A lot of geese have flown south since I had tea that day with Mary but the story should be repeated for folks who might be interested in such.

The little brightly painted house is situated pretty well near the base of the Shining Mountains in South West Alberta.

We were hunting moose or maybe black bears when we drove into her yard to ask for permission to hunt.

The elderly lady invited us in for tea and I have never regretted losing a couple of hours of hunting. For she was one interesting woman.

Over the years she had been married three times. Her three husbands had all been brothers and the first two had left her a widow and she introduced us to #3. The gent looked like about 90 miles of gravel and we quickly and sadly surmised that she just might outlive #3.

Mary told us of one day driving by a guy's house and noticing a big ram head outside. It was about to be burnt for some reason. Perhaps the long ago hunter had died. She rescued the head and took it back home. There it stayed for many years until someone suggested it be measured.

If I remember correctly, the ram had been killed in the 1920's in Blind Canyon (Alberta) just a few miles from where she was serving us tea.

I am familiar with the spot as I once went after a full curl ram in that very same spot. (Another story)

The ram was measured at the Willow Valley show and became the new world record. And so it stayed for quite a few years. And then one day Mary's house burnt down and the ram was gone. (It still stayed #1 for quite a while after that even though it was no longer in existence. I have no idea how that works?)

Mary told us of how in 1949 a grizzly kept coming into their yard at night. Her current husband really wanted to shoot a grizzly but it was nocturnal and he had no luck.

And then one night it came and attacked the cages where they had mink. Lots of damage and dead and missing mink.

So they contacted a local trapper and the (eventually famous author and guide) Andy Russell for help.

A bear trap was set up in the corral with bait. That night around 11:00 p.m. Mary said that she was pouring tea when the grizzly started to roar!

She mentioned that she spilled tea all over the table top.

The three men grabbed their rifles and a flashlight and ran outside.

The flashlight went dead (of course) so the men emptied their rifles at the sound of the roars.

The grizzly, caught by one toe nail, was hit and killed by only one bullet.

That is a awesome story
Thanks for sharing this

You have to read Andy Russell to get the full flavor of that country, no shortage of Grizz there. Quite a story to that ram as well.

Grizz

Scruffy, that is a well told story. Thanks for posting.
Andy Russel was one of my favorite authors. When I was a young fellow,I would read his books and dream of hunting in exotic places, like the Alberta rockies.

I had always heard that head burned in a house fire, now we know the rest of the story!