WEBVTT - Ep. 185: THIS COUNTRY LIFE - Oh, Canada 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:09.200 Welcome to This country Life. I'm your host, Brent Rieves 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:13.720 from coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living. 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:16.040 I want you to stay a while as I share 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:18.479 my stories and the country skills that will help you 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:22.360 beat the system. This Country Life is proudly presented as 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:25.880 part of Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you the best 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:29.960 outdoor podcast the airways have to offer. All right, friends, 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:33.080 pull you up a chair or drop that tailgate. I 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:40.639 think I got a thing or two. The teacher old Canada. 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:45.480 I've been to Canada three times in my life. Each 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:48.800 trip was the trip of a lifetime, all of them 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:51.400 hunting trips, but each unique in its adventure and the 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:54.680 lessons learned. We're taking a trip north of the border 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:57.840 this week, but no need for the Rosetta stone. I'm 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:00.959 semi fluent in Canadian. I'm going to tell you all 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:13.920 about them, but first I'm going to tell you a story. Plans, suburbans, 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:17.600 and boats. Five of us with bear tags and one 0:01:17.640 --> 0:01:21.280 with a camera waited at a predesignated spot on an 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:25.039 unnamed river that bled off the eight hundred square mile 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:30.399 Wallaston Lake in Saskatchewan, Canada. We were one hundred and 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:34.360 sixty three miles south of the Arctic Circle and over 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:39.039 two thousand miles away from Arkansas. We'd rented a suburban 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:43.080 when we landed in Saskatoon, and if that wasn't far enough, 0:01:44.000 --> 0:01:48.120 we were still a thirteen hour drive from the airport 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:52.400 to where we now sat. I was there filming them 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:54.600 from my good friend Klay Knuckleman. It was back in 0:01:54.640 --> 0:01:57.160 the days before he or I worked for me Dieter, 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:02.080 and even before the original Bear Grind East podcast. This 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:04.920 film was in support of Bear Hunt magazine and we 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:08.320 were on an adventure, an adventure that began the day 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:11.880 before when I showed up at Clay's house three hours 0:02:11.919 --> 0:02:14.120 before we were supposed to leave for the airport, and 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:17.840 he said, Man, I've been so busy getting the magazine 0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:20.200 ready to go out that I haven't even packed yet. 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:25.720 I laughed, but he didn't. Then I knew he was serious. 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:30.360 Hold a cow, let's get to pack it. Thirty minutes 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:33.120 later we were on our way to the airport with 0:02:33.360 --> 0:02:36.920 seven days worth a gear. He never broke a sweat, 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:39.120 while I felt like I was having kittens the whole 0:02:39.120 --> 0:02:41.839 time until we were checked in and waiting at the gate. 0:02:43.040 --> 0:02:46.360 I hate flying, not the actual physicality of flying. But 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:49.160 the process of flying it used to be a relatively 0:02:49.200 --> 0:02:53.160 simple process, as those amongst us who have traveled by 0:02:53.200 --> 0:02:56.160 air prior to the tragedy of nine to eleven can 0:02:56.240 --> 0:03:01.120 fully attest. And I know the reason for all the changes, 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:04.400 and I appreciate the redundancy of ID checks and screening. 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:07.840 I get it. I'm all for it. But that's the 0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:11.840 process that makes me anxious. There's too much responsibility on 0:03:11.919 --> 0:03:14.280 my end to have everything I'm supposed to have to 0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:17.320 prove to someone who doesn't know me that I am 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:21.680 who I say I am. Plus I lose things often. 