1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:04,640 Speaker 1: You're listening to the Sportsman's Nation podcast network powered by 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:08,520 Speaker 1: Interstate Batteries from your truck to your trail camera. Interstate 3 00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:12,480 Speaker 1: Batteries as you covered. Visit your local Interstate Batteries store 4 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:17,880 Speaker 1: today or online at Interstate Batteries dot com. Interstate Batteries 5 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:31,880 Speaker 1: Outrageously Dependable. My name is Clay Nukeleman. I'm the host 6 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:35,520 Speaker 1: of the Bear Hunting Magazine podcast. I'll also be your 7 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:38,880 Speaker 1: host into the world of hunting the icon of North 8 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:43,400 Speaker 1: American wilderness and bear We'll talk about tactics, gear conservation 9 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:45,840 Speaker 1: that will also bring you into some of the wildest 10 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: country on the planet. Chasing band. So we are on 11 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: a bear hunt. I believe the day eight is May 12 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:14,400 Speaker 1: May the nineteenth, May seventeen, and we are in it's 13 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:17,080 Speaker 1: I think we've been in camp for five days. Maybe 14 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:18,959 Speaker 1: this is a sixth day. This is a sixth day 15 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: that we've been in camp. And we are in the 16 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:26,839 Speaker 1: coast mountains of British Columbia, Canada, and we're with Devin 17 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: Jewel of Pacific Bear Outfitters. Myself and my long time 18 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:40,520 Speaker 1: really great friend Daniel Rupe is here and so Devin 19 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:45,039 Speaker 1: Jewels here, Daniel Rupe is here. We're sitting in a 20 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:52,960 Speaker 1: wall tent camp slash tarp camp with the soft wood 21 00:01:53,040 --> 00:02:01,440 Speaker 1: Canadian fire crackling in the near well close, so we're 22 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:04,800 Speaker 1: being warned by the fire. I would say it's in 23 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 1: the high sixties and we have so we've been bear 24 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:17,400 Speaker 1: hunting and I don't spoiler alert. There are two bear hides, 25 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 1: salted bear hides within about twelve ft of us to 26 00:02:22,919 --> 00:02:30,960 Speaker 1: our northwest. Totally made up that direction, but no. So 27 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:34,120 Speaker 1: this is this is a really unique hunt for Daniel 28 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:37,840 Speaker 1: and I. I've hunted with Devon in me and my 29 00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: father in law came up here in Daniel w Roupe 30 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: has been. He has been out of the country Wild Wild, 31 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 1: Daniel Wild Group has been. He's been out of the 32 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 1: country for over ten years, working out of the country. 33 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 1: He and his family, and so they were back in 34 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:04,959 Speaker 1: the States. They planned a trip back to the States 35 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:10,680 Speaker 1: for a couple of months several years ago and we said, 36 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: I said, Dan, you got to go spring bear hunting 37 00:03:14,639 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 1: with me. But before that, in two thousand and seven ish, 38 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:25,839 Speaker 1: when Daniel and his family were planning to go overseas 39 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: long term, what did we say, Dan in seen ten 40 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:35,200 Speaker 1: years from then right, man, let's go bear hunting. What 41 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 1: if we went bear hunting in Canada? Well, we actually 42 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 1: said Alaska. I messed up this story, no, so but 43 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:54,000 Speaker 1: remember saying we're gonna go bear hunt in And what's 44 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:59,080 Speaker 1: what's cool about that is that at that at that time, 45 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 1: I mean, that was like the first it might as 46 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 1: we might as well have said, because neither one of 47 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: us were in their position to go on a bear hunt. 48 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 1: And it's interesting. I wasn't doing bear Hunting magazine. I 49 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 1: had not started the Arkansas Black Bear Association with your health. 50 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:19,359 Speaker 1: I didn't even know if you lived that long. True, 51 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:25,680 Speaker 1: I'm just I was just tottering away. So so back 52 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: then we were like, we're going on a bear hunt 53 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 1: in and we were like yes, and then here it 54 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 1: is and it has here we are, here we are. 55 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:42,440 Speaker 1: And so a little history of Dan and I. So 56 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 1: we grew up in towns close to one another, but 57 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:49,440 Speaker 1: we didn't really meet until we went to college and uh, 58 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 1: we're both were married and our families met, and then 59 00:04:55,520 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: Dan started bow hunting with me. So how that, um, 60 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 1: I think for me just being buddies and I remember 61 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:09,040 Speaker 1: being buddies of you and hearing you tell these stories 62 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:11,479 Speaker 1: about hunting and it was just so much fun. I thought, Man, 63 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:14,279 Speaker 1: I would love to do that. And I never really 64 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 1: had the chance to do anything like that for whatever reason. Um, 65 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 1: but my wife bought me a bow for my birthday, 66 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 1: and um we were living and I was in grad 67 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 1: school in Kentucky and I had a week long fall break. 68 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:38,279 Speaker 1: It was in November of two thousand and three. Shepherd 69 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:43,839 Speaker 1: new ed Yes, two thousand three November, had a week 70 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:48,599 Speaker 1: and flew back to Arkansas and we went to Madison 71 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:55,800 Speaker 1: County and Wildlife Management aream and Clay took me down 72 00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 1: to this little shelf on the side of an Ozark mountain, 73 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:03,600 Speaker 1: put me up on a big old pine tree, and uh, 74 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:08,280 Speaker 1: I've never been the same. Yeah, you ruined me. It was. 75 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:11,200 Speaker 1: It was your first bow hunt ever, first bow hunt ever. First. 76 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:15,680 Speaker 1: I had gone deer hunt one time with another buddy, 77 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:18,159 Speaker 1: but he wasn't as good as a buddy as you were. 78 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:27,440 Speaker 1: You never even told me that. Look at the side 79 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:32,479 Speaker 1: of those bear HUDs. Devin is gonna continually bring up 80 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:37,560 Speaker 1: the fact that there's some big bear hunts. Oh my goodness. 81 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:41,360 Speaker 1: So hey, back back to the Madison County story though, 82 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:46,080 Speaker 1: So first, his first bow hunt of all time and 83 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:48,600 Speaker 1: put him up in a climbing tree stand click clack, 84 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:51,359 Speaker 1: click cluck, click clut way up in the tree everything. 85 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:53,000 Speaker 1: I had no idea what I was doing. I don't 86 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: know if you remember, but when I going up the tree, 87 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:00,760 Speaker 1: I remember pulling up my bow and I couldn't. I 88 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:02,760 Speaker 1: thought the bow was gonna fall off the string. I 89 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:06,680 Speaker 1: I didn't know anything. At one point, I think I 90 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:10,160 Speaker 1: knocked an arrow and the arrow kind of slid out 91 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:14,520 Speaker 1: of the rest. I didn't have a whisker biscuits, so 92 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 1: and then actually, I my bow I didn't really fit me. 93 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:25,560 Speaker 1: So I shot out of my left eye to get 94 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:31,000 Speaker 1: my left exactly, you know, which, Maybe I should go 95 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:34,320 Speaker 1: back to you. Worked out pretty good. It worked out okay, 96 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:37,760 Speaker 1: But I mean everything, Clay put me in the stand. 97 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:41,680 Speaker 1: I remember you saying, if if Doe come through, don't 98 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:43,880 Speaker 1: shoot him because a buck might be behind him. And 99 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 1: these two dog came through, and it's like your little 100 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:53,120 Speaker 1: voices in my head, so don't choose, don't don't shoot, 101 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 1: And sure enough here came Uh. What I thought was 102 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 1: it's not a huge but a medium, little little six 103 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:06,560 Speaker 1: point buck came in, seven point seven pointer man I 104 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:08,840 Speaker 1: pulled back on and he walked down and touched his 105 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 1: nose to the base of my tree and then turned around. 