From: Fuzzy
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Date: 29-Jun-15 |
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Father/Son Spring Bear hunt at Victoria Outfitters, Newfoundland, Canada. June 2015
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From: woodshavins
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Date: 29-Jun-15 |
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That's awesome! My buddy goes up that way to Bay or Fundy outfitters every spring. Thick country eh??? ;-)
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From: pops
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Date: 29-Jun-15 |
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Congrats nice bear.
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From: David Mitchell
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Date: 29-Jun-15 |
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That is a nice bear with what looks like a neat vintage bow. Is it a Wing? I also love the back quiver.
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From: NewRiver
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Date: 29-Jun-15 |
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Way to go Nick!!
Alright Cecil, Put a pic of yours up.
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From: Homey88
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Date: 29-Jun-15 |
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Congrats to you!
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 29-Jun-15 |
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 29-Jun-15 |
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yep, it's pretty thick and boggy. and buggy. beautiful though.
Yep, that's an old Wing Recurve and a Three Rivers Archery back quiver kit, he put together. Now guess the make on MY recurve! lol
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From: Barber
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Date: 29-Jun-15 |
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That's cool, and some great memories y'all want forget.
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From: juneauhunt
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Date: 29-Jun-15 |
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Very, very cool. The first thing I noticed was the scenery, and the second thing was the insert on the upper limb. I guess I just don't see that too often.
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From: camodave
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Date: 29-Jun-15 |
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Any issues with the hides being rubbed this late in the year?
DDave
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From: stagetek
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Date: 29-Jun-15 |
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Beautiful area. Nice bears. Congrats.
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From: uphuntn
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Date: 29-Jun-15 |
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Congratulations!!!
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From: arlone
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Date: 29-Jun-15 |
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Pretty country, nice bears, and great memories I'm sure! Congratulations to the two of you! I have a Redwing Hunter with inserts like those.
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From: Joey Ward
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Date: 29-Jun-15 |
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Super!
How about some hunt details?
Congrats to the both of you.
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From: Codjigger
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Date: 29-Jun-15 |
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Congratulations ! On your bears fellows ; I am glad you had a good hunt here in my home province. Are you aware that it is necessary that you be screeched in when you hunt here.? I can do it for you..you must supply the schreech -:) of course. Sandy?
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From: Codjigger
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Date: 29-Jun-15 |
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Congratulations ! On your bears fellows ; I am glad you had a good hunt here in my home province. Are you aware that it is necessary that you be screeched in when you hunt here.? I can do it for you..you must supply the schreech -:) of course. Sandy?
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 29-Jun-15 |
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CAmodave, no, no rubbing yet there. They've not been out but a few weeks. Snow is still on in places.
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From: tonto59
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Date: 29-Jun-15 |
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Congrats! On getting the nice bears.
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From: SB
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Date: 29-Jun-15 |
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So....the old man had to use a sight eh?.... ;)
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From: cacciatore
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Date: 30-Jun-15 |
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Congrats ,nice bows!
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 30-Jun-15 |
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SB, no, no sights on either bow :)
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 30-Jun-15 |
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There IS a sight base, but no pins on it, it's there because there's an integral quiver base for a bow mounted quiver, which I didn't use on this trip.
I have no qualms with using sight pins on a recurve, I just don't on that bow.
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 30-Jun-15 |
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Joey Ward, I'll put some details on when I can. Busy time here.
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 30-Jun-15 |
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OK, well, we hunted with Dave Evans, Victoria Outfitters, #6 Birmingham St Newfoundland, Canada.
Dave's camp is in the Millertown Moose management unit, near Red Indian Lake and the towns of Badger and Millertown, on the Victoria River, and near the famous Exploits River.
Dave invited us up for the 3rd week in June, but Nick had High School graduation (Distinguished Honors >4.0 GPA, thank you) on Friday the 12th. So we didn't leave til early Saturday the 13th.
