WEBVTT - Ep. 219: This Country Life - Canadian Chocolate 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:09.200 Welcome to This Country Life. I'm your host, Brent Rieves 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:13.680 from coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living. 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:15.120 I want you to stay a. 0:00:15.080 --> 0:00:17.799 While as I share my stories and the country skills 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:20.880 that will help you beat the system. This Country Life 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:24.600 is proudly presented as part of Meat Eaters Podcast Network, 0:00:24.920 --> 0:00:27.520 bringing you the best outdoor podcast. 0:00:27.120 --> 0:00:28.480 The airways have to offer. 0:00:29.120 --> 0:00:31.880 All right, friends, pull you up a chair or drop 0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:34.199 that tailgate. I think I got a thing or two 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:42.360 the teacher Canadian chocolate. I love it when a plan 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:45.920 comes together. It's even better when it comes together early. 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:49.639 We're leaving the pressure and allowing the opportunity to relax 0:00:49.720 --> 0:00:53.240 and just enjoy the time allotted with new friends. We're 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:56.440 in the land of bears, perogis and the kindest folks 0:00:56.480 --> 0:00:58.680 you'll ever meet, and I'm going to tell you all 0:00:58.680 --> 0:01:09.560 about them. But first I'm going to tell you a story. 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:14.039 This story was sent in by Ryan Prochs, who rambles 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:18.560 around in Nelson County, Virginia. It's about three generations and 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:22.000 shows how even the youngest hunter in the group can 0:01:22.080 --> 0:01:26.280 sometimes add the most. In Ryan's words, in my voice, 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:35.959 here we go. On May twenty twenty my dad Fredday, 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:38.880 and I decided to take my three year old son 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:42.800 land In Turkey him. Now, we were heading to a 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:45.520 place I had permission to hunt that was beautiful in 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:49.480 Nelson County, Virginia. So we pulled up to a little 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:52.320 meadow just through the gate at the bottom of the property. 0:01:52.360 --> 0:01:55.720 It was such a pretty place, with a nice little cabin, 0:01:55.800 --> 0:01:58.640 a pond, and a couple acre field at the base 0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:02.040 of a steep mountain. Now we ended up getting there 0:02:02.040 --> 0:02:05.560 an hour or so after daylight because my wife says 0:02:05.600 --> 0:02:09.560 it's never good to wake asleep, and Toddler and I 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:12.360 tend to agree with her. Now Landing at the time 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:16.040 is completely obsessed with four wheelers, so the first thing 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:18.560 he does when we get out of the truck is 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:20.640 run back to the trailer and climb up on the 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:24.320 back of the ATV. I figured if the turkeys weren't 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:27.520 doing much, we could always spend a morning in the mouths, 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:31.040 just riding around, maybe a little fishing or another one 0:02:31.080 --> 0:02:35.120 of his favorite hobbies, which was catching lizards and snakes. 0:02:36.400 --> 0:02:39.080 Now I'd given him a box call that I'd gotten 0:02:39.120 --> 0:02:42.320 from a National Wild Turkey Federation bank with a couple 0:02:42.360 --> 0:02:44.240 of weeks ago prior to the hunt, just to let 0:02:44.280 --> 0:02:46.800 him play with He was actually pretty good with it. 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:49.600 As soon as we got there, he was sitting on 0:02:49.639 --> 0:02:52.640 that four wheeler messing with that box call and not 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:55.320 doing bad with it. While me and my dad were 0:02:55.360 --> 0:03:00.000 putting on all our gear. Suddenly, way off in the distance, 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:04.120 I thought I heard a gobble. I froze, and I 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:08.440 told Landon do that again. He did, and sure enough, 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:14.200 several hundred yards away one hammer. I quickly realized we 0:03:14.200 --> 0:03:17.880 were a pickle. We were on the edge of a 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:20.200 medal with a truck, a trailer, a four wheeler, and 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:23.679 three people that looked nothing like a flock of hens. 