106 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:14,040 Speaker 1: He must have not liked my tree, and he turned 107 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:16,960 Speaker 1: right around and walked out the other way. As he 108 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 1: was walking away, he turned around and looked back and 109 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:24,760 Speaker 1: we locked eyes, got him put an arrow in his neck. 110 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:29,640 Speaker 1: And so this was this was such an iconic moment 111 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:32,480 Speaker 1: because I come back and there was another good friend 112 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 1: with us. We come back and Dan's like, I killed one, 113 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:38,040 Speaker 1: and so we track it and we actually had an 114 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:42,199 Speaker 1: old video camera that we we used to film the recovery, 115 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:47,920 Speaker 1: and and that that piece of footage is kind of legendary. 116 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: It's deep in the archives, deep in the archives. Yeah, yeah, 117 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:57,120 Speaker 1: And I'm actually planning to dig it up and maybe 118 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:01,600 Speaker 1: use it on the episode of Bear Horizon that your 119 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:05,760 Speaker 1: Bear Hunt's gonna be on. So then I have a 120 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:09,319 Speaker 1: a fun history. But then, like right about the time 121 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:13,800 Speaker 1: we started hunting, you kind of deserted me. You went 122 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 1: to Kentucky, you went to places far far away, and 123 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:23,680 Speaker 1: so we it's we've it's not like we've hunted every 124 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:26,400 Speaker 1: year together anything, but that's so that's why that's not 125 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: so cool. Because we get to go. We've we've we're 126 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:34,920 Speaker 1: on a seven day hunt British Columbia. First of all, 127 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:38,640 Speaker 1: I kind of want to just just describe this scenario 128 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:44,280 Speaker 1: for those who may not understand the big world of 129 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 1: black bear hunting. But British Columbia is kind of a 130 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:52,640 Speaker 1: el primo destination for black bear because of the size 131 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:57,120 Speaker 1: of bears, but probably even more so because of the 132 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:00,480 Speaker 1: epic nous of the landscape in many places. We're in 133 00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 1: the coast mountains. So the coast mountains basically start at 134 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:12,040 Speaker 1: near the Pacific coast at near sea level. M my correct, Yeah, 135 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:15,520 Speaker 1: they stayed at sea level, and so what's unique about 136 00:10:15,559 --> 00:10:17,720 Speaker 1: them is they start at sea level and what's the 137 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:22,840 Speaker 1: biggest mountain that we've seen Probably nine thout the biggest 138 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:26,680 Speaker 1: one we've seen right there. Okay, so what's cool is 139 00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:29,240 Speaker 1: they go from sea level to nine thousand feet and 140 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:33,760 Speaker 1: so these mountains have these massive relief and so relief 141 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:38,719 Speaker 1: would be the actual amount of vertical feet from the 142 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:40,800 Speaker 1: top bottom of the mountain to the top of the mountain. 143 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:43,560 Speaker 1: So like let's say you're in Colorado and you're on 144 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:46,079 Speaker 1: a mountain that's fifteen thousand feet, Well, the base of 145 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:48,200 Speaker 1: the mountain may have been at ten thousand feet, so 146 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:50,720 Speaker 1: the mountain only looks like it's five thousand feet tall. 147 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:54,720 Speaker 1: But you get the point there. They're spectacular mountains, so 148 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:57,720 Speaker 1: almost any direction that you look, I mean like you 149 00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:02,040 Speaker 1: go around a corner and you're looking at the snow 150 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:08,040 Speaker 1: capped mountains, but you're down in these lush, thick, forested, 151 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:15,319 Speaker 1: moss covered, big tree, big, fast moving glacial river valleys. 152 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:17,960 Speaker 1: It really does look like Lord of the Rings. It 153 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:22,560 Speaker 1: looks like Lord of the Rings. Yeah, And so in 154 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:28,000 Speaker 1: the world of Canadian bear hunting, there's really no rivalry 155 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:29,640 Speaker 1: for a place to black bear. When it comes to 156 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:35,520 Speaker 1: epic beauty, just sheer beauty. All the other provinces um 157 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:41,360 Speaker 1: are well, I'm not gonna beauty is found everywhere, truly is, 158 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:44,360 Speaker 1: but just in terms of grand scale every beauty. So 159 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:49,640 Speaker 1: the way, let's see, do we want to say anything 160 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:54,240 Speaker 1: else about I'll say something. Being from the south, so 161 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:58,840 Speaker 1: we live in Arkansas, most of our large rivers are 162 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:04,200 Speaker 1: slow moving rivers because the elevation change between point A 163 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:08,840 Speaker 1: in point b is is yeah, is small, and so 164 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:11,079 Speaker 1: you might have this big like like the Arkansas River. 165 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:14,560 Speaker 1: We crossed the Arkansas River. Often it's a big river. 166 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:17,720 Speaker 1: I mean it's like half mile across in some places, 167 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:22,280 Speaker 1: but it's muddy and it's fairly slow moving. I mean, 168 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:24,920 Speaker 1: you don't see like white cap. So when I come 169 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:27,800 Speaker 1: up here, we see these rivers, which this river is 170 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:30,440 Speaker 1: not like a half mile across. This river might be 171 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:37,040 Speaker 1: like a hundred hundred yards across in some places, bigger 172 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:42,560 Speaker 1: in some places, even begger. But this is like white cap, 173 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:47,480 Speaker 1: white water, fast moving water all the way through. So 174 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:52,040 Speaker 1: you're just I'm I'm impressed with the volume of water 175 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:54,800 Speaker 1: coming out of these mountains. Let's talk about where the 176 00:12:54,800 --> 00:13:01,360 Speaker 1: water comes from. There are waterfalls everywhere. So Dan and 177 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:04,440 Speaker 1: I every time we pass the waterfall would be like, 178 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: that'd be a state park in Arkansas. They'd make that 179 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:09,480 Speaker 1: what did you say, they would make that one up 180 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:12,280 Speaker 1: unesca World Heritage site right there, and I think it 181 00:13:12,360 --> 00:13:15,040 Speaker 1: was a drainage ditch. Yeah. Yeah. We drive past like 182 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:18,880 Speaker 1: a little crevice in the mountain and there's this like waterfall. 183 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:23,560 Speaker 1: I mean like literally you could see cascading water for 184 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:27,719 Speaker 1: two feet, not like a vertical drop, but like like 185 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:30,240 Speaker 1: a thirty foot fall hits a rock and then I 186 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:35,439 Speaker 1: mean just spectacular waterfalls all coming out of these white 187 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:39,040 Speaker 1: Cap mountains. So above these waterfalls, these white Cap mountains, 188 00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:42,680 Speaker 1: you can yesterday just randomly we got at the trucks 189 00:13:42,679 --> 00:13:48,840 Speaker 1: of glass and across the valley there were three huge 190 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:54,080 Speaker 1: waterfalls just so just beautiful the water work to this 191 00:13:54,160 --> 00:14:01,280 Speaker 1: place or spectacular. So the way, let's any anything else 192 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:07,319 Speaker 1: about anything else we want to describe Devon. This is 193 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:12,640 Speaker 1: where you live, man. Lots of trees, a whole lot 194 00:14:12,679 --> 00:14:16,240 Speaker 1: of so that's actually that's another thing is just for me, 195 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:19,240 Speaker 1: the scale of everything and the scale of the trees. 196 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:24,000 Speaker 1: So again co Clay lives up in northwest Arkansas. I'm 197 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:28,880 Speaker 1: down the river, yes, amen. And the trees, you know, 198 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:32,760 Speaker 1: the like the trees on my family's farm. A huge tree, 199 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:38,120 Speaker 1: you know, fifty maybe seventy five tall. Um there uh, 200 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:43,080 Speaker 1: a medium tree here is twice that size. And I 201 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:45,600 Speaker 1: think looking through the binoculars and just looking out over 202 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:50,560 Speaker 1: this vast uh watershed valley and and seeing all these 203 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:56,120 Speaker 1: different features that you're describing, and everything is just so big, 204 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:01,800 Speaker 1: just huge, And that's actually a in our bear hunting 205 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:06,680 Speaker 1: has been calibrate. We've had to calibrate our eyes to 206 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:09,880 Speaker 1: the scale. It took us a few days. Are a 207 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 1: few times of glassing when we were glassing for these bears. 