Eventful hunting trip. Do I need to say NF?

[Bernie]

Just finished another week in the hunt camp that I have been going to each fall since 1973. This time around it was for deer.

Here's a shot of a section of our bush I took this past week that caught my eye..

It started out with a bang first thing Monday as one of our members bagged a small doe within the first 15 minutes. I told him this may prove to be a bad omen. How many times have you caught a fish on the first cast and ended up with nothing else ? Well, this ended up being the case for the first week hunting crew. It ended up being a blessing anyway as the warm weather would have spoiled any meat hanging in the meathouse. We didn't hunt at all on Wednesday as we were concerned about the possible waste. So we did a little work on our trails that day and headed back to camp for some cold refreshments and some old time stories.

 

The week wasn't uneventful though as there was some excitement that took place-to me.

I will start out with a little background of our hunting style. We have sections of the bush that there are trails or natural terrain dividers which we form a semi-circle of hunters. Then we send a couple of guys through which we call "doggers" (In years past we used real dogs but not anymore) to move along the deer to the awaiting hunters. While waiting to do my "dogging" duty on Tuesday morning a Bull moose ran across the end of a marsh about 40 yards from me. I have seen many moose over the years but this particular moose was the largest and blackest one I have ever seen. I don't carry my camera when dogging because it could be very easily lost or damaged.

Tuesday afternoon it was my turn to sit on "watch". I prefer watching, it's a lot less work . It was a very mild day, no wind and the bush was very quiet. The doggers had not yet started their trek through the bush. I heard a noise behind me and turned around to see what it was. A friggen BEAR! and he was running directly at me! I had my camera and reached for it but then I realized this is a bear. I dropped my camera and reached for the gun, as I raised the barrel and clicked off the safety the bear seen me move. The bear almost flipped over himself trying to change his direction and sped away. My heart is going a thousand by now and said to myself OMG! I reached back down for my camera and took a quick shot but he was behind a tree when the shutter clicked. Holy crap! What an experience! If I had known for sure I wasn't being attacked I would have had the video of a lifetime. Damn!

 

Onward to Thursday afternoon. We had completed the afternoon chase and I was on my way back to camp to get supper ready when I came across this guy.

He wasn't in any hurry to get off the trail, in fact I think he was defying me to get out of his way.

Saturday morning we cut next years wood supply for the camp. This is one of those necessary but not so pleasant jobs but many hands made for lighter work. We cut, split and piled 5 single cord of maple before noon. Git er done!

Saturday afternoon was my last chance to get a shot at a deer for this year so I was looking forward to my chance. I had a little time to kill until the doggers made their walk to the other end of the run to begin. So I took a couple of interesting pics.

This was an interesting pattern in a dead tree.

I liked the colours in this one.

One more.

 

Well the chase started as the doggers made their way through. Wasn't long and I heard a snap and a crack. I sat very still and my breathing became very controlled. Soon another snap and a larger crack. "Damn" I said to myself, it's too noisy to be a deer. It's another doggone moose. Sure enough, several minutes later a shape appears in the bush. This is what I seen.

And that folks is a brief report of my holiday. Hope you enjoy a little part of my experience.

[misfish]

We too caught a bull on vid,but not as clear as that. pi,, me off.

 

Yep shooting the first day can be a bad omen.

 

Thanks for the report.

[Greencoachdog]

Real nice report and some excellent pics Bern!!!

 

That Moose vid is very cool!!!

[ccmtcanada]

Great stuff Bernie! Bear, moose, deer....sounded pretty exciting!

[irishfield]

DANG Bernie... what's the family gonna eat this winter Bud !

 

[glen]

Nice bull. Thanks for the report Bernie.

[Ranger22]

Great pics and an awsome video. Looks like a great area.

[Terry]

nice pictures and vid

 

would have been great to see the bear video, but safety first

[Clampet]

The Partridge looked like fair game to me.

Thanks fer sharin'.

[Leecher]

Great report and suberb pics and video Bernie

 

Loved the shot of the rooster doing it's thing on your way back to camp

 

I know the feeling of seeing moose while deer hunting..... last year got 7 mooses that came to my tree stand and man can they get the old pump going

 

Thanks again Bernie.... lovely report

Leechman

[TJQ]

Awesome report Bernie, lotsa action, thats for sure.. cool vid of the moose... Im up at camp had a very quiet weekend, packing up to come home now... theres an inch of snow on the ground here..

[Headhunter]

Nice report Bernie! I'm pretty sure that bear incident would have resulted in an accumulation in my nether regions!!!!!!

Glad it worked out and I'm sure you'll get yer winter meat!

HH

[Bernie]

Thanks for all the comments guys. The second week crew hopefully will have better luck at seeing a few deer.

The weather is looking perfect right now. A few flakes of snow for tracking is real helpful.

 

 

Ps ....Joe....I didn't have time to.

[Jen]

That is absolutely beautiful countryside... looks like you guys had an amazing trip even though you didn't get deer.

 

Thank so much for sharing that video, it sure was amazing to watch!

 

Cheers,

 

Jen

[Headhunter]

Timeliness is next to goddliness my friend!!

HH