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:26.399 I knew I had best get to the other edge 0:03:26.400 --> 0:03:29.320 of that field before that turkey did, where he would 0:03:29.320 --> 0:03:32.200 see what was going down. And as I was thinking that, 0:03:32.360 --> 0:03:35.000 my dad said, boy, you better get to the edge 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:37.720 before he does. And with that I told them to 0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:39.920 stay there and for Landing to keep doing what he 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:43.600 was doing. I quickly made my way across the field 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:46.440 while putting my mask and my gloves on. The Whole 0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:49.720 time he was gobbling and getting closer. I was in 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:53.440 a race. I made it to an old lapidated fence 0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:56.520 row fifteen yards from the edge of the tree line 0:03:56.560 --> 0:03:59.440 and hopped into what I soon found out was a 0:03:59.640 --> 0:04:00.880 big old briar patch. 0:04:01.880 --> 0:04:03.680 I loaded my shotgun, set. 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:06.680 It up on my knee, and within twenty seconds here 0:04:06.760 --> 0:04:09.000 he came, stretching his neck up. 0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:09.840 Over that ridge. 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:12.360 I settled a beat on his head and hit him 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:14.800 with some remedy to nitrol number fours, and he hit 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:15.360 the ground. 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:18.480 I stood up in a state. 0:04:18.200 --> 0:04:23.240 Of disbelief, not believing what had just happened, and I 0:04:23.320 --> 0:04:25.960 turned around to see my son and my dad walking 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:30.520 through that field headed my way. What a beautiful sight. 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:36.400 We all walked up to that old gobbler together, which 0:04:36.680 --> 0:04:40.720 was and still is my biggest to date, a twenty 0:04:40.720 --> 0:04:44.880 five pounds stud and my dad and I were speechless 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:48.080 and overcome with joy. We were high fiving and hugging 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:50.880 and telling Landing what a huge deal this was, and 0:04:50.920 --> 0:04:54.280 that he had called him in all by hisself. Neither 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:56.720 my dad nor I ever touched a call. 0:04:56.839 --> 0:04:57.360 That morning. 0:04:59.120 --> 0:05:02.240 Landing walked up to Turkey, you've been down and he 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:04.320 studied it for a few seconds, and then he stood 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:06.000 up and said, can we. 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:11.000 Ride the four wheeler now? I told him we sure can. 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:14.719 Buddy, that was the day I'll never forget and one 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:16.880 I'll always be thankful for. 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:20.680 What a blessing to share that moment with my son 0:05:20.760 --> 0:05:21.400 and my dad. 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:25.120 Well, we appreciate you sharing that story with us. And 0:05:25.200 --> 0:05:36.520 according to Ryan, that's just how that happened. If you 0:05:36.600 --> 0:05:39.039 haven't noticed that, I was blessed to bring home a 0:05:39.080 --> 0:05:43.359 big color phace black bear from Canada recently, I applaud 0:05:43.400 --> 0:05:46.480 your ability to stay off your phone and sparse out 0:05:46.520 --> 0:05:50.320 your time on social media. Now, if you did catch 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:53.160 one of the six million pictures I and others posted 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:56.520 about it, Here's the story of that hunt and some 0:05:56.560 --> 0:06:01.520 context on that grand adventure I recently participated in. Better yet, 0:06:02.440 --> 0:06:06.919 the grand and benture in which I recently participated thanks 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:10.640 to missus Mary Cupp, my twelfth grade English teacher. She 0:06:10.760 --> 0:06:14.920 taught both my older brothers too. She was diminutive in stature, 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:18.400 but an absolute giant in teaching me the correct way 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:21.719 to write a story. She'd be looking at me over 0:06:21.760 --> 0:06:25.320 her glasses right now by ending a sentence with a preposition. 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:27.920 I owe her a lot, and I find myself seeking 0:06:27.960 --> 0:06:31.000 her approval even now when I sat down to write 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:36.200 these stories. Even though she's long passed away. Thanks miss Cupp, 0:06:36.560 --> 0:06:39.279 you're still teaching me. Also, hang on because you know 0:06:39.360 --> 0:06:42.080 I write like I talk, So I hope you're grading 0:06:42.120 --> 0:06:46.520 on the curve up there. Anyway, last week, my buddy 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:50.280 David McDaniels and my new friend Logan Ingram and yours 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:54.400 truly let out for the Riding Mountains of Central Manitoba 0:06:54.480 --> 0:06:57.800 to hunt with Craig and Melanie McCarthy at their outfit 0:06:57.880 --> 0:07:03.040 and concern called North Mountains. Twenty one hours of driving later, 0:07:03.480 --> 0:07:07.440 I was introduced to Hayden and Kirsten, the MacArthur youngins, 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:10.480 both of which were eager to meet and talk to us. 