If you’ve followed any of our previous bear hunts you are familiar with Mike Ditchler, Chef Klaus, from the world famous Chef Klaus Bier Stube in Frankfort, Illinois. This is his 2016 bear hunt in Ontario, Canada. This year Don Beckwith (aka Donald Duck as well as The Duck) came to video and take pictures for some of the bowhunters, and to fish for Smallies and Walleye, and also to help out in camp. His first video/picture duty was with Chef Klaus. They hunted in a Double Bull ground blind and right from the get-go they had bears in the area.
A mature black bear eased along the perimeter of the woods-line, behind the trees far enough to be barely visible and close enough that it could look over the area. Chef Klaus had set up his Double Bull the day after our arrival and, if this big bear had every been cautious because of it, it was unconcerned now. It lumbered out into our small opening and went to the piled logs and started pushing them around, looking for the special mixture of good-eats that Fred Lutger uses to lure the bears. Seconds later, two bear cubs walked out.
Donald Duck took several pictures of the bears as they pawed around for bear goodies. The Duck knew that Mike was not going to shoot this Sow bear with its Cubs and he took video and some pictures as the bears hung out.
Ten minutes passed and the mature bear stood up and starred into the surrounding woods.
Back in the trees, the Chef noticed a black object moving toward the area where the ground blind was set up. It was another bear and as it got closer the other bears faded into the woods. The new bear lumbered into view.
Noislessly, the bear walked into the clear and paused by the logs. With only a couple of hours into his bearhunt, the Chef went back and forth in his mind about shooting this nice bear. But the bear made the Chef’s mind up for him.
He laid down in the logs and starred at the ground blind. Apparently the first bears had scarfed down all the goodies.
Twenty minutes passed and the bear stood up and walked in the direction of the ground blind.
Soon the sun set and Mike and Don walked to their truck and went back to camp. Don had caught several Walleyes and he and Mike fried them up and we had a late supper.
The next day they were back in the ground blind and an hour before dusk a bear stepped out of the woods and went to the logs.
The bear shoved and pawed the logs around and gorgetd itself on Fred’s bear-snack concoction. This was a big mature bear and Chef was ready to put his bow into action. He waited with an arrow on the string and his release in the string-loop as the bear moved logs around, but he was facing the blind and there was no shot opportunity.
Then he sat down in the logs and watched the area around him.
Daylight dimmed and at last light the bear stood up and walked into the woods. Fifteen minutes later Duck and Chef left. Back at camp, Kirby Knochstedt fried up a humongous fish fry with french fries.
