Our stay at Dymond Lake Lodge was over far too quickly. But, on our last morning, we had time for one short hike. As before, we headed to the viewpoint over the Hudson Bay shoreline, Keith and some others spotted a Pine Martin running along the edge of the pack ice. Another arctic critter to add to his list. "There's a bear out there too" announced eagle-eyed Terry. Well, "binocular-eyed" to be more precise. It was quite a long way out on the ice so we didn't have high hopes of getting a good view as we formed our column and headed directly for it.
We reached around half way towards the bear when it spotted us and stood up for a better look. Even at that distance the bear looked huge. Fortunately, it decided not to run away but to circle around to get downwind of us. Happy with our smell, it started moving towards us, keeping its head down low to the sea ice. "That's a predatory approach. I think I'll put one [shot cartridge] in the chamber" announced Derek, before adding "But I don't want to get you worried".
Without the white-out of the blizzard of the previous day, our complete exposure to this threat was clear to see. Half a kilometre out to sea, well away from the shore, there was nowhere to run and hide. Sensing this, our group huddled together a bit closer, like a firing squad armed with camera cameras trained on the bear. Somehow we felt safer looking at it through a lens, firing off shots like a machine gun. Got it!
The bear, a large female, weaved to within 30 metres of us, before Terry called out "That's near enough!" in his calm reassuring voice. It was all he needed to do to make the bear think twice and then turn away to find an easier meal.
But as we made our way back to the lodge, we kept looking back over our shoulder, just in case she decided to come back for a closer inspection. She didn't, but it all made for another heart-pounding encounter with a Polar Bear. Churchill Wild had delivered everything they had promised and much much more. It is a unique experience we would totally recommend.
Without the white-out of the blizzard of the previous day, our complete exposure to this threat was clear to see. Half a kilometre out to sea, well away from the shore, there was nowhere to run and hide. Sensing this, our group huddled together a bit closer, like a firing squad armed with camera cameras trained on the bear. Somehow we felt safer looking at it through a lens, firing off shots like a machine gun. Got it!
The bear, a large female, weaved to within 30 metres of us, before Terry called out "That's near enough!" in his calm reassuring voice. It was all he needed to do to make the bear think twice and then turn away to find an easier meal.
But as we made our way back to the lodge, we kept looking back over our shoulder, just in case she decided to come back for a closer inspection. She didn't, but it all made for another heart-pounding encounter with a Polar Bear. Churchill Wild had delivered everything they had promised and much much more. It is a unique experience we would totally recommend.
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