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
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.
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