The Backwoods Boys headed back up to the Hillsport Hillton in northwestern Ontario for the opening week of the fall bear hunting season. Gary Dorion had the bait sites fired up and big Ontario bruins waiting for the Backwoods Boys arrival.
On the first day of the hunt, Dan grabbed Rob Dykeman from Excalibur Crossbow and told him they were heading out to a very active bait he had nicknamed "Ground and Pound." Little did he know, that nickname had dual meaning... not only were they going to pound the bears, but they were going to do it on the ground. As Rob settled into his chair a bear was already on his way in.
Then things got a little hairy... a mature Ontario boar marched in and made his way past the bait site and on a direct path to Rob and Dan's ground blind. At a mere 6 yards away, the Excalibur Firebolt didn't have far to travel to find its mark, and Rob tagged the first bear of the week - a 300 pound, mature boar. In less than 30 minutes, the boys were back at the truck picking up there Outdoor Edge Knives, some rope and straps, and were heading back into the bush to retrieve Rob's bear.
After getting Rob's bear out of the bush, they pulled the truck down the road to pick up Paul and found him sitting on the side of the road grinning from ear to ear.
Come to find out, shortly after Rob shot his bear, Paul was settling the sights of his new Darton Pro3800 bow on a 280 pound Ontario boar. After passing on a smaller bear a half hour after getting settled in the stand, this Ontario bruiser began his own death march, and Paul's arrow found its mark.
You don't get a much better start than that... two bears in one night.
On the next day, Rob Dykeman and Master Taxidermist Bob Parkey from the Wildlife Gallery in Indian River, Michigan, settled into the stand to take Bob's first bear with an Excalibur Crossbow on tape. As darkness fell, the boys had seen four different bears, and Bob's 340 pound boar and Rob's 280 pound sow laid only a few feet from the bait and each other. The Excalibur sent two more bears to heaven in one night.
But the boys weren't quite finished yet...
After several days of running baits, setting treestands and running camera, Dan had found a huge track on one of the bait sites, and trail camera pictures confirmed a big bear was in the area. Dan and Paul settled in to try their luck with the bear they affectionately nicknamed "Tank". It wasn't until he walked in from 100 yards away, that Dan realized this was the biggest Ontario bear he had ever seen.
Tank made his way in and settled down for his last supper. When the time was right, the Excalibur sang again, and Tank, a 500 pound Ontario monster took his last breath just 30 yards away.
With tags running thin, Danny Miller stepped up to bat with his Excalibur and settled into a bait they had been watching for several days. After several hours of exciting bear interaction - fighting, chasing, bears running up trees - and with darkness falling fast, a 260 pound Ontario black bear snuck into the site and Danny centered the crosshairs of his Excalibur Lumizone scope right on the boiler plate, and the final bear of the week was on the ground.
The Hillsport Hillton delivered again, and the Backwoods Boys will be back.
