piss it off. The bear scooted up the tree another 20 feet above them and stayed there the whole night. It also pooped on Warrens bow and pack!

Hunt Day 5
I did NOT want to go back to the same stand, so Kyle and Warren went to it. We went to the stand from the second night hunting. We sat and sat and never seen one bear the entire time. Kyle and Warren were having better luck then us. They had the sow and 2 cubs come in again and the same boar that followed them the night before. He gave Kyle a shot and he took it. After he shot the white V bear a bigger one took off that was coming in with it. They stayed in the stand until just before dark hoping Warren could get one but no luck. So they climbed down to deal with his bear. Warren couldn't do too much thanks to his broken leg so Kyle decided to pack the entire bear out in one shot...whole. They rolled it onto the pack and kyle laid on it to put it on. Warren had to help him roll over and he crawled over to some blow down to help get him up on his feet and walked out. We got to Warrens family farm and weighed the bear and started field cleaning it. It weighed in at 232lbs and was 6'1'' tall. The rough score on the skull was 18 1/2 Pope and Young. Kyle was happy, that was what he wanted- a P&Y bear.

Hunt Day 6
Our last day to hunt and it was pouring rain. Kerwin had to head home so it was just the 3 of us. Kyle tagged out so it was up to Warren and I. We sat in the same stand Kyle shot his bear from and the aggressive sow was. Kyle set up a hanger off to the side of us to video and Warren and I sat in the main stand. It was another slow night. Eventually we had a little sow come in. She was tiny and goofy. She was a character. Trying to pull the barrel down on top of her while she was laying back..sitting back on her haunches and she lost her balance and just flopped over like a dog. She tried pulling the trail camera off the tree and was rolling around on the ground. Warren and I were trying not to laugh to loudly. She heard us and came over to the tree and was moaning at us. She then sat on her back end and started playing with a stick and then the wrapper Warren had dropped from his Reeses Peanut Butter Cup. Both of us were just giggling. She then found an oil soaked napkin, came over, laid back and started rubbing the napkin all over her belly, starring at us the entire time. We were laughing so hard. I looked at Warren and I whispered to him "I think she likes your man scent" lol. She had to be in heat the way she was acting. I'm not sure if she thought we were a bear up there or what but we got quite the show! She hung out with us for at least 2 hours. It was a great way to end our hunting trip, even though I never tagged out. She was quite the bear.

We stayed the night at Warrens parents that night so we could shower and clean up. We loaded up in the morning and started the long trek back home to BC. We stopped for a quick visit with Kerwin and told him about our last night. We stopped in Edmonton again. Kyle wanted to show me the West Ed Mall because I had never been. It was huge. Went back to Cabelas then started our way home. We were both exhausted by the time we got home at 2am. It felt good to be home after the long drive.

May 29 Black Bear

We hummed and hawed about heading out in the evening. We spent the whole day in Fernie dealing with trucks and the kids had been late to bed the night before and Pheonix had school. But in the end we decided to stay closer to home so we wouldn't be home so late.



We drove and glassed...drove and glassed. Never finding much for bear or bear sign. I was starting to think this night was going to be an empty one. We went into an area that the dog hunters hunt frequently (we normally try to avoid these areas because the bears are more jumpy) thinking that they probably hunt the mornings so that they have a lower risk of losing a dog. We drove and started to find some scat here and there. So we drove up to a high landing and glassed and let the kids out to stretch their legs. After a few minutes Kyle says Bear! It was a beautiful cinnamon bear across the valley feeding on a landing of an old unused logging road that was growing in.

We quickly jumped back in the truck and headed that way. Kyle parked the truck on a switch back and stayed there with the kids while I went after the bear. It was at least a 500 yard stalk up on this bear, thankfully it was slightly windy so it hide the noise of my boots crunching on the loose rocks and blowing the right way so my scent wouldn't carry to him. He was so busy eating he had no clue I was there and was able to get to within 60 yards of him. I could have done it with my bow! But I had chose to take my rifle instead, murphys law I guess! I put my rifle up and got lined up and squeezed my trigger. Hit him perfectly, right where I wanted. He jumped and scooted down the hill. I called Kyle on the radio and told him I had a bear down. I walked over to the top of the hill and there he was laying on the bottom.

Kyle pulled up in the truck and the kids were all excited and wanted to see it. So I packed one kid after another down the hill. It was very cold, felt like snow in the air and you could see your breath. Kyle skinned it because I wanted the hide to tan and he is much better at it then I am. Easton was the first one to cave and wanted to go back to the truck because he was cold, so I packed him back up the hill to the truck. I came back down and helped with the rest of the skinning before Pheonix said she was cold too. So I packed her back up the hill to the truck and came back down. When I got back down Kyles back was sore, so I finished the quartering and we got it loaded on the pack. I put the pack on laying down and Kyle had to help me up and I was off back up the hill. Good thing I had a warm up running the kids up and down the hill beforehand.