0:03:22.639 --> 0:03:26.919 Alexis is constantly saying, in her condescending mom voice, if 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:29.600 you just put things back where they go instead of 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:33.760 laying them down in random spots, you wouldn't lose them. 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:36.960 She usually follows that up with have you seen my phone? 0:03:36.960 --> 0:03:40.360 I can't find my phone. Me and that gal were 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:44.080 made for each other anyway. There the five of us 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:47.800 were standing in the middle of Saskatchewan, having survived the 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:51.960 first two legs of our journey into the North. James Lawrence, 0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:55.360 Ryan Greb Carney Easter, and Clay Bold Nukem and yours. 0:03:55.360 --> 0:03:59.320 Truly it was June and we were all wearing jackets 0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:01.800 to cut the cold wind that blew off Wallaston Lake. 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:05.960 We were waiting for the last mode of travel to arrive. 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:09.520 In the last twenty four hours. We had been kept 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:14.520 from walking by the engineers at Boeing Chevrolet and whatever 0:04:14.640 --> 0:04:18.080 water vessel was that we now waited. That was forty 0:04:18.120 --> 0:04:21.880 five minutes overdue to our agreed upon meeting spot that 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:25.000 was supposed to keep us dry on our ride to 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:28.440 the Bear camp. It must be a big boat to 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:31.080 carry us and all our gear. We had a ton 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:35.479 of stuff. Hard cases with camera gear, bows, drones, and 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:38.840 Duffel bags of clothing and hunting gear were stacked at 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:40.720 the edge of a dock that looked like it had 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:44.440 been built by the students of a beginner carpenter class 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:50.120 in the dark. The boats we were expecting to ferry 0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:52.520 us the last part of the trip had to be big, 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:55.120 so we were wondering how in the world they were 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:58.600 going to fit into this small area and this homemade dock. 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:02.440 I also wondered where the boat was. There was no 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:06.400 way other than using a SAT phone to contact the outfitter, 0:05:06.480 --> 0:05:09.080 since he was the one coming to pick us up 0:05:09.640 --> 0:05:11.680 and we doubted he'd be able to answer, so we 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:16.680 just waited. Another thirty minutes ticked by with us entertaining ourselves, 0:05:16.760 --> 0:05:19.440 before we heard the sound of an outboard motor getting closer. 0:05:20.400 --> 0:05:24.800 Then we saw the boats, two of them. One was 0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:27.599 what i'd call a ski boat. It had a console 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:31.160 steering and a walk through windshield and a fifty horse 0:05:31.200 --> 0:05:34.880 power outboard motor. The second boat was a fourteen foot 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:38.640 aluminum vehu with a forty horse power motor and a 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:42.440 tiller hand. Now, either those weren't our boats, or we 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:45.920 weren't going very far, I figured, But they were our boats, 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:49.080 and we were a long way from the end of 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:52.960 the boat riding. Were fixing the tape I had figured wrong. 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:56.160 The boat's coasted to a stop along the edge of 0:05:56.240 --> 0:05:59.920 Canada's version of a Beverly hillbilly's boat dock, each pile 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:03.880 by a pair of strapping lads who ended each question 0:06:04.080 --> 0:06:08.800 or mildly facetious statement with a like been waiting long 0:06:08.880 --> 0:06:14.600 a or pretty long trip ah. After all the introductions, 0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:16.880 we started bringing our gear down to the boats, and 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:20.400 the outfitter suggested putting all the gear in one person 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:23.200 in the bigger boat. He was driving that one, and 0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:25.320 the rest of us would load up in the smaller 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:30.440 boat for the ride across the lake to the camp. James, Carney, 0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:33.440 Ryan and I opted for the lighter boat after packing 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:36.839 the bigger one to the absolute gills with bags and cases, 0:06:37.240 --> 0:06:39.279 then covering it up as best as we