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:12.920 And now I was impressed with their manners, how they 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:17.160 conducted themselves and around adults and people they'd only just met. 0:07:17.920 --> 0:07:20.320 I'll tell you more about them in a later episode. 0:07:20.640 --> 0:07:24.840 Suffice it to say these kids were an accurate barometer 0:07:24.960 --> 0:07:27.440 of how the week would play out and how this 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:31.480 family lives their lives close to the Canadian wilderness. The 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:36.880 respectful reverend and with humility, and I felt at home immediately. 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:41.440 I also felt excited because I loved to hunt bears, 0:07:41.480 --> 0:07:44.560 I love to talk about bears. I loved to eat bears. 0:07:45.120 --> 0:07:48.160 I love everything about bears, and these folks are in 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:51.560 the bear business. And this wasn't my first trip to 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:54.040 the land of maple leaves and hockey pucks. It was 0:07:54.120 --> 0:07:57.360 my fourth trip north of the border, but my first 0:07:57.560 --> 0:08:01.600 to Manitoba. That place looked like home to me, Saskatchewan 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:04.840 in British Columbia. They're beautiful in there in their own way. 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:07.920 But I was drawn to this land with a subtle familiarness. 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:11.000 It was big country that was for the most part 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:14.720 flat as a flitter and broken up by wooded streams, 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:18.360 rivers and roe crop farms. It reminded me of the 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:23.000 Arkansas delta dirt that looked like PLoud dark chocolate, and 0:08:23.080 --> 0:08:25.720 you just knew it would be cool to the touch, 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:30.680 even on the hottest days. Cattail ringed potholes dotted the landscape, 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:34.320 and mallard ducks and Canada geese, blue winged teal sand 0:08:34.400 --> 0:08:37.600 hill cranes were a daily attraction as we made our 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:42.599 way to and from Camp. Kyots, turkeys, coons, big coons 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:46.680 like forty plus pound coons lived there. How I'd love 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:48.880 to cut old waving and loosen them bottles and see 0:08:48.920 --> 0:08:51.559 how quick he could put one of those fat rascals 0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:55.920 up a tree. They've got swamps too, big beaver ponds, 0:08:56.320 --> 0:09:00.640 and absolute trappers paradise. More on that in a later 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:05.800 episode two. Right now, my focus was bears. Might as 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:08.439 well get this part over with. There'll be some folks 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:10.720 who don't like a baited bear hunt, and that's one 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:13.840 hundred percent fine with me, But I have no interest 0:09:13.880 --> 0:09:17.880 in hearing these opinions. Send them to somebody else. Baiting 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:20.319 bears is a tool that allows the hunter to confirm 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:22.560 the maturity and sex of the bears, so the young 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:26.880 ones or the sows with cubs aren't targeted. There are 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:30.120 a million more folks more articulate than I am that 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:33.480 have presented that argument from day one. I'm not going 0:09:33.559 --> 0:09:36.600 to repeat it here. It's legal, it's ethical, and it's 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:41.640 nowhere near automatic. Also, my primary reason for hunting a 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:44.080 bear is to kill him and take him home to 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:47.960 eat and render his fat for cooking healthier organic meals 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:52.040 than I provide for my family. Any advantage I can 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:54.600 give myself an accomplishing that task as well. 