208 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:15,680 Speaker 1: I don't and I'm going to get into the way 209 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:18,520 Speaker 1: that we hunted, but basically Dan and I were looking 210 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:21,720 Speaker 1: for bears that would have been the size of like 211 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:24,840 Speaker 1: school busses. And Devin would be like, there's a bear 212 00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:28,120 Speaker 1: right in the middle of that that block, and we'd 213 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:30,240 Speaker 1: be like what, and he'd be like, there it is. 214 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:31,880 Speaker 1: He tell us where it was. We'd look at it 215 00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:35,320 Speaker 1: and it would look like a speck of pepper. Dan 216 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:38,560 Speaker 1: and I were thinking it was gonna look like I 217 00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:42,840 Speaker 1: mean like three times four times is big, and I 218 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:46,640 Speaker 1: think what was it would take you. Devin would see 219 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:51,120 Speaker 1: it almost immediately, you know, we just pause and parked 220 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:53,440 Speaker 1: the truck for a second, hid whip up his binoculars, 221 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:56,280 Speaker 1: and oh, there's one in that cut block, this area 222 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:58,520 Speaker 1: where they had cut a bunch of trees down the 223 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:02,800 Speaker 1: logging had cut some tree And it would literally take 224 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:06,440 Speaker 1: me five minutes to find it. In the first few times, 225 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:09,640 Speaker 1: he would you tell me right where it was, right 226 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:11,800 Speaker 1: and you see that shadow, you see that tree, and 227 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:16,760 Speaker 1: I just couldn't even find him. They're just so right, Yeah, yeah, 228 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:22,960 Speaker 1: so Devin describe to me the so like down down 229 00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:27,480 Speaker 1: low with the lower elevations, it's almost like rainforest here. Yeah. 230 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:30,760 Speaker 1: So the way the rain shadow works is obviously the 231 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:35,720 Speaker 1: Pacific Ocean influences the weather. So we have a mountain 232 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:38,400 Speaker 1: range running north south, so as the weather comes in 233 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:40,720 Speaker 1: and hits the west side of the mountain range and 234 00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:43,360 Speaker 1: continually just like dumping water on it. So you just 235 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:48,040 Speaker 1: get more growth, right, more berries, more trees, more or 236 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:50,560 Speaker 1: anything that's gonna grow, gets just way more water than 237 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:52,360 Speaker 1: the east side of the mountain range. You get almost 238 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:54,760 Speaker 1: like a desert condition because the water is always on 239 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:59,520 Speaker 1: the west side, so it really even with snow and everything, 240 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:04,240 Speaker 1: or just way more Yeah, on the west side of 241 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:06,000 Speaker 1: the mountain. We're on the west side of the mountain range. 242 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:11,440 Speaker 1: Yet that translates where there's more food, where there's more resource, 243 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:16,480 Speaker 1: where there's more nutrients. That translates into more of our animals, instant, 244 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:20,879 Speaker 1: more bears and bigger bears. That's where they've got. So 245 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:25,360 Speaker 1: you live though, on the on the east side where 246 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:28,639 Speaker 1: it's dry, about six seven hours from here, six seven 247 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:30,359 Speaker 1: hours from here, so we just come down for our 248 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:36,679 Speaker 1: hunting seasons. The guy yeah, and so back over in 249 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:41,560 Speaker 1: your part of the world historically has been big mule 250 00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:45,080 Speaker 1: deer country, big mule deer country, pretty good moose country, 251 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:47,960 Speaker 1: and I mean there's bears there too, but not to 252 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:52,119 Speaker 1: the densities we see on the coast side. So Devon 253 00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:59,320 Speaker 1: and his wife, they're like British Colombian folk. And I'm 254 00:17:59,359 --> 00:18:01,280 Speaker 1: not sure how great a hunter Devon is, but we 255 00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:04,120 Speaker 1: know his wife is a great hunter. She I can 256 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:11,520 Speaker 1: definitely vouch for her. So yeah, Well, so Devon and 257 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:16,320 Speaker 1: Ashley flew in last year to a place in northern 258 00:18:16,359 --> 00:18:21,159 Speaker 1: BC and Devon killed a sixty four inch Canada moose, which, 259 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:26,879 Speaker 1: for those who don't understand, that's a massive Canada moose. 260 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:29,520 Speaker 1: I mean, he's not had it officially scored yet, but 261 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:32,879 Speaker 1: pretty certain that it would make the all time Boone 262 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:38,040 Speaker 1: Crockett record. So I mean, so, I mean, so the 263 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:41,840 Speaker 1: way moose work is that Yukon moose are the biggest moose. 264 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:47,600 Speaker 1: Yukon moose live in Alaska and the Yukon Northwest territories. Yeah, 265 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:51,160 Speaker 1: and so those moose can I mean, the sixtien Yukon 266 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:54,880 Speaker 1: moose is a massive moose. Heck yeah, they can get 267 00:18:54,960 --> 00:19:01,160 Speaker 1: up to seventy. Yeah, so but Canada moose tipa, most 268 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:04,080 Speaker 1: people are shooting Canada moose are shooting forty to fifty 269 00:19:04,119 --> 00:19:06,919 Speaker 1: in moose, right, Well, yeah, you'd like to see a 270 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:09,840 Speaker 1: benchmark of fifty. I guess in the northern part of 271 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:14,840 Speaker 1: this is a big moose. Yeah. So anyway, Devin Devon 272 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:18,600 Speaker 1: shot at sixty four in moose last fall. So it's 273 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:22,680 Speaker 1: a Devon's a no. Devon is an accomplished, very very 274 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:28,120 Speaker 1: accomplished big game northern hunter. He and he's a he's 275 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:31,919 Speaker 1: a guy in the gods in the Arctic. Uh and 276 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:40,880 Speaker 1: this guy in northern British Columbia for stone, sheep, doll sheep, everything, yep, caribou, moose. Yeah. 277 00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:43,440 Speaker 1: So now when you're with Devin, it really is neat 278 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:47,800 Speaker 1: because he's he's a just a just a veteran northern 279 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:52,959 Speaker 1: big game hunter and so it's always it always kind 280 00:19:52,960 --> 00:20:01,520 Speaker 1: of it's fun to hear those stories. So so when 281 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:08,040 Speaker 1: we're hunting here in British Columbia, there's primarily two ways 282 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:10,320 Speaker 1: that we're hunting these bears. I mean, basically, these barriers 283 00:20:10,359 --> 00:20:14,000 Speaker 1: have come out of dinning. They've been out of the 284 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:18,520 Speaker 1: den for a while now. At this point. Yeah, so 285 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:22,840 Speaker 1: maybe like mid April, they're starting roaming around, so there's 286 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:25,120 Speaker 1: lots of green vegetation, there's lots for him to eat. 287 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:27,879 Speaker 1: But one of the primary food sources this time of 288 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:32,439 Speaker 1: year is a plant called fireweed. And we have learned 289 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:35,800 Speaker 1: that fireweed. It's it's just kind of like a two 290 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:39,240 Speaker 1: foot tall plant, just you would just think it was 291 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:41,040 Speaker 1: a weed. It was in your yard, you spread with the 292 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:44,240 Speaker 1: the round up. But if it was in my yard, 293 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:46,919 Speaker 1: I would pick the tops off and make a salad 294 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:52,359 Speaker 1: because it's good. We've been eating fireweed this week and 295 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:57,440 Speaker 1: devon uh carries ranch dressing with him everywhere he goes. 296 00:20:59,359 --> 00:21:02,960 Speaker 1: So this cli can eat fireweeds. No, I'm We're just kidding, 297 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:05,719 Speaker 1: but we did eat something. It tast really good. So 298 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:12,439 Speaker 1: there's two ways that we're hunting the roadways. Roadways in 299 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:15,639 Speaker 1: this part of the world lust sunlight to hit the 300 00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:19,880 Speaker 1: forest floor and so the ditches grow fireweed and clover 301 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,320 Speaker 1: and just different vegetation the bears reading. So in this 302 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:27,800 Speaker 1: dense forested region, roadways are an attractor for bears, so 303 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:30,359 Speaker 1: the bears want to be on the roadways. These roadways 304 00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:34,200 Speaker 1: are like forestry roads that have very little vehicle traffic 305 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:36,520 Speaker 1: on it. But some of them might be big, nice roads, 306 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:39,560 Speaker 1: but