Occasionally, and not often enough, we like to take to the field and do some hunting and fishing.

Jim Bush & black bear, approx. 200#, nice mature male 6/08

Canadian Whitetail hunting, click here.

We just recently returned from a Black Bear hunt in Messines, Quebec, Canada. We spent a week with Gill Galipeau, Owner and Operator of Bear Lodge. Along with the bear hunt we had a cabin, boat & motor, and lake for our use for the week.

Gill Galipeau's business card

The cabin had two bedrooms, one bath, kitchen/dining combination complete with electricity and hot & cold running water. We had all the essential equipment in the kitchen. All we brought was our personal gear and food.

The cabin was "home" for the week and we were all very comfortable while there.

A typical day was to get up, make coffee, and get in the boat for and hour or two of fishing, come back to the cabin, eat breakfast, and then head back out to fish until two or three in the afternoon. The fishing was great. We always caught something while out there. Pike, Walleye, yellow perch, small mouth bass, and even some catfish.

The view from front porch of Cabin

After fishing, we fixed a full supper meal around 3 p.m. each day and tidied up the cabin, rested, and got ready for the evening bear hunt.

The bear hunt started every evening around 4:30 - 5 p.m. We would travel about 20 - 30 kilometers from the cabin to our baited blinds. The hunt was from tree stands about 6 - 7 feet off the ground. Spending a few hours every evening, seeing and hearing lots of wildlife, we saw, besides bear, snow shoe hares, squirrels, deer, Eagles, raccoons, and even a wolf.

On our first evening out and not knowing what to expect, our ride was spent in a question and answer session with our guide, Gill. He was very informative and knowledgeable. We learned a lot in a short period of time.

Jane's Bear Hunt:



For this hunt, I was using a sporterized Mauser 98 in 8 x 57 with a Leupold scope. The stock was made by Helmut Vogt in a Bavarian Style that would have been popular around the early 1900's. Very sleek.



Having some real fear prior to embarking on this hunting excursion, it was a bit ominous being put out first into the woods. (this meant I would be picked up last, after dark).







Gill took me to my stand, got me situated and told me just to enjoy myself, taking in the forest and the surroundings. Being an avid reader, I had taken a novel and spent the first couple of hours between reading and then nearly jumping out of my skin with the noises going on around me. I really started paying attention to the surroundings when I heard limbs snapping and then heard a low growling coming from behind me. That was followed by a lot of noise from something big leaving my area. Not long after that, I had some smaller noise coming from below my stand and had the benefit of a snow shoe hare spending some time with me. No bears that night to the bait and after dark, I had to walk about 40 yards through the woods to the dirt road and wait for pick up.







The second evening in, I had a squirrel come into my stand with me. He was quite friendly and I wasn't. Had to run him off and then he brought one of his friends back with him to torment me the rest of the evening. No bears. Was easier to get back out of the stand after dark this evening and walk to the road, but I had to wait for a long period of time to be picked up this night. (I will let you read Fred & Eric's stories to find out why)







The third evening I finally had something in the bait pile. A raccoon. He was old and nearly totally gray. He shopped for a good morsel of my bait and finally went off into the forest. Then the squirrel came back and made another attempt to scare me out of the stand. After making him leave again, I heard rocks being turned over down at the creek that was close to my stand. Heard large animal breathing sounds and realized that there were probably two bears in my area. (I questioned my guide, and he confirmed that possibility). So, we have bears, when do they come in? Another really interesting thing was a very large bird flew through the trees and headed off for the near by lake called "Eagles Lake". Whether or not it was an Eagle, I don't know.







The fourth evening out, (by this time I had nearly finished 3 books) it was cloudy and then turned rainy. No squirrels, no animals. No bear. Sigh! I did see a glimpse of an Eagle in my bait pile as I approached my stand.







Day 5: My mission. Shoot a bear. Was delivered to my stand, finished book 3 and took up my vigil. Time slowly marched on and my resolve was weakening. My quest, my mission, my dream, my hope of shooting a bear was coming to a close right before me. About 8:45 that evening, I am watching my bait pile, pleading with God to give me a sign and then there on the left at the bait pile in the woods I could see the head of a bear. About a minute later, the reality hit. Oh s***!, it's a bear! The heart rate kicked up about double time. We won't talk about breathing. I will just say shallow and rapid. The bear just would not come out. I waited about 5 minutes and knew that time was against me. The only clear shot I had was between the heavy brush his body was behind and a small tree that slanted off to the right. This would put me aiming at his neck. 30 yards, neck shot, settle down, and then pull the trigger. It is a hit!







