# Last minute bear- Quebec



## jerry russell (Jun 21, 2013)

My last 5 black bear hunts have come down to the last minute of the last day before I took the bear I wanted. 2013 would be no different. We had returned the last happy bear hunters to the airport, a father and 15 year old son team that had both taken good bears on their first bear hunt. I had not planned to hunt this year but with two full evenings to hunt after closing down our bear camp,I knew that I had plenty of time to take a bear so I decided to go for it. We were hunting the vast Mastigouche Wilderness Reserve in Central Quebec. It covers nearly one million acres. It is hands down the most dense bear black bear population I have ever hunted or guided on.  In one two week period I recorded nearly 1,000 trail cam pictures and videos. 








I decided that I would only shoot a great bear and on video or I would go home empty handed. I would be removing our equipment from the remote baits so I just went to the end of the string and set up a ground blind. I still had a buddy/assistant guide hunting so I put him at the hottest bait. I drove to the remote bait, baited the barrel and drove the truck about a 1/4 mile away. I took my black widow with me for the walk back into the bait site. I just had a feeling that I would need it.

As I turned the corner at the bait site, I was relieved that the bears were not there yet. I relaxed for a moment and knelt down to pick up some gear when I noticed a decent boar at 15 yards. I nocked an arrow as I sized him up. I then reminded myself that no video=no bear so I gave him a deep "woof" and he melted back into the thick cover. I knew he would return. I got the blind set up and it was just a few minutes before a string of medium boar and sows rolled into the bait at 10 yards. One big sow tried to stick her head into the blind. They were good bears but with a full day left to hunt I decided to wait for a great bear.

The last day I decided to move my buddy to where I had hunted the night before. This was his first trad hunt and I desperately wanted him to score. He had arrowed a good bear a few days earlier but the arrow had passed above the lungs doing no real harm. We had seen and videoed the bear a couple of times over the next couple days and he was doing fine.

I decided to hunt a bait where a GIANT sow had given a couple of hunters the slip. I had also caught her on trail cam with a big boar in tow. She seemed to always fade just out of tradbow range so I silently slid in and placed a portable stand where she would not expect me to be. It was a beautiful but quite uneventful sit for 4 hours. As darkness started to set in, I pulled my old Black Widow from the bow hanger and turned to where I felt the bear would appear. A state of absolute calm seemed to come over me and I became 100% sure the bear would show within seconds. At that exact moment, I heard the slightest sound of a distant chipmunk announcing the bears approach. 
The bear appeared like black smoke and was incredibly cautious. I eased on the video camera and waited as the bear took a full five minutes to move five yards. There were numerous marginal shot opportunities but it would be the perfect shot or nothing. I could clearly tell that this was a sow and I continued to look down her back trail for a boar but none showed. I was stunned at the size of this sow. It was clearly the same big girl that I had gotten well over 100 pictures and trailcam videos of over the last few weeks. She had a head like a pumpkin.











At one point she looked at me as only a giant bear can do. She then turned to walk away but paused at 14 yards. I bore down on the string and concentrated on hitting her off shoulder. The arrow with the big white fletch suddenly appeared right where I was looking. She roared, stumbled a bit and then tore off into a jungle of head high and very thick ferns. She made it less than 40 yards and popped her teeth 2-3 times before giving a death moan. The big Steelforce 150 head had given that old bear an honorable and quick death.

I crawled into the jungle in near darkness and found her piled up next to an ancient spruce tree. I wondered how many time she had walked under the tree. I just sat with her for a few minutes in the incredible silence. 

She was an absolutely beautiful animal and wore double ear tags that told me she had been a trouble maker at some point in her very long life. I look forward to reporting the tags and finding out her history. In my more than 35 years of bear hunting experience, she was the biggest sow I had ever taken.  

The next morning had us skinning and packing up the 2013 bear camp gear. It had been a great season but we were flat out wore down. Still, all we could talk about as we left that wilderness was getting back to bear camp in 2014. Man I already miss that place.
The video is a great one and I will try and produce it along with a full review of a great season as soon as possible.


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## jerry russell (Jun 21, 2013)

More pictures of the bear I shot and our camp. Awesome, wonderful, stunning place.


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## Jim Thompson (Jun 21, 2013)

great story and great pics and of course a great bear.  congrats on being able to experience it!


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## Skunkhound (Jun 21, 2013)

Congratulations Jerry! Man she's a beauty. Thanks for the great pics, and the awesome story. Bear camp 2014 huh?