We (Nick, Snickers the wonder-dog, and I)made it as far as Lowell MA on Saturday, (about 12 road hours) stayed at a Motel Six off I 95 near Lowell, then hit the road next morning. The border crossing was uneventful, they did bring us inside and ask a few questions, and gave me some grief for not having "papers" on the dog (they didn't feel the metal rabies tag was sufficient) but we got on the road again in short order.
That leg went well, had a fuel filter clog and stopped in Port Jervis NY to change it out at an Auto Zone (or Advance Auto, I forget which)
Stopped at Lake George New Brunswick, (Sunday evening the 14th, about 9 road-hours) and tented out at a campground on the lake. Beautiful place, lotsa skeeters.
Monday we ran on
Next day we drove it on in to North Sydney Nova Scotia, only about seven and a half hours, found some good food, beachcombed the rocks at a little park near the ferry landing, and then boarded the ferry about 9:30 PM Atlantic Time (an hour ahead of EST)
Ferry left NS about 11 PM, we slept in the reclining chairs as best we could, and debarked about 7:45 AM Newfoundland Time (1.5 hours ahead of EST)
Got about and hour out of Port Aux Basques and stopped for breakfast at an Irving Big Stop, got back in the truck and the darn ignition switch jammed in the "off/lock" position.
Had tools but no WD-40 or Liquid Wrench, went in the gas station to buy some and they had none.Bought some petroleum ether starting fluid, sprayed the heck out of the switch, dippedthe ignition key in motor oil and wiggled it in the switch, then pulled it our and smacked the switch with the head of a box end wrench. Back in business!
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 30-Jun-15 |
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A bit further down the road, a cow and calf moose crossed. Cool stuff.
Ran on into Corner Brook NF and stopped at a Wal Mart and got some bug spray and Thermacell refills (was starting to feel we hadn't brought enough, lol)
and ran on into Badger to meet Dave at a restaurant. Bought fishing license at a tackle shop, and hit the road for Millertown. this was about 6 hours total drive time from the ferry.
At Millertown, we transferred everything we thought we'd need in camp, to Dave's truck, and headed to the Lodge
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 30-Jun-15 |
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takes about an hour and a half of logging roads and boggy track thru the alder and larch timber, to get into the camp. At the camp, we offloaded everything into two small aluminum motor boats and ran across the river to the lodge.
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 30-Jun-15 |
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Got settled in about 4:30 and hit the river to go to the bear stands. It doesn't get dark in summer til after 10 PM
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 30-Jun-15 |
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got on stand, cool, breezy, overcast. Wind was wrong for my stand location, but what the heck, I am hunting! :-)
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 30-Jun-15 |
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So, neither of us saw bears Tuesday evening, but there's always tomorrow.
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 30-Jun-15 |
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Wednsday morning, fishing.
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 30-Jun-15 |
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Wednsday evening, back to the stands about 4:30 PM.
About an hour later, I had TWO young male bears under my stand, warily approaching the bait.
After some circling and testing the wind, the one with the larger head and glossier coat, knocked the lid off the barrel (spooking the other one) and started to feed.
I came quietly to my feet, nocked an arrow and....
the bear backed out of the barrel and walked away.....
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 30-Jun-15 |
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he circled back, looking at the other bear who was lurking at the edge of the little open (timbered but little undergrowth)area...
then walked cautiously back to the barrel.... when he was about 15 yards away and broadside, slightly quartering away, I picked my spot and watched my arrow pass thru it, and stick in the ground beyond him, as he bolted and ran off down the trail
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 30-Jun-15 |
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as son as he passed from sight (maybe 20 seconds after the shot, I heard a bawling, double moan, then silence.
I took a compass heading on the sound, waited 30 minutes, got down and looked over my arrow. Bright red "heart" blood!
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 30-Jun-15 |
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I stuck the arrow straight up in the spot and took a bearing on the spot where I heard the moan, and walked carefully that way, scanning the timber and stopping often to look and listen.
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 30-Jun-15 |
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as I rounded a little ridge of mossy boulders, just to the left of the trail my bear lay, on his back, stone dead.
