SPRING BEAR HUNT, OR NO ONE WANTED TO DIE! The bait – the carcass of a hoofed animal left in winter – worked well. My friend, Dersu Uzala from Tver, went to check the bait and install a camera trap. He did not take a carbine with him for some reason. Usually, he is usually armed and ready for unexpected encounters. "A meeting with a bear is unlikely," - he thought, and went to the place where the bait was.
Suddenly, I saw a black spot. "A boar", - he thought. The boar rose its head, and turned out to be a bear. It was a big, matured bear with a gorgeous black coat, shiny after winter, looked right at him. The distance was 20 – 25 meters, the bear sat on the prey and was ready to defend it. It was really dangerous situation. My friend turned on the reverse gear at a slow speed, and tried to go back, not to provoke the bear. There were two thoughts in his head: "Why the hell didn't I take a carbine?" and "How could I part with the owner of the taiga without consequences?” I could imagine how those thoughts clicked in his head, like a car turn signal. When he reached the car, he exhaled and called me with undisguised emotions. The call caught me off guard.
I was sitting in a shelter at that time, hunting a goose. I put aside the thermos, carefully offered to me by another friend of mine, and realized that I was not a good person and... why do I need those geese? My friend was almost eaten by a bear while the geese were flying. It became clear that bird's hunting was over and another hunt began, no, not for woodcock, but for the evil spring bear – the top of the food chain! I urgently had to rush to Moscow for a carbine and return to the taiga for the success of the event. So, I rushed with the breeze and full determination to punish the bear as much as 600 km. So, I started a dangerous hunt, where the hunter and the prey are determined by luck, as in the Olympic tournament. The fist attempt. I climbed a tree, had settled down comfortably, and began to wait. But I waited – the rain only, which poured for six hours without ceasing. But can any rain stop a hunter who is waiting for a bear?! I had changed the second raincoat, soaked to the skin, and continued to wait. "The birds are singing – it's for good weather," said my friend, encouraging me, and went to the house to wait for my call. The birds sang really to the beat of the rain, rejoicing in the coming spring. I hoped that the rain would subside, but it pounded with relentless force. When it got completely dark, the birds fell silent, but the rain kept coming and going. It became quite sad somehow. I waited for an hour, then decided to finish the water procedures and called a friend, asked him to pick me up. I must say that I was scary to walk through the night forest from the bait, which the bear had already tried. Imagination drawn various pictures of the meeting with the bear, adding adrenaline and the desire to look around all the time and go faster. I exhaled and discharged the carbine only when coming out of the forest into the field. Finally, the car took me home, to the warmth and comfort, where my dinner was already waited for me with a well-deserved glass of alcohol. Later, I thought over the first day of hunting and the possible behavior of the bear in my head, and decided that the wind was favorable, as the noisy rain, which washed away the traces and the spare parts. It all should have contributed to success. But why didn't the bear come out? Most likely, it was not hungry yet and decided to wait out the rain. The next day was more encouraging because the rain had stopped and the weather had improved. In addition, the bear has not eaten for the second day, according to our calculations, and had to visit to check the bait. I was alarmed only by the wind that changed direction, blowing treacherously from me. We decided not to waste the evening and try our luck. At five o'clock in the evening I climbed up and settled comfortably in a tree. Nature came to life after the rain, birds chirped and overflowed with joyful overflows of their bizarre songs. The forest was full of movement, and guests began to visit me. First of all, a moose with a big beard passed by. Then, quietly and cautiously, a cow crept up. It came very close, and stayed for a long time, sniffing at my tracks, listening and deciding where to go next? Suddenly, a shot rang out somewhere behind on the field, and then another and another! Hunters were shooting woodcocks in the evening. I was thinking: would that shooting scare the bear away? At 9:30, the shooting subsided. The forest was plunged into darkness – it was time to wait for the beast. A twig cracked slightly, then another. I became alert, looked cautiously into the thermal imager – raccoons came out on carrion. But they didn't stay for a long time, something alerted them and they ran away. "It's a good sign," - I thought. Suddenly, an incomprehensible noise very close to me scared me. I looked into the thermal imager – the owl sat down on a nearby branch and looked at me, and I looked at it. So, we looked at each other, it was funny. "Hello, my friend! You are a night hunter also and we are of the same blood!” It was a good evening. The forest dwellers didn't let me get bored. The bear had to be somewhere nearby. Usually, it does not go far away after a meal, it prefers to lay down to digest what it has eaten and guard the prey. Therefore, it is necessary to approach the place as quietly as possible. Time passes slowly in the night forest. The bear moves silently on wet grass and leaves. I tried to peer into the twilight and listen, trying to separate the sounds of the forest from the walking beast. The more experienced you get more accurately identify them and do not pay attention to the creaks, crackles, rustles that fill the forest, especially in windy weather. Suddenly you get alarmed when you hear something, adrenaline makes your heart beats fast, and you start breathing often, so it seems that the whole forest hears you. This anticipation of a long-awaited meeting with the beast is the most exciting part of hunting. Suddenly, there was a crack and a loud sound of a falling tree ahead of me on the right, two hundred meters away from me. It was the bear! And it was dissatisfied with something. I froze in anticipation. In ten or fifteen minutes, the sound was repeated, but already