you could walk on that road for a day 307 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:43,280 Speaker 1: and never see a vehicle. They're they're so good because 308 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:48,000 Speaker 1: of the four stry Logging basically built these roads. So 309 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:50,320 Speaker 1: one thing that we did, and we did this on 310 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:53,320 Speaker 1: Dan's Bear, is that you walk these roads and you 311 00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:57,159 Speaker 1: see bear scat where these bears are feeding. So you 312 00:21:57,240 --> 00:21:59,640 Speaker 1: might walk a stretch of road that's a half mile 313 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:04,960 Speaker 1: long on and find ten or twelve piles of bear 314 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:09,800 Speaker 1: scauting the road, see grazed fireweed, and you're like, there's 315 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:13,440 Speaker 1: a bear here the road. See tracks in the dirt 316 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:18,919 Speaker 1: on the road. And so what you'll do is you'll 317 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:22,879 Speaker 1: wait till the wind currents are favorable, which typically the 318 00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:27,560 Speaker 1: wind currents that Devon is using is the thermals. So 319 00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:29,760 Speaker 1: late in the evening after the sun is set, the 320 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:34,119 Speaker 1: thermals are moving down and then most the rest of 321 00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:37,680 Speaker 1: the day they're moving So you kind of got to 322 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:39,840 Speaker 1: be strategic how you walk these roads. But basically you 323 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:43,080 Speaker 1: walk these roads and just kind of creeping around the 324 00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:49,560 Speaker 1: corners looking and you'll see bears in the road. So 325 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:54,560 Speaker 1: on this hunt, well we'll let me go ahead and 326 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:57,560 Speaker 1: just say we walk roads. And then the second way 327 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:03,480 Speaker 1: that we're hunting is that densely forested region. The forestry 328 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:10,040 Speaker 1: practices here are really unique. Like in Arkansas, we have 329 00:23:10,119 --> 00:23:13,560 Speaker 1: what we call clear cuts, and they just take square 330 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:16,680 Speaker 1: blocks of land and just like cut everything. And there's 331 00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:20,400 Speaker 1: some selective cutting. There's a lot of forests here. It's 332 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:24,720 Speaker 1: much more regulated and like, so there would be this 333 00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:29,240 Speaker 1: huge mountain covered in trees and there'll be an irregular 334 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:33,879 Speaker 1: shape maybe if it could be five acres or it 335 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:38,639 Speaker 1: could be acres that will be cut. And inside of 336 00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:43,600 Speaker 1: that cut there'll be islands of trees left for bird sanctuaries, 337 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:46,520 Speaker 1: there will be strips of trees left down drainages, and 338 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:51,000 Speaker 1: so you have this like patchwork opening. And the first 339 00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:54,920 Speaker 1: year that they make a cut, it's not that good. 340 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:57,760 Speaker 1: But the second year, when the fire weed comes in 341 00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:01,920 Speaker 1: or and or clovers, it is super hot for bear 342 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:04,800 Speaker 1: and so we're looking for a second year. Second year 343 00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:07,399 Speaker 1: cuts are prime. Third year is good, but second is 344 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:09,919 Speaker 1: like prime. And then once they get much older than 345 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:11,800 Speaker 1: that fourth they drop off big time. You know, you 346 00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:17,200 Speaker 1: don't seem anything sapling start, just that new lush growth 347 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:22,240 Speaker 1: is just waned right, And so like in Devon's hunting area, 348 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 1: every year there's new cuts and so like this year 349 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:29,280 Speaker 1: we're watching loggers cut, and so in Devin, you know, 350 00:24:29,359 --> 00:24:32,280 Speaker 1: Devin's like, well next year that would be good. And 351 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:37,560 Speaker 1: so it's like this constantly rotating cyclic change. Yeah, so 352 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:40,000 Speaker 1: it's good that way, you're always into new areas to 353 00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:42,960 Speaker 1: hunt different values for bear, right, So it kind of 354 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:47,879 Speaker 1: spreads out the pressure to Yeah, in this area is 355 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:52,760 Speaker 1: a thousand square miles, so you know, we're driving as 356 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:55,240 Speaker 1: far as two hours to go and hunt from camp 357 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:59,159 Speaker 1: closer in our case, but as much as when I 358 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:01,000 Speaker 1: was here, so we're years ago. I mean we were 359 00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:03,600 Speaker 1: driving like two hours to go ahead. So he's trying 360 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:06,560 Speaker 1: to spread out the pressure across this vast area so 361 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:10,159 Speaker 1: that he's hunting you know, old mature males that's working. 362 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:14,199 Speaker 1: So so there's two ways. So we're hunting on the 363 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:17,119 Speaker 1: roads where we're also hunting these cut blocks, and some 364 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:20,080 Speaker 1: of these cut blocks are helicopter cut blocks, which means 365 00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:24,240 Speaker 1: they dropped Well I don't know if the largers walk 366 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:26,320 Speaker 1: in if they're dropped in, but basically it will be 367 00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:29,919 Speaker 1: this island with no roads to it, like in the 368 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:36,480 Speaker 1: side of the steep forty degree mountain and those places 369 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:40,000 Speaker 1: are great but hard to get to. Most have roads. 370 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:42,399 Speaker 1: Most of these cut blocks have roads that you can 371 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:44,719 Speaker 1: get to. And so when you're hunting these cut blocks, 372 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:48,119 Speaker 1: you're just getting in there and glass them or trying 373 00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:50,239 Speaker 1: to get away from them to glass them to right 374 00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:53,399 Speaker 1: across the vala. A lot of times the best place 375 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:55,919 Speaker 1: to glass is not in the cut, but it's on 376 00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:59,280 Speaker 1: the other mountain looking into the cut. And we did 377 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:02,280 Speaker 1: that too. I saw a bear from like two miles 378 00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:06,840 Speaker 1: away and then moved in and just got right on it. 379 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:10,000 Speaker 1: And we'll talk about that in a second. But so 380 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:13,840 Speaker 1: it's fun, so you're you're you're moving around, but it 381 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:17,000 Speaker 1: can also be a lot of work. So on the 382 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:21,160 Speaker 1: first so on this hunt, Dan was up to bat first. 383 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:24,199 Speaker 1: So our plan was two on one deal and so 384 00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:30,320 Speaker 1: I was I was filming them. And so the first 385 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:35,520 Speaker 1: day when we arrived, what do we do? First day 386 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:38,840 Speaker 1: we arrived, we we got to camp the night before, 387 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:42,320 Speaker 1: real late, I don't know what time, um, but we 388 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:46,399 Speaker 1: slept in good, super comfortable, had a great breakfast, Dave 389 00:26:47,359 --> 00:26:51,880 Speaker 1: cook and everything else just always feeds us real good. 390 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:54,640 Speaker 1: And then we got in the truck and went out 391 00:26:54,720 --> 00:27:01,200 Speaker 1: pray by mid afternoon, drove an hour and there road. 392 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:07,119 Speaker 1: I mean, you're gonna see the occasional logging truck, but 393 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:10,680 Speaker 1: I mean you see nobody out of it. It's just wilderness. Um. 394 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:15,640 Speaker 1: So drove for an occasional burnt car with bullet hole 395 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:20,679 Speaker 1: with bullet holes in it. Don't be that guy. Um. 396 00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:24,120 Speaker 1: And then we got out and we hiked, hiked the road, 397 00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:28,520 Speaker 1: hiked the roadway up this, up one kind of spur 398 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:32,879 Speaker 1: valley off of the big valley that that Devon runs 399 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:40,000 Speaker 1: and um hiked for about six miles in would you say, yeah? Yeah, 400 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:43,520 Speaker 1: And the whole time, you know, Devin's super knowledgeable. And 401 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:46,280 Speaker 1: so there's large stretches of this where there's not any 402 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:48,880 Speaker 1: fireweed on the side of the road. But you're still again, 403 00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:51,280 Speaker 1: you're looking for scat, you're looking for tracks. Every once 404 00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:53,480 Speaker 1: in a while, you're gonna pause because there's a break 405 00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:56,440 Speaker 1: in the the woods and you can see a cut 406 00:27:56,440 --> 00:27:58,719 Speaker 1: block across the way, and so you're gonna glass and 407 00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:02,960 Speaker 