Bear Hunting and Daddy's Little Girl

I am an outdoorsman.  I love being outside.  I grew up Quail hunting with pointing dogs.  My grandfather hunted with a side by side double barrel L.C. Smith shotgun.  So, I just think any true bird hunter should carry a side by side…ok, I have my prejudices. 

I have a friend in Canada that purchased a cabin deep in the northern Saskatchewan bush for hunting.  He invited me to hunt bear which I had never done.  I thought it would not be much of a challenge to kill a bear with a rifle, but a bow and arrow would be more sporting.  I had been successful in the past with a compound bow.  I think the purist in me came out so I purchased a recurve bow, made some arrows and started practicing instinctive shooting.

Northern Canada in April was a cold challenge with some snow and ice caves the local trapper used to store his goods.  The sun set at 9PM and rose at 3AM like someone turning on a light.  One morning as I was trying to sleep I had a dream.  It was like an out of body dream.  I could see my young twin daughters greeting me in the kitchen of my first house when I came home from work.  It was always a wonderful experience to see them so excited for daddy to come home.  They always boarded my feet each holding a leg as I walked thru the door.  I watched from above with a smile as they squealed "Daddy".

No one had seeing anything morning or evening.  Mid day were usually spent playing cards in the cabin.  While others remained behind, I decided to hunt mid day and was dropped off in the wilderness.  I was completely alone, sitting quietly and enjoying the solitude of the “bush”.  As I reflected on my dream I started writing the words to a new song. All the memories of the time with my small children swelled within and happy tears filled my eyes. “You're Daddy’s little girl, you heard me say.  Daddy can we go out to play?  Daddy swing me, it’s a new day.  You're Daddy’s little girl, you heard me say.” 

Just as I finished writing the last word, a black bear appeared up wind on my left.  Talk about an emotional shift.  I quietly put the small notebook in my coat and readied my bow.  As I drew and released, the string caught a snap on my winter coat and the arrow flew high.  The bear ran but immediately came back.  I grabbed another arrow, noticing my nock point was gone, guessed at the point on the string, drew and released on the now standing bear.  A clean shot was successful.

Here's the song, "Daddy's Little Girl"