could with 0:06:39.440 --> 0:06:43.160 tart to try to keep it all dry. I asked 0:06:43.160 --> 0:06:45.880 that hockey loving cat who was minding the tiller how 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:49.640 far we were going, and he said, oh, it's a ways, 0:06:50.960 --> 0:06:54.400 and he wasn't kidding. In Arkansas, you could hop in 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:59.200 any conveyance available from attractor to a bicycle, heading any 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:02.200 random direc direction, and in two hours you're going to 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:08.359 be somewhere, somewhere where there was something something other than water, 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:12.400 moss and trees and seemingly endless wilderness. Now, don't get 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:14.920 me wrong, I was digging it. I loved being in 0:07:15.000 --> 0:07:18.400 remote places, and getting there is usually a big part 0:07:18.400 --> 0:07:21.280 of the adventure. But for the past two hours I 0:07:21.320 --> 0:07:24.000 felt like my teeth were getting loose from the constant 0:07:24.160 --> 0:07:27.200 battering that the boat was taken and transferring to me. 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:31.760 I hooked my legs underneath the seat as best as 0:07:31.800 --> 0:07:34.480 I could, and I had a gi Joe kung fu 0:07:34.600 --> 0:07:37.200 grip on the gun and the seat. My behind was 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:40.720 hitting about every other wave. The waves that didn't take 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:42.840 me a foot off the bench washed over the bow 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:45.760 and sides, and the strong wind was soaking me in 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:49.480 my fellow Arkansas with the cleanest water I'd never wanted 0:07:49.520 --> 0:07:52.480 to drink. At this point, I looked out of the 0:07:52.560 --> 0:07:55.320 rain hood i'd pulled down tight around my face in 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:58.400 a feeble attempt to keep the lake out of my clothes, 0:07:58.440 --> 0:08:01.119 and the bank to the Arbard's side of the boat 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:05.400 was invisible, nothing but water, and it looked as big 0:08:05.440 --> 0:08:08.720 as the ocean. I looked to the port side and 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:11.600 caught it an occasional glimpse of Earth between the solo 0:08:11.680 --> 0:08:15.560 cups of water. Old Mother Wallerston was spitting in my eyes. 0:08:16.640 --> 0:08:19.480 I started using naval terminology in my thinking, as the 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:22.400 voyage to the end of the Earth drug on past eternity. 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:26.520 I figured, since we had all obviously been shanghaied by 0:08:26.560 --> 0:08:29.400 sailors posing his bear hunting outfitters, that I might as 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:33.240 well learn the lingo. I looked back at our pilot. 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:35.640 He was wrapped up tight in his rein gear with 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:38.880 nothing other than a small peepole where his eyes should 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:43.040 have been. Occasionally a black tuft of hair would flip out, 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:46.920 before getting soaked and seeking refuge back inside his parker. 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:50.720 I caught him checking the GPS he had in his 0:08:50.800 --> 0:08:55.360 pocket and mouth of the words how long eh? That 0:08:55.480 --> 0:08:58.600 was in my best Canadian accident. He yelled above the 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:01.400 din of the outboard, in the crashing of the hull 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:04.439 of the boat on the waves, that we were almost halfway, 0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:09.240 Almost halfway, for the love of humanity, was where we 0:09:09.240 --> 0:09:12.080 were going going to look any different than where we 0:09:12.080 --> 0:09:16.160 were it? It all looked the same as far as 0:09:16.160 --> 0:09:18.680 what I could see now from the boat, and the 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:21.679 same I'd seen for the past one hundred and fifty 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:24.440 miles the road before we pulled up to that dock, 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:29.800 big round rocks, jack pines, and moss. I caught a 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:32.600 glimpse of Claybow's boat as it launched in the air 0:09:32.679 --> 0:09:36.120 between the waves, the foot being the only thing that 0:09:36.160 --> 0:09:40.000 stayed in contact with the water. My fund meter had 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:45.440 pegged out. I was ready to hit the bank. Gordon Lightfoot, 0:09:45.480 --> 0:09:49.720 Ontario borne balladeer and President of Canada. His greatest song ever, 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:53.440 one of the personal favorites of mine was on repeat 0:09:53.520 --> 0:09:58.040 in my head, over and over it played in Three 0:09:58.120 --> 0:10:01.360 and a half hours later, we pulled up to a 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:04.720 