Just a Bear Story

Last Sunday afternoon was really nice. After the overly cold temps, the mid forties felt great to me. And even though there was still snow on the ground, I was feeling the call to get out in the woods and look for a shed or a neat track or who knows what. Jenelle had just gotten back from a Florida rendezvous with her siblings and was in need of an afternoon nap and so I found myself hiking around in some thick stuff on state ground, hoping to find a shed or something interesting. The closest thing that I found was a bird's nest that had fallen out of a tree. It was neat how it was all woven together and to me at least, I think it's so cool that a bird can know how to weave like that. 

When I'm out in the woods I am usually thinking, wondering what I could write about in my next blog. And so part of my search included looking for something to write about.

When I write, my kids usually critique it. They are by far the best feedback you could ever have. They tell it how it is and for the most part, they're kind in how they do it. 

 Last week Blake read my blog and I asked what he thought. "It was ok, but I like when you write actual stories better."  So for this week I wanted to find a story to write about.

As I was thinking about this I was feeling kind of bummed that I don't have more interesting stories to write about. All of those good stories out there seem to come from those guys that go on several hunting trips or exotic adventures every year. And frankly, we just don't have the kind of money that would allow me to do that and so most of my stories happen pretty much in my backyard. But to be fair, my “backyard" does include several thousand acres of State Forest and I am able to find a little bit of what I like to call adventure, even if it just consists of an afternoon walk.

As I was wandering along and trying to think about what makes a story a story, I started to slide a little and grabbed a hold of a tree to keep from going down. Well the tree that I grabbed onto happened to be a devil's walking stick. If you've never heard of a devil's walking stick, the next time that you are out and about and you see one, you'll now know exactly what it is, because it looks like a devil's walking stick, straight, and just covered in stickers. If you've seen stickers on a locust, well take that times five and you can imagine what a devil's walking stick looks like. They are native here in the east, and they like to grow in clear-cuts and edges of forests and since that's where I was tromping around, well that's what I grabbed.

Since devil's walking sticks are a common plant and most people don't even know what they are, and you're probably wondering if I got deathly sick from the stickers injecting poison into my body, it made me realize that a good story is mostly that, a little bit of unexpected or surprise happenings with an unknown outcome that makes the reader wonder what happens in the end. That's why reading the end of a story first can ruin a good story. 

And that made me realize that maybe I do have interesting stories to tell. But because I know the outcome, I often view them as just another happening, not a big deal. But maybe to you they will be downright interesting. For that matter, what you consider to be your boring and humdrum life may not be as boring as you think it is!

It made me think of some of my bear stories. For us the bear is somewhat common and we don't get too excited when we see one. Sometimes I'll see one and forget all about it by the end of the day. 

But to those visitors that come to our mountains and forests, seeing a bear can be really special. And unless there is a bear feeding at someone's bird feeder or trash everyday, the probability of you getting to see one is fairly slim.

The bear has this image of being the monarch of the forest. They can evoke a lot of fear into those that dare to hike into the backcountry for the first time or even to sleep under the stars in the backyard. 

I still remember the first bear that I ever saw in the wild. I was eighteen or nineteen. We had very few bears in our area at the time. There were rumors of people seeing them, but often it was just viewed as a fantasy or a fabrication of a story. I was bowhunting on the ground on the edge of this hollow on Negro Mountain. The hollow had thick rhododendron on both sides and a little flat of oaks in the bottom. I got excited when I heard something coming my way and was totally surprised when what I hoped would be a big buck gobbling up acorns turned out to be a shiny black bear with a patch of white on its chest. It lumbered by at about 30 yds, and since I was downwind it never knew I was there. Although it gave me a twinge of fear, being so close and armed only with my bow and arrow, I was mostly ecstatic and watched it as long as I could. It meandered off eventually. It was as exciting as getting a big buck and definitely the highlight of my hunting season! 

As seasons came and went, seeing bears became more common. I usually see a handful of bears each season. I still have a healthy respect for bears, but very little fear for them as I've come to know and understand them. I will say very little fear, because I've had those moments when I did feel a twinge of fear inside of me, not being exactly sure what a bear's intent was.

On the other hand, I've had some bears that were close and it was just plum fun to watch. My memory jumps back to this past muzzleloader season. I had filled my tag, which meant that I got to be the guide for Caleb, my oldest son. It was a beautiful October morning and we were sitting on the edge of a hollow close to home. A flash of movement caught our eye and a bear came wandering in our direction. It appeared to me that he was heading towards some thicker laurel and I told Caleb to hold still as bears can't see well and it was on a path that would probably bring it fairly close and it would be fun to watch as it lumbered along. It would eventually get to our downwind side and then run when it did that. It did exactly that and it got closer than we thought it would. At seven yards it whirled and ran. Caleb had his gun up just in case. But by knowing that bears fear people, at least in the wild, we really didn't have to worry and it made a really great memory that probably neither one of us will forget.

Maybe the most exciting and fear provoking bear story that I have, happened a couple of years ago while turkey hunting on the edge of a ridge. I often like to set up so that when a turkey comes in I won't be able to see it until it's within gun range. That gives me the advantage of the turkey not seeing me either. I was calling and hadn't heard any turkeys respond, but sometimes a turkey will sneak in without gobbling. I heard something walking my way but couldn't see it. And then I saw black just over the edge and my mind said turkey. As the black spot got bigger, my mind said bear! At that point excitement overtook fear and common sense, and I thought that I would wait it out to see what this bear did. Now this was a good sized bear and as I watched it sneaking up on its turkey dinner, I suddenly realized that I was the turkey dinner. I have to admit, even with the 12 gauge shotgun between the bear and me, a big chunk of fear jumped into my chest. At twelve yds a bear would normally panic and run from a human or turkey sized object that suddenly appeared in front of him. But when a bear is stalking what he thinks is a turkey, a little movement would probably provoke an aggressive grab for what is getting away. And so I wasn't sure what to do. As the fear and the bear started getting bigger, I kinda froze and just pondered a minute. Should I jump and holler and shoot into the air? About then the bear got a whiff of me and decided something wasn't quite right. Probably too much stuffing and not enough meat. Anyways, I gave a sigh of relief as the bear wandered off.

For those of you that see bears on a regular basis and know what a devil's walking stick is, that probably wasn't much of a story. And for those of you that don't, you probably loved it. It's probably a good reminder for all of us. Everyone's story is a good one to someone, and you're probably living one out right now.

And, no, devil's walking sticks aren't poisonous, and I didn't get an infection, and it will probably happen again. And they are a really neat little tree. 

But really, they're not that special. 

Just google it!

If you would like to see a video of the bear Caleb encountered, you can find it here on my Instagram page.