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 30-Jun-15 |
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I walked back to the stand, hung my bow off the ladder, and went back and started dragging. Those things drag hard!
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 30-Jun-15 |
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more later
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From: Joey Ward
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Date: 30-Jun-15 |
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I hate those dang vehicle problems on a trip.
Sounds good so far.
Dragging a dead bear is like a dragging a dead human, eh? Grab a limb and start pulling. :-)
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 01-Jul-15 |
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they do Joey. I figure if that's all the trouble I had from a 20 year old truck with a quarter million miles.. we done good ;) more story to come, work is hoppin'
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 01-Jul-15 |
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So, too excited to sit still, and hours til dark, I walked the access road, explored the woods and bogs a bit, took some pictures, examined some lichens and plants, and generally killed time. Thinking how awesome it'd be if Nick had gotten a shot too
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 01-Jul-15 |
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so about 15 minutes past full dark, (10:30ish PM) Dave, the guides, Nick, and the other hunter in camp, Joe, drive up in the van. I tell them about my bear and while the guides are loading him in the van, get Nick's story.
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 01-Jul-15 |
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Apparently he had three bears come in, a very large bear, which never "settled" enough for him to get a shot he felt good about, and who finally left, and two smaller bears.
About 3 minutes before dark (right at sunset) he got a quartering shot at 16 yards, and took it.
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 01-Jul-15 |
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he was confident he saw the arrow bury to the fletch, center-ribs, and he found the broadhead end of the arrow, at the place the bear was when shot, with about a foot of the cedar shaft, the Zwickey Delta 2 blade head, covered in bright red blood.
He was a bit puzzled that the bear did NOT spin at the shot, but the broken arrow half was on the near side of where the bear was.
(I still dunno, but suspect the front leg snapped the arrow as he bolted, and tossed in back and under his belly)
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 01-Jul-15 |
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all that sounded good to me, and though the outfitter decided (wisely) to wait til daylight to recover the bear, I was confident he had filled his tag.
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From: 4nolz@work
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Date: 01-Jul-15 |
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good stuff Fuzzy-did you have to have a passport to get into Canada?
they are usually pretty strict about requiring international health certificates on dogs (I write them alot) you must have had an animal lover on the border.
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 01-Jul-15 |
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4nolz, yes, we had our passports. I'd asked in advance about the dog, and was told we just needed proof of rabies vaccination (which I had) the lady at the border station said I needed "papers" on the dog, but couldn't really tell me what specific "papers" she was referring to.
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 01-Jul-15 |
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this international animal health certificate, is this something a veterinarian produces?
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From: NewRiver
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Date: 01-Jul-15 |
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Great trip and Frankenbow still works.
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 01-Jul-15 |
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you know it Marc! I think it's getting better in it's old age!
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From: 4nolz@work
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Date: 01-Jul-15 |
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Yes it's all paperwork
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From: NewRiver
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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Just like you!
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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4nolz, would you mind to PM me and kinda tell me how that works? as in what to ask the Vet to do, etc? I have my rabies shot records, but never heard of that particular document.
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From: South Farm
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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Congratulations! Two nice bears there. I don't think there's many things more fun a Father and Son can do together than a combo bear- hunt and fishing trip in Canada.
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From: joe vt
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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Congrats Cecil!!! Real nice story and account. Awesome memories for sure :)
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From: Charlie Rehor
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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Great hunt. Newfoundland is a great Province from the people to the scenery to the amazing abundance of hunt able animals. Do your best to get there guys it's special! C
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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So, Nick was a little fidgety, but the resilience of youth and clear conscience prevailed and he slept well, til about 6:00 AM
after a heart breakfast and waiting for the guides to finish morning chores, the outfitter got his shotgun and we headed out to retrieve Nick's bear.
