As many of you may know, springtime here in Manitoba is a busy time for me preparing to host 16 hunters for spring bear hunts. Much to my surprise my good friends Chuck and Mike (both Stickflingers themselves) had camp set up and all the baits baited before I could even get to camp.
Rewind**** I had twice headed up north to get the baits done with minimal success due to the late spring and huge amounts of snow. On my frustrated drive home each time I stopped 2 hours south of bear camp at my own personal bait to top it up just in case I had a day to hunt...
:campfire:
:campfire:
Jake
So arriving in camp was a surprise to see everything ready to go for the upcoming weeks. 4 days to go before hunters arrived, and maybe a half day of fine tuning and grocery shopping was all we had ahead for work.....hmmm...what to do?
Bill Dunn had sent me up a new bow, quiver, and some Instinct heads to try out just in case I had the chance before he arrived in camp. My new set of TUSX gear had arrived a few days earlier, my bait was being cleaned out, the wind was from the south, and I had a cameraman pulling my rubber arm to head south to hunt.
Oh...alright...I guess we can go hunting!
:coffee:
I've already posted a thread on the Zipper, but haven't had a chance to comment on the Grizzly Instincts. In under 2 minutes I had each head popping hairs and spinning perfect. The long lean profile gave me confidence in them from the first glance. Watch for them in the pix to come...
The TUSX Gear...WOW! Everything has been well thought out in this stuff! Fits like a glove...options everywhere...perfect material for warm weather,,, and the pattern is something else. I really liked the pattern as soon as I opened the package but you have no idea how well it works until you hit the woods. The colors in it seem to mute into the woods depending on the area. No lie...the greens in it fade when no green is around, and the then seem to come to life when green vegetation is near. All camo looks good in shadows but TUSX gear blends in when you're in direct light. Watch the flowing pix for examples...
Back to the hunt..
Oh boy. On the edge of my chair
So Mike and I crest the hill that looks into the valley and hidden field where the bait lives and no lie it's like a herd of bears in the field below....maybe 6 or 8 bears are roaming the field, up trees, or on the bait.
(my previous bear videos show a creek I always cross...which..has become a nemesis of mine very spring due to high water levels. I decided to move the bait to the close side of the creek along the edge of the field. With the open field behind me I felt confident that bears would not circle..(man was I wrong)
With video to shoot we lost the opportunity to capture all of this but did get the trip into position on tape with one treed bear in the background.
:campfire: Yeah boyyyeee!
(http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu178/ryanderlago/photo-5_zpsa39a932b.jpg) (http://s645.photobucket.com/user/ryanderlago/media/photo-5_zpsa39a932b.jpg.html)
Mikes view over my shoulder!
Ahhhh, back to the hunt!
Saw a hint of this earlier and have been waiting eagerly.. Can't wait to get back up there next spring Ryan.
Holy cow, you better flip that thing, I am getting dizzy!
Don't stop now! You are just getting warmed up!
Bisch
(http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu178/ryanderlago/photo-6_zps6f1f58a7.jpg) (http://s645.photobucket.com/user/ryanderlago/media/photo-6_zps6f1f58a7.jpg.html)
Heres TUSX in mixed light and shadows...no front cover. Check out the pretty broadhead!
(http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu178/ryanderlago/fcb559be-89a6-48b3-8bee-9cddc5ce4787_zps3ff7aa1c.jpg) (http://s645.photobucket.com/user/ryanderlago/media/fcb559be-89a6-48b3-8bee-9cddc5ce4787_zps3ff7aa1c.jpg.html)
More direct light.
And resized...sorry moderators!
"Herd of bears"!!! I really need to book a hunt one of these days...
:campfire:
Needless to say there was no "settling in" phase but rather a constant flurry of bears for the entire evening. The idea of the open field being a barrier was quickly ruined as a dozen bears making it home and many of those trying to share our makeshift blind. An easy 24 different identifiable bears (likely more) visited the bait that evening, many of which would make most hunters happy. Bears of every color, size, gender...sows with cubs, single sows, small boars, giant boars.
Giant boars?
:scared: :coffee:
Come on Ryan, keep going!
