BFRO #9495: Grouse twice left on trail for hiker

📍 Location

📝 Description

I�m 53 years old and have spent half my life in the woods of Manitoba, Canada. I currently live in Winnipeg, Manitoba and work for the Provincial government. I don�t hunt anymore but I have had decades of hunting experience including archery. In fact during my high school days we hunted bear almost ever day after school in the fall and spring. I worked at the largest taxidermy facility in Canada for years and continued with my own business after (a total of 30 years experience). In other words I know the biology and habits of animals of North America and the Manitoba woods inside and out. Recently I have been spending time out in a provincial park here called �Whiteshell Provincial Park�. The park borders on the Ontario�s west side and is literally at the edge of nothing. In fact if you go north or northeast you could go for a thousand miles without coming across any civilization. About eight years ago, a friend and I canoed and portaged deep into the Whiteshell only to set up our tent and be hassled most of the night by a very loud animal that I could not recognize. I have used calls in archery hunting for bear, moose, deer, and so on but have never heard anything like this. We do have cougars here (very rare) and it was not that either. It spooked the hell out of me so much so I have not camped since. We had canoed across a five-mile wide lake called the Big Whiteshell Lake and portaged one mile into Ritchey Lake. From there we made our way down Ritchey Lake (two and a quarter miles) to another portage at One Lake. This portage is only a few hundred yards long and One Lake is three quarters of a mile long. When we reached the far end of One Lake we set up camp on a rock outcrop shaped like a dome. This dome was between the lake and a deep coniferous forest with the rock dome forming a point out into the lake. This trip was all done in July in 30-degree Celsius (88 degrees Fahrenheit) temperature. I was exhausted and I really needed sleep and rest. As soon as it was dark we were in the tent and ready for sleep. My partner was asleep instantly and as I started to drift off I heard a large branch snap down in the low treed area behind the tent. My first thought was that it would take a large animal to snap off a small tree or branch to produce a sound that big. My second thought was it has to be a bear or moose for they are the only animals here that are big enough. I was so tired that it was past the point of concern; I just needed to get to sleep. The Whiteshell is a mixture of deciduous and coniferous trees pocketed every second mile with a small lake. Some of these areas between the lakes can be extremely dense with foliage. It was shortly after the snap sound that the low grunting and vowel type of sounds started from down in the thick part of this low area. It was dark and the sounds kept up at a steady rate with some breaks only to restart again. After about an hour I could not take it anymore, my partner was sensing that something was wrong with me I needed to do something. She awoke asking what is wrong. This was followed by, �I have never seen you like this before!� I said, �There is an animal out there that will not shut up�. With that comment and total aggravation I grabbed the flashlight and headed outside. I stood outside the tent shining the flashlight into the bush shouting out profanities at the animal. There was quiet now and I returned to the sleeping bag only to go through the whole process again about twenty minutes later. This time I hurled stones into the bush with all the rest of my ranting and raving. Again twenty minutes later it started up again. It was really late by now and I just did not give a dam anymore relenting to the idea that what will be will be and whatever fate awaits us is fine. I fell asleep shortly after that and woke up the next morning confirming we were still alive. I had heard it splashing around at times in the water so I tried to find tracks that morning but it was all grown over with willows and tall grass. I was not that comfortable going into the thick bush to look around without a weapon so I never did find out what it was. The next strange occurrence was even more remarkable. It took place six years ago about 20 miles west of the first incident. I was researching a 5000-year-old archeological site in the Whiteshell that is about four miles into the back woods. This was a spiritual corner for the ancient natives and is very removed even for those days for it is not near any water source or canoe route. They marked these sites with boulder arrangements on the ground known as Petroforms or Rock Mosaics.As described above the area is composed of a patchwork of exposed rock and thick-forested areas. These forested areas are composed of coniferous and deciduous trees with the exposed smooth rock having large areas of �carpets� made up of moss and lichen growth. It was at one of these ancient sites that I was about to start up a short 400-foot moss covered trail

🔍 Circumstances

Two

🌤️ Weather Conditions

4:00 PM

ℹ️ Additional Details

4:00 PM

🔗 Sources (1)

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