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:57.160 Now it's enough of that. 0:10:05.880 --> 0:10:08.959 Bears hit baits around the clock, but the best time 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:11.560 to get set up for them is in the early afternoon. 0:10:12.520 --> 0:10:14.880 Time is most dependent on where you are as far 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:17.720 as the latitude goes on the spinning orb of ores 0:10:17.760 --> 0:10:20.240 and three thirty PM seem to work for me for 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:23.200 leaving the cabin, I'd be sitting and ready to roll 0:10:23.240 --> 0:10:25.800 with a fresh dose of beaver meat and grain at 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:29.800 the bait by four fifteen on the first afternoon shooting 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:33.680 light would be over a little after ten pm. That 0:10:33.760 --> 0:10:37.000 still makes for quite a long sit. Six hours in 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:39.120 a tree is a pretty good pull. And if you're 0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:43.240 hunting bears, the big ones normally don't get there to 0:10:43.400 --> 0:10:46.680 the last fifteen or twenty minutes of light. They're like 0:10:46.760 --> 0:10:51.040 big bucks and a gold nocturnal. The reason the last 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:54.000 hour of daylight hunting is usually known as the golden ire. 0:10:54.720 --> 0:10:57.080 Now when you're bear hunting, you could narrow it down 0:10:57.160 --> 0:11:02.880 even further to the golden twenty minutes or less. The 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:05.640 name Riding Mountain is believed to be derived from a 0:11:05.800 --> 0:11:10.520 Cree Indian name meaning hill of the buffalo chase. How 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:13.760 cool is that? I love learning about the history of 0:11:13.880 --> 0:11:16.319 any place I'm fortunate enough to be able to hunt. 0:11:17.160 --> 0:11:19.719 My mind wanders to earlier times and I try to 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:21.839 imagine what it must have looked like to those folks 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:25.560 who called this place home and how important hunting and 0:11:25.640 --> 0:11:29.240 trapping was to their survival. Connection to the land is 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:32.240 important to me, and I don't take any place for granted. 0:11:32.880 --> 0:11:35.280 We owe it to those who roam there first to 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:38.960 keep their memories alive by being good stewards of the land, 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:44.120 especially when we're only visiting. Like my friend Doug Darren says, 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:46.800 it's not ours, it's just our turn. 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:48.880 Now. 0:11:48.880 --> 0:11:51.400 The bears started in early that evening six point fifteen, 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:54.360 two hours after I'd settled in. I was looking at 0:11:54.400 --> 0:11:58.400 some prime examples of Ursus americ common. They were in 0:11:58.559 --> 0:12:01.480 just about every direction, and I look sitting on the 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:05.560 bait is also a great way to observe bear behavior. 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:07.200 And how they interact to each other. 0:12:08.360 --> 0:12:11.800 The sounds emitted by them are incredible, varied, and somewhat 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:15.280 intimidating at times. Now. I didn't witness any show enough 0:12:15.360 --> 0:12:18.679 knockdown dragouts, but the boys did get a little grumpy 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:22.400 about sharing at times, and contrary to what you might think, 0:12:22.880 --> 0:12:26.960 the biggest bear ain't always in charge. All through the 0:12:27.000 --> 0:12:30.520 afternoon and evening, I watched one particular color faced bear, 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:35.760 chocolate colored bear run others away from the barrel with 0:12:35.880 --> 0:12:40.640 bluff charges, popping his jaws and woofing. That reminded me 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:44.720 of the fellow with a Napoleon complex. He was making 0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:47.320 up for his lack of size by being the toughest kid. 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:50.480 On the block and work most of the time. 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:54.480 Occasionally, a larger bear would stroll in and the class 0:12:54.520 --> 0:12:58.160 bully would retreat without making a sound or offering any resistance. 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:01.959 This let me know that they'd already established who was 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:04.320 a boss between the two of them, long before they 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:08.480 met in front of me that evening. I've witnessed barfights before, 0:13:08.559 --> 0:13:13.520 real ones. They escalate quickly and are extremely violent. Those 0:13:13.559 --> 0:13:15.440 played out in front of me and another part of 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:18.840 Canada on multiple occasions, and I was sitting on the 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:21.840 ground with them as it happened, hoping they just ignored 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:24.720 me when it was all over. You know how it is, 0:13:25.200 --> 0:13:27.800 the guy that loses is embarrassed and mad and looks 0:13:27.840 --> 0:13:30.559 around at the gauking crowd yelling what are you looking at? 