2008 Hunts are brought to you by: Click on a logo to visit the sponsor's website                                                 Mid-September Bear   -- By Paul Beasley --           The gap between hunting seasons can feel awfully long at times. Sure, we have fishing and family vacations to help fill that gap but there's no debating that the big-game hunters heart is missing something during those summer months. I think that's one of the reasons why bear hunting has become so addicting to us. With early seasons starting in mid-August in NW Ontario, and southern seasons starting in early to mid-September, it's a great way to bring in the hunting season a little earlier than normal.     Kevin and I had spent three days hunting bears in August and though we had a good time, our experience didn't involve any bears whatsoever. It was now September 17th and Keith and I were in the Parry Sound District at Lee Nilsen's pristine hunting property. Lee and his wife have put a lot of work into building a hunter's paradise and we were thrilled at the opportunity to enjoy some of the fruits of his labours. It's not every day that you get an invitation to hunt some really active baits and knowing Lee's passion for the woods and attention to detail, we were confident that this hunt would be eventful.     Lee had two baits that were seeing consistent action by decent bears and one that had a really big boar coming in on occasion. We only had two evenings to hunt so we knew that we couldn't be too picky.     The above pictures show the bears that were frequenting this bait.         With Keith already dropped off at his bait, Lee took me about a mile and a half away to mine which was situated just inside the treeline, beside a log-landing that was left behind when the area was timbered. This bait site had no stands hung yet and was really only suitable for a rifle. Though I'd never been to the area before, I knew that my Trophyline Tree Saddle would be suitable for any situation so with it on my back, my 270 shooting the new Winchester XP3's on my shoulder, and the video camera in my hand, I was all set.     I found a decent Elm tree directly across the log landing from the bait which gave me about an 80 yard shot. My 270 is topped off with a Zeiss Conquest 3-9x40 scope so 80 yards would be a chip-shot. After putting a few screw-in pegs into the tree, I was all settled with the video camera resting on the tree-arm, my rifle hanging on a peg beside me and me snuggled in nice and tight with my Tree Saddle.     The weather was fairly warm which made it a little difficult to stay awake for the couple hours I sat waiting for the sun to set.     A trail camera at this bait showed that a big sow with last years cub was visiting the bait quite heavily along with another decent sow. Lee had so many pictures of these bears in daylight hours that I was confident in at least seeing something. The sow and her cub were usually showing up around 6:30pm but when I finally looked at my watch and read 6:45pm, I began to wonder if they were aware of my presence. Fifteen more minutes passed and the sow and her cub were now 30 minutes later than usual but still no sign of them.     Finally, just a few minutes after 7pm, I caught movement behind the bait. I quickly turned the video camera on and began taping. In walked a lone bear that appeared quite confident around the bait. Despite the ample light around me on the log landing, the light inside the trees was beginning to diminish and from 80 yards, with nothing to reference size by, I was having trouble determining just how big this bear was. I watched the bear for 10 minutes while it fed and never showed any sign of concern for other bears in the vicinity. Based on it's behaviour, and the fact that the sow and her cub were now well over 30 minutes late, I decided that this must be that lone sow and the sow and her cub mustn't be in the area.     I now had a decision to make. I still had about 20 minutes of legal light left so I could wait on another bear or I could take the "bird in hand". Knowing that my time to hunt was so short, I decided that I wasn't interested in letting this bear walk away. I continued to watch it feeding on the bait but when it finally stood up and looked as though it might leave, I tightened the squeeze on my index finger and my 270 barked. The Winchester XP3's hit with an audible smack and the bear tore off into the thick timber behind the bait. A loud crash was soon followed by 3 death moans and I knew my bear was down. I sat there for a few minutes enjoying the moment and thanking God for the experience before packing up my things and climbing down. There was still lots of light and when I got up to the bait to inspect the scene of the crime I could see my bear lying just 30 yards away.     It was a lone sow and she certainly wasn't huge but the hunt was exciting and with the time restraints placed on us, I was thrilled. Besides, bears are great on the table and this one was perfect for the freezer.     Keith and Lee were already back at the house when I returned with my bear and I was thrilled to hear that Keith had shot one too. This was yet again another great hunt with two bears in one night.     We really have to thank Lee Nilsen and his wife for their generous hospitality and for providing us with memories that will last a lifetime.     Click on the video below to watch Paul's hunt.     Return to 2008 Hunts Page