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## Todd Cook (Jun 21, 2013)

Thanks for the pics and story Jerry. I hope to get up there with you soon.


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## gurn (Jun 21, 2013)

Man that sounds like ah great trip! Looks like them 150 Steel Force do the job. Congratulations.


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## robert carter (Jun 21, 2013)

Great pics Jerry.Beautiful run of water too. Anybody catch any fish? A Bear hunt is a dream I hope to make a reality soon.RC


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## jerry russell (Jun 21, 2013)

RC,
We had little time for fishing as we were busy managing baits over a vast area. Some of the hunters did catch some brookies and one of my guides caught a landlocked salmon at out cabin.

The fishing opportunities are sure there with over 400 lakes and countless rivers and streams within our territory. Some of the most beautiful water I have ever seen. These picture were of the river that ran through camp with the last two being our view from the front porch. I gotta say that I spent a lot of time drinking coffee on that porch.


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## jerry russell (Jun 21, 2013)

I failed to mention some of the other wildlife that we saw. Some of them include:
Moose bulls and cows
Lots of owls and hawks
Snowshoe hare
Red squirrels
Everyone heard wolves howling each night
Tons of grouse
Porcupine
Lots of waterfowl and more


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## Al33 (Jun 21, 2013)

Awesome bear! Awesome trip! Awesome story telling!

Congratulations Jerry and welcome home!


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## SELFBOW (Jun 21, 2013)

Nice Bear!


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## chenryiv (Jun 21, 2013)

Congrats Jerry!  Loved the read & can't wait to see the video


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## dm/wolfskin (Jun 22, 2013)

Nice Jerry. Congrats. Mike


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## oldfella1962 (Jun 22, 2013)

Big bears! The black bears I ran into in Alaska were pretty scrawny - then again the "growing season" is shorter and they have to compete with brown/grizzly bears.

Canada is great. I've fished there and traveled The Alcan and it is just plain beautiful country. It's what I imagine America was like 200 years ago - insane amounts of wilderness.

Bet you had a ball. And native brookies there are a tad bigger than our Georgia native brookies - I think that would be worth the trip right there. I am green with envy!


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## ngabowhunter (Jun 22, 2013)

Nice bear and beautiful pics. Congrats!!!


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## whossbows (Jun 22, 2013)

looks like a great place to hang out,,,,(;-),you done good,,


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## Munkywrench (Jun 22, 2013)

Awesome. I would love to get up in some country like that, pullin back and slingin an arrow at a bear like that would just be a plus. Did your other guide get one?


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## jerry russell (Jun 22, 2013)

Munkywrench said:


> Awesome. I would love to get up in some country like that, pullin back and slingin an arrow at a bear like that would just be a plus. Did your other guide get one?



He did arrow one but his arrow went an inch or so above the vitals. We managed to film the bear several times after he shot it. He also passed on several other bears.


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## Munkywrench (Jun 22, 2013)

I like passing sometimes and just watching. It's why I'm able to be a bowhunter . 

You have a profession and knowledge base that is very easy to envy Mr. Russell


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## OconeeDan (Jun 22, 2013)

Nice bear!!


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## longbowdave1 (Jun 23, 2013)

Awsome job on the bears Jerry! Looks like a fantastic setting for a hunting camp.


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## Chris Horsman (Jun 24, 2013)

Man oh man. I cant wait. Info should be with you this week Jerry.


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## Barry Duggan (Jun 24, 2013)

You're getting real good at that last minute stuff.


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## gurn (Jun 25, 2013)

Barry Duggan said:


> You're getting real good at that last minute stuff.



Yep that for sure. My last minute hunts always turn out the same way. I'm cold and It just gets dark.


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## TNGIRL (Jun 25, 2013)

I wanna GO!!!!!!!!


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## Apex Predator (Jun 25, 2013)

Great job on a fine bear!


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## 2wheelfoster (Jun 25, 2013)

Great bear Jerry!


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## Jasper (Jun 25, 2013)

Great bear, awesome story and experience in God's Country.............you're livin the life! Congrats........


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## stick-n-string (Jun 26, 2013)

Man that's awesome Jerry! How long of a drive was that for you?


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## HuntinDawg89 (Jun 27, 2013)

Good story and great pics.  Looking forward to the video.  Some day me and a bear and a bow are going to have a little encounter.


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## Blueridge (Jun 27, 2013)

Good job Jerry ! That's a great looking place. What did she weigh?


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