Prologue. "In my opinion, hunting is the highest pleasure. But it is necessary to have a serious interest in it, as an instrument for studying nature, with the help of which a lot of material is extracted for life, for science and for art, in order for hunting to serve as a source of pleasure for an educated and developed person. I have a passion for all kinds of hunting; however, I prefer, truly royal hunting – bear hunting.” A.A. Shirinsky-Shikhmatov The end of April in Kamchatka is traditionally considered the beginning of bear hunting. The beast is just beginning to wake up and come out of the den after a long winter hibernation. Traditional Russian bear hunting "in the den" is not popular on the peninsula. It was not yet banned by our authority at that time. Therefore, both Russian and foreign hunters tend to come to Kamchatka in April-May in order to hunt a large brown bear, which is already coming out of the den and hunters will be able to evaluate its trophy qualities. That time I had to stay in Kamchatka for more than two weeks. Jerry and I (my regular customer from the USA) flew to the peninsula on April 28. We were met at the airport by local partners.
It's nice to meet my partners, guides and all those with whom I work during the hunts every time. Such warm, friendly relations last years of cooperation, during which everything happened and not only pleasant. But the main thing is how you get out of all difficult situations, and build your relationships with these people. It's nice to see that your partners are working hard and try to do everything to ensure success in hunting and organize optimally good accommodation even in tent mountain camps. A couple of hundred kilometers quickly flew during the conversations when we arrived to a once-existing village, from which only a few houses and one resident remained at the moment. Our guides Yuri and Alexander, with whom I had already participated in hunts, were already waiting for us with snowmobiles and sleds. We loaded quickly the luggage and food onto the sledge, and changed into hunting clothes. The path ahead was small in length, but difficult in terms of terrain and weather conditions. Every time I go to the camp, it reminds me of one of the stages of a rally, where the track tests you, snowmobiles, and cargo in a sled. At last we arrived. The base was a two-store capital building. Originally it was a small cabin with one room and a vestibule. Later, another bedroom, a spacious living room and two bedrooms on the second floor were added around it. There is a kitchen and another room opposite the living room. There is a fireplace in the living room, which is heated almost constantly, heating the room. Each room has an oven, which allows you to adjust the temperature at will. Thus, a team of hunters, guides and a cook can live at the base. We went skiing very carefully, trying not to make too much noise with the movements of the skis. There were even more bear tracks around. We saw dens, from which fresh mud tracks led. This meant only one thing, the owner of the den had recently left it and was nearby in the first days after waking up.
We waited for Sasha, then moved to another gorge, where Yura saw a bear. Here it is necessary to note the professionalism of our guides. In that particular case, Yuri, who used primitive Russian binoculars, was able to see a small dot on the slope from a distance of 6 kilometers (!), which turned out to be a good trophy bear. But at first he was doubtful. Only when we walked a couple of kilometers, everyone could notice that the point was moving and that's what always gave the bears away. The trip for Jerry wasn't exactly easy. It was not so easy, skiing on the Kamchatka ascents and descents at the age of 70. He fell into the soft, loose snow several times, but got up and walked again. Such falls have added interesting shots to my film. The most pleasant thing in such situations is that the hunter never gets discouraged, goes ahead and even jokes! And it always works for success. When we had approached about 1.5 kilometers to the bear, we could no longer afford to relax for a second. The terrain and small groups of trees helped us significantly, we advanced as a special forces group on a particularly important task among them. All in white camouflage suits. We even didn’t talk. We were mostly explained by gestures or whispers. We thought through every step, every movement. I was very worried about the wind, which was constantly changing direction. Nevertheless, we managed to approach the bear at a distance of about 600-700 meters. These were the last big trees we could hide behind. There was an open foot of the slope in front of us, on which we would be visible at a glance.
The bear was lying on the slope facing into the gorge along which we were walking. It was illuminated by the bright spring Kamchatka sun, and warmed its sides after a long hibernation in the den.
We moved 50 meters quickly and quietly and settled down in the snow almost in the open, hiding behind only small acacia bushes. I think, Jerry was glad to take off his skis and stand on the snow crust. But we had not to stand, but to sit and sit as quietly as possible without sudden movements, so as not to unmask in front of the bear. We began to look at our bear through binoculars and pray to God for luck. And, obviously, our prayers were answered. After 30-40 minutes, the bear moved slowly in our direction.
Meanwhile, the bear moved to the edge of the plateau to the right of us. Jerry prepared a carbine, and we waited for our bear to approach a place free of trees. As soon as the bear's body was in the gap between the trees, Jerry took aim and fired the first shot. The distance to shoot at the bear was the limit, if we know the power of the beast, its resistance to injury and the effect of bullet energy on such a strong animal. But the hunter could no longer test his fate and decided to act. After the shot, it was clear that the bullet of the CDP cartridge of 300 caliber Win.Mag. hit the target. The bear stopped, slightly backing away, as after a knockdown, stood motionless for a few moments, and then abruptly turned around and galloped in the opposite direction, to the gorge from which it had left a few moments earlier. The hunter made a couple more shots, but it seemed to me that he missed both times, because shots rarely brought a positive result when made at a moving animal at a maximum distance and through trees. Anyway, the beast ran 100 meters through the deep snow and began to weaken.
Serious wounds did their job, and the beast passed away without getting to the stream. It fell immediately at the edge of a small ravine through which a stream flowed.
It was necessary to make a control shot at the slaughter place of the bear at the end of the hunt. So we did. And only then the team members were finally able to relieve all the tension that was growing with every hour and then minute throughout the day. The hunter was happy with a gorgeous trophy, but the guides and I were happy with a job well done.
As soon as the process was completed, we stretched the skin and measured it 2 meters 80 centimeters from nose to tail! It was dark brown, without bedsores, with a fine thick undercoat and strong guard hair.
What could be better at this moment for a hunter than the warmth of the hearth, a delicious hot dinner, good company, traditional toasts for hunting and nature, outside the window the delightful mountains of Kamchatka and the dark blue sky studded with a diamond scattering of stars - who has been planning and waiting for that hunt for a whole year?!
