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Sitting all day in a tree stand, and staying awake through it, can be a tough task. Black  bears tend to feed anytime they get hungry or feel their feeding site is
safe and secure. Mental conditioning for one not very familiar with tree stand hunting is highly recommended before actually taking up the hunt. Take a few pre trips to the hills and spend sometime doing
nothing but sitting still for as long as you can. Bears are an extremely patient critter. They also have a very keen sense of smell and pretty
good hearing. It is not uncommon for a hunter to sit all day at a bait site with one or more bears sitting just outside of vision range. You
can hear them breathing, pushing down trees looking for bugs and alarm noises from the other forest animals letting you know he is near
but never exposing themselves to you. We had sites that within as little as 10 minutes after leaving the stand and area, the trail timers hooked to the bait, would be tripped. These bears
waited us out, many preferring to wait until the cover of darkness before taking a chance when things just don't "smell" right.
Dave and I hit the tree stand and settled in for the day and found ourselves soon drifting off
to sleep. Understanding of Vic wanting us to rest up after the trip first before hunting sunk in hard. It is not an easy task when you are not conditioned. I made it for around 2 1/2 hours
before I had to leave the bait site and stretch out and move around. My muscles had really tied up in knots sitting there in the cool forest. We also had forgotten a pee bottle and you
definitely do not want to relieve yourself anywhere close to the bait site or you might as well just hunt the squirrels. I returned and Dave was also ready to go water a few trees and stretch
I resumed my station in the stand and being wide awake took advantage of the time to listen to the sounds around me and take in a little beauty.
I had chosen to hunt with my 54 Caliber Lyman Great Plains flintlock rifle as I knew with the humidity in
Nova Scotia, my ffffg powder would only be good for the first few days. I had brought enough flash powder for 2 weeks of shooting and packed it well but soon found out why I could not
purchase that specific powder at any local stores. Many flintlocks will fire with fffg powder in the flash pan. Mine needs a few modifications but for now these had not been done and I
can not. The humidity absorbs into ffffg powder very quickly here. I spent some time very quietly looking over my equipment
making sure it was ready when things started to happen. It is an art to shoot an old flintlock, they can be very temperamental if things are not exact. I had not taken enough time at the
range before I left due to commitments on the web and checked hard to make sure everything was right. That was a big mistake I won't make again.
After Dave being gone for around 2 hours I figured 1... A bear had found a tasty treat and
he wasn't coming back. 2... He found a comfy place for a good nap and didn't want to mess things up for me by falling out of the stand as he dozed off. I sat for about another hour and
had to get out and move again. I found Dave back out at the side of the road lounged out on a large granite boulder, soaking up some sun. We talked for a few and prepared to go back in
and sit it out till dark. We applied another good dose of Buckskin Industries Scent
Eliminator to cover any scent we had gathered. (Good products I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!) Very quietly we hiked back into the tree stand and got set up once again. This site had been
visited by a large bear the day before when we stop past to rebait. The rear paw measured around 6 inches across and was very deeply imprinted into the muddy moss around the site. I
had that gut feeling we where being watched after we got in the stand and calmed down.
I had my rifle set next to me after rechecking it once again and had just gotten the video
camera out of the case and was fiddling with it getting ready to go. I again had that strong feeling we had eyes watching us and a squirrel sounded the alarm. Within moments, a
grouse starting clucking along and my dream began to fast unfold. The old bear was coming to eat.....
 About the time I started to hand the video camera to Dave, I caught my first look at a real
live out of the cage black bear in the woods! Things from here seemed to go so fast that it is hard to relate the feelings that slammed into my head all at once. Hand Dave the camera,
grab your rifle, don't make a sound, don't move, don't breathe, you can only imagine how I felt unless you have been in this spot before. Never having had the unfortunate luck of
"buck fever" come over me while I grew up, I felt it now more than I care to say. The bear picked the thickest of brush to come out of and made not one sound doing so. I felt like I was
watching a black ghost move toward the bait site. I heard not one sound from this massive animal other than the very subtle sniffing noise he made as he came towards us. Words can
not begin to describe this animal, it was just what I had wanted.
The bear came straight to the bait site though at the angle he did so, kept me from getting a
shot. As he approached the first tree that had scent smeared on it, he paused to stand erect and lick off the sardine treat we had left for him. We had the tree between us but as he
stretched upward, and I knew from having been there when the bait was set, that the sardines were around 7 foot up on the trunk. This was a beauty, coal black glossy coat, with red nose
markings and a very distinct white patch in the center of his chest. I estimated him to weigh between 450-500 lb. Dave had him in view of the video as I glanced over and I figured.. we're set!!!!!
I have dreamed of this instance in time for so long and here it was facing me at about 26  yards out. This Black Ghost
gently settled down on all fours and walked behind the barrel loaded full of bait. He sniffed his way around it and all the sudden started quickly walking start towards the tree stand. Buck fever
was in high gear and shifting to overdrive now! My flintlock is equipped with a set trigger and a fire trigger. I pulled up, rested
on a stand, looked through the sites and can you guess what trigger I decided to rest my finger on? Pull as I might, that old set trigger held fast. I squeezed the first try flinched the second
and flat out yanked at the third try not understanding what had happened to the thunderous report that was supposed to be happening. By this time the bear was within 15 yards of the
stand and I thought he had put the make on us and was going to come up and show us he was the King in this forest and could climb trees much faster than we could.
Just as suddenly, he whirled 180 degrees and headed back for the bait. Man, my heart was
beating so fast, arms shaking like I had been holding the ol flint up all day long. I looked down and realized that I had been pulling the wrong trigger and probably should have just sat
back and started laughing at that point. BUT.... being the season Trail Master..... hehehehe, I waited for one last try not knowing how long this ol boy was going to stick around and try to
get one good shot. By the time I had made these fast observations, my dream had made the turn and headed to the far end of the site. I had one last clean shooting lane to try and man, I figured I had him yet.
This old boy has been here for a few years and it is more than likely not the first time he has
encountered a hunter in the woods looking to take him home. Trophy quality animals don't get to be trophies by making big mistakes. They are a thinking, cunning critters and this one
was sharp. As his enormous head crossed the plane of the shooting lane, which was about a three foot wide space, I began to squeeze off my shot. His old head barley cleared the lane
and he decided to pick up the pace again. My shot went off! I still figured I had gotten a good clean shot but as the smoke cleared I realized I had flinched pretty hard and that old
bear had given me the slip for sure.
I was so overwhelmed I think I just went nub from the shoulders down. Out of reflex and lot's
of black powder hunting, instinct took over and I began to reload my rifle. Dave on the other hand was out of the tree and headed over to look for blood or hair. My first reaction was what
in the heck are doing? Are ya nut's man? I just shot at the biggest baddest animal I had ever witnessed and you wanna get down on his turf? I got my rifle reloaded and lowered to the
ground and hopped down to help look. Dave started to smile and laugh from deep inside his soul. He knew just exactly what had happened and had his own feeling being relived by
watching mine. Search as we might we could find nothing.
 I had to know. Did I hit him? The sound made by a slug hitting home is a sound you never
forget but this time, for the life of me, I could not recall any sound at all. I jumped back in the tree stand to grab the video camera and see what stories it could tell. Would it hold my
answer? I'll be continuing from here tomorrow and hope you'll stop back past and see.
End Part 2 Back to PART 1
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4 CLICK HERE FOR PART
5
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Cover scents are a very important part of bear
hunting. There keen sense of smell can pick up even the slightest change from normal scents in their environment. Robin Stublen of 