1: speed anywhere. Yeah. So we could be walking down the 408 00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:07,000 Speaker 1: road and maybe you get a glimpse of any I mean, 409 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:10,720 Speaker 1: a bear could just speak anywhere. An easy way to 410 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:12,960 Speaker 1: get around, so they're not just feeding on the roads, 411 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:16,240 Speaker 1: they're also just traveling down the road. And at one 412 00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:20,480 Speaker 1: point we came around were coming the road turned right 413 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:23,520 Speaker 1: and kind of went down pretty dramatically down this hill 414 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:26,600 Speaker 1: and and and that's where we thought, oh, we're gonna 415 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:29,320 Speaker 1: we're gonna see a bunch of bear. Right there was 416 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:33,520 Speaker 1: one of the real potential areas, but we didn't. The 417 00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:35,520 Speaker 1: winds were a little wrong. The wind was a little 418 00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:38,440 Speaker 1: bit wrong. But what we did see across the way, 419 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:41,160 Speaker 1: and it took me about fifteen minutes to find it 420 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:45,000 Speaker 1: after Devin saw it was a grizzly bear up on 421 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:50,280 Speaker 1: this cut block way far to easily two miles away 422 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:54,160 Speaker 1: um and literally it would have taken I never would 423 00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:57,520 Speaker 1: have seen it in my life had Devin not pointed 424 00:28:57,560 --> 00:28:59,680 Speaker 1: it out showed us where to find it. And I 425 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:02,600 Speaker 1: think that's when I realized. When I'm looking across the 426 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:04,479 Speaker 1: way at a cut block and I think it's covered 427 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:10,200 Speaker 1: in you know, knee high shrubs and grasses, in reality, 428 00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:12,640 Speaker 1: I'm looking across the way and those knee how shrubs 429 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:16,440 Speaker 1: are as tall as a you know, as tall as 430 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:21,400 Speaker 1: a house, and the trees on the edge are two 431 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:28,480 Speaker 1: hundred ft tall. Yeah, that was a cool experience, you know, 432 00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:30,960 Speaker 1: to see that grizzly bear. So we we had been 433 00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:34,120 Speaker 1: hiking for a couple of hours and we really did 434 00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:39,960 Speaker 1: walk about six miles in and we knew that because 435 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:45,160 Speaker 1: all these logging roads are marked every kilometer, so it's 436 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:47,920 Speaker 1: like you're in the wilderness. In every kilometer there's a 437 00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:51,280 Speaker 1: sign that says one k m, two km, three k 438 00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:53,600 Speaker 1: it's for the loggers to keep track of where they're 439 00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:58,320 Speaker 1: at and so and then Dan and I, being the 440 00:29:58,400 --> 00:30:02,720 Speaker 1: math geniuses that we are converted kilometers to miles because 441 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:05,959 Speaker 1: we have no idea how for our kilometer is. And 442 00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:08,360 Speaker 1: we were really proud of ourselves when we realized we 443 00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:12,600 Speaker 1: hiked like twelve miles that first day. When when we 444 00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:17,560 Speaker 1: had hiked like eighteen kilometers or whatever, we didn't we 445 00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:21,600 Speaker 1: didn't think that was very cool, okay, but when we 446 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:24,400 Speaker 1: realized there's twelve miles with that was cool now. The 447 00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:29,720 Speaker 1: brown but the grizzly bear was really a unique experience. 448 00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:32,200 Speaker 1: We're sitting here glassing for bear down the road and 449 00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:36,200 Speaker 1: Devon just goes, there's a grizzly bear and it is 450 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:40,680 Speaker 1: way the heck over there, and many of you would 451 00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:47,120 Speaker 1: know that this year British Columbia officially closed the grizzly 452 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:52,080 Speaker 1: bear hunt and so this area is not not a 453 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:56,400 Speaker 1: prevalent grizzly are high identity grizzly area now, but I mean, 454 00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:59,640 Speaker 1: the first day of our hunt, we saw what we 455 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:01,880 Speaker 1: believe was probably a big male. Yeah. It looked like 456 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:06,880 Speaker 1: a big like a large old boar, so yeah, And 457 00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:09,800 Speaker 1: I kept trying to talk him into the fact that 458 00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:15,080 Speaker 1: it was just a huge color phase black bear, but 459 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:22,360 Speaker 1: it wasn't. And we we watched it for a long time. 460 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:25,600 Speaker 1: It fed in this opening midday, middle of the day 461 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:31,240 Speaker 1: hot just below the snow line up above us. But 462 00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:33,360 Speaker 1: we got to see a British Columbia gas there, which 463 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:36,360 Speaker 1: was my first Yeah, definitely the first for me. Yeah. 464 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:41,680 Speaker 1: So we hunted out the rest of that evening and 465 00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:45,160 Speaker 1: we were trying to catch the thermals before they shifted down, 466 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:48,160 Speaker 1: and we were a little late coming out of there. 467 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:50,680 Speaker 1: And when we came to this prime spot of road 468 00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:54,040 Speaker 1: that we that Devon was like, there's a big bear here, 469 00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:57,200 Speaker 1: because Devin had seen a big bear two days before, 470 00:31:57,280 --> 00:32:00,440 Speaker 1: two different times while driving on the sex in the road. 471 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:04,680 Speaker 1: A big crinkle eared bear that went by the name 472 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:10,240 Speaker 1: Mr Fuzzy. Mr Fuzzy. Um, we were coming out of there, 473 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:14,440 Speaker 1: and I mean in the exact place that Devin thought 474 00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:18,840 Speaker 1: he would be, and we're slipping pretty we're moses, I mean, 475 00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:23,080 Speaker 1: we're we're hunting, and but the wind was wrong and 476 00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:25,080 Speaker 1: there's nothing we could just not like we could go around. 477 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:27,560 Speaker 1: I mean, it's like, we gotta walk back to the 478 00:32:27,600 --> 00:32:30,040 Speaker 1: truck that way. It's not like we go well the 479 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:33,440 Speaker 1: winds doing this. Let's take a different game plan. We're 480 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:35,600 Speaker 1: six miles from the truck and it's getting dark, and 481 00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:40,000 Speaker 1: we gotta walk back that way. We walk into this area, 482 00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:45,480 Speaker 1: and sure enough Mr Fuzzy on the road, walking right 483 00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:50,320 Speaker 1: on the road, and minutes before, like maybe thirty seconds 484 00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:53,400 Speaker 1: before this, Devin kind of looked over his shoulder and said, 485 00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:56,800 Speaker 1: now keep your eye on the ditches because a lot 486 00:32:56,840 --> 00:32:58,800 Speaker 1: of times they'll they'll be down in the ditches. And 487 00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:01,560 Speaker 1: sure enough, we were on this little bend and he 488 00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:04,960 Speaker 1: was right in the ditch, but he had scented us, 489 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:08,920 Speaker 1: and all I saw was this kind of big blur 490 00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:13,840 Speaker 1: of black fur moving diagonally across the road, and I 491 00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:16,000 Speaker 1: pulled the rifle up, but didn't even get him in 492 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:19,760 Speaker 1: the scope, and he was gone. He was gone. He 493 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:24,760 Speaker 1: was gone. And so when we got up even with 494 00:33:24,760 --> 00:33:26,720 Speaker 1: where the bear, I mean, it's probably like fifty yards 495 00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:28,640 Speaker 1: from us, and we got to be even with the bear. 496 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:32,080 Speaker 1: We could hear him down in the brush, moving and 497 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:36,520 Speaker 1: laughing at us. He laughed at us. Yeah, I would 498 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:41,160 Speaker 1: like to just for the record, um, just bring up 499 00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:44,800 Speaker 1: the point that you guys were out in front, but 500 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:48,360 Speaker 1: I was the one who saw the bear first. I 501 00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:51,720 Speaker 1: mean I just for the record, Okay, there's ever historical 502 00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:55,560 Speaker 1: dispute who saw Mr Fuzzy. I don't know what y'all 503 00:33:55,560 --> 00:34:02,080 Speaker 1: were doing, but I was like, I actually he I 504 00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:07,560 Speaker 1: will say that when you did that, his head turned around, 505 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:19,680 Speaker 1: he took off. Dang it. I spooked Mr Fuzzy. You're like, hey, okay, 506 00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:25,600 Speaker 1: so Mr Fuzzy, where's Dan going. Oh? Dan's going to 507 00:34:25,680 --> 00:34:31,400 Speaker 1: get some more wood for the fire. So so that 508 00:34:31,480 --> 00:34:36,959 Speaker 1: was it, and that's when Devin said, hey, tomorrow. We 509 00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:40,560 