Close Encounters

Courage and hope are a very big part of life; if you do not have hope you will have nothing to get you through during rough times. If you don’t have courage you will not be able to put yourself out there and show your true colours. In my life there was one instance that stands out where I had both hope and courage...

I was bow hunting in West Castle early in September. It was a beautiful day and the sun was starting to rise over the mountain tops warming the air almost instantly. The shadows disappeared and it was time for everything to come to life. I was sitting in a tree stand hunting white tail by a swamp. The musky water smelt like sulphur mixed with mud. I happened to look down and see a big shadow right under my tree stand. At first I thought it was a moose and I was very excited. I thought to myself, it’s not every day that I get to see a moose so close. The animal stepped out and it wasn’t a moose, but a giant black bear! Instantly my heart sank to the bottom of my stomach. My heart started to race like an old truck kicking in the four barrels. My breathing was out of control like a speeding car on shear ice. The bear came closer to my tree and was sniffing around trying to find me. That’s when I realized that he knew I was there, but the question was, was he going to find me? He started to scratch his claws on the tree like a chef sharpening his knife. That’s when I reached for my bag to find my bear spray. When I opened it, to my surprise, there was nothing in there, but my knife and my hunting tags. I started to shake. I had nothing but my bow and my knife. If he decided to come up the tree and pay me a little visit I would not be able to shoot my bow from that angle.

As luck would have it, the bear decided that he was wasting his time and boogied down the trail to my right. I sat there in absolute shock for over an hour. I just kept thinking about how big he was. He could have fit my whole head in his mouth.  I would have been no match for a bear of that size. After about two hours I decided that it was time for me to come out of the tree. I didn’t want to get out of the tree, but I knew that it was my smartest plan, so I had to "man-up" and just do it.

After I got to the ground I was so scared. I loaded an arrow into my bow and slowly headed towards the river where I had parked the truck. The bear appeared to be long gone. It felt like one thousand pound was lifted off my shoulders. This moment has changed me forever. It showed me that you need hope to get through the tough situations and you also need the courage not freak out and do something stupid.

-Levi Cale

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhccgc7VYvw