May 28 Black Bear Hunt

We decided to head out for a bear hunt after picking up Pheonix from school. The weather wasn't the nicest, being a little chilly with rain. We headed for an area called St.Marys which is a steep area with very thick vegetation and lots of Grizzly bears. The animals were definitely out moving, we seen lots of mule deer and whitetail, elk, 3 mountain Goats, a grizzly and a black bear.

We got up into the back where there are lots of slides. We came across the grizzly travelling the road, he was a big bear and didnt like us startling him and ran up into the thick trees and disappeared from sight. We continued on until we couldnt go farther thanks to an avalanche taking out the road. So we turned around and started back tracking. Going back we took our time and made sure to glass the slides. We finally found our first black bear hunting at home. He was a beautiful mocha color and was eating half way up the slide by a creek. I decided to try and pull a stalk on him with my bow, I was a little nervous at first because this was my first time pulling a stalk with my bow on a bear, and I was by myself with no gun. Once I started hiking I started to focus more and the nervousness melted away. I fought my way up the slide over snow and ice and through thick alder brush. I got up to 50 yards from him and it looked like he was going to feed his way down towards me, so I kneeled under the branches of an alder brush and waited. Everything was working in my favor, the wind, the rain and the creek helped cover my sound and scent. Out of nowhere he spooked and scooted out of sight. I stood up and instantly took a look around for any grizzlies that may have scared him. Nothing. So I crossed the creek and climbed the bank to see if I could spot him. The other side of the bank was much thicker with vegetation and I couldnt see him, so I decided I wasnt going to play hide and seek with a bear and made my way back down.

Little did I know Kyle had been watching everything from the road below and could see the bear still. As I was 3/4 of the way down movement caught my eye, it was Kyle climbing up. I met up with him and he told me that the bear was still there and I was only 20 yards from it when I had climbed up the bank. So we went back and again couldnt see him in the brush, until he moved and I caught his movement. It was to late, we had startled him and he ran for the trees and stopped at 45 yards and watched us. After a stand off that lasted about 5 minutes he slowly turned and disappeared in the trees.

We headed back to the road and continued on thinking to myself...if I had my rifle id be packing out a bear, but that is the nature of bowhunting and what makes it such a challenge.

Extreme Huntress Contest Semi-finals...half way through!

 

 

 

This is one of the radio interviews that I did, unfortunately it's the only one I was able to record successfully. Its from our local country radio station. I also did one for CBC RadioWest out of Kelowna and the other local station The Drive. On May 27th at 8:30 am MST I'll be live on the radio again talking about the contest.

Here are the links to the different news stories:
www.dailytownsman.com/ourtown/258299191.html
www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/05/17/extreme-huntress_n_5282017.html
http://news.ca.msn.com/local/britishcolumbia/extreme-huntress-title-in-cranbrook-womans-crosshairs
www.cbc.ca/m/news/#!/content/1.2632974

 

 

Please remember to cast your vote on www.extremehuntress.com/vote and on their facebook page www.facebook.com/extremehuntress

Thank you!! 

Mothers Day

For Mothers Day I was happy to spend the day with my family while we went out on a bear hunt. It was a gorgeous sunny day. We didnt see any black bears but we did see 2 grizzly bears. We got pictures of the one and the other took off to fast. Kyle also got a Video of the one.

We seen the same grizzly 3 times. He kept coming back to the road after we were out of sight.

We left this area and moved to a different one (where we seen the second grizz) but couldnt continue all the way because of an avalanche that had gone across the road.

I was able to do my first test run with the BUCKED scent elimination spray and I was impressed! I will be putting it to the test more on our trip to Saskatchewan so stay tuned!

Extreme Huntress 2015 Competition

Hey everyone!!

So I have some exciting news. Back in March I sent in an Essay and photos for the Extreme Huntress contest. It is a contest that is open international to women that hunt. Their Motto is If mom goes hunting so will her children. This contest isnt just about being an extreme hunter, but also promoting women and getting kids involved in the sport and being a good role model for them.

I made it past the essay part and earned myself a spot amoungst 20 other wonderful huntresses for the semi-finals! From now (May 1st) until June 1st you can vote online at http://www.extremehuntress.com/vote/ and on their Facebook page Extreme Huntress Contest for the lady you think deserves it most.
After June 1st, the judges give each lady a score and combine it with the online votes and will determine 6 finalists. The finalists will go to the 777 Ranch in Texas to compete and hunt for the title of Extreme Huntress 2015!

I would be so appreciative that if you are reading this, if you could please vote for me on their Website and on their Facebook Page. Im up against some great ladies and some are pretty well  known.

Thank you for your help and support!!
Nikita