dock that looked suspiciously like the first one I'd seen 0:10:05.360 --> 0:10:10.760 fifty five miles earlier, when that whole ordeal started. Clay 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:12.880 and the boss outfitter had pulled a head as we 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:16.280 rolled into calmer waters and were waiting for us on 0:10:16.320 --> 0:10:20.800 the bank. Clay was smiling, happy to be there, happy 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:23.440 to be bear hunting, but mostly I think, happy to 0:10:23.480 --> 0:10:28.160 be alive. He walked out onto that unsteady dock. He 0:10:28.240 --> 0:10:30.720 reached his hand out to me to help me up, smiling, 0:10:31.920 --> 0:10:35.360 then he said, what do you think about that? When 0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:39.320 my second foot hit the top of that dock? I said, 0:10:39.559 --> 0:10:43.960 does anyone know where the love of God goes? When 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:48.360 the waves turned the minutes to ours, Clay's eyes got 0:10:48.400 --> 0:10:51.880 white and a surprised look came across his face. He 0:10:51.920 --> 0:10:55.480 squeezed my hand and said, Wow, did you just make 0:10:55.520 --> 0:11:08.680 that up? No, Clay Bow, Gordon Lightfoot died and that's 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:17.240 just how that happened Old Canada. On my third trip 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:20.960 to Canada, me and Clay Bow found ourselves in British Columbia. 0:11:21.080 --> 0:11:25.240 It was a stark contrast to the terrain of northern Saskatchewan. 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:30.000 This was mountainous, thick wooded terrain and clearcuts. We were 0:11:30.240 --> 0:11:34.000 hunting black bears in the same woods where grizzlies lived. 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:38.120 I'd always wanted to see a grizzly. I've always wanted 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:40.320 to go on an archery hunt for one, and like 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:43.720 a lot of folks, I'm intrigued by I also have 0:11:43.800 --> 0:11:45.960 a lot of respect for him, which is a manly 0:11:46.000 --> 0:11:47.920 way of saying they scare the soup out of me. 0:11:48.800 --> 0:11:51.000 I'm not scared of much, and I have been in 0:11:51.040 --> 0:11:54.360 places and situations in my law enforcement job when I 0:11:54.400 --> 0:11:57.720 probably should have been scared at that time, but I 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:01.640 was also focused on the mission hand and fear was 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:05.600 never a real factor. All that went straight out the 0:12:05.640 --> 0:12:08.360 window when we got to Jeff Lander's primitive outfit and 0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:11.960 bear camp. Jeff is a bow hunter. He and his wife, 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:15.240 Lanta have become good friends of mine. They're good people 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:22.560 and she's from Arkansas. Good job, Jeffrey. Anyway, glad I 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:25.400 got to camp earlier than anticipated, and he said we 0:12:25.440 --> 0:12:28.000 could go out that afternoon. Since we had plenty of 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:31.760 light left to hunt. They decided not to use the 0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:35.600 electric bikes that they had out forced to travel down 0:12:35.600 --> 0:12:37.960 the gravel in the dirt roads for fear of rounding 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:43.199 a curve and surprising Old Gribbs. Stories that include surprise 0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:46.520 and grizzly don't usually end well for either party. I 0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:49.880 liked his thinking. The last thing I wanted to do 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:54.040 was surprise anything that had claws, teeth and was grumpy 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:56.640 to start with and could run thirty five miles an hour. 0:12:56.800 --> 0:13:01.440 That's like fifty six in Canada. They're even faster up there. 0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:05.760 I didn't want a surprise one, but I did want 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:08.960 to see one. Jeff hooked us up with our guide Gary. 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:13.120 That's a good dude, and old Gary knows his way 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:17.920 around the wilderness, and those bears both kinds playing. I 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:20.400 got our stuff ready in short ordering. Before we knew it, 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:23.080 we were heading down a one lane dirt road that 0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:27.240 was about twenty minutes away from the camp. I was 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:30.559 quizzing Gary on his exploits and grizzly bears and wondering 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:33.719 if we'd see one before the week was up. He 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:36.600 said it was a good possibility, but there was no guarantees. 