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:34.240 At the first guy he knows he can walk. I 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:36.640 didn't want to be that guy he picked out and challenged. 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:39.960 Admittedly the crowd. I was sitting in watching the pugilistic 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:45.280 endeavor was pretty thin, consistent only of me and Clay 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:50.360 Ichi the turkey calling contest nukem. But then as abruptly 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:54.440 as they start, they're usually over. They know who won, 0:13:54.520 --> 0:13:57.880 and each goes about their business as if nothing really happened, 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:00.560 kind of like a Major League base ball when a 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:03.760 good hitter hits homer off a good picture, the hitter 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:06.080 runs the bases, goes back to the dug out without 0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:08.600 show bolting, or he can rest assured if he does. 0:14:09.440 --> 0:14:12.480 Next time he steps in the box, the posing picture 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:15.880 is going to put a heater in his ear. Sometimes 0:14:15.920 --> 0:14:19.760 you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you. I 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:21.800 can't remember where I heard that, but it was probably 0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:25.480 at a bear bait said by bear, probably the same 0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:27.360 bear that said if attacked by a bear, you should 0:14:27.440 --> 0:14:30.440 lay down and play dead. That's just so you'll have 0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:33.680 some practice when it happens for real a few minutes later. 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:37.520 But from where I sat, the bait was less than 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:40.560 twenty yards away in an opening no bigger than a 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:44.960 fifteen by fifteen room. The aspen and maple trees, along 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:47.640 with the bushes that grow there, thick and lush with 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:51.680 new spring leaves. It's pretty close quarters, and for good reason. 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:55.560 Big bears feel more secure in tight spaces. They have 0:14:55.960 --> 0:14:59.320 avenues of escape and they can slip in undetected by 0:14:59.360 --> 0:15:03.960 other bears that may be bigger than them. There's always 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:07.560 someone bigger and batter. The big ones know this, and 0:15:07.600 --> 0:15:11.720 they get to be old bears because of it. Bears 0:15:11.800 --> 0:15:14.400 don't like to fight, and they only do it when threatening, 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:18.080 when it's absolutely necessary. They know that injury is weakness, 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:22.080 and weakness is hunger and death in nature. If they 0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:24.360 can posture well enough to get their bluff in on 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:26.800 whatever is causing the problem, they'll they'll let it go 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:30.520 with that. The trails coming into the bait were virtually 0:15:30.560 --> 0:15:33.440 indistinguishable from the rest of the woods. They were more 0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:38.000 like open top tunnels and passageways with only opening to 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:40.960 fully see in size of the bears being at the 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:45.200 barrel itself. Now you could get glimpses of them through 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:47.880 holes in the bushes as they approached, but take them 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:50.320 a shot anywhere other than at the bait was out 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:52.560 of the question. With the boat, and that's what I 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:56.520 like to hunt with. I'd already determined that none of 0:15:56.520 --> 0:15:58.560 the bears that were hitting. The bait were bigger than 0:15:58.600 --> 0:16:01.280 the bears I had at home. They were all getting 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:05.040 to pass. On opening day, I pictured in my mind 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:07.720 having a slingshot and drilling that chocolate in his ham 0:16:08.160 --> 0:16:10.200 with a rock, just to let some of the others 0:16:10.240 --> 0:16:13.320 have a bite. When through an opening up the hill, 0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:17.880 I saw two bears. First, I thought they were fighting. 