The Thrill is in the Hunt 2

BY JOHN KOENIG.

I still can’t get past the thrill of this past Friday morning’s bear hunt and can’t help but wonder if you other hunters out there feel the same about hunting as I do. I’m anxious to hear your comments on this, so please feel free to leave them.

The Scenario:

It’s black bear season and you have already done your pre-season hunting homework or hired a guide to do the pre-season homework for you. You’ve identified the desired black bear you wish to harvest, his traveling routes, routines, food sources in the area, etc. There’s fresh sign everywhere and you know it’s only a matter of time before preparation meets opportunity.

The time for your hunt has arrived.  The first couple of days during your hunt you know for sure your homework has paid off. You have some close encounters where you can hear your quarry but no shot presents itself. You know that you’ve just missed crossing paths either by being in the right spot minutes too late or a little too early.  Timing is more than a good idea. 

Then comes the moment of truth.  Does it ever.  Our destined paths cross.  Game time.  Is it ever.

This is what it came down to for us last Friday morning: Coolest morning of the week so far.  The day before the full moon.  Now or never. We’ve been sitting in the truck waiting for first light to come, discussing the game plan for the morning before dousing ourselves down with bug dope (mosquitoes are unusually bad this season) and gearing up for the “fair chase” spot and stalk morning hunt to come.

The morning is crisp and cool with a morning fog rolling up the mountainside from the valley floor below… custom made for a good hunt.

First light and we’re off starting our morning hunt with the first few footsteps from the truck spent glassing the surrounding hillsides for any sign of our quarry and getting rid of a little extra morning coffee. The surrounding hills have been thoroughly glassed and our hunt continues, trying to hone our senses back in from a long night’s sleep. With soft slow steps we continue onwards.

Then it happens, not 40 feet away from our parked truck and not 10 to 15 feet below us.  The hills come alive with the loud crashing and parting of brush and branches below us. We immediately look at each other and the first words since starting up the hill are spoken, “Bear!” Of course he’s headed away from us into the unit we just spent the last half hour or so glassing and into the morning fog just now rolling in. Go figure, right?

Hard to make out much of anything visually but we can still hear the crashing of brush as it comes to a rest somewhere in the middle of the unit below us. The best vantage point of the entire unit and best place to set up a shot is from right where we’re standing. However, we can’t quite zero in on the location of our quarry.

Adrenalin is not passive.  Alive and surging. 

I head down into the unit below us leaving my client, good friend John, at the best vantage point for a well-placed shot. The fireweed in this wide open unit is over six feet tall.  More than hard to see much of anything from where I’m at. I try and find my best vantage point from where I think our bear has gone and begin calling.

Didn’t take long before I got my answer to where our bear had gone.  He starts huffing and puffing threatening to blow my ass down. He charges in from the hillside below, and all I can see is the tall fireweed parting in front of me before he comes to a stop some 30 to 40 yards away.  You can hear his loud huffs and snorts as he tries to get wind of me. Now I’m just praying that my client, John can see him from his vantage point and set up his shot.

With a light breeze now coming up the hill to my advantage, but of course bringing with it the morning valley fog, the bear retreats back down the hill. I keep calling and you can hear the bear’s huffing, puffing and growls as he moves up the hillside a bit more. Again, the fireweed parts as if this bear were Moses himself, and again he charges in and stops some 30 to 40 yards short of my position. 

Still no visual… “C’mon John, take the shot”, I think to myself. All the while, also thinking how freaking awesome this moment is.  The adrenaline has found its voice, almost a scream.  The bear, still not getting wind of me and not quite sure yet if I’m prey or predator, again retreats up the hill.  Moves up a bit more. I keep calling and now this bear is really pissed off and getting very vocal about the whole situation. He defines primal scream,  charges yet again. Only this time the light breeze has me at a disadvantage and I’m winded. Sorry, but being scent free and being eaten alive by mosquitoes is not my idea of an enjoyable hunt. The bear heads up the long hill and off towards the old growth timbered forest. I keep calling hoping and praying I can turn him around but he wanted no part of my little charade anymore and the whole time he’s headed up the hill he remained very vocal about his discontentment. Crap!

I head back up the hill to meet John… Cursed by the fog and lack of a good sight window for a shot, we both were pumped with adrenaline by the shear “thrill of the hunt”. John could hear every single thing I did even being a couple hundred yards away and appeared just as pumped as I was. To me that’s what hunting is all about…The thrill of the hunt! How about you?

This is the second season in a row that John has come hunting with us and the second season John has not bagged his big bear…but… over the past two seasons we have seen bear, passed up on a small one, missed a long shot, had a couple of close encounters and my “friend” John has already rebooked for next season as well.

So, to you… Is the Thrill in The Hunt or Is The Thrill In The Kill?

John Koenig is a full time hunting and fishing guide that lives in Rockport, Washington. He can be reached at (360) 853-9801 or visit him on the web at Johns Guide Service.