A Manitoba Black Bear of a Million Hunts - Baldy Mountain Outfitters
It's difficult to enter the Manitoba bear woods with anything but high expectations. In years past, the Beasley Brothers have enjoyed some of their most exciting black bear hunts in this province—each successive hunt raising the bar for the following year. Still, Keith Beasley could never have anticipated what his spring bear hunt would bring.
Getting Dialled in
Joining Keith for this spring bear hunt was Brooks Hansen, Public Relations and Media Relations Manager for outdoor grill company Camp Chef. Though he identified himself as a novice bear hunter, Brooks was quick to explain that he's no stranger to the outdoors. "I was born and raised in Northern Utah on a little farm, and I have been hunting my whole life. I was exposed to it as a kid. I remember getting on a horse with my dad and riding into the woods and the mountains chasing mule deer, elk... I've been fortunate enough to hunt in some real cool places."
This love for hunting is what brought Brooks north of the border for the first time, six years ago. His first Canadian adventure, as it turned out, was a Manitoba waterfowl hunt. "We were just shooting these monster honkers, piling them up, shooting limits in, like, an hour. Such a cool experience," he recalls. "And a couple of guys in camp had bear tags, so we would hunt waterfowl in the morning, and while the rest of us would go fish in the afternoons, they'd go out in the woods and sit in stands and shoot bears. I told myself, 'Man, I've gotta get back to Manitoba and hunt a bear!' It just looked like such a cool experience." So when Keith called him up with the chance to tag along for a Manitoba black bear hunt, Brooks jumped at the opportunity.
"My goal is to see a couple colour bears," Brooks explained, referencing the region's prevalence of colour phase bears. (Baldy Mountain Outfitters boasts that 30% of the bears harvested are colour phase.) "I'd also like to see just a great big boar—that's a goal of mine. I've killed a couple bears in Idaho, but those are smaller bears. They're not what you get here in Manitoba. With the stories I'm hearing, the pictures I'm seeing, I'm just stoked to see if I can get out and see one of those in the wild."
After sighting in their bows and ensuring all their equipment made the journey to Western Manitoba without issue, the guys readied themselves for their first evening hunt.
An Incredible Evening of Bear Hunting
Right out of the gates, the guys each got an idea how special this hunt would be. Todd had barely left the bait site on the ATV after dropping Keith off at his stand before a frenzy of bear activity started. One after the other, black bears emerged from the woods to enter the bait area before being pushed off by the next bear. From scrappy young boars to watchful sows with cubs, Keith counted eleven different black bears during his first sit. "That's the most bears I've ever seen during one bear hunt in my life," Keith remarked. "Eleven."
Meanwhile, miles away in his stand, Brooks witnessed his own parade of black bears. The first visitor to Brooks's stand—materializing before the guide's ATV was beyond earshot—was a colour phase bear with a coat so blonde, it looked gold when struck by sunlight. Brooks had wanted to see colour phase bears, but he had no idea he could see something like this. Affectionately nicknamed Blondie, this bright blonde sow immediately set a high bar for spectacle.
Dark Clouds and Light Bears
Knowing that Brooks had gotten a glimpse of a Manitoba giant during his first evening, Keith was eager to spend an evening at that stand on the off chance that the titan would return. So on the third evening, Keith assumed Brooks's vacated position, being dropped off at the same stand frequented by Blondie, a host of colour phase bears, and a potential giant.
Keith's sit didn't start as promising as Brooks's had. Not long after Todd's ATV departed the bait area, a massive storm system moved in—dark clouds moved in and, with them, rolling thunder and a powerful rainstorm. For over three hours, Keith waited out a violent storm that brought howling winds, teeming rainfall, flashes of lightning, and even hail. Then, the skies opened up. The heavy rain was replaced by a sunshower—a pleasant sight after enduring such a savage storm.
"We have two hours left," said Keith, pulling off his rain jacket, "and I'm super confident that with this sun coming out, stuff should move here soon." The words had barely left his mouth before the first bear emerged from beneath dripping branches and entered the bait site: Blondie, the extraordinarily light-coloured sow that Brooks had spotted. Keith was awestruck as the bear stepped out into the fresh sunlight. "Wow. There goes, without a doubt, the coolest bear I have ever seen."
GIANT Colour Phase Black Bear Approaches
As the evening continued and the drizzle came to a stop, Keith was visited by a number of black bears—some that had visited Brooks, like a chocolate sow and some particularly ornery young boars; some others that seemed like newcomers. As the evening drew nearer to a close, however, Keith started to lose confidence that he'd get a glimpse of that cinnamon giant.
Then, with about an hour of legal light remaining, Keith noticed the bears at the bait growing agitated and anxious. They continually paused and glanced in the same direction. Keith followed their gaze and saw it from the corner of his eye: coming up the ATV trail behind his stand was the biggest black bear he'd ever seen—the Cinnamon Giant.
Keith froze and watched in stunned silence as the massive bear slowly approached the bait, stopping at his three-o'clock to glance up at the stand, as if knowingly scanning for the presence of a hunter. Is he checking for Brooks? The bear inched closer to the bait but hesitated. Again, it lingered in Keith's periphery, looking up toward the stand, assessing the situation. It turned. Keith helplessly watched as the bear started back down the path, lumbering away from the bait. That's it, it's over.
A Bear Hunting Moment of a Lifetime
The bear stopped again. It stood perfectly still, unobstructed by trees, but safely beyond a position that Keith could draw a shot. Here, it lingered, giving Keith a good long look—a last look, Keith thought— at its magnificent size. Then, the unexpected happened: the bear pivoted again, spinning a full 180-degrees, and resumed its course toward the bait. Not to the bait, though. No. Past the bait. Looking at the bear's course, Keith could see it had no intention of stopping at the occupied barrels. This was full rut and there’s a good chance the bear was just passing through. It was moving in a straight line, headed past the bait to the trail on the other side. There wouldn't be much for a window of opportunity.
Keith drew his bow. As the bear reached the single opening for a decent shot, Keith bleated to draw its attention. The bear paused, and Keith released his arrow, making a perfect 24-yard shot that brought the Cinnamon Giant to an end about a hundred yards up the trail.
As he listened to the giant crash in the near distance, Keith began to shake uncontrollably, struggling just to catch his breath. "I think I just shot the biggest bear I've ever seen in my life," he said, still in disbelief. "That is the greatest bear I've ever seen in my life. That's a giant.”
The Bear of a Million Hunts
Keith climbed down from his stand and tracked the bear to its resting place up the trail and was in disbelief, even as he approached the expired bear. "I have waited my whole life for a chance at a bear like that," said Keith, regarding the enormity of his harvest. "I don't have words right now." Keith was truly rendered speechless as he knelt down to place his hands on the giant's cinnamon fur.
Back at camp, Keith's Cinnamon Giant tipped the scales at nearly 500 pounds and had a green skull measurement at 22 and 5/16 B&C. (Brooks was delighted to fire up the Camp Chef smoker and challenge bear meat's bad rap by making a mouthwatering meal from a bear backstrap and a rainbow trout caught in the lake next to the cabin—"Surf 'n' Turf, Manitoba style," he called it.) And so Keith's Manitoba black bear hunt with Baldy Mountain Outfitters once again raised the bar for Manitoba hunts to come—a bar that had already been set ambitiously high.
To watch this hunt in full, tune into Canada in the Rough TV, visit their website for networks and airtimes or stay tuned to their YouTube channel for a future release. Check out this YouTube Short for a sneak peek!
To book your trophy and colour phase black bear hunt at Baldy Mountain Outfitters, visit their website at www.BaldyMountainOutfitters.ca
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