THE BEAR AND THE CHAIR

By Daniel James Hendricks

Bowhunting a big black bear from a treestand, 15 yards from its dining area, can be a tremendous thrill. Now, move the bowhunter onto the ground and just to spice it up a bit, confine him to a wheelchair. Throw in a 300 pound Pope and Young class black boar that seems to have no fear of danger and you have one thrilling scenario. Set that hunt in the far reaches of pristine northern Manitoba, far from the edge of modern civilization and now you have a first class adventure.

Stan Koich broke his back in an automobile accident over half of his life ago. His spine had been broken, but his attitude and spirit were only strengthened by the experience. Stan continues to hunt, fish, play team sports, raise a family, while making a good living for himself and his loved ones. One thing he had not done and really wanted to do was to hunt black bear with his bow in Canada. It is a quest that many would like to accomplish, but few motivate themselves enough to turn the dream into a reality. With Stan’s added challenges, he patiently bided his time, waiting for the right set of circumstances to make his vision an obtainable objective.

Lynn Lake Fly-in Out Post Camps and Russ Bettschen were the first 2 pieces of the puzzle that fell into place for Stan. Russ’, who operates out of Lynn Lake, Manitoba donated a black bear hunt to the United Foundation For Disabled Archer’s annual fund raising raffle. Russ, knowing that he might have to work with a physically challenged archer, was looking forward to the prospects of that happening. Catering to a physically challenged bowhunter would be a first for his company. He was confident that he and his staff could provide a quality hunt for that person, regardless of his or her limitations.

The UFFDA raffle drawing was held on 10/6/97. The bear hunt was won by a woman from Wisconsin who was not a hunter. Stan, after talking to me about Russ and his operation, contacted the prize winner and offered to buy it from her. A deal was struck and Stan’s research into bear hunting quickly began. He read books and magazine articles about the sport. He rented hunting videos, which furthered his education. He even went to the zoo and spent time studying live bears and their anatomy. He practiced with his bow and fine tuned his equipment so that he was pinpoint accurate at 20 yards.

The only hurdle to clear was transportation to and from the hunt. Once again, Russ Bettschen provided a key piece to the puzzle. The trip to Lynn Lake is a rough one. Most of the last leg is a rough gravel road, which is in the middle of nowhere. Stan had planned to drive up by himself. The NAB staff was coming from another hunt in Saskatchewan and would be unable to accompany him. Russ arranged for his dentist, Bill Peterson, to join Stan in making the arduous journey. With the outfitter’s help, another problem had been overcome. By May 25th, the entire cast of the hunt had assembled in Lynn Lake and was ready for action. All of the bowhunting at Russ’ Lodge is done from treestands, which was not a consideration for Stan. He hunted in the states with a specially adapted climbing treestand, but the scrub jack pine of Northern Canada did not provide trees large enough for its use. It was determined that a ground blind would have to be the hunting method used. Double Bull Archery provided us with one of their excellent ground blinds, which easily accommodates a wheelchair and also provides the additional room required for a cameraman and his equipment.North American Bowhunter, Inc was documenting Stan’s hunt for future use on a television show and a bear hunting video. The plan was to use 2 camera angles to record the event. Ike Isackson would cover the scene from the treestand normally used to hunt the bait. I would cover the action from the inside of the blind and provide Stan with any assistance that he might need. We had used this method of attack before and it had proven to be very successful.

The final hole in the puzzle was filled by Lee Nolden, who was the chief guide for Russ’ outfit. Lee is an experienced and colorful woodsman, who has been entertaining and assisting bear hunters, deer hunters and fishers in the Canadian wilderness, for many years. Lee had visited with Stan at an outdoors show earlier in the winter and was fully prepared for the novice bear hunter’s arrival. There was going to be extra work involved with Stan’s hunt, but we had six nights to complete our mission. Each of us involved was determined to make that mission successful.

The first evening’s hunt began with Lee transporting Ike and me to the bait with all of the required equipment. The full load was transported into the woods by a 4 wheeler and trailer. While our guide returned to the lodge to fetch our hunter, Ike and I went to work preparing the site for the evening's vigil. Ike’s treestand was installed, the blind was set up and the cameras were readied for Stan’s bear hunting debut.

The approaching drone of the quad's engine allowed Ike and me to setup our camera angles to effectively document Stan’s arrival at the bait site. Once there, Lee assisted the hunter into his wheelchair and through the thick cover, into the blind. Stan settled in as Lee gave basic instructions on where the bears would most likely come from, what position the bear should be in and where to place his shot. The excitement was running high as the hunter and guide discussed the moment they both hoped would come that very night.

Lee finished his coaching, wished us luck and then departed for the return trip to the lodge. Stan and I busied ourselves with the final preparations, which had to be completed before we settled in for the evening’s hunt. As we listened to the 4-wheeler move off into the distance, Stan reached for his bug netting, which would protect him from the hoards of mosquitoes that were swarming through the windows of our blind. Tucking the netting into his jacket, his eyes wandered to the bait.

"There’s a big bear by the bait!", he suddenly blurted.

I chuckled at his attempt to dupe me. I could still hear the quad in the distance, but I glanced up to humor his well-acted performance. When I peered out of the camera’s porthole, I saw a huge black bear walking around the bait barrel, just 15 yards from where we sat. It’s sleek blue-black pelt glistened in the bright sunlight as it zeroed its huge head in on the fresh groceries that had been left by our guide. I hit the record button on the camera and looked at Stan whose eyes were the size of blue billiard balls. I looked at the Horton crossbow that leaned against his wheelchair and noticed that it was not even cocked. He hoarsely whispered for me to find his arrows as he grabbed his bow and began to draw back the string to lock it into place.