Keep it coming bud! Bears from the ground, dream right there
:coffee: :coffee:
My god Ryan, that camo looks awesome,exept for your pretty face you look like an overgrown root ! A far cry from when your wearing civis and your native dog profile shines through ! LOL
:campfire: Looking forward to hearing more.
Bill
:campfire:
Bring it on ry!!! :coffee:
Been waiting on this story.
Ryan is not joking about the camo. The green dissapears when none is around and "pops" when there is. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it with my own eyes.
:campfire:
I will be keeping an eye on this during work today:) Another good one!
Yes...Giant boars! Somewhere in the middle of the evening we watched what was clearly a mature black boar with a white blaze making its way down the hill on the opposite side of the creek. Standing on the far bank he surveyed the area, yawned, and dropped down into the creek making his way to the bait. Maybe a minute later he was entering the bait site from my left.
My intention was to stand to shoot, not to shoot from the small chair I was sitting on. The cover of brush in front of me was high on the left and low on the right as you can see in the first picture.
With the bear coming from the left, he would need to walk through the bait site to the far right in order for me to shoot from a sitting position to clear the brush. Well he did exactly that. He marched in and I began drawing... stopped at maybe 8 yards and looked right at me. I wasn't about to let him bust out of there so finished my draw and released. The arrow zipped through him like he wasn't there, but was probably 3"s higher than I would have liked. High but still good was my 1st thought.
keep it coming Ryan!
He ran hard until just out of sight then silence...a crash...then moaning! The serious look that is too common on my face post shot turned to that silly grin that every video shows me doing. Silly but sincere....and I couldn't wipe it off!
Getting to share this experience with a great friend, capture it on video, and have a fast humane kill, were too many blessings in one day to restrain!
(http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu178/ryanderlago/66969e9f-7253-41aa-b5b6-6a0cf3efb275_zpse138d2cb.jpg) (http://s645.photobucket.com/user/ryanderlago/media/66969e9f-7253-41aa-b5b6-6a0cf3efb275_zpse138d2cb.jpg.html)
So we sat the rest of the evening and watched the spectacular performance of bear after bear. At last light we packed up our stuff and made the 60 yard walk (with an easy to follow trail) to the bear. No ground shrinkage here as it took everything we had just to roll the bear over for pix.
Thanks Mike for videoing and helping with everything!
(http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu178/ryanderlago/ce14484b-2889-40c7-b31b-3d631b43394b_zpsa5390a6b.jpg) (http://s645.photobucket.com/user/ryanderlago/media/ce14484b-2889-40c7-b31b-3d631b43394b_zpsa5390a6b.jpg.html)
For those thinking I'm sitting way behind the bear, heres one with me touching his front leg.
Oh my, that looks like a grizzly bear head!
Congratulations!!!!!!!
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Wow! Congrats brother!! Can't wait to see the video :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
wow!
Beast! That thing is huge. Makes mine look like a cub.
"For those thinking I'm sitting way behind the bear, heres one with me touching his front leg."
WOW!!! Congratulations, he's a giant. Man that's got to be a test of nerves....eye level with a bear like that!
As always great stuff Ryan. From the ground that is awesome.
I also can't wait to see the video, I always enjoy your videos a lot. Congratulations on a magnificent animal.
Jake
That is awesome. Thanks for sharing.
Man, I want to come hunting with you brother! WOW. What a brute of a bear. :thumbsup:
Wow, great hunt and great bear. Congrats
Good job Ryan!
Nice bear, Congratulations!
WOW WHAT A HOG!! Can't wait for the video myself brother!
Great bear, Ryan!
But where is the video?
Congrats,
Bisch
Awesome bear!
Great bear! Congratulations Ryan.
Easy boys...easy! I'm not a very technical guy and editing a video for me is quite a chore. Sending a text is relatively new to me so please have patience! Soon..very soon..
Will be waiting patiently... :thumbsup:
Awesome story my friend. Never would expect a big opening like that to be a bear playground.
I bet you brushed up on your case skinning skills on that one...