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:20.960 Turns out that fighting was the last thing they had 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:24.760 on their mind. That couples out on the date, which 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:28.080 coincides with this time of year when sal's come in heat. 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:32.520 The receptive sal can be better than bait any day. 0:16:33.280 --> 0:16:35.960 The dominant bore in the area will check her out 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:38.800 if he's close. And I had two things going for me. 0:16:38.880 --> 0:16:42.080 There salth coming in season and the bear bait of 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:45.040 six or seven different bears that had been using it 0:16:45.120 --> 0:16:49.320 on and off all evening. I started calling the color 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:53.560 bear Choco Taco. Now, I'm not a wild animal namer. 0:16:53.960 --> 0:16:56.360 I've never given a bucket name that I was after. 0:16:56.480 --> 0:16:58.760 I think it's dumb. I think deers should be called 0:16:58.840 --> 0:17:02.440 deer because that's that's what they are. I only care 0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:04.680 about knowing the name of someone if I'm going to 0:17:04.760 --> 0:17:09.160 hold a conversation with him. Or avoid here's an example. 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:13.280 I'd like to meet Frank. He seems like someone i'd 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:17.320 like to know. Or Oh Lord, here comes Frank, let's 0:17:17.320 --> 0:17:19.760 get out here. He is not someone i'd like to know. 0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:23.199 But this bear was a regular at the bait and 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:25.720 comical in his defense of what he thought was his. 0:17:26.200 --> 0:17:29.159 He'd been there all evening. He was the first in 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:31.480 and would grab a chunk of frozen beaver and walk 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:34.280 out in the woods to gnaw on it. Or, as 0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:37.720 Miss Coope would say, out into the woods he'd walk 0:17:37.800 --> 0:17:41.200 with a frozen beaver on which to naw. Oh my gosh, 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:43.879 I wish I could hear her say that I love you, 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:47.840 Miss Cope. Chako Taco had ventured out from the bait 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:50.720 for the upteenth time and had been replaced by a 0:17:50.760 --> 0:17:54.639 bigger bear who fancied himself a snackerl of beaver and 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:58.280 a dip of grease soaked oats. Still not what I 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:02.000 was after, though. My eyes drifted back up the hill 0:18:02.080 --> 0:18:04.960 toward where I had last seen the happy couple. It 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:07.760 was getting darker now and was actually prime time for 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:10.840 the big boys to show up. Then the barrier the 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:12.760 bait got up and left like he'd been caught with 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:16.359 his hand in the cookie jar. Movement straight out in 0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:18.639 front of me had me looking over the top and 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:21.919 past the bait barrel to a trail that Barris had 0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:25.280 been using earlier in the day. My good friend and 0:18:25.359 --> 0:18:29.800 cameraman David McDaniels was positioned behind me filming the hunt. 0:18:30.600 --> 0:18:33.399 In the video, you can see me motion to David 0:18:33.400 --> 0:18:36.800 that I'd seen something there, and I picked up my 0:18:36.880 --> 0:18:39.920 bow and attached my release to the stream. I was 0:18:40.040 --> 0:18:42.600 training to see through the woods forty yards away, and 0:18:42.640 --> 0:18:44.880 I was alerted to the presence of a different barrier 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:48.240 the bait when I heard David whisper, that's a big 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:49.879 chocolate bear right in front of you. 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:52.480 Grin Now. 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:54.320 I didn't have to do anything other than the lower 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:58.080 my gaze, and magically, there he was. How in the 0:18:58.119 --> 0:19:00.560 world did that joker get there with that eat, seeing 0:19:00.680 --> 0:19:03.800 or hearing it? I don't know how they move across 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:06.720 the landscape and sidly as they do, but they move 0:19:06.840 --> 0:19:10.000 like poetry and perfect rhythm with the environment, and float 0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:12.280 through the woods like dust dances in the rays of 0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:16.000 sunshine through a window. I waited, and I watched for 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:19.600 what seemed like forever, and then he took the final 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:21.760 step I needed him to take to. 0:19:21.720 --> 0:19:22.960 Stand clear in the open. 