Saturday, April 30, 2016

Bear meeting twice while hunting for wild boar





 Mr big bear picture taken in the area



A normal way hunting for Wild boars in Sweden is to feed the boars with grain , corns, peas , bread or similar products somewhere out in the woods.
You need to do this frequently so that the boars always know there is something good to eat there.

Then u need to go out there in the evening before it gets dark as the pigs are more active during the dark hours of the day. You sit there for hours and frequently during a long period of time sometimes before any pig appears and u get an opportunity to shoot. A lot of work and waiting mostly.
But very relaxing also and exciting when u start to hear noices in the bushes and start hoping.

You see a lot of animals when u sit there. Badgers, foxes, hares, deers etc. while u are waiting.
Very nice !
But u never expect to see what I have experienced twice. 4 years and a few kilometers between.
Both experiences was pretty similar to each other.

I went out in the evening at late summer time. Very hopeful to shoot a pig .
Sitting and waiting and suddenly hearing a load sound. Branches breaks loudly in the wood.
The heart starts pumping and your think the big one is coming.

You unsecuring the rifle and start aiming so that u don´t need to do any  big movements when the
boar enters the scene .
But when it shows it´s big head and the massive body u soon starts realizing this is not
a boar. Not a boar at all. The distance both times was only 10-15 meters away from where I sit.
You pretty much having a big male brown bear in your knee.

The first hut was on legs 2-3 meters up in the air. Felt a little bit more safe though. The second hut was on the ground more or less. The wind must have been good both times as the bear wasn´t affraid at all and didn´t seem to care though.

The first time the bear came from the bushes 20 meters in front of me. Showing it´s head a few seconds before he climbed out in the open and started to run towards the food 10 meters in front of me. I slowly glided down on the chair I sat on so that only the top of my head and eyes was above the opening I looked through.
The bear started to eat bread and corns on the ground. He ate very clear and loudly. After 30 minutes it layed down on it´s back over the food that was left.
It stared to yawn a couple of times and then it layed down like that for at least 15 minutes.
My back was hurting and I started do think I had to stay in the weired position I was sitting in for the rest of the night. For sure I sat still like a stone where I was.
The rifle was unsecured though in case. I though to my self the bear is nice and harmful and wont do anything. It´s probably more scare for u . But then I thought. I´m sitting close to the food and it might try to protect it from me or maybe see me as a better catch to eat.

Anyway the bear went up on it´s legs again. Started to walk slowly back to where it arrived.
Without any signals the bear started to run back in to the bushes and away . Could hear it very clear when like a train running through. Must have sensed something I believe scaring it .

It was pretty dark now and the clock was still not midnight.
I started to call my friends and parents and tell the story. First I thought I stay the night in the hut.
Most I talked to said no problem some told me that bears sometimes runaway like that and circle back behind u when it knows where u are. Then it waits for you.
Not the signals I needed. I waited for another 30 minutes and then I took my chances.
Checking around everywhere with the light and the unsecured rifle ready with the finger on the trigger in case. Not the safest way to move back to the car in bad terrain and darkness.
The car was only 30 meters away from where I sat so I reached it pretty fast . It has never felt so good to close the car door and move back home.

The second time a encountered the same male bear I believe was 2 years later only a few kilometers away from the first.
Then it was midsummer time and light most of the night.
I new the pigs was there every night for along time. I had missed them every time. But not tonight.
I had prepared some sandwiches, coffe and candy to be able to hold out all night if needed.
Tonight I was going to shoot a big for sure.
I think it was around 7-8 in the evening I went out. The clock was now almost 3 in the morning.
I knew the pigs sometimes turned up around 5 in the morning.
I was going to wait them out all night if necessary this time.
I was very sleepy and tired around 3 when I suddenly hear a big break in the woods behind me.
My heart started to pump adrenaline and I wasn´t sleepy anymore.
Same as last time. A big boar I thought. Now I was going to get it.
Just 2-3 meters besides the hut I see the bear running down to the corn in front of the hut only 10-15 meters away this time also. It doesn´t seem to notice me this time either.
This time it felt much closer as it just past me also. I don´t know but I felt more relaxed this time.
I reached for my mobile and closed the flash on the camera. Then I tried to get a few pictures.
This time I hade a camo net in front of the window. It was a perfect timing I thought.
The bear was out there for about 30 minutes this time. I bent down my head and tried to check the mobile if the pictures was ok. They were just dark and it seemed to be 200 meters away. No good pictures. When I did this I heard this load noice of branches breaking.
I thought the bear was attacking the hut as it seemed so close. It was a real chock feeling before
I could hear the bear running away in the distance.
Now it was getting very light and the sun started to shine bright.
This time it felt much better to move to the car.
Before I did that I took a break in the hut drinking the last coffee. I felt pretty calm then I thought.
When I lifted the coffee mug my hand shaked like crazy.
Supposed there was a lot of adrenaline left . Funny feeling.

I suppose I have been very lucky to see this magnificent animal so close.
Two times in this big area of Sweden where there hardly are supposed to be any bears at all
is pretty amazing.
Just wondering if I will get the opportunity to see this animal a third time. Hope I have the same luck then though the third time.
The bear seems to walk around a lot in the area so the chance might turn up again one day.

Thanks for sharing my experience!





This was a close call . Just days before my first real meeting with Mr Bear:
http://www.unt.se/start/bjorn-i-knutbyskog-113584.aspx


This was my second meeting:
http://www.unt.se/uppland/uppsala/han-motte-bjorn-igen-2505753.aspx








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