November 4 2002

Over The Edge Page 13

fyler Sabourin

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UNBC Students Love Hunting

Part Two

Continued from the October 21st issue of Over The Edge

By Liam Partitt

With renewed vigour | bran-
dished my rifle for the next
month, sitting and swatting
mosquito in the warm nights of
late May and early June. | was
constantly rewarded with
many visits from the various
neighbors around me, but
none from my brute. June 15th
closed my hopes for another
spring and | was wondering
whether or not this fellow was
real.

As the summer passed | sat
listening to mosquitoes in the
evening as the last of the ruby
sun drenched the snowless
peaks of July and August. |
often imagined a large black
bear up there, digging in the
shale slides and timber line
brush. A black who was a
prince among even grizzly
bears, whose empire only
occasionally slides below the
timberline. The fall came with a
glorious blaze of blue skies
and sunshine. The creatures
that normally had to venture
into the rain rarely came out,
but | was consumed just by the
brilliant gold and sapphire of
fall. As October approached
and the weather still stayed
good | was beginning to think
that this year was big on
scenery but not particularly
productive for wildlife viewing. |
found some large bear tracks
near the river again but it was
debatable as to whether this
was my bear. In the end | put
my gun away on the last day of
deer season with a great deal
of reluctance and began the
countdown to April 15th again.

It was a warm winter until
the middle of February and
then proved quite cold. When
the middle of April came there
was still snow everywhere.
Time passed and a warm
patch in the end of April melt-
ed away most of the snow
allowing the grass to peak it’s
head through the rich soil. |
was thoroughly enjoying a
horse ride one evening, look-
ing for my bear and whatever
else the high visibility of spring
could offer, when | saw him.
He was only 200 meters from
our cabin and at first | thought
| was looking at a moose. |

couldn’t believe my eyes and
immediately my heart jumped
and raced. Fumbling with my
shells | jumped off my horse,
securing her halter rope to my
yard fence post | stalked over
to where | thought my bear
would be. He had immediately
disappeared after | spotted
him. As | sneaked to the top of
the little hill that afforded a
good view of the opening
where | spotted him my heart
was pounding, and | could
hear the sound echoing
through my throat. As | got to
the top of the hill | desperately
looked out for my bear, gaug-
ing the setting sun and the
increasing darkness.

Peering through the clumps
of tall grass and trampled
grass, | desperately hoped for
my bear to be there. And like a
phantom dream there he was,
suddenly the product of 3 sea-
sons of steady work. | watched
him for several minutes until |
had the perfect shot, and
squeezing the trigger | saw
him flinch. He was gone in a
flash into a thick swamp that
even the clear views of spring
could not unfathom. | waited,
watching my breath in the cool
May air. As the light faded |
counted out half an hour,
unsaddling my horse, and then
went to the spot where |
thought | had hit him. No
blood, but I! painstaking
searched for the next fifteen
minutes until | was rewarded
with a small flick. The dark-
ness was advancing as |
tracked into the swamp, safety
off, with my fiance behind me
with a 12 gauge. She was
relieved to know such a brute
had been removed so close to
our cabin, and did a better job
than | of hiding her fear.

As we ducked our heads into
the thick tangle of willows and
alder we followed his blood
trail into the gathering dark-
ness. After a wrong turn the
blood trail dried and it was get-
ting difficult to see. Finally my
fiance found where he had
jumped the trail and turned
right. We went ever so slow as
the blood trail increased signif-
icantly and | could feel the ten-
sion building. But then less
than 140 meters from where
he had been shot was the
bear. | was saddened that
such a great creature had fall-
en to me, as | always am. And
after | said thank you for such
a gift, bowing my head in a
brief moment of prayer | exam-
ined him up close. He was
truly monstrous. We quickly
gutted him, slicing through a
mass of fat before getting into
his belly. With flashlights we
returned to our horses and |
put a harness on our older bel-
gian, affectionately named
Curly. After a short two hun-
dred meter walk from our tack
shed we put the choker chain
at the end of the single tree
around our monsters head
before the quick skid back to
our shop. The stars were out in
all there glory when we finally
returned to our cabin, warm in
the cool mountain night for a
warm bath and to _ bed,
exhausted.

The morning revealed the
huge brute, weighing in over
620 pounds. He scored out at
20 and 4/16” and is 7’6”, as of
1996 he would be the 108th
biggest bear in the province.
He will always be the king of
our house.

Sean Ruth
Sales Consultant

Honda North

105 Brunswick Street
Prince George, B.C.
V2L 2B2

Sales: (250) 562-9391

Pasts & Service: (250) 562-4744

Fax: (250) 562-5151
Email: info@hondanorth.ca