Speaker 1: basically we walked back to the truck and Devon says, hey, tomorrow, 510 00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:43,200 Speaker 1: we need to do the same thing, but we need 511 00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:45,400 Speaker 1: to hit the thermals, right. Yeah, he said, we need 512 00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:46,520 Speaker 1: to do the same thing. We need to hit the 513 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:50,080 Speaker 1: thermals and we need to keep Clay from hissing when 514 00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:57,400 Speaker 1: so then what happened Devon the next day? Yeah, we 515 00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:00,879 Speaker 1: just started later and came up the valley close are dark, 516 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:04,759 Speaker 1: so thermals are against us. And we got up to 517 00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:07,960 Speaker 1: pass where we've seen Mr Fuzzy into another like a 518 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:12,480 Speaker 1: semi slide semi feed area coming up through there where 519 00:35:12,480 --> 00:35:14,200 Speaker 1: we had actually heard a bear in the brush the 520 00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:17,399 Speaker 1: day before, and he came around the corner and there 521 00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:21,560 Speaker 1: was a bear. Oh man, it was like it's like 522 00:35:21,719 --> 00:35:24,320 Speaker 1: in our face, it really was. And we've been hiking 523 00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:27,200 Speaker 1: along I think at that point the second day. First 524 00:35:27,239 --> 00:35:31,239 Speaker 1: day we hiked twelve miles if our kilometer to mile 525 00:35:31,360 --> 00:35:34,560 Speaker 1: math is is even half right, And then the second 526 00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:37,480 Speaker 1: day we hiked shorter, just probably about ten miles, so 527 00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:40,239 Speaker 1: but we were all the way in, uh so we 528 00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:44,359 Speaker 1: had hiked five miles. Devon. I like him a lot. 529 00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:46,560 Speaker 1: One of the things that don't like about him is 530 00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:51,240 Speaker 1: his really long legs, and so he just effortlessly bounds 531 00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:55,480 Speaker 1: through the woods like a young gazelle. Yeah, and that's 532 00:35:55,520 --> 00:35:58,800 Speaker 1: a great that's a great thing there because Dan and I, 533 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:02,600 Speaker 1: let's describe this. Dan and I are roughly the same size. 534 00:36:02,719 --> 00:36:10,640 Speaker 1: I'm probably a little bit taller. Actually, today today we speddle. 535 00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:15,960 Speaker 1: We we're gonna settle a two decade old dispute. We're 536 00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:20,880 Speaker 1: gonna We're gonna speddle. We're gonna settle a two decade 537 00:36:20,960 --> 00:36:25,880 Speaker 1: old dispute of who's taller at twelve noon. Well, no, 538 00:36:26,120 --> 00:36:29,359 Speaker 1: I'm not doing it till Dave gets back to camp. Yeah. 539 00:36:29,520 --> 00:36:32,440 Speaker 1: But so as I was walking behind Devon, who's like 540 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:35,360 Speaker 1: six too, and he's not only six too, but his 541 00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:39,640 Speaker 1: legs are like way longer than a normal six ft 542 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:45,080 Speaker 1: two man legs. He's got like the trunk of like 543 00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:48,359 Speaker 1: a dwarf. He's in the legs of like a six 544 00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:51,120 Speaker 1: eight man. I would recommend him as a guy, but 545 00:36:51,239 --> 00:36:56,000 Speaker 1: not as like a clothing model. Yeah. And so as 546 00:36:56,040 --> 00:37:00,400 Speaker 1: we walked for like a total of like twenty five aisles, 547 00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:04,480 Speaker 1: as I was walking behind him, I would see his footprints. 548 00:37:04,640 --> 00:37:07,360 Speaker 1: You do things kind of to just pass the time. 549 00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:11,320 Speaker 1: I would see where his footprints stepped in the dust. 550 00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:15,520 Speaker 1: And I calculated that his stride is four inches longer 551 00:37:15,560 --> 00:37:21,719 Speaker 1: than mine. And so when we did the math, Dan 552 00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:24,960 Speaker 1: and I had to walk like twice as far as Devon. 553 00:37:26,239 --> 00:37:36,240 Speaker 1: So right, Devon, okay, so where are we are? Okay? 554 00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:40,440 Speaker 1: So now it's it's they two. We've hit the thermal's 555 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:43,279 Speaker 1: right day one when we went all the way in 556 00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:47,319 Speaker 1: and the road you know, turned right and went downhill. 557 00:37:47,480 --> 00:37:50,680 Speaker 1: Now Devon has put us in a perfect spot where 558 00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:53,120 Speaker 1: we went all the way back, but the road is 559 00:37:53,360 --> 00:37:56,000 Speaker 1: is turning left and going up. So we've come in 560 00:37:56,160 --> 00:38:00,160 Speaker 1: opposite and sure enough, just like he thought, we're wait wait, wait, 561 00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:03,960 Speaker 1: don't say I forgot about a really important part of 562 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:07,880 Speaker 1: this story. You forgot to remember and I forgot to remember. 563 00:38:09,040 --> 00:38:11,440 Speaker 1: This is your first bear hunt? Oh gosh, yeah, I 564 00:38:11,440 --> 00:38:14,520 Speaker 1: don't think we said that. This is okay? So here yeah, yeah, 565 00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:16,920 Speaker 1: So this is my first bear hunt, and it's also 566 00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:22,080 Speaker 1: my first other than you know, Arkansas coons with a 567 00:38:22,640 --> 00:38:25,919 Speaker 1: you know, ten twenty two. This is my first never 568 00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:29,560 Speaker 1: even killed a deer with a gun. Everything I've ever 569 00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:32,839 Speaker 1: done has been with my bow. Um. I shot this 570 00:38:33,160 --> 00:38:36,720 Speaker 1: really nice gun that Clay has a couple of times 571 00:38:37,200 --> 00:38:40,359 Speaker 1: before we left to come up to Canada. Um. So 572 00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:44,680 Speaker 1: I'm on several fronts. Honestly, I'm pretty nervous, um and 573 00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:46,920 Speaker 1: kind of the last thing I wanted to happen was 574 00:38:48,080 --> 00:38:51,759 Speaker 1: I need, I need. I wanted to have a really 575 00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:56,000 Speaker 1: good rest. I wanted to have time. I didn't want 576 00:38:56,040 --> 00:38:58,000 Speaker 1: to kind of make the shot real quick like Mr 577 00:38:58,040 --> 00:39:00,720 Speaker 1: Fuzzy the day before you kind of a black beard. 578 00:39:01,400 --> 00:39:05,160 Speaker 1: I think probably a normal bear hunter could have made 579 00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:07,480 Speaker 1: that happen. No, yeah, I don't know, I don't think so. 580 00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:12,360 Speaker 1: Thanks for if you're lying to me, that's very helpful. Um, 581 00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:16,239 Speaker 1: but I just I really didn't want to mess it up, 582 00:39:17,120 --> 00:39:19,960 Speaker 1: and I wanted to get a good shot. And really 583 00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:24,160 Speaker 1: also I really wanted to get a bear. Yeah. If 584 00:39:24,200 --> 00:39:27,799 Speaker 1: the that morning priority list was not necessarily to get 585 00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:31,719 Speaker 1: a big bear, my priority list was to get a bear. Uh, 586 00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:34,080 Speaker 1: it really was. I really wanted to get a bear. 587 00:39:34,120 --> 00:39:36,480 Speaker 1: I just always dreamed of this, and so I had 588 00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:40,680 Speaker 1: prepped you for this time, like this is this is 589 00:39:41,719 --> 00:39:44,359 Speaker 1: I mean, so, yeah, you never know when you come 590 00:39:44,400 --> 00:39:46,440 Speaker 1: to you never know. And I knew that we were 591 00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:49,440 Speaker 1: going to get on some bear. But also it was like, hey, 592 00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:52,720 Speaker 1: it's hunting, this is tough. We might hunt really hard 593 00:39:52,760 --> 00:39:55,160 Speaker 1: for a week and you never know, you might you know, 594 00:39:55,200 --> 00:39:59,840 Speaker 1: I'm thinking my kind of expectations you set the expectations, 595 00:40:00,200 --> 00:40:02,399 Speaker 1: and then I lowered them even further just to kind 596 00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:06,759 Speaker 1: of prepare myself, you know, just not knowing anything. I 597 00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:11,000 Speaker 1: just thought, um man, we could hunt all week and 598 00:40:11,080 --> 00:40:14,759 Speaker 1: I might get one shot. Uh, and so I better 599 00:40:14,800 --> 00:40:20,960 Speaker 1: not mess that up. In reality, Devin, highly knowledgeable, worked 600 00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:25,600 Speaker 1: his tail off. Every day we've seen bear. We've basically 601 00:40:25,640 --> 00:40:30,080 Speaker 1: been multiple bear and been very We were seven yards 602 00:40:30,080 --> 00:40:33,200 Speaker 1: from a bear yesterday. I mean, it's just insane kind 603 00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:35,800 Speaker 1: of how it is up here. I just had no idea. 604 00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:38,800 Speaker 1: But anyway, I didn't know all that. This is day two. 605 00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:42,759 Speaker 1: I'm still kind of it's evening, but I'm probably just 606 00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:46,080 Speaker 1: kind of half awake at this point. And uh, and 607 00:40:46,160 --> 00:40:50,880 Speaker 1: we start heading slowly up this turn in the road. 608 00:40:51,440 --> 00:40:53,719 Speaker 1: The winds are in our favor coming down the hill. 609 00:40:53,840 --> 00:40:59,080 Speaker 1: We're going up the hill and sure enough, Uh, just 610 00:40:59,120 --> 00:41:04,920 Speaker 1: for the record, Devon saw it first, and he he 611 00:41:04,960 --> 00:41:10,080 Speaker 1: didn't He didn't hiss or cackle or anything like that. 612 00:41:11,160 --> 00:41:15,000 Speaker 1: So the bear stayed, the pair didn't run off. That's weird. 613 00:41:15,600 --> 00:41:19,560 Speaker 1: I was shocking. Um. So we we come around the critic. 614 00:41:19,560 --> 00:41:25,120 Speaker 1: Of course enough, Devin's hit me on the shoulder right there. Um, 615 00:41:25,239 --> 00:41:28,359 Speaker 1: And so you know, I had already jack the shell 616 00:41:28,440 --> 00:41:32,000 Speaker 1: in there, and I got down on the ground and 617 00:41:32,080 --> 00:41:35,680 Speaker 1: put the rifle on the left knee and at that point, uh, 618 00:41:36,040 --> 00:41:37,760 Speaker 1: the bear was on the left side of the road 619 00:41:38,480 --> 00:41:41,360 Speaker 1: in a little bit of fire weed, just kind of munching. 