to my right: the bear dropped another tree. I took the carbine slowly at the ready and anxiously awaited the appearance of the bear. It was the climax of the hunt, when it was decided: to be or not to be! Half an hour passed, then an hour, everything was quiet. I was disappointed, and realized that the bear was gone. What's happened? Did the wind let me down and he exposed me? I sat waiting deep into the night, hoping that the bear would come back. But my hopes were fading with every passing hour, and I decided to leave the place. My friend and I analyzed the situation later, and decided that the bear sensed me, got angry and showed that it knew about my presence by knocking down dead wood. That meant it was on its guard now. So, the second day of the competition called "who will outwit whom" ended in favor of the bear. On the morning of the third day, I went to the place to see if it visited the place at the dawn, and took a control photo of the bait. The bear didn't come. It was the third day for it without food, and it increased the likelihood of its going to the bait. I was inspired by these considerations, and went to place in the third time in full determination, focused on the result, even if I had to seat there all night until morning. Hunting excitement was a strong motivator, the desire to get an animal inspired feat. As a result, I satisfied my hunting fervor with a record waiting for a animal. I sat from 6 pm to 6 am! But the bear did not appreciate my heroism, and I went to sleep off, tired, without any prey. There was no sense to stay another night there, and I went home after installing a camera trap. So the first part of the spring bear hunt ended. A week passed, the May holidays were coming, and I decided to continue hunting on those days. Over the past week, I received two offers from friends to hunt a bear in Khakassia and on the Kola Peninsula. I could not take advantage of the invitations due to various circumstances, and decided to go back to the Tver region. The road to hunting is always a holiday. I had loaded the car with everything necessary, and went on the road in a great mood. The first evening of hunting was gloomy, strong wind and low temperature reminded me of a cold, prolonged spring. It became more fun when I saw a fox hunting prey. Its red color fur shone like the sun, a warm spot against the background of a gray forest that had not woken up after winter. At dusk, I heard a woodcock flying somewhere nearby, it reminded me that it was spring after all. Suddenly a branch snapped in the forest! I became alert, began to look cautiously into the thermal imager. I saw the movement of a white spot among the trees. What was it? Was it really a long-awaited bear? The spot grew larger and turned into a boar. A three-year-old cleaver headed straight in my direction. It studied something under its feet, then stopped, sniffing its nickel. When it reached my tracks, it became alert and began to suck in air noisily especially diligently. It felt that something was wrong, it snorted and was gone. Then the raccoons came. And the bear did not appear to my chagrin. The second day was excellent warm weather, the Sun warmed, lifting the mood. I'd been on a place since 5 pm, time was passing, dusk was approaching. I decided to get up, stretch and take a sip from the thermos. Experienced hunters say that a turning point in hunting occurs at such moments, and events catch the hunter by surprise. So, it was. I saw a black spot moving towards the bait between the trees while opening the thermos. Bear! I changed the thermos to a carbine very carefully, sat down for a convenient stop of the gun and waited. The wind blow in the wrong direction, the bear sensed something, and began to walk around me in a circle. I could clearly see ir in the gaps of the trees, and it was possible to shoot him at some moments. But there it was risky. I wanted to wait for it to come out clean place. The bear walked around me and, sensed something, snorted and galloped off into the forest. I was disappointed! What should I do? There was still a lot of time before the end of the hunt, and there was no point to leave the place it so early. I decided to wait. A little over an hour passed, and I heard the beast approaching again. It was already dark, so it was possible to see it through a thermal imager only. It was the same as an hour ago. It walked around me, sensed me again and ran away. I was encouraged by its persistence, and thought that it would come back in an hour and be bolder in the dark. So, It happened. It was like a game of hide and seek, it was even funny. It had already approached three times; the time was approaching midnight – the control point of the completion of the hunt. I didn’t contact with anybody yet. Nobody bothered me. The fourth attempt. It was already 1 am of the night, the bear stood and waited in the bushes. I guessed that it tried to listen and sniff the place, then decided and went out to the clean place to the bait. The moment of truth! I could see it clearly through the scope, but waited for a comfortable position. At last, it stood sideways. The crosshair was at the mid-height of the first half of the body. The flash of the shot blinded the thermal imager, I heard a roar. The bear jumped up and rushed in my direction with a roar, breaking everything in its path. I twisted the bolt of the carbine quickly and looked for the moment to re-fire. I saw how white spots remained behind the beast. Blood. Then the bear fell into a gap between the trees and I shot again! The fuss had subsided, the bear lied in 10 meters away from me. I stood in a daze and watched it, ready to make a control shot. A minute passed, then another, a third one– the beast was still without movement. I understood that I got it. Hooray! I called my friends immediately. - Do you shoot? - Yes, I did. - What is the result? - Everything is good, it lays near me. - Congratulations! - I heard in the radio. It was the most welcome greeting that a hunter could hear. So, we all stay near the trophy. It became the nice male, 5-6 years old, with an excellent thick coat after hibernation. It was the great trophy. Then there was a photo session, congratulations and a glass of blood by tradition. The bear was got, I was satisfied. See you on the next hunts, my brothers! Good luck to everyone! ...
