Several years ago at the Jacksonville, FL SCI annual fundraiser, I bought a deer hunt at auction. A bunch of stuff on part of both the outfitter and me caused us to keep putting off the hunt.

When my daughter let me know that she'd finish her studies at the University of Georgia cum laude I knew a really good present was in order. I emailed Ray at Arrow Lake Outfitters and asked if we could come in the spring for a bear instead of the deer hunt we'd been delaying. Ray Lazaruk of Arrow Lake Outfitters was all virtual smiles and told us to get to Rossburn, Manitoba on May 20th.

We flew up on Delta and had the particular delight of meeting Bob Gold, a Delta captain and AR member in Minneapolis for lunch. Bob is planning his second trip for Cape Buffalo and we had a great time discussing his forthcoming trip. Ain't AR great for getting Africaphiles together! Thanks Saeed!

We spent the night in Winnipeg and drove over to Rossburg on Sunday morning. It was glorious as Spring had sprung and everything was green and just plain beautiful.

Ray's lodge is just perfect, right on Arrow Lake and his girlfriend, Connie sure can cook the vittles just right. We made sure Emmy's rifle was still shooting the 250 grain Barnes TTSX's on target (It was) and we got a good night's sleep eagerly awaiting Monday evening in the blind.

Ray had been bragging about all the bears we'd see, and, to be honest, I didn't know whether to think it good marketing or a bit of puffing.

He wasn't puffing. Not a bit!

Our anticipation became reality when we got to the quite comfortable, elevated blind about 4:00 p.m. and climbed in. The elevated box (a dual use one for deer hunting, too) was situated near the end of a grassy road running through a swampy birch forest. Two barrels of an oat and rendered fat mixture and dollops of cake frosting from a bakery were about 70 yards away across the over sized "turn-around" at the end of the 20 yard wide incursion into the bush.

We sat and read and, as usual, were getting a wee bit bored as the hours ticked away. We did have fun, talking about graduate school, a new boyfriend (hers of course ), our trips to Africa, etc, though.

About 8:00 p.m., Emmy nudged me and pointed to her right. Deep in the woods were two black heads peeping above weeds and grass, obviously trying the wind. They dropped down and about 20 minutes later, both bears appeared at the bait. Emmy was mighty excited about seeing her first bear (out of a zoo, I guess) and her grinning face made my day.

I'd guess that both bears were about 200 lbs. One was badly rubbed and the other still prime. They seemed to take turns at being dominant, alternating swatting the heck out of each other, the abused brother??? running away a dozen yards or so and awaiting his time to approach the other and knock the heck out of him. We could hear them snapping a making "chucking" sounds. It was just plain cool!

This went on for 30 minutes or so until both looked up, woofed a bit and ran off into the woods a few yards.

A yellow blonde bear appeared, maybe 240 lbs, and began to roll the barrels and enjoy his supper. He was quite casual about it and didn't seem to pay but minimum attention to the Marx brothers who slowly crept within a few yards of the treats but would skedaddle when Blondie glared at them.

We studied the beautiful colored bear hard, but we'd set our minimum at 300 lbs and Emmy just put the cross-hairs on him and made a little whispered "pow" noise and let him grow a year.

About 30 minutes before dark, all three bears looked to our right and loped into the bush.

Sure enough, about 10 minutes later, a coal black boar came sauntering in without a care in the world. Being the calm and sophisticated dad that I am, I told Emmy to "Shoot that son-of-a-bitch!" Even after 15 or so bears myself, I do still get excited, I guess.

Emmy put the scope on the new guy but couldn't really get the cross-hairs where she wanted them in the fading light. Her scope was a Leupold VXR 2-7 with an illuminated reticule and I reached over and hit the rheostat control a couple of time, turning on the second lowest setting. Emmy put the gun back on the bear and turned and smiled. That was a MasterCard moment.

She waited a bit until the bear was broadside and put the first bullet in the heart. The bear flipped over on its back and began kicking but, after 5 seconds or so, began to try to get up. We, of course didn't know (at that time) where the first bullet went, and I told her to shoot him again. Like a pro, Emmy worked the bolt and popped him again, albeit in the center of the twisting black mass. Amazingly, the "dead" bear got up and began to run in the direction from which he had come. He only got about 30 yards when Emmy rolled him with her third shot. That's my girl!

When we put the bear on the scales, he weighted 312 lbs, just over what we had promised to wait for. A fine first bear and just the type of whetting of appetite for a fledgling distaff bear hunter.

Sorry about the quality of the picture (a cell phone) but here's the blonde by the barrel keeping an eye on one of the blacks:



Emmy's bear and a good smile:



Some thoughts on equipment:

Emmy's graduation rifle is a Ruger Hawkeye Alaskan in .375 Ruger. I traded the composite stock for a wood one off of an African model, had it bedded well and shortend the pull to 13" with a LimbSaver recoil pad. We loaded 250 grain TTSX bullets to a mild 2600 fps and recoil wasn't even mentioned by either of us when we shot the rifle. Exit wounds were 1" in diameter and the lungs were jelly.

The Leupold VX-R 2x7x33mm illuminated scope was just perfect. It "gathered" light well and when the black coat of the bear at twilight seemed to soak up the reticule, switching on the illuminated dot a bit, did the trick.

Ray at Arrow Lake Outfitters certainly has the bear. Dozens seem to come out of Riding Mountain Park every evening. We had three folks hunting and everyone saw multiple shooters each night. Emmy and I will be back for sure.

Sounds and looks like a great hunt and bear.

When my daugher shot her last bear a 500 pounder she said I was more excited then she was.

Well I was excited for her.

nice!.......Congratulations

Awesome stuff!

Very nice - congrats!

Your daughter is fabulously good looking and hunts bears with a 375 Ruger.....

I'd say she is pretty much perfect!

Awesome hunt and story Judge. We leave for our first Father / Daughter bear hunt on the 7th. Hope mine can hold out for a big one too.

Congratulations nice bear.What a lucky guy having a daughter that wants to hunt with you. Bill

Congratulations to both Emmy, and her Dad! Very nice bear

Nice bear!

Great story and excellent bear!
Congratulations to Emmy for starting a successful and productive life.
You're a lucky man Mr Judge, and I know the feeling.

Zeke

BTW: I love hunting with my daughters. They're all married but still like hanging out in hunting camp with the old man.

Cool!

Ernest,
Give Emmy a "high five" from me! Great to see her with such a fine trophy and it seemed to be a perfect father/daughter trip. Well done to the both of ya!

Congrats to both of you! Sounds like a great trip.

Congratulations to both of you for hunting together. Beautiful Bear.
Tim

A buffalo cow and now a black bear. What will be next Judge?

Great stuff!

Loving these daughter/dad hunts......congrats!