620 00:41:41,440 --> 00:41:44,279 Speaker 1: Had no idea we were there far with him. Oh, 621 00:41:44,320 --> 00:41:47,880 Speaker 1: I would say it was forty yards away. Yeah, something 622 00:41:47,960 --> 00:41:51,920 Speaker 1: like that. Yeah, close close, he was very close. But 623 00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:55,480 Speaker 1: again for me, that might as you know, it could 624 00:41:55,520 --> 00:41:59,120 Speaker 1: be four hundred I'm just not super comfortable with a rifle. 625 00:41:59,480 --> 00:42:02,160 Speaker 1: But got down on one knee, felt good about it. 626 00:42:02,640 --> 00:42:05,600 Speaker 1: And another thing that again I had no idea about. 627 00:42:05,640 --> 00:42:07,560 Speaker 1: I had no idea about all this. But Devon said, 628 00:42:07,560 --> 00:42:10,160 Speaker 1: you know, as soon as we see a bear, don't 629 00:42:10,200 --> 00:42:13,920 Speaker 1: just shoot. He needs to sex the bear, determine if 630 00:42:13,920 --> 00:42:17,160 Speaker 1: it's a male or female. And then he also needs 631 00:42:17,160 --> 00:42:20,560 Speaker 1: to judge kind of the size of the bear, because 632 00:42:20,600 --> 00:42:23,520 Speaker 1: you don't want to just unlike me that I just 633 00:42:23,560 --> 00:42:26,319 Speaker 1: want to shoot a bear. He he really wants to 634 00:42:26,360 --> 00:42:29,200 Speaker 1: help you get a really nice bear. And we have 635 00:42:29,320 --> 00:42:32,239 Speaker 1: been on a bear earlier. That Uh. I had a 636 00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:35,439 Speaker 1: really good rest and again Devon set us up really 637 00:42:35,440 --> 00:42:37,239 Speaker 1: good for that, and I bet I watched that bear 638 00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:39,799 Speaker 1: for an hour through the scope and I really wanted 639 00:42:39,840 --> 00:42:42,200 Speaker 1: to shoot it, but you know, he he was like, 640 00:42:42,280 --> 00:42:44,040 Speaker 1: you know, that's a really small bear. You don't want 641 00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:48,319 Speaker 1: to do that. So um, this time, I'm basically I'm 642 00:42:48,360 --> 00:42:51,920 Speaker 1: waiting for the go ahead from Devon and I'm hope 643 00:42:51,920 --> 00:42:54,880 Speaker 1: you are hardly waiting that. I mean, like the trigger 644 00:42:54,960 --> 00:42:58,400 Speaker 1: was like squeezing. Oh my good man. I could feel 645 00:42:58,960 --> 00:43:03,200 Speaker 1: I could feel you like, oh man, I really I 646 00:43:03,239 --> 00:43:05,120 Speaker 1: was just I mean, I was just and I I 647 00:43:05,160 --> 00:43:08,520 Speaker 1: think I was saying, Devin, I'm surprised I didn't scare 648 00:43:08,560 --> 00:43:13,479 Speaker 1: the bear off saying Devon's name, and the whole time 649 00:43:13,520 --> 00:43:16,640 Speaker 1: before you know, Devon was like yeah, wait, wait wait, 650 00:43:17,040 --> 00:43:19,520 Speaker 1: and that bear was too small. Um. So I was 651 00:43:19,560 --> 00:43:22,759 Speaker 1: just waiting for a half of a positive remark from 652 00:43:22,800 --> 00:43:26,160 Speaker 1: Devon and I was gonna peel it off. And the 653 00:43:28,960 --> 00:43:33,480 Speaker 1: the problem was is that the bear took two steps off, 654 00:43:33,680 --> 00:43:38,680 Speaker 1: kind of away from the road, further into the the 655 00:43:38,680 --> 00:43:40,640 Speaker 1: the greenery on the side of the road, and I 656 00:43:40,640 --> 00:43:44,600 Speaker 1: could no longer see it from my knee uh, from 657 00:43:44,600 --> 00:43:47,080 Speaker 1: my knee rest, And so I had to step up 658 00:43:47,719 --> 00:43:50,840 Speaker 1: and hold the rifle up and get back on the bear. 659 00:43:51,560 --> 00:43:55,279 Speaker 1: And again I said Devin, and he said, I think 660 00:43:55,280 --> 00:43:58,719 Speaker 1: he said something like that's a that's a pretty good bear. 661 00:44:00,200 --> 00:44:03,919 Speaker 1: It's the inflection of his voice, like he said, it's 662 00:44:03,960 --> 00:44:07,719 Speaker 1: a pretty good bear. But sorry, because he's speaking Canadian 663 00:44:09,640 --> 00:44:10,880 Speaker 1: that a lot of times, I don't even know what 664 00:44:10,880 --> 00:44:13,400 Speaker 1: he's saying. He said that, and I heard that's a 665 00:44:13,480 --> 00:44:19,960 Speaker 1: monster boom, and and I shot. And at that point, 666 00:44:20,320 --> 00:44:23,759 Speaker 1: the scope, in my mind, the scope was just full 667 00:44:23,760 --> 00:44:28,840 Speaker 1: of that bear. Uh. And I really felt like, uh, 668 00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:34,160 Speaker 1: how was the positioned he was? Um, he was his 669 00:44:34,239 --> 00:44:38,680 Speaker 1: hind quarters were closer to me, and he was quartering away. 670 00:44:38,840 --> 00:44:43,960 Speaker 1: His left uh, left shoulder was was in my his 671 00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:46,520 Speaker 1: hind quarters and his left shoulder and he had turned 672 00:44:46,560 --> 00:44:52,120 Speaker 1: around to look at us. Wait a minute, I think 673 00:44:52,160 --> 00:44:54,040 Speaker 1: that's the way it was. Well, what do you think 674 00:44:54,520 --> 00:44:57,320 Speaker 1: he was? He was quartering to us? He was quartering 675 00:44:57,360 --> 00:45:07,040 Speaker 1: to us. Yeah, yeah, which bear did you shoot? Shot 676 00:45:07,040 --> 00:45:09,360 Speaker 1: a different There were three and I shot the one 677 00:45:09,400 --> 00:45:14,000 Speaker 1: in the middle. Well, no, the bear was the bear 678 00:45:14,200 --> 00:45:19,239 Speaker 1: was facing us. His front left shoulder was closest to us, 679 00:45:19,880 --> 00:45:23,440 Speaker 1: and he had his head up looking at us. His 680 00:45:23,560 --> 00:45:34,280 Speaker 1: rear end was further way. That's what I said. Okay, anyway, 681 00:45:35,040 --> 00:45:41,360 Speaker 1: So so basically you could tell. All I saw was 682 00:45:41,400 --> 00:45:45,440 Speaker 1: there was fur in the scope. And I remember, Clay, 683 00:45:45,560 --> 00:45:48,319 Speaker 1: you haven't said, you know, just hit the center of 684 00:45:48,360 --> 00:45:53,240 Speaker 1: the center and I put those crossing. What what we 685 00:45:53,360 --> 00:45:56,919 Speaker 1: what we talked about was a broadside shot is really 686 00:45:56,920 --> 00:45:58,960 Speaker 1: what you want, but you're not always going to get that. 687 00:45:59,360 --> 00:46:02,200 Speaker 1: And with a big high powered rifle like three or 688 00:46:02,280 --> 00:46:04,880 Speaker 1: wind mag I'm shooting a tune or twelve grain bullet. 689 00:46:05,080 --> 00:46:08,040 Speaker 1: I mean that's a that's a big gun. So what 690 00:46:08,280 --> 00:46:10,760 Speaker 1: then I talked about was if a bear is facing 691 00:46:10,760 --> 00:46:13,080 Speaker 1: you and we have to take a frontal shot, you 692 00:46:13,160 --> 00:46:16,960 Speaker 1: kind of want to shoot for center mass of the body, 693 00:46:17,040 --> 00:46:18,960 Speaker 1: cavity at the bear, like if he's facing you, like 694 00:46:19,280 --> 00:46:24,879 Speaker 1: right in the chest. And if you at many from 695 00:46:24,920 --> 00:46:28,040 Speaker 1: many angles, center mass with a big gun like that 696 00:46:28,360 --> 00:46:30,880 Speaker 1: is going to do the job. That's what you remembered 697 00:46:32,280 --> 00:46:35,239 Speaker 1: now that Yeah, it is early and I have only 698 00:46:35,280 --> 00:46:40,600 Speaker 1: had I mean, that's what you said. I was just clarifying. Yeah, Um, 699 00:46:40,640 --> 00:46:44,600 Speaker 1: so Devin kind of gave the half nod. Okay, that's 700 00:46:44,600 --> 00:46:48,200 Speaker 1: an okay bear. I think somebody not in my shoes 701 00:46:48,360 --> 00:46:51,399 Speaker 1: probably would have waited and gotten a much bigger bear. 702 00:46:52,440 --> 00:46:56,560 Speaker 1: But I I wanted a bear. Yeah, and I shot, 703 00:46:57,760 --> 00:47:01,840 Speaker 1: And I just haven't shot that gun a few times. 704 00:47:02,040 --> 00:47:04,840 Speaker 1: I know that I had the tendency to when I 705 00:47:04,840 --> 00:47:09,279 Speaker 1: pulled the trigger to kind of in in anticipating the 706 00:47:09,800 --> 00:47:13,719 Speaker 1: kickback to jerk and oh man, what if I what 707 00:47:13,800 --> 00:47:16,200 Speaker 1: if I did that? What if I missed? What My 708 00:47:16,280 --> 00:47:21,080 Speaker 1: first immediate thought was, that's an amazing opportunity. This is awesome. 709 00:47:21,200 --> 00:47:24,760 Speaker 1: I sure hope I didn't mess it up. Because what happened, Devin, 710 00:47:24,840 --> 00:47:27,120 Speaker 1: what did the bear, I mean tell us look like 711 00:47:27,200 --> 00:47:30,439 Speaker 1: at the shot? It just immediately left. I guess you'd 712 00:47:30,440 --> 00:47:34,080 Speaker 1: say there's no real reaction, or like a hit reaction. 713 00:47:34,120 --> 00:47:37,560 Speaker 1: I would say there was, there wasn't. I just left. Yeah, 714 00:47:37,600 --> 00:47:39,279 Speaker 1: And that, to me that was odd. And now I 715 00:47:39,320 --> 00:47:44,600 Speaker 1: don't have extensive experience shooting black bears with rifles. I 716 00:47:44,680 --> 00:47:47,920 Speaker 1: expected the bear to flinch when it got hit with 717 00:47:47,960 --> 00:47:53,720 Speaker 1: a tuner in twelve grain bullet flying flying second the bear. 718 00:47:54,360 --> 00:47:57,839 Speaker 1: I mean, if you had missed, it would have looked 719 00:47:57,880 --> 00:47:59,960 Speaker 1: the exact same. Yeah, if I if we had stepped 720 00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:02,279 Speaker 1: on a twig and scared it, I feel like it 721 00:48:02,280 --> 00:48:05,480 Speaker 1: would have looked he just didn't even move. I mean 722 00:48:05,480 --> 00:48:09,200 Speaker 1: it didn't, it didn't flinch. It just ran off, and 723 00:48:09,239 --> 00:48:12,360 Speaker 1: that that kind of shocked me. And what I was 724 00:48:12,360 --> 00:48:15,880 Speaker 1: anticipating too, was because the way the bear was facing, 725 00:48:16,840 --> 00:48:18,880 Speaker 1: I felt like, if you hit it in the chest, 726 00:48:19,440 --> 00:48:21,840 Speaker 1: that there's just no way it just could have taken 727 00:48:21,920 --> 00:48:26,600 Speaker 1: that past and just like not even flinched. And so 728 00:48:27,680 --> 00:48:31,680 Speaker 1: we were just kind of like, oh, man, we weren't sure. 729 00:48:31,800 --> 00:48:34,480 Speaker 1: But Dan was like, man, he's like there was a 730 00:48:34,520 --> 00:48:37,320 Speaker 1: lot of bear in the scope when I pulled the trigger, 731 00:48:37,440 --> 00:48:42,240 Speaker 1: which is terrible because any basically anybody in the world 732 00:48:42,280 --> 00:48:44,799 Speaker 1: would have been able to hit that bear until either 733 00:48:44,920 --> 00:48:49,600 Speaker 1: I had somehow magically shot him in a way that 734 00:48:50,360 --> 00:48:54,280 Speaker 1: it it went through him and missed all of his bones, 735 00:48:55,120 --> 00:48:57,600 Speaker 1: you know, because we said if it if it had 736 00:48:57,800 --> 00:49:00,920 Speaker 1: been a shoulder head, if it had it a major bone, 737 00:49:01,120 --> 00:49:03,640 Speaker 1: you would have seen the bear react. If it just 738 00:49:03,800 --> 00:49:08,920 Speaker 1: passed through flesh, potentially the bear would have it wouldn't 739 00:49:08,960 --> 00:49:12,360 Speaker 1: have been like a thud. Yeah, we didn't hear a thud. No, no, 740 00:49:12,480 --> 00:49:14,760 Speaker 1: I mean, but it was so close you probably wouldn't 741 00:49:14,800 --> 00:49:21,440 Speaker 1: have had the delay just just yeah. So so in 742 00:49:21,480 --> 00:49:25,640 Speaker 1: my mind were statistics. We weren't sure. It's almost dark, 743 00:49:25,800 --> 00:49:27,920 Speaker 1: it's like right on the verge of dark, right on 744 00:49:27,960 --> 00:49:30,120 Speaker 1: the verge of dark, and it seems like statistically the 745 00:49:30,160 --> 00:49:33,640 Speaker 1: odds that I missed it are higher than somehow I 746 00:49:33,680 --> 00:49:38,839 Speaker 1: shot it without it right, you know, So we uh, 747 00:49:38,960 --> 00:49:41,680 Speaker 1: you know, we're all excited. I'm real nervous. And we 748 00:49:41,719 --> 00:49:44,439 Speaker 1: go over and we look around and um, we're trying 749 00:49:44,440 --> 00:49:46,520 Speaker 1: to see are is there any blood? Is there anything? 