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Day 3

All day hunt

Back to the same spot again. I had very low confidence that I was not going to have bear problems again today but we gave it a shot.

The morning hunt was OK. I watched the same three teenage bucks that I've seen here all week. Two of them fought for over 30 minutes straight. I was hoping all that antler clanging would pull in a mature buck, but it never happened. For the next 8 hours I saw two does and a forky.

I sat there until 5PM when that stupid bear came back. Much earlier today than yesterday. But he didn't come to the bait. Instead, he got within 15 yards, laid down, and fell asleep. WTH??

The bear came back, and decided to nap 15 yards from the bait. Swell.

It was going to be prime time soon so I had to get him out of here. While I was devising a plan, I could see a deer was running across the field and coming to the bait. I don't know who was more freaked out? The bear was startled - so was the doe. They nearly collided and hauled ass in separate directions! The bear sounded like a bullet train crashing through the woods.

Fantastic! I never needed to get off my stand. The deer drove him away.

But not for long. He came back, and now I am pissed. It's the second time this bear has screwed up the magic hour. When he laid down in the bait, I climbed down and rushed him. He took off, but not as fast as I expected. But eventually he was gone.

I charged the bear. I don't recommend this at home. I ran him off but only for a little while.

Twenty minutes later, he was back. I got down again - trying to salvage what was left of the magic hour - and I chased him into the bushes. But this time he squared off and was getting irritated with my shenanigans.

This time I walked up to him gently and then rushed him when I got close. When he ran into the brush he squared off on me and I decided that the bear had won.

Ten minutes later he was back, and I gave up. The hunt was F'd and I knew it. I texted Rob for an early pick up.

We've never seen anything like this. There are bears everywhere. Most of the baits have bears so it's not like we have a lot of options. Rob and I discussed it into the truck and he made a brilliant hypothesis. Remember the forest fires last year? Tens of thousands of acres were burned. Rob thinks all those bears got displaced into the section of Rob's territory that was not burned. That, along with 65 degree weather is the perfect storm for a screwed up deer hunt.

At least my buddy Matt had a good hunt. A 9-point droptine buck came in and he hammered it. I was really happy for him. His first Saskatchewan buck!