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Grizzly
Encounters in the North
by
Trapper Ken
On August 3rd. 1999, I decided to fly
to Scatter River airstrip on my trap line and
repair the cabin roof. After loading the plane with
all the supplies I thought I might require, I left
home for the 5 hour plane
trip.
Usually
when flying into this strip I circle around
and check for any bear signs around the cabin or
trail from airstrip to cabin. For some reason I
forgot this important item on this trip. The
weather was so good on this trip all I could think
about was getting into the cabin and getting the
roof fixed.
After
landing I quickly put 2 slugs into my 12-gauge
pump, and got my pack ready to travel the 1/2 mile
down a steep hill, through the forest to the cabin.
To save trips I also tied a new quad battery on the
back of my pack. With my camera around my neck,
pack on my back, a 30 pound roll of clear plastic
over my right shoulder and my shotgun in my left
hand I headed down hill.
As
I always do on this trip between the airstrip
and cabin I was singing as I quickly walked along
the trail. Soon the cabin came into sight and I
quickly saw the stovepipe was still in its
position, meaning no bears had been in the cabin.
With my guard slightly down I continued hurrying
toward the cabin anxious to get this load off my
back. As I came closer I could see the cabin door
was closed, leading me to believe there was no
bears in the immediate area.
It
had been two years since I had been to this
cabin and the alders and willows had
grown several feet since last there, making it very
hard to see the ground around the cabin. Now only
50 ft from the cabin, the only thing on my mind was
getting the load off my back.
Suddenly
at only 30 feet from the cabin door a full grown
Grizzly bear stood up on its hind feet right
in front of the cabin door. My reaction,
immediately change direction, and as I focused my
gaze on the bears middle and started speaking in a
low soothing voice. Trying not to alarm the
bear or challenge it by making eye contact, I was
now walking backward at a steady pace. Suddenly
another bear of the same size stood up beside the
first one. Still backing up and talking to these
bears, a third bear stood up. At less than 50
feet, I now have three adult Grizzlies standing on
their hind legs and trying to identify me by moving
their heads from side to side and smelling the
air.
As
I kept backing up the bears went down on all
four feet, making it impossible to see them in the
willows. Once again the bears stood up,trying
to identify me, however the bears now have backed
up 20 feet. Again they go down on all fours and
this time I caught a glimpse of them heading toward
my left, as they go behind the cabin
and into the forest.
All
this time I have not had time to get any of the
weight off my back and I rush toward the cabin
dropping everything except my shot gun. At the
cabin I quickly picked up a bar and started beating
on the bottom of an empty 45 gallon drum. That's
the last time I saw those bears, however I sure
kept my eyes open for the rest of that
trip.
After
I had time to think about this encounter, I quickly
decided to take the plug out of my shotgun so as to
be able to load 5 shells instead of the 2 that I
had. I was happy to be on the roof fixing it
while keeping an ever present look out for those
Grizzlies.
Those
bears had dug a hole in the ground right at the
door, and it was filled with water from the
previous nights rain. Due to the very warm weather
during the day the bears had been laying in that
hole, keeping cool.
This
is one bear encounter I will never forget and it
sure helps to keep my attention focused on what is
around me when travelling in the bush.
Trapper
Ken
Trapper
Ken's Bio
Its
not common to find a real life trapper and bush
pilot in today's world, even in Northwestern
Canada, but there are still a few around and
Trapper Ken is one of the best. In the 1970's and
early 1980's Trapper Ken was a small business owner
with a knack for fixing and building things with
his own hands who lived in central British Columbia
Canada. He spent most of his spare time flying
amphibious bush planes into remote areas of the
province for camping and fishing trips, in many
cases to cabins he would build along the coast of
remote lakes that you can only fly into.
In
spite of an entrepreneurial knack, in 1982 Trapper
Ken's love of the bush over came him, so he sold
his construction company and bought a trap line up
in the Liard River Region of Northern British
Columbia. For the last 20 years he has been happily
trapping away in the winter while spending summers
building bush cabins and flying his bush plane
around the rugged mountain landscape of his home
province in Canada. In one memorable day in the
spring of 1998 he had to kill two hungry Black
Bears that attacked him in the span of a few hours.
He is a long time member of the BC Trappers
Association, and his hand made stove pipe cook
stoves are the hottest gift at the annual
convention prize give away.
However,
it is not surprising that his entrepreneurial
spirit would show itself again and in 2000 Trapper
Ken decided to share his exciting lifestyle with
those less fortunate than him and offer adventure
tours to a few groups a year in addition to his
usual routine. This was the birth of
TrapperKen.com.
Everyone
who has accompanied Trapper Ken on one of these
adventure tours has been left with a feeling that
it was a life defining experience. Its usually
something the rest of your city dwelling buddies
can not quite understand or relate to, but is
something you would have only regretted for not
going
More
details: Info@TrapperKen.com
Web
site:
http://www.canadian-wilderness-trapline-experience.com
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