After pulling the trigger, I realized that I dropped my pack with my radio on the ground and that I would have to get down out of the stand to call for some help. My bear had run back into the woods and I could not hear it any longer. I stopped to reload my rifle, put on the safety and then climbed out of my stand. Retrieved my radio and then finally got in touch with Fred & Eric. They arrived and the hunt was on for the shot bear. Nice blood trail but one problem. Dark was upon us. On top of that we had lightening and thunder beginning. After a search of the immediate area following a blood trail, it was decided it was time to head in and come back in the morning and track the bear in the daylight.







Long story shortened, we did not find the bear. He was not mortally wounded and I felt better knowing that he would be around for me to hunt next year. Oh yeah! I am going back. This was a great experience for me and I am wanting to "Kill" a bear this next year instead of "shoot" a bear.

Fred's Story:



I was using a Mauser 98 converted to 7mm Remington Magnum. It was the first gun I had made and it was built in 1971. I have shot a lot of game with it, most out in West Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. It took it's first black bear in 2008.



I was the second person to be dropped off. 3 kilometers down the dirt road, turn left on a lesser dirt road and another 300 or 400 meters to the trail to the blind.



The guide showed me where the blind was, pointed out that the bait had been hit the night before. The stand was very simple, sturdy, and comfortable. The bait was about 40 meters away and the mosquito's were everywhere. A swamp was to the right of me about 60 meters or so and as the sun went down the swamp critters got louder. Nothing came in, nothing happened. No disappointment. We were told that generally the first two afternoons usually not much happens. Like Jim Bush told us about a week earlier, "you just have to have faith".



2nd afternoon:



I found it much easier to deal with the mosquito's. By the second day the shock was over.



It was quiet, just like the evening before and as the sun went down, the swamp critters got louder and then all of a sudden, everything in the swamp got quiet. THE BEAR IS HERE!, I know he's here. HE KNOWS I AM HERE! Neither of us knows exactly where the other is, but we are both aware of each others presence.



About 20 minutes pass and the noise from the swamp is back. Frogs, Peepers, etc.

I am watching my bait looking around and just about to rule out that a bear might have been the reason the critters in the swamp became quiet then it just appeared, like magic. A bear was standing next to my bait pile. I picked up my rifle, looked through the scope and he was gone, no noise, more like a ghost.

About 2 minutes pass and the head of a bear comes out, he moves a little closer, there's his shoulder. SHOOT or DON'T SHOOT? I only have a few minutes before legal shooting time for the day is over.

The pressure is too great. First bear hunt, first bear, not much time, the cross hairs are just right. It is just too much. The trigger is squeezed and the gun goes off, BAM!

At the instant the gun goes off, there is movement at the left side of the scope. The bear disappears to the right, lots of crashing noise to the right.

About 40 yards of crashing, more thrashing, and stationary in less than a minute. It has stopped, he is down.

Then out in front and slightly to the left, more crashing and running. It fades off into the forest.

By this time, I am down from the blind. Here comes the pickup with Gill & Eric. I fill Gill in on what happened and where the downed bear is and Eric asks "Is it as big as mine?" while pointing to the pick up bed.

The whole bed is full of bear.

Well, my bear wasn't as big.

WELLLLLL, it wasn't, not even close.

I could wish my bear was a little bigger, but at this point that would be a wasted wish.

For Fred & Jane having Eric get the trophy bear made the entire trip well worth it.

Eric and the bear's front paw

Eric's Story:



Eric was using a 30-06 on a Mauser 98 he put together in his Dad's gun shop. He used a Shillen barrel and put it on a Classic style Walnut stock. The rifle was topped with a Schmidt & Bender scope. Nice set up.



Eric was the last one to be dropped off at his stand by our guide. On his first day of the hunt things were pretty much uneventful. This was expected according to our guide.



2nd evening of hunting: (let's give you a better picture of an 18 yr. old that has had the good fortune to do quite a bit of hunting. Much of it deer hunting from tree stands. He learned to be patient and quiet. Gill had given him ample instructions of what to expect and part of it was "most likely you will not hear the bears until after you see them". "They move through the forest in almost complete silence.")



So, what does he do? Get comfortable in the stand, loads his rifle, safety on, placed in a secure position for the least amount of movement when movement is necessary, plug your IPOD into your ears (can't hear the bear, anyway), sit back and enjoy nature and your favorite tunes. About 45 minutes go by and a fox is sighted. Comes into bait, looks around and walks off.



