Bears 3 - Hunters 0
In late August, Reed and a friend from Bismarck, Roger, met at the now infamous airport in Minneapolis, then drove north, north, north to hunt bear near Duluth. Roger has relatives there and has hunted the area before. Nights were spent at the home Roger's cousin, Gail [and husband Allen].
Reed's caption: "Taking aim with the .444 magnum lever action rifle. Sited in for 40 yards. Roger let me borrow his electronic range finder the first time I went out to my tree stand. I determined that the bait, where the bear would hopefully be when I shot at it, was only 21 yards from my tree stand. Roger said 'just aim a little low; you'll be fine Sarge.' lol Oh great."
Notice the bait bucket in the foreground. The logs are about 4 feet long and 4 to 8 inches in diameter. Reed writes, "My tree stand was about 12 feet off the ground. Just enough to make you a little nauseous when the wind blew. Black bear can climb trees at about ten feet per second so I had to be on my toes."
Dale, Reed, and Roger
Reed writes: "Dale and I, both being in the military, were comfortable wearing face paint. Dale's was water-based; mine was oil-based which stayed on a lot longer but was harder to get off. We started hunting before sunrise and when we decided to go into town for breakfast around ten, I opted to keep mine on while Dale wiped his off with a dry cloth. Roger decided his skin was too delicate to try either. Surprisingly, the restaurant patrons didn't seem to pay any attention to me. They knew it was the opening day of bear season."
Reed also writes: "I wore a .44 Magnum revolver as my side arm and carried a .444 magnum lever action rifle. Roger packed some serious heat for the trip. Black bear have been clocked running at 35 mph, for short distances. The fastest human has only managed to top out at 21 mph so I was happy to have the ability to sling large chunks of lead at more than 2200 feet per second from my rifle and a good 1800 feet per second from the pistol. I sure as hell wasn't going to outrun the bear. The first time I shot the pistol unsupported, meaning not resting my hands on a table or log or something, the thing kicked back so hard that the hammer hit me in the forehead. It hit me hard enough to draw blood. Good stuff."
Reed's caption: "This is where I sat for hours on end waiting for a bear to sniff out my bait. Dale took a picture of me in the stand in full camo. I wore gloves and a head net as well so all you could really see was the rifle. I had my video camera recording the whole time hoping to tape the kill shot. Never had a chance to shoot."
"We took a side trip one afternoon to visit some of Dale and Roger's old stomping grounds. Since I didn't remember ever being in Lake Superior, I was 'forced' to get wet."
There will always be next year.