Carefully placing each footstep in the deep moss, John slowly made his way towards the base of the large pine tree, his eyes riveted on the mound of fur that gently rose and fell in step with his every breath. Perched in the dead top of an adjacent veteran fir, a large raven surveyed his progress, occasionally commenting to its peers, the harsh caws merging with a cacophony of gurgles and squawks tumbling through the branches.
Streaks of sunlight were only now making their way through the forest canopy, a welcome reprieve from the darkness that hid the subtleties of their task, the nuances of movement that could spell the difference. Hopefully the slivers of early morning light had been enough when Dave had taken the shot, aiming for the neck or front shoulder, but truthfully, just hoping to make a clean hit.
Getting closer, John strained to see where the dart had hit as he readied the small aluminum pole to prod the bear. Although partially hidden by the wide trunk of the tree, he thought he could see the dart protruding from the animal’s hindquarter and took this as a sign that the barbed point had embedded itself in the thick coat.
Turning back to Dave, he gave a thumb’s up before reaching out with both hands and easing the pole into the bear’s left shoulder. Getting no response he pushed a little harder, rocking the bear slightly as he strained against the weight.
The next seconds were a blur as five hundred pounds of survival, instinctively catapulted itself towards John. Charging around the base of the tree before anyone could react, the grizzly brought up within inches of its objective as the heavy cable securing the leghold snare snapped to attention.
Bowled over by the outburst, John dropped the pole as he fell backwards into a patch of buffaloberry, looking past his feet into the frothing mouth and glazed eyes as the grizzly collected its wits and wobbled to its feet. Rising on two legs, the bear lunged forward again, testing the strength of the cable clamps, which relinquished slightly to the tremendous force.
Rising again as John rolled over and tried to scramble to safety, the grizzly’s third lunge was stopped short as a shotgun blast reverberated through the valley, sending an explosion of ravens skyward.
Pulling himself through the tangle of underbrush John staggered to his feet and surveyed the scene behind him as Dave made his way toward the bear.
“What the hell did you do that for?” said John, shaking with the adrenaline rush pulsing through his veins.
“It was him or you,” said Dave, reaching down and picking up the twisted metal clamp that had finally succumbed to the grizzly’s feat of strength. “You could say thanks.”
“Damn,” said John, slowly regaining his composure. “I hate this.”
“Do you think I like it?” said Dave, prodding the bear with the barrel of the gun.
“No, I know you don’t,” said John. “Sorry to give you a hard time.”
“Apology accepted,” said Dave.
“It’s just that there’s got to be a better way,” said John, brushing the dirt from his pants and running a hand through his disheveled hair.
“Well, when you figure it out, let me know. In the meantime, I’ll get the chopper here so we can sling this bad boy to the pit.”
“Why don’t we just leave him,” said John. “Let Nature take care of him.”
“You know we can’t do that John. He’ll just attract other bears and the next thing you know we’ll have someone else running into trouble.”
“But this is a closed area,” said John. “No one is supposed to be in here anyway.”
“Right,” said Dave. “And we both know how well that works.”
“Yah, well it would work better if management had some balls and would let us charge some of these yahoos who think they can cut trails everywhere they want to.”
“Save it,” said Dave, as he keyed the mic strapped to his radio chest harness and called Dispatch. “You’re preaching to the converted. Besides, your daughter will want the vet to necropsy this guy to see if he was in good condition or not.
“Well, we know it won’t be tough to figure out the cause of death,” said John.
“Yah, lead poisoning,” said Dave, shaking his head. “I get it.”
John bit his lip as Dave relayed the information over the radio.
“Yah, Trav,” Dave said to the dispatcher. “Can you get in touch with ‘YPZ’ and tell Paul we have a bruin to sling out from behind the lake. He’ll need a long-line and we’ll direct him in when he’s airborne.”
“Ten-four,” came the response. “Let me know if you need anything else.”
“Ten-four,” said Dave.
*****
As the bear rose slowly through the canopy, John and Dave gave the pilot the ‘All Clear’ and made their way silently back to the pickup, carrying what was left of the clamps and cable used to anchor the snare to the tree.
The snare had cut so deeply into the grizzly’s ankle that the two men decided to leave it for the vet to deal with. They had seen enough gore for one day.
Pulling into the pit a few minutes later, they were met by a young woman who briefly acknowledged their arrival before turning her attention back to the dead bear lying on the orange plastic tarp.
A young man in dark blue coveralls knelt over the carcass as he carefully ran a razor sharp skinning knife up the bear’s belly. Stopping at the rib cage, he looked up briefly and nodded to the new arrivals.
“Good morning John. Dave. Looks like he was shot at close range.”
“You might say that,” said Dave.
“Too close, if you ask me,” said John.
“What happened, exactly?” said the young woman.
“He wasn’t quite under when we approached him Megan. I thought I made a better hit but obviously he never got the full effect of the drug. And as a result, your dad just about met his maker.”
Megan stared at John, who just shrugged his shoulders.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Well, I have some laundry to do but other than that, I’m here aren’t I?
“Yes, you certainly are,” said Megan, returning her attention to the necropsy. “What do you think Mark?”
“Everything seems fine,” said the vet as he methodically probed the bear’s belly with his gloved hands.
“Lots of body fat for this time of year and the belly’s full.”
“Any idea why he might have charged that biker?” said Megan.
“Probably why any bear would,” said John. “A surprise encounter and the bear just reacted.”
“Most likely,” said Mark.
“I now know what a bear looks like when he wants to kill someone,” said John. “I expect if this bear really wanted to, we’d be skinning that biker out now instead of this guy.”
“You really have it in for those kids, don’t you?” said Dave.
“Not kids,” said John. “Most of the people biking back there are as old as us. Well, maybe as old as you. I haven’t seen any really old farts like me on the cameras.”
“But do you think we have the right bear?” said Mark.
“I think so,” said Megan. “The last time we downloaded the camera data there was a large boar showing up regularly on the trail. The only other grizzly we’ve seen up there has been a young sow and cubs.”
“Still, it could have been another male,” said Mark.
“I don’t think so,” said Megan, pointing to a large split in the grizzly’s left ear. “I noticed this gash on a few of the close-ups. Probably from an old ear tag that got ripped out.”
“So this bear has been handled before,” said Dave.
“At least once,” said Megan.
“And now one time too many,” said John.
“Well hopefully we can save the sow and her cubs from a similar fate,” said Megan.
“Hope,” said Dave. “That would be a good name for her.”
“Better than Fate,” said John. “Which is what I think this guy’s name was.”
“How do you put up with him Megan?” said Dave, shaking his head at John.
“No comment,” said Megan. “We usually just agree to disagree.”
“Hey, we’re on the same side,” said John. “I’m just tired of necropsying bears that should still be eating buffaloberries without having to worry about looking over their shoulders for the next bozo to come barreling at them on a mountain bike.”
“We all are Dad. But some of us choose to try to work within the system.”
“Fair enough. But you’re young,” said John. “You’ll learn. Anyway, no point flogging a dead horse. I’ve seen enough for one day and I do need to do that laundry. Why don’t you drop me off at home Dave?”
“Take the truck,” said Dave, handing the keys to John. “I’ll help Megan and Mark clean up here and pick the truck up later. You owe me a beer tonight anyway.”
“Just one?” said John. “Is that all my life is worth to you?”
“Well, maybe two,” said Dave with a wink. “Maybe.”
TO BE CONTINUED …