Time passes, it is about 7:00 p.m. Eric hears brush moving, sticks breaking, etc. (all this over the IPOD) He immediately turns off the IPOD and removes it from his ears. While doing this, he notices lots of saplings and underbrush moving back and forth and realizes "IT'S A BEAR!!" about 40 yards or so to his left.



I wonder if it is a big one?



The bear stands up on it's hind legs and looks around towering over most of the under brush.



Yeah, it's big!



Back down on all fours, he moves to another tree and stands up and scratches himself. While watching him scratch through the scope, Eric doesn't have a clear shot.



Eventually, the bear drifts away and disappears in the forest and Eric can't see or hear him.



The bear reappears right in front, just the other side of the bait pile. His is still covered with enough under brush that a good clean shot is out of the question.



The bear suddenly stands up on his hind legs and is facing right at Eric. He is wiggling back and forth while on his hind legs because he is scratching his back on a tree.



He drops down to all four feet again and starts to walk towards the bait pile. Remembering what the guide said, "let the bear get on the bait, you will have the best shot then", Eric waited.



The bear steps over the bait and just keeps walking towards Eric. 30 yards, 25 yards, (at this point Eric is thinking "he didn't stop and if he stands up again, we are will be looking eye to eye). 20 yards, 15 yards, (Eric gets his composure, thinking "I am going to aim at his head, between the eyes". "At this angle, it might be a little high which will put the bullet in his brain or spinal cord.") The bear is still walking towards him. Eric squeezes the trigger and the bear drops in his tracks.



Immediately, Eric chambers a 2nd round per the guides instructions and looked through the scope at the bear for what seems like an hour. (was probably more like 45 seconds to a minute). He then remembered the guide telling us to "do not approach the downed bear without making sure he is dead. i.e. hit him with a rock, stick, etc." Eric was up in his stand and looking for an object to hit the bear with and figured the IPOD would not do, it costs too much. The rifle, he would need. Spare cartridge in pocket, too small. Knife, no! May need that too. 2/3rds full water bottle, expendable! So, he throws the water bottle, hits the bear, and no movement. SUCCESS! Looks at cell phone, time is 7:18 p.m.



Eric climbs out of his stand and starts for the dirt road. His stand is only about 30 yards in from the dirt road.



The guide was several hundred yards down the road and heard Eric's shot. After hearing his shot, he immediately started back towards where he had put Eric out for his stand. As he arrived, Eric was exiting the woods, smiling.



Gill asked him "did you get a bear?" Eric said "yes".



"Is he big" "I think so".



Gill's way of bring the bears out of the forest is on an old Army Stretcher. They got the stretcher and went in to Eric's stand. When Gill saw the bear, he said "That's a big, damn bear".



Gill and Eric loaded the bear on the stretcher and Gill noticed the water bottle laying there. He said "what's this doing here?" Eric said "I threw it at the bear to see if he was dead". Good job, Eric!



Due to the weight and size of the bear, Eric said "I am glad he is a fresh kill so his feet and legs will give when we catch the trees on the path". They would walk a few feet, put down the bear, and rest.



Eric's bear weighted 372#. We were told this was a pretty good size bear for that area. Fred and Jane had no idea that Eric had shot until after 9:30 p.m. Lots of hugs and congrats. Even more congrats the next day when word got out in Messines that a big bear had been shot.

Eric's 372# Black Bear

GILL GALIPEAU - Black Bear Specialist



Gill has owned and operated Bear Lodge for over 40 years. He has access to a vast amount of forest. The knowledge gained over the years about bears is evident in the success rate that is his personal pride.



Gill is also a very personable type of individual. He is most accommodating, making sure that your total stay is comfortable and rewarding.



He put us on the bears and told us what to expect. All we had to do was follow through.



Working with Gill is so easy, he has the talent to make things go smoothly and successfully. Of the group of hunters that hunt on Jim Bush's place in Maryland, 5 hunted black bear this year with Gill. All 5 of us shot a bear and one bear was not recovered. I am not sure if that is 80% or 100% success, but everyone was happy with the hunt.

Gill Galipeau, Eric and bear 6/4/08

For years we thought there was not much to hunt between Spring Turkey and the September Dove Season, but all this time in Canada there was a Spring Bear Hunt. Yahoo!

We have already booked for the Spring '09 season with Bear Lodge and we invite anyone who wants to try something new to join us.

If you have any questions such as crossing the Border with your firearm or any part of our trip, give us a call or e-mail. We will be happy to share details of our "2008 Bear Hunt" experience with you.