750 00:49:46,760 --> 00:49:51,719 Speaker 1: And again it's getting really dark, and Devin first spotted 751 00:49:51,800 --> 00:49:54,520 Speaker 1: some blood, but not a whole lot, just the smallest 752 00:49:54,600 --> 00:50:01,200 Speaker 1: spec dull, dull speck of blood. And from hunting, I 753 00:50:01,239 --> 00:50:04,400 Speaker 1: mean from hunting deer, I know that, and I know 754 00:50:04,440 --> 00:50:07,000 Speaker 1: that I know now that bear are really different and 755 00:50:07,080 --> 00:50:10,960 Speaker 1: because of the fat layer around him that a lot 756 00:50:10,960 --> 00:50:12,799 Speaker 1: of times they're not going to bleed a whole lot. 757 00:50:13,239 --> 00:50:17,239 Speaker 1: But again, as a deer hunter, I'm I'm expecting and 758 00:50:17,360 --> 00:50:20,440 Speaker 1: hoping to walk over there and just see a bode 759 00:50:20,520 --> 00:50:23,040 Speaker 1: deer hunter, I'm expecting to walk over there and see 760 00:50:23,040 --> 00:50:27,359 Speaker 1: this about just bright red pile of blood and it's 761 00:50:27,400 --> 00:50:31,319 Speaker 1: the tailtale sign of everything's okay, victory. But we walk 762 00:50:31,400 --> 00:50:33,080 Speaker 1: over there and instead we look around for a few 763 00:50:33,120 --> 00:50:37,920 Speaker 1: minutes and Devin finds this, you know, one spot basically 764 00:50:38,120 --> 00:50:41,120 Speaker 1: a dull blood. And I even said, are you sure 765 00:50:41,160 --> 00:50:44,959 Speaker 1: that's blood? Yeah, it didn't even. Yeah, yeah, I didn't even. 766 00:50:46,520 --> 00:50:48,880 Speaker 1: It's just a small speck of blood. And and so 767 00:50:48,920 --> 00:50:52,359 Speaker 1: then the you guys said, let's not go in let's 768 00:50:52,360 --> 00:50:54,759 Speaker 1: not go in there because it's getting dark. We don't 769 00:50:54,800 --> 00:50:57,920 Speaker 1: want to push him. Um, let's just give him some time. 770 00:50:58,520 --> 00:51:02,800 Speaker 1: And um come back to which is awful that not. 771 00:51:03,080 --> 00:51:05,719 Speaker 1: You know, we got back to camp and you know, 772 00:51:05,719 --> 00:51:07,279 Speaker 1: everybody's like, oh, we got a bear, and I was like, 773 00:51:07,320 --> 00:51:08,759 Speaker 1: we didn't know, We don't know if we got a bear, 774 00:51:08,840 --> 00:51:10,760 Speaker 1: you know. And I remember just kind of eating dinner 775 00:51:10,800 --> 00:51:13,480 Speaker 1: and just be like, oh man, this is awful, just 776 00:51:13,719 --> 00:51:17,440 Speaker 1: really really hoping that I got it, but hoping that 777 00:51:17,480 --> 00:51:20,879 Speaker 1: I hadn't messed it up. And um, so the next 778 00:51:20,920 --> 00:51:24,480 Speaker 1: morning we wake up, we load up in the truck 779 00:51:25,080 --> 00:51:28,160 Speaker 1: and well, let's not skip over the fact what happened 780 00:51:28,160 --> 00:51:32,799 Speaker 1: that we walked like six miles in the dark truck. Yeah, yeah, 781 00:51:32,840 --> 00:51:36,920 Speaker 1: I think I blocked that out. Yeah, Devon, that was 782 00:51:36,960 --> 00:51:43,239 Speaker 1: about fifteen steps for Devon and about for Clay and yeah. Yeah, um, 783 00:51:43,280 --> 00:51:45,239 Speaker 1: so we hyped back quite as many for me because 784 00:51:45,239 --> 00:51:53,320 Speaker 1: I'm so a a little taller and Okay. So the next morning, 785 00:51:53,440 --> 00:51:56,520 Speaker 1: we we we get in the truck, we drive all 786 00:51:56,520 --> 00:51:59,520 Speaker 1: the way back out there, and in my mind, I'm 787 00:51:59,600 --> 00:52:05,960 Speaker 1: geared up for a half a day of grueling. It's 788 00:52:06,040 --> 00:52:09,000 Speaker 1: because once you get off of these roads into the woods, 789 00:52:09,160 --> 00:52:12,359 Speaker 1: it's really it's a jungle. It's a jungle, and it's 790 00:52:12,400 --> 00:52:14,880 Speaker 1: just the mosque covers lots of stuff. It's hard to 791 00:52:14,880 --> 00:52:20,000 Speaker 1: see stuff. It's just really hard to penetrate these woods 792 00:52:20,160 --> 00:52:22,600 Speaker 1: and go through it. And so it's gonna be a 793 00:52:22,600 --> 00:52:26,760 Speaker 1: grueling half day of tracking, and um, we're not gonna 794 00:52:26,760 --> 00:52:30,319 Speaker 1: find it. Yeah, that's basically what I'm thinking. Right, And 795 00:52:30,600 --> 00:52:34,359 Speaker 1: we walk up park about you know, fifty or twenty 796 00:52:34,440 --> 00:52:36,800 Speaker 1: yards from where we shot at. Look around again. There's 797 00:52:36,880 --> 00:52:41,000 Speaker 1: really not a lot of blood at all. We'll hope. 798 00:52:41,040 --> 00:52:42,760 Speaker 1: I was hoping to kind of say, oh, the sun's 799 00:52:42,760 --> 00:52:45,080 Speaker 1: that we saw a whole lot more blood, but we didn't. 800 00:52:45,920 --> 00:52:50,160 Speaker 1: And you looked in over this fallen true from the 801 00:52:50,560 --> 00:52:53,600 Speaker 1: spot that we were the night of the night the 802 00:52:53,680 --> 00:52:55,640 Speaker 1: night before, but it had gotten so dark that we 803 00:52:55,680 --> 00:52:58,479 Speaker 1: couldn't see much, and you said, I see the bear 804 00:52:58,560 --> 00:53:01,120 Speaker 1: And I thought you were a kidding And I thought, 805 00:53:01,840 --> 00:53:04,520 Speaker 1: how can he not know that? My entire soul was 806 00:53:04,640 --> 00:53:08,480 Speaker 1: wrapped up here, like, this is not the time to joke. 807 00:53:08,719 --> 00:53:11,480 Speaker 1: You know, usually you're dumb and I can understand that, 808 00:53:11,600 --> 00:53:17,319 Speaker 1: but not now, now, Clay. But there he was, and 809 00:53:17,360 --> 00:53:20,719 Speaker 1: I said, you're joking. He said, no, I see the 810 00:53:20,760 --> 00:53:24,800 Speaker 1: bear and how many feet from where we were standing? 811 00:53:25,160 --> 00:53:30,920 Speaker 1: Twelve twelve and there he was. Man, he didn't make 812 00:53:30,960 --> 00:53:34,520 Speaker 1: it twelve yards from where he shot him. No, no, no, no, 813 00:53:35,040 --> 00:53:42,920 Speaker 1: And we didn't hear him crash or was down, and 814 00:53:42,960 --> 00:53:48,919 Speaker 1: so we went in. It was a boar and we 815 00:53:48,920 --> 00:53:51,440 Speaker 1: we we looked to see where the shot was. And 816 00:53:51,480 --> 00:53:54,719 Speaker 1: so the shot was the bear was quartering to us, 817 00:53:55,400 --> 00:53:58,439 Speaker 1: and if the quartering two means the front on the front, 818 00:53:58,560 --> 00:54:02,920 Speaker 1: left shoulder was the close this body part to us, okay, 819 00:54:03,080 --> 00:54:08,000 Speaker 1: and Dan hit from that angle behind the shoulder, so 820 00:54:08,040 --> 00:54:12,120 Speaker 1: the bullet would have entered right behind the left front shoulder. 821 00:54:12,680 --> 00:54:19,040 Speaker 1: And the mushroomed bullet was pushing out the skin on 822 00:54:19,120 --> 00:54:23,640 Speaker 1: the bear's right hind quarter, so it passed through all 823 00:54:23,680 --> 00:54:28,319 Speaker 1: the goodies all but didn't exit. I mean it just 824 00:54:28,440 --> 00:54:32,520 Speaker 1: it was literally pushing the skin and it went the 825 00:54:32,640 --> 00:54:36,480 Speaker 1: entire length there. So the bear was down, like yeah, 826 00:54:37,239 --> 00:54:39,040 Speaker 1: it was toast. It was just too dark and we 827 00:54:39,120 --> 00:54:41,839 Speaker 1: just didn't I couldn't see at that point in real yea. 828 00:54:43,040 --> 00:54:47,239 Speaker 1: And so it was awesome, man, it was fantastic. Did 829 00:54:47,320 --> 00:54:50,680 Speaker 1: drug him out of there? Yeah, we drugged him, put 830 00:54:50,760 --> 00:54:52,520 Speaker 1: him in the track. You know, another really fun thing 831 00:54:52,560 --> 00:54:57,439 Speaker 1: about British Columbia is you've got these pictures. Number one, 832 00:54:57,520 --> 00:54:59,920 Speaker 1: there's a bear in it. And for a guy like 833 00:55:00,080 --> 00:55:04,560 Speaker 1: me from Arkansas, you know, that's just that. I mean, 834 00:55:04,600 --> 00:55:07,359 Speaker 1: there could have been like a you know, used car 835 00:55:07,440 --> 00:55:09,920 Speaker 1: lot in the background, and I would have been real happy. 836 00:55:10,440 --> 00:55:12,439 Speaker 1: But you have these pictures and you got this bear 837 00:55:12,480 --> 00:55:15,080 Speaker 1: in it, and you're hunting British Columbia and there's these 838 00:55:15,080 --> 00:55:19,560 Speaker 1: snow capped mountains and some epic photos. Ludicrous. The whole 839 00:55:19,560 --> 00:55:23,760 Speaker 1: thing is just crazy awesome. Yes, we took some great photos. 840 00:55:23,880 --> 00:55:31,120 Speaker 1: Took some great photos. Yeah. And so there's a running 841 00:55:31,200 --> 00:55:35,640 Speaker 1: joke that Devin's cell phone pictures are better than my 842 00:55:36,840 --> 00:55:40,920 Speaker 1: pictures off of my Cannon five D Pro level camera, 843 00:55:41,120 --> 00:55:45,799 Speaker 1: I would say, not a running joke, but fact, dang it. 844 00:55:47,719 --> 00:55:55,600 Speaker 1: So we had some great pictures and and the cool 845 00:55:55,680 --> 00:55:58,000 Speaker 1: thing too, is we got all this on video, so 846 00:55:58,360 --> 00:56:02,000 Speaker 1: people be able to watch this whole hunt on Bear Horizon, 847 00:56:03,920 --> 00:56:07,560 Speaker 1: first Bear Man, British Columbia. You can see Devon's camp, 848 00:56:08,160 --> 00:56:17,400 Speaker 1: get to see the whole organization. Yeah yeah, yeah, and 849 00:56:18,120 --> 00:56:21,520 Speaker 1: too bad he's not here. But the heart and soul 850 00:56:21,840 --> 00:56:28,279 Speaker 1: of this this place, it's Dave Dave. You got to 851 00:56:28,360 --> 00:56:33,400 Speaker 1: use his name, Old old Dave, who's not He's still alive. 852 00:56:33,480 --> 00:56:38,080 Speaker 1: He just went. He just he's just not here right now. No, 853 00:56:38,480 --> 00:56:42,480 Speaker 1: Dave Dave is Devin's really good friend. He's a he's 854 00:56:42,600 --> 00:56:46,799 Speaker 1: retired retired school teacher, and he's the cook. And he's 855 00:56:46,840 --> 00:56:50,040 Speaker 1: like the nicest guy on the planet. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 856 00:56:50,560 --> 00:56:53,759 Speaker 1: And so old Dave, Old Dave is always around. He's 857 00:56:53,800 --> 00:56:57,000 Speaker 1: always doing something for you. He's always cooking something for you. 858 00:56:57,080 --> 00:57:02,360 Speaker 1: He's always like hey, giggling, and he's always like he 859 00:57:02,400 --> 00:57:05,800 Speaker 1: does putting your towels up so they'll dry, or rolling 860 00:57:05,880 --> 00:57:09,719 Speaker 1: up the somebody did it wasn't me. He didn't put 861 00:57:09,800 --> 00:57:11,960 Speaker 1: my towel up. What do you do with yours? He 862 00:57:12,040 --> 00:57:13,680 Speaker 1: threw it in the dirt. He didn't like you as 863 00:57:13,719 --> 00:57:19,920 Speaker 1: much he likes me. So so anyway, that is a story, 864 00:57:20,680 --> 00:57:23,200 Speaker 1: Dan Bear, you know, and I think, just kind of 865 00:57:23,200 --> 00:57:27,040 Speaker 1: thinking back on it, there's no I'm not. I'm the 866 00:57:27,120 --> 00:57:32,480 Speaker 1: furthest thing from a highly skilled hunter. I love to 867 00:57:32,560 --> 00:57:36,840 Speaker 1: hunt and I love being outdoors. Um, and this whole 868 00:57:36,880 --> 00:57:39,080 Speaker 1: trip was a gift from my wife to me, and 869 00:57:39,120 --> 00:57:44,120 Speaker 1: I just didn't know what to expect. And seriously, like Devin, 870 00:57:44,720 --> 00:57:49,919 Speaker 1: you worked so hard and super knowledgeable, really friendly, got 871 00:57:50,000 --> 00:57:53,440 Speaker 1: us right where we needed to be. UM, to me, 872 00:57:53,520 --> 00:57:57,160 Speaker 1: it's a dream come true that you know, I really 873 00:57:57,200 --> 00:58:00,960 Speaker 1: don't think would have happened had and for me, it 874 00:58:01,000 --> 00:58:04,280 Speaker 1: never would have them had you guys not been got 875 00:58:04,400 --> 00:58:08,000 Speaker 1: me and and doing this and making it happen. So uh, 876 00:58:08,240 --> 00:58:10,720 Speaker 1: I'd come back and dinner every time. Tell him if 877 00:58:10,760 --> 00:58:17,640 Speaker 1: a huge adventure, beautiful story of a lot. So that's 878 00:58:17,720 --> 00:58:22,200 Speaker 1: Dan's bear. And to hear the story of my bear, 879 00:58:22,880 --> 00:58:24,920 Speaker 1: it's a little bit small, you'll have to listen to 880 00:58:25,080 --> 00:58:28,560 Speaker 1: the Yeah, to hear the story of my smaller bear 881 00:58:30,080 --> 00:58:33,240 Speaker 1: from Devon's picture. You look at Devon's picture, you would 882 00:58:33,240 --> 00:58:37,080 Speaker 1: think my Maror was smaller and the picture really you 883 00:58:37,280 --> 00:58:41,000 Speaker 1: have to listen to the next the next halpisode at 884 00:58:41,080 --> 00:58:49,440 Speaker 1: so sign just talking trackling fire with warm coffee got 885 00:58:49,560 --> 00:58:55,000 Speaker 1: proxy on amazing company as in company signing up