Black Bear Hunt at Cree River Lodge featuring Dan Keen
Dan Keen talks about his 4th successful black bear hunting trip in Northern Saskatchewan with Cree River Lodge.
How long have you been coming to Cree River Lodge?
I live in Annapolis Maryland. I come with a a good friend of mine that works in the firearms industry. He's the one that brought me up for the first time and then I've got another friend that's lives in my hometown who's a dentist. We've both been up here several times.
How long have you been hunting big game?
I'm 56 years old and I've been hunting big game for probably 30 plus years. I hunted my first black bear in 2017.
Do you hunt Black Bear back home?
We have black bears in Maryland but the quality of the hunt and the number of bears and just the fact that you can get away from it all and get off the grid up here is just very attractive to me, the whole package. The bears that I've seen at home have not been very big. They're very skittish. There's a lot more people around so they typically avoid people as much as they can.
What other big game do you hunt?
The most hunting I do is archery, Whitetail back at home, because we've got a pretty good Whitetail population. But I've hunted Elk out west and Mule Deer out west, Whitetail Deer in different parts of the country. I've been down south in Texas hunting Aldad on the Mexican border, so pretty good variety. I've still got a few on my list. I've been to Africa and shot a number of animals over there but this has by far been my favorite because of the atmosphere and the people and the quality of the animals.
What do you think of the accommodations?
I read an article last night actually about Cree River Lodge and they they said the people at Cree River Lodge aren't strangers, they're friends you haven't met yet, and so the people here are just just wonderful and friendly, always looking to help you out, but they feel like friends. It doesn't necessarily feel like there's a guest / guide barrier. They make you feel very welcome. The food's great. You're not going to lose any weight while you're here and you burn a lot of calories so the food's greatly appreciated and very good. The cook does a wonderful job. Accommodations are perfect for me. You can get a hot shower anytime you want. It's very quiet and peaceful at night. I like to sleep with the windows open so I can hear all the noise out in the woods behind the cabin, hear the birds and you're warm. There's a wood stove in every cabin if you need it. So the accommodations are great.
Why do you keep coming back?
Well, one is, I think the people honestly. The people are so much fun and this is my chance to escape the East Coast and all of the noise and rushing around. This is sort of my mental health break, but the bears are huge up here. You see just as many big bears as you do small bears. This is my third year in a row and killed my biggest bear this week and it's just a lot of fun and then the fishing is, for me, the the icing on the cake. This week I caught my my biggest walleye. I caught my first and biggest grayling out of three caught and shot the biggest bear that I've ever taken, and I've taken a couple big ones up here, but this is the biggest so far.
Think back to 2017 and your first arrival at the Lodge. What were your thoughts?
I thought the whole trip was an adventure. We left the airport in Stony Rapids to come down the road in the van to the boat landing which was a good 45minute ride into the bush. We were seeing bears along the road on the ride here so for someone that was my second hunt for bears at the time that just really got the juices flowing and got us both, Lee and I, very excited got to the boat landing and took a ride up the river to get to the lodge and scenery is beautiful. I'm a waterfowl enthusiast so there's all kinds of ducks breeding up here. That gets me excited. We saw moose on the side of the river. It just seemed like the animals decided to put on a show on our ride to the lodge, and then when we got here, once again the people were so welcoming. I think we had about 45 minutes to get unpacked, get our hunting clothes on and head out. I pulled up to the first hunting site, there was a bear already there so you know it's kind of hard to match that.
Why do you choose to hunt this week of the hunt calendar?
I think somewhat out of being selfish .I feel like I get first crack at the bears that way. I like to have the first or second hunt of the year. They've had a chance to scout a little bit before I get here but honestly it works for me on a personal level. I've got kids at home that play sports and there's a little break then and allows me to get away from home without missing too much.
Take us through the hunt.
I had kind of a game plan in my head this year. I've hunted this, is the third time I've hunted with Cliff as a guide and so I had an idea of how things would probably go but I had a little bit of a strategy being the first hunter into camp and that was I wanted to be able to go to the different hunting sites and look around and see what the trail camera pictures held. Get to talk to Cliff and feel him out on where he feels the bear are moving better and just get an idea of a great place to start. So we spent the first day and a half really scouting and then, honestly, they say don't guide the guide, so there were two spots that we had in mind that we wanted to try right out of the gate. I went with his recommendation and on the way to the hunting site we actually saw a big bear on the side of the river that we were able to get downwind of and sort of creep up slowly. He was a a dominant boar. I think he probably knew we were there but he wasn't interested in getting out of our way but we were able to creep in close enough and take that bear with one shot right on the side of the river which made for a very convenient drag and some some beautiful pictures.
Posing for trophy pics.
This is my fourth year. Fourth bear. Hasn't taken more than two and a half days. Haven't seen this one but it seems like there's a pretty good bear at every every site that we looked at last couple days.
Guide Cliff joins the fun on camera.
This is my friend Dan Keen. He's been going for four years hunting bears. This is his fourth nice bear he's taken. We run bear hunts all of June. Beauty bears on every bait site. We got no forest fires no trouble or nothing like that up here right now. We hunt all our bears off the water. Every single bear every single bait has a good bear on it. We're killing bears so come on up to Cree River Lodge.
What criteria do you use when judging a potential trophy Black Bear?
You know I do kind of nerd out on the hunting in general. It's a passion for me so before I come on the trip each year I have some some videos that I look at. I look at a lot of pictures, even some very basic instructional videos on how to judge bears, because they're they're tough especially when you come from an area where you're not looking at them or running into them every day. So what I like to look for, for me is I look for big strong shoulders and arms. I look for not much separation between the neck and the shoulders and then the neck and the head so you don't see a tapering there. The neck is about the same size as the head. I try to see how the ears look to make sure they're not pointy fox ears sitting up on top of their head. I like to make sure they're more looking like they're on the side of the head. If I'm close enough to look at them through binoculars. I'm looking for a bear that looks like its eyes are closer together because it's got such a big head and then a lot of times when a big boar walks in they come in with more of a swagger. Typically very slow and confident and more pigeon-toed so that they walk, they look like a guy that just had a big workout in the gym, showing off their muscles. So I look for those things and then I also look for some body language to make sure that they do look confident. I look at how other bears react to them when they come in as well if I have that opportunity. It's always helpful to have another bear there because that helps you judge size as well.
How do you prepare for the weather up here?
Yeah the weather up here, I know every year if I'm going to come in the beginning of June I have to be prepared for wind and rain maybe even some snow flurries and then the next day might be 70°. But the the great thing about it is if you come prepared you're fine. The water is such that you can always get out of the wind for the most part if you need to and there is so much area to cover that if the wind's blowing hard you just go a different direction.
The guides are all very capable, with boat handling and safety so that means a lot to me too honestly. They don't cut corners here when it comes to safety in the boats and you feel very comfortable. They are always game to go out. There are some fishermen sometimes that will stay in in bad weather um I typically put on all these hunting clothes we all invest in and try to head out.
What is your weapon of choic?
I shoot Hoyt bow but I've been archery hunting for longer than I care to admit. I feel like most of the bows probably shoot and are more capable than they shoot better than I do and and they're built better than anything I could hope for, so give a lot of credit to all those good bows. I have shot fixed blade broadheads up here on most of my hunts but this year for the first time I went to a mechanical broadhead or an expandable and I was really pleased with that. I feel like the expandables have come a long way in just the last 10 years so felt very confident. The shots are close so I think that having been here before I practiced from 10 yards out to 30 and got very comfortable knowing that would probably be the range of my first shot but I made sure I practiced enough to be comfortable at further distances. