Submitted photoAllen Shortridge, of Meridian, killed his first bear recently in Canada.

Allen Shortridge stared intently into the Canadian forest as a bear suddenly crossed in front of him, turned and started climbing up the very tree he was in. This lifelong deer hunter and avid turkey man wasn’t quite prepared for what was about to happen. Sitting high in the tree with only a stick and string and nowhere to hide with a bear climbing up the tree is cause for concern. Some would say it was red alert time!

“My turkey hunting friend from Texas, Tommy Jackson, talked me into going to Canada on a bear hunt this spring,” Shortridge said. “We flew out of Houston to Edmonton, Alberta and then drove to La Crete to hunt. Our hunt was about 50 miles into the wilderness with nothing around but wild animals. We were so far out you didn’t hear any signs of vehicles or civilization.”

Shortridge, 73, a pastor from Meridian, wanted to take a bear with a regular bow but his wife drew the line there, so he purchased a Ravin crossbow and quickly became proficient enough to take it bear hunting.

“We were 20 feet up the tree when the bear came up toward us, but we were able to scare him away without having to shoot him,” Shortridge said. That bear could have played havoc with their plans, but he wasn’t the one they were after.

The bear stayed in the area about two hours, but he had a rub across his fur, so they decided not to take him.

“All of a sudden that bear took off like greased lightning,” Shortridge said. “I heard a stick break behind us and a big sow came out with three cubs. The other bear left because he didn’t want any part of the sow who was very protective of her cubs.”

The sow and cubs fed around awhile before abruptly leaving the area as something was amiss.

“Suddenly another large bear came out walking strong towards our stand,” Shortridge said. “He disappeared behind a big evergreen for a second and when he came out from behind it I popped him with a Rage broadhead. The bear never knew what hit him and he whirled to leave but only made it about 15 yards before he piled up!”

The big boar was no match for the Ravin crossbow and Rage broadhead.

Shortridge shot the big bear at 8 p.m., which was about 3 hours before dark. They loaded the bear up and went back to camp while the rest of the hunters stayed until 11 p.m.

“The first afternoon four hunters in our group killed bears,” Shortridge said. “Wingmaster Outfitting really know their business.”

“The second afternoon there was a bear already there when we got there so the guide left me a can of pepper spray as a precaution.”

After that bear left the area Shortridge didn’t see anything for a couple hours and he just didn’t have a good feeling about it, thinking he might not see anything at all. But things heated up fast.

“I looked up and there he was, a huge bear came walking through the woods right towards me,” Shortridge said. “I saw he was a big old boar, so I got my Ravin up and followed him until just the right time. When he turned broadside I shot him right behind the shoulder with a double lung shot. This one ran just out of sight but he didn’t get far. Both of the bears I shot were taken with double lung shots and they died quickly. I took the shot at 8:10 p.m.”

Shortridge has spent a lifetime in the woods experiencing God’s Great Outdoors chasing deer and turkey but this was his first encounter with animals that could maim, kill and possibly eat him and he’d killed both bears with only a crossbow.

“I give God all the Glory to have harvested two bears, and I’m blessed to be able to enjoy the outdoors and chase turkeys every spring,” Shortridge said.

Experiencing the wild Canadian outdoors and killing two bears was just icing on the cake!

For more information about Canadian bear hunting check out Wingmaster Outfitting at www.wingmasteroutfitting.com/.

Call Mike Giles at 601-917-3898 or email mikegiles18@comast.net.