The 3rd Time Was A Charm In
New Brunswick Canada

First Year

On day three a bear came right for the bait. When the bear's head entered the scope, to my surprise the gun went off. With the excitement of seeing my first bear I put too much pressure on the trigger and the gun went off before the bear hit the cross hair. That ended my first hunt.

Second Year

The following year I was back on the same stand. The first night a huge bear came up behind me and circled around for the bait. This time I was under control and ready for the bear to hit the bait. The bear never came in that night, or the rest of the week. So ended my second hunt.

The Moment of Thruth

My third year in New Brunswick Canada I was back on the same stand, for another try for the big bear. The bears were a no show the first two nights, so I moved on.

''Memorable'' Bear Hunt in New Brunswick Canada

Day five would be a night on stand I will never forget. At 7:50 PM I heard a tree fall and moments later I seen the legs of a bear appear out in front of my stand. When the bear came into full view I could see he was big. Before reaching the bait the bear put it's head up to scent check the air. He must have caught my scent, because he turned and headed for my stand. When he reached the path to my stand he scent checked the air again. He knew the human scent was more than normal and kept coming towards my stand. After a few more steps he scent checked the air again.

This time I could see saliva dripping from his mouth. I hoped it was for the bait and not me. Then he moved in right to the ladder of my stand, and looked straight up at me.

By now my legs where shaking like never before. Thankfully I could not put my heels down onto the platform of my stand, even though I tried hard. If they would have touched the platform, it would have sounded like I was playing a set of drums. I tried not to look down at him for fear he would see my eyes, but I just could not resist. Either way it would not have mattered because I was wearing a full face mask (I hoped).

Deciding I was just a big blob in the tree, the bear turned and headed for the bait. I put the scope up and all I seen was black.

I slowly raised my gun and put the cross hair right behind his head and pulled the trigger. When I pulled off my face mask I could not believe what laid a mere five yards below my stand.

A bear of a lifetime that weighed 425 pounds and later was determined to be a 22 1/2 year old male.

Truly, The 3rd Time Was A Charm In New Brunswick Canada.

By Ron Koch

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