At the shot location, we found the broadhead section of his Port Cedar arrow (50#@28" Wing archery Recurve, 29" wood arrow) about half of the total length of arrow, or 14"
there was no blood, something had licked it clean overnight, there was one black hair stuck in the broken end wood grain
we started out the trail the way Nick remembered the bear ran, the moss carpet wasn't showing any blood
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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the guides and Dave followed the worn trail, Nick and I split off and bore left around a low rocky ridge of mossy boulders. The open larch timber was beginning to give way to more undergrowth... we wakled slowly, peering under and behind bushes, boulders, and logs. We were by then 150 yards from the shot location/stand and Nick stopped and said "sure is thick" ...with a hint of discouragement in his tone.
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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I was still very confident, I trained the boy after all, and though anyone can miss or make a bad shot, he was clear on where he saw the arrow strike, and I have enough bowhunting experience to know the results of that type hit. I KNEW the bear was dead, and nearby.
I told Nick as much, looked to my right, at him and said "we are just gonna have to LOOK...it may take awhile, but he's here, and we WILL find him....there lays your bear"
as I was talking to him to encourage, I looked past the angle of his right shoulder and saw the gleam of the early sun striking dried glossy blood on a bear's hide. We were a scan 20 yards from him.
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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we yelled out to Dave and the guides, they came up with he plastic game sled, and loaded him up to come out to the road...
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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then we took pics
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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then we went fishin'
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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then we hiked around camp some
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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and watched the sun set
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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pretty river
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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took a drive
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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saw some strange geology
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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explored some
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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found a place to camp
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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drove some more
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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found some icebergs
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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drove some more
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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saw some mountains
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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found some vikings
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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I thought they'd be taller, with more hair
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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saw some more pretty stuff
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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and that's it! :)
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From: arlone
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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Thanks for the trip. Lots of pretty country!
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From: Frank V
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Date: 02-Jul-15 |
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Thanks for taking us along on your trip. Congratulations.
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 06-Jul-15 |
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oh, I forgot Snikie!
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From: HighLife
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Date: 16-Jul-15 |
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Fuzzy, I'm taking a guess here 45# add 2# for the young man's draw length 47# give or take a pound Yes
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From: Cyclic-Rivers
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Date: 16-Jul-15 |
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Awesome hunt and Tale.
Didn't see what the make of your bow was?...
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From: Codjigger
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Date: 17-Jul-15 |
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Fuzzy..glad you enjoyed your trip to our 'Rock' did you get a chunk of ice from that bergy bit in your picture? Nothing quite like 5000 yr old glacier ice in 12yr old Scotch whiskey! Sandy.
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From: Codjigger
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Date: 17-Jul-15 |
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Had a mermaid help me.
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 17-Jul-15 |
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Dave, I think that bow is marked 50#@28"? It's the heavier of the two Wing bows you gave him. He favors it greatly and shoots it damned well. It spits an arrow pretty hard too.
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 17-Jul-15 |
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Codjigger, we LOVE Newfoundland, an enchanting Isle indeed. Unfortunately, though we looked we couldn't find any reachable berg ice.
Nice mermaid btw. That water COLD!
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 17-Jul-15 |
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Cyclic-Rivers, the make of my bow is "Fuzzy" ;)
it's a one of a kind Frankenbow, Oregon Compound Riser, Windwalker kit limbs (both those manufactrers have been out of business since before I had gray hair)
I put it together in 1996, the year the tall handsome fella in the pics was born.
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 17-Jul-15 |
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Frankenbow on the bear stand
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From: Codjigger
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Date: 17-Jul-15 |
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Fuzzy..were you aware that the area you were in was the home of the Beothuck indians? They were hunted and slaughtered into extiction by the early settlers.The Beothucks painted their faces and possessions with red ochre, thus giving the term redskins to all natives. I hunted that area for caribou back around 1989. Sandy
P.s I intend to do a post on the Beothucks and red ochre ..soon.
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From: Fuzzy
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Date: 20-Jul-15 |
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Codjigger, actually yes, I was aware. Darned shame that. And not an uncommon story anywhere in North America. Do that post, I'll read it.
Holezone, it is so much "more" than I can describe to you. And thanks for your kind words.
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