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:39.480 They're as scared of us as we are them, he said. 0:13:40.960 --> 0:13:43.800 The road we were easing down in Gary's truck wasn't 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:47.559 much wider than a one lane of a two lane highway. 0:13:47.960 --> 0:13:51.400 Alder maple and pine trees that were thick on each side, 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:54.320 thick enough that you couldn't see but a few feet 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:57.280 past the edge of the road. But up ahead, about 0:13:57.280 --> 0:14:00.640 three hundred yards that's two hundred and seventy four into 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:04.720 Canadian the road opened up on each side. The sun 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:06.680 was shining and lighting up what looked like a big 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:10.800 hay pasture, quite a contrast to the darkness that stood 0:14:10.800 --> 0:14:14.640 on each side of the road. I'd learned two things 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:17.360 about Gary in the short twenty minutes i'd known him. 0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:20.760 He was a religious man. I liked that. And he 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:23.000 also toted it a a three point thirty eight la 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:25.800 poor rifle that was secured in a spot beside me 0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:30.520 in the back seat. I like that too. Used correctly, 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:33.240 both of those can get you out of a tight spot, 0:14:34.320 --> 0:14:37.800 one quicker than the other and one for longer than 0:14:37.800 --> 0:14:41.120 the other. Gary said, we'd walk the last one hundred 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:43.240 yards down the road and slip up to the edge 0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:45.560 and peek down the woodline to see if we could 0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:48.560 catch a black bear feeding on the ankle high grass 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:53.040 that they loved this time of year. Good plan, he said, 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:55.600 he'd done this many times. Found a bear, initiated a 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:58.360 stalk and got within bow range. That's what we wanted. 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:01.840 We might as well fill the tag on opening day. 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:05.000 We were in a single file line until the last 0:15:05.040 --> 0:15:08.240 few steps. That's when Gary motioned for us to be 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:11.680 quiet and to stand beside him as we crept the 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:13.520 rest of the way to see down the edge of 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:16.440 the woods clay in the middle of me. On the 0:15:16.440 --> 0:15:20.440 far right, he whispered, Now, you guys, look down to 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:23.680 the right. The woodline goes down a lot further than 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:26.360 it does on this side. I'll check over here on 0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:30.960 the left. We eased along almost in cadence. Two more 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:33.000 steps and we'd be able to see all the way 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:36.520 down the field edge. I strained to see anything that 0:15:36.640 --> 0:15:40.480 remotely looked like a bear. I was laser focused on 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:43.640 everything that was going on around me when Gary whispered, 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:48.680 don't anybody move. The tone in which he said it 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:52.160 made me hear look over here at the grizzly bear 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:57.880 that's about to kill us. All slowly and methodically, I 0:15:58.000 --> 0:16:00.640 turned my head to see two grizzly bear cubs and 0:16:00.680 --> 0:16:05.040 a south stand fifty yards away. The sow was chomping 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:07.960 down grass like they weren't making it anymore, and the 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:11.720 both cubs were staring at us. The one in front 0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:14.000 and closest to us was standing on all fours, and 0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:17.120 the one behind him and nearest to the south stood 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:20.040 up on his hind legs to see over his sibling 0:16:20.120 --> 0:16:23.880 and so he could see what we were. They both 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:26.480 bolted at the same time and ran away from where 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:28.920 we were standing, and passing right in front of the 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:32.840 nose of Mama Bear. And looking back on it now, 0:16:32.920 --> 0:16:35.880 she didn't pay them any attention at first. I'm sure 0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:38.680 they did that, playing and chasing each other all the time. 0:16:38.760 --> 0:16:41.800 It was when