:goldtooth:
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: way to go Ryan ... CONGRATS
:campfire: now on with the video :jumper: :jumper:
Great hunt, and great trophy! Thanks for sharing. An idea what he weighed?
Way to go Ry! Finally the story :) Missed you this spring brudda!
Wow Ryan. You said you would break in the Zipper for me. Did you ever!! I think you must have the Bear Spirit as your Spirit guide!
Thanks guys...very overwhelming feedback as always here!
I do really relate with the bears...kinda weird but I've always felt comfortable with bears. "BEAR" was my first word as a baby (for real) and maybe that says something. Maybe it was that my 1st toy was a bow???
That is a great bear!! Congrats!
Holy Good God, that's a beast! And from the ground.... Saaweet!
Wow, congrats ryan that's a nice bear.
CONGRATES!!!
Awesome...congratulations! Can't wait to see the video also. :saywhat:
Awesome bear!!! congrats.
Congrats on a huge bear!
Congrats on a huge bear and a great hunt! Can't wait for next spring in Manitoba! I'd almost be happy with just getting to see a whole herd of bears.
Congrats!
Great bear Ryan, congrats
Congrats bud! Thats a great bear :thumbsup:
That thing is amazing! Congrats!! :archer: :clapper:
Well done Ryan. Sometimes good things work out for good people. Any specs on the bear you wish to share- age etc? Mike
Congrats!! That's a big one.
WOW !!! Congrats on a fantastic bear Ryan. :clapper:
Bill
Congratulations on an exceptional bruin. Like everyone else here, I'm looking forward to some great video footage.
What a beast!!! Congrats!!!
So what happend when you yelled out "go go gadget"? :biglaugh:
Congrats. What a great hunt!
Big one...... :thumbsup:
Congratulations on a beautiful bear!
:clapper:
-Jay
That's a beauty as said that looks like a Grizzly head!!!! :clapper: :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
Congrats Ryan, I would also like to hear what you think his age is. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Way to go Ryan. Many congrats to you! Looking forward to making my way back to Manitoba. Great looking bear!
Wow! What a brute! Way to go Ryan! How much did he weigh?
Thanks again everyone...
As far as age, I really didn't take much time to look at his teeth as light was fading fast and we were covered up in bears as we skinned. It was straight into the freezer from there so I'd be guessing only. Weight, I'd say 400-450 based on other bears I've moved and actually weighed.
That TUSX gear is so loaded up with options I joked about saying "go go gadget" before I did anything. (for those that remember Inspector Gadget) I should dub in "go go gadget high lung hit" into the video as I shoot.
Guess I better get busy with that vid.
Nice bear and even nicer hat! Thanks for the ride along mate!
Cheers,
ak.
That's awesome! Congrats
Never a doubt Ryan! You are a giant bear killing machine!
Thanks Ryan. Looks like a classic "long nose" Manitoba bear.
Congrats on a fine bear!
My gosh!
Well done,Ryan!
my wife just watched the video with me. She liked that u said a prayer for the bear.
Beautiful!!!....someday.......someday.....
Congratulations!
Great bear and hunt!
awesome stuff. well done.
so where's the tusx gear?
Great video.
Thanks
Nice video, huge bear, one hunt, you got it done, to bad you couldn't come back to camp for a whisky!
Man what a bear!!!!!
:thumbsup:
Where is the video you guys are talking about?
Congrats again Ryan on an awesome bear. The pics that your posted look great. Did you green score the head?
Buckeye...here is the link to the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK5N0UWwnX0&feature=youtu.be
Congrats and way to go Ryan.
>>>>>------------------------->>>>
Just watched this years and last years video. Really enjoyed them.
Marvelous story, hunt, harvest and video.
Much appreciation for sharing this memorable adventure.
Congrats Ryan! I don't know how you keep your cool! Awesome bear!
Nice, congrats!
Awesome. Thanks for taking us along.
Wowee I can't wait to get there either with you Ryan beautiful beast congratulations on the great hunt. Thanks for taking us along.
Cat
Congrats Ryan
Another beauty to add to the collection. Nice job filming and you look pretty spiffy in the new duds.Keep up the good work.
Mo
Congrats on a super Bear, your experience paid off big.