The sight of the big bear, on which we kept our eyes locked at all times, was made even more awesome by the "closeness" of the view. Adrenaline rushed through our systems and added to the escalating pandemonium. With a few more hasty gropes, I finally touched Stan’s arrow tube lying against the far wall of the blind and fumbled with what I thought was the top while monitoring the big bruin. My fingers frantically twisted and turned, pressing and pulling with no result until Stan leaned forward and whisked it from my shaking hands. As he fought to control his own tremors, he informed me that I I had been "opening" the wrong end. Stan deliberately removed an arrow from the cardboard quiver and placed it onto the rail of his bow. I moved to the camera, making sure that the pepper spray we had brought for protection was within easy reach.

Our raspy, animated whispers and occasional clanking of equipment caused the bear to frequently glance in the direction of the blind, which, thankfully, concealed our comedic antics. When the huge animal’s head would jerk up and point in our direction, we would freeze and hold our breath. We stared back at the little black marble eyes of the bruin as its head moved back and forth, scanning the landscape for the source of the noise. It quickly became apparent that the bear seemed unable to see us or the blind. Each time it hunted for our position, it would lose interest and return to the goodies that had been placed in the bait barrel. The excitement of the moment was dramatically intensified by the "on-ground", eye to eye contact that we had with the big beast. In 2 short bounds, the 300 pound animal could have easily been in our laps, making us regret our decision to hunt from the ground. It was an incredible moment!

Stan’s Horton crossbow was finally loaded and he was prepared to take his shot. The bear was lying down in front of bait barrel with its body facing left, devouring its contents with relish. The big beast’s left front leg was covering the vital area of its chest, preventing the hunter from getting a good, clean shot. As the camera rolled and the bear dined, Stan waited for the right moment to take advantage of his opportunity. His bow was raised and the broadhead was protruding from the porthole, waiting to be released.

The bear suddenly rose to a sitting position and sniffed the top of the barrel. It settled back to the ground and renewed its meal. When it did so, it moved its front leg forward exposing its goodie box to the waiting archer. Stan looked at me, I nodded and his eye dropped to the peep sight of his weapon. His hand released the safety and shakily returned to the trigger. As the unsuspecting bruin occupied itself with the bait, the hunter’s right index finger gently began to tighten.

As we slowly began to recover from the events of the last few minutes, we heard Ike chuckling out loud from his treestand. He gleefully told how he had seen the bear coming into the bait as he listened to Stan and me chatting away as we noisily completed our final preparations. He was sure the we were going to booger the bear and was amazed to see it continue to approach the bait in spite of the racket we made. His camera was rolling long before we were even aware if its presence. He had to struggle to suppress his laughter as he watched the events unfold.

Stan radioed the lodge and was informed that Lee was just pulling up on the 4-wheeler. We were told that he would be right out to assist us in the recovery. By the time Lee arrived, we had finished our video cutaways and were ready for the final leg of the hunt. Lee helped Stan get onto the quad and began to track the animal, while the hunter followed on top of the 4 wheeler. The bear was quickly recovered and moved back to the open for photos. When all of the necessary shots had been taken, Lee headed back to the lodge with the hunter and his trophy, leaving Ike and me to disassemble our set-up. We watched as the quad and trailer slowly moved back toward the lodge. Both of us were struck by the sight of the bouncing trailer, which contained the huge black bear and the empty black wheelchair riding on top of it. To us, it was symbolic of what Stan had done. The wheelchair had not been allowed to prevent the hunter from completing his mission. Now that chair rode emptily on top of the animal, representing the freed spirit of the successful hunter. To us it was indicative that all people can do whatever they want to, if they set their mind to it.

Bagging a black bear had long been a dream of Stan’s. He had persisted in the pursuit of his vision and had made it happen. For years he had dreamt, for months he had planned and in just a few short minutes, he had reached his objective. None of us expected it to turn out as it had. The circumstances of the hunt only added to the drama of the event. As long as there are people like Stan Koich to inspire us and people like Russ Bettschen, Lee Nolden and Bill Peterson to unselfishly share of themselves, the future of hunting looks very bright.

If you would like to join Russ Bettschen, Lee Nolden and the NAB staff at Lynn Lake Fly-in Outpost Camps to hunt Manitoba bear in the spring of 1999, contact the NAB office at (320) 634-3660 to reserve your spot. The hunt will take place from 5/23/99 through 5/29/99 and will fill quickly. We have room for 4 more hunters so start your planning today.

SIDE PANEL: If you are a physically challenged archer and would like to learn more the opportunities at Russ Bettschen’s Lynn Lake Fly-in Out Post Camps, contact the United Foundation For Disabled Archers at: UFFDA; P.O.Box 50; Glenwood, MN 56334. Or telephone us at (320) 634-3660. We will be happy to provide you with any information that we can. If you are an outfitter who would like to share your hunting and fishing facilities with the physically challenged sports person, we would love to add your name, address and telephone number to our directory. Give us a call today.

SIDE PANEL: Stan Koich uses a Horton Hunter Supreme Crossbow. He uses a single pin sight that is zeroed in at 20 yards. He shoots Horton arrows tipped with a Wasp Jackhammer expandable broadhead.