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:26.199 I could only see two thirds of him, but it 0:19:26.280 --> 0:19:29.080 was the part that held his vitals. And I leaned 0:19:29.080 --> 0:19:31.320 over just a little bit, and I picked out a 0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:34.240 small spot and was surprised when the air jumped off 0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:38.080 my strain. I followed the air's path and saw it 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:41.439 disappear right where I was aiming. One months later, I 0:19:41.480 --> 0:19:45.680 heard him crash. Shortly after that, I heard his death moon. 0:19:46.480 --> 0:19:50.040 Now I have to tell you, the death mon is 0:19:50.080 --> 0:19:53.200 not something I enjoyed. Here half the bearers I've taken 0:19:53.240 --> 0:19:56.879 to done it to me. It's raw and emotional and 0:19:57.280 --> 0:20:00.679 maybe a little sad. I'm not ashamed to admit that 0:20:00.760 --> 0:20:03.439 the first time I heard it brought tears in my eyes. 0:20:04.359 --> 0:20:07.639 I also think that that's a good thing. Hunting is 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:11.200 a raw emotional act, and we're driven instinctually to hunt 0:20:11.240 --> 0:20:14.520 and gather for our families. Taking the life of an 0:20:14.560 --> 0:20:17.480 animal that's not taking light and it shouldn't be quite 0:20:17.760 --> 0:20:21.919 quite the opposite that four hundred and forty pounds manitoble 0:20:22.000 --> 0:20:26.760 BlackBerry will feed my family for months good healthy protein. 0:20:27.400 --> 0:20:29.760 The grease rendered from his fat will be cooked with 0:20:30.480 --> 0:20:33.359 for many months as well, and his hide and skull 0:20:33.440 --> 0:20:37.280 were hanging my home with reverence, his memory to live 0:20:37.359 --> 0:20:39.960 within me for as long as I did. The beast 0:20:40.000 --> 0:20:41.840 as dead long lived. 0:20:41.560 --> 0:20:42.240 The beast. 0:20:47.800 --> 0:20:50.359 That would be remiss if not taking the opportunity to 0:20:50.400 --> 0:20:53.520 talk about the outfitters. I'd heard about him ever since 0:20:53.600 --> 0:20:55.880 David came back from his hunt with him last year. 0:20:56.880 --> 0:20:59.760 He went on and on about how gracious they were now, 0:21:00.160 --> 0:21:03.720 just how rock solid of a family they are. David 0:21:03.800 --> 0:21:05.960 brought home a nice bear from there last year, and 0:21:06.000 --> 0:21:08.520 I didn't know, but I thought maybe his judgment was 0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:12.159 biased by his successful trip, that dude wouldn't shut up 0:21:12.160 --> 0:21:15.760 about him. But David was a pretty good judge of 0:21:15.840 --> 0:21:18.479 character if you take me out of the mix. So 0:21:18.560 --> 0:21:21.080 I booked a hunt along with several other folks in 0:21:21.160 --> 0:21:24.359 his circle, and from day one it was like rolling 0:21:24.440 --> 0:21:27.399 into the family hunting camp and seeing folks you only 0:21:27.440 --> 0:21:30.560 see that time of year. I knew from the moment 0:21:30.600 --> 0:21:32.920 I met him that he was right and they were 0:21:33.040 --> 0:21:36.520 good folks. Craig and Mail treated us all like ken. 0:21:37.160 --> 0:21:39.040 I tagged that on the first day and spent a 0:21:39.080 --> 0:21:42.520 lot of time with all the McCarthy's from Craig and 0:21:42.560 --> 0:21:46.120 Mail to their son Hayden and daughter Kirsten, along with 0:21:46.560 --> 0:21:51.520 Derek Lammy and ash Nor Shappoo also known as Ash 0:21:51.560 --> 0:21:54.000 And If that ain't a classic Canadian bush name, I 0:21:54.040 --> 0:21:58.560 don't know what is. They were good, honest, hard working 0:21:58.640 --> 0:22:02.800 folks who are let by faith and are shining examples 0:22:02.840 --> 0:22:05.840 of a family working together for a common gold. It 0:22:05.920 --> 0:22:08.359 could have been raising chickens and farming like I grew 0:22:08.400 --> 0:22:11.439 up doing, or making cabinets in the family shop. It 0:22:11.440 --> 0:22:16.000 could have been anything. The job didn't matter. What mattered 0:22:16.640 --> 0:22:19.400 is that they all did it together and supported one 0:22:19.400 --> 0:22:23.199 another along the way. In this case, it just so 0:22:23.320 --> 0:22:26.000 happened to be bear hunting, and they do it well. 0:22:27.200 --> 0:22:29.720 Now that's something special and something I was proud to 0:22:29.800 --> 0:22:33.160 witness for myself. Check them out at North Mountain Adventures 0:22:33.160 --> 0:22:37.199 in Oaka River, Manitoba, Canada. That hunt will be on 0:22:37.240 --> 0:22:40.080 their YouTube channel next year, but go subscribe to their 0:22:40.119 --> 0:22:44.840 channel now to see some great content that's already up. Now, 0:22:44.880 --> 0:22:48.120 I'm gonna leave you with this. It's the first stanza 0:22:48.240 --> 0:22:51.160 of a poem that reminds me of the McCarthy's, every 0:22:51.240 --> 0:22:54.760 last one of them, including Derek and Ash as I 0:22:54.880 --> 0:22:58.920 watched them going about their chores and require task of guiding, entertaining, 0:22:58.960 --> 0:23:02.280