they hit the woods and didn't stop 0:16:42.200 --> 0:16:45.200 that she looked at the way they'd left and realized 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:52.000 they were running away from something. Then she looked back 0:16:52.040 --> 0:16:55.120 to see what they'd run away from, and there we stood, 0:16:56.320 --> 0:16:58.640 all three of us, side by side, looking like a 0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:01.800 big bear hunting oreo with the double stuff On the 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:05.840 right hand side. Mama Bear stood up on her hind 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:08.320 legs and stared at us for what seemed like a week. 0:17:09.160 --> 0:17:12.560 I'm not sure what that translates to, and time wise 0:17:12.600 --> 0:17:15.639 in Canadian but in reality it was really only for 0:17:15.680 --> 0:17:19.600 a few seconds. She woofed loud when she stumped her 0:17:19.960 --> 0:17:22.000 front feet down on the ground, and it rattled the 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:25.520 stuff in my pockets. In my mind immediately calculating the 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:28.119 number of clean sets of drawers I had back at 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:31.280 the camp. Should I live through this, for I was 0:17:31.320 --> 0:17:35.640 going to need some. Then as quickly as I processed 0:17:35.720 --> 0:17:39.840 all that, she was gone, disappearing through the same hole 0:17:39.920 --> 0:17:45.200 in the woods her cubs had gone. It was absolutely magnificent. 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:48.679 She was beautiful, and so were her cubs. I felt 0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:52.560 privileged to have seen them and to have lived through it. 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:57.080 Clay doesn't remember it being as significant an event that 0:17:57.200 --> 0:17:59.920 I do, which proves my adage of if you want 0:18:00.000 --> 0:18:04.200 want two different accounts of a singular event, get two 0:18:04.240 --> 0:18:11.040 eyewitnesses to the same thing. To the individual perception is reality, 0:18:11.200 --> 0:18:14.080 and mine may have been biased by my innate fear 0:18:14.119 --> 0:18:17.040 of standing unarmed within the rock chunking distance of Asil 0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:20.800 Grizzly and her cubs, my only defense being my inability 0:18:20.840 --> 0:18:25.600 to look like I tasted bad. Clay barely remembers the event, 0:18:25.720 --> 0:18:28.160 and Gary, the guide with whom I spent a week 0:18:28.240 --> 0:18:32.000 spotting in stalking barriers all over British Columbia, probably doesn't 0:18:32.040 --> 0:18:35.919 even remember us being there. Did I manufacture the events 0:18:35.920 --> 0:18:39.520 and how they unfolded? Did I add some spice or 0:18:39.600 --> 0:18:42.960 use poetic license and telling that story about my first 0:18:43.040 --> 0:18:48.320 encounter with a grizzly bear? Absolutely not. Were my perceptions 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:52.520 of that close encounter romanticized or clouded by how I 0:18:52.640 --> 0:18:58.720 interpreted her reactions to our surprise meeting. Absolutely I don't 0:18:58.760 --> 0:19:01.080 know what was going on inside that bear's head. But 0:19:01.600 --> 0:19:04.360 while lie biologists tell us that for them it's fight 0:19:04.480 --> 0:19:12.080 or flight, and I'm glad you chose the latter, perception 0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:16.680 is as individual as the cat doing the perceiving. That's 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:19.640 something we can all learn from, and that's your challenge 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:23.880 this week. Listen to folks tell their own bear stories 0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:26.560 and try to see it from where they were standing. 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:30.720 You don't have to agree with them, and just as important, 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:34.399 they don't have to agree with you. It's not a 0:19:34.440 --> 0:19:37.920 new concept to be respectful of another's viewpoint, but it's 0:19:37.960 --> 0:19:41.720 one we're all a little out of practice. Up. We're 0:19:41.760 --> 0:19:45.119 all neighbors on this spinning rock, or, according to some folks, 0:19:45.119 --> 0:19:49.720 this humongous flat thing we're surfing through space. On either way, 0:19:50.119 --> 0:19:54.800 your neighbor is your neighbor. I'm leaving my second trip 0:19:54.840 --> 0:19:57.600 out for now, and I'll talk about that on another day. 0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:01.040 That was a special trip, and part of the reason 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:04.080 I'm able to talk to you now is a direct 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:07.960 benefit from that excursion. It's a good one and it 0:20:08.160 --> 0:20:11.119 literally changed the life path for both Clay and me. 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:15.040 We got some fun content coming out soon on the 0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:19.040 med Eater YouTube channel. Be looking for that announcement in 0:20:19.080 --> 0:20:22.520 This Country Life. We've got a few surprises there too. 0:20:23.560 --> 0:20:26.640 Until next week, this is Brent Reeves, sign it off. 0:20:27.600 --> 0:20:28.400 Y'all be careful.