14/09/2025
I felt the need to share this here- it will be awhile before the videos of this journey are released but hunter or not I believe a lot of you will appreciate my story. We have incredible respect for the animals we harvest. We are so incredibly blessed to be able to have this adventure right at Moose Lodge. Sometimes success is not about the harvest. Thank you all for being here❤️
Maybe my story ended yesterday. Truly an adventure & hunt of a lifetime. It starts with the beautiful place I am sitting. A boat trek across a large wild lake, cool fall air setting in & large untouched forest all around me. No signs or sounds of man just wildlife such as beavers behind me slapping in the water & trumpeter swans. Also a gray squirrel, a black squirrel & an occasional woodpecker. In all its beauty I will have spent hours & days here. Blessed with a husband & a son to help get me in place & come back at dark to retrieve me. Night one a 5 hour sit was fairly uneventful except the mass beauty all around me. Just at sunset my boys would come back for me & they saw my bear about 100 yards away on the shore line. I am so happy they got to witness such a beautiful site. Like a coastal bear of Alaska but this is Minnesota- an experience most will never witness & they will cherish forever. Day 2 we made the journey across at 9 am - I got settled & my boys headed back across the lake to the lodge. I am now alone. Around 10:30 there he was coming on a string straight towards me. He came in to about 20 yards away… a moment stuck in time that will forever hold space in my mind. I did not get a shot & he mozzied back into the thick timber. He was majestic & large. His head an incredible size. I beat myself up pretty bad about the missed opportunity & truly being too patient. I thought he was gone forever until a few hours later I caught a glimpse again, he was back! He walked so incredibly quiet you could not hear, but his black was so beaming as he walked to the right of my stand where I had no shots. He was 10 feet away from the base of my tree- my heart was pounding. He sat on his butt & began to lick the air so carefree. In that moment I was happy to have missed the first opportunity because this was an incredible encounter. Truly amazing. Then he was off again only for me to catch another glimpse a few hours later. Then the pouring rain settled in & I am not sure if I am stupid or stubborn or both? I sat for another 3 hours until my boat arrived. Truly the forest around me so enchanting- an incredible day. Maybe one of my best? Unforgettable for sure. The missed opportunity plays in my head over & over again. That is hunting. I am back again day 3 at 8:05am. Here I sit- maybe that’s the story? Maybe this is the end. I cannot help but be optimistic for what today may bring but we will see. But sometimes the hunt is just simply about the adventure because merely it’s all about waiting on a moment & I had several. Several small moments in time that made me feel very alive. An experience that is only mine.
The wind blew all day as a 12 hour sit in a tree comes to a close. No bear sighting today & a second book read. Came back to the lodge to enjoy Jason & his dad’s company as Hunter went home. But this is where the story ends. I hung out for hours with a bear in the wild.
Hunter’s story started a few days before mine at our incredible friends bear camp south a few hours of the lodge. His 3rd bear hunting season & finally his first bear ever & with a bow. I feel so blessed to have been there for the joy it brought him. I also feel blessed it gave him time to then trek up to the lodge for my story. A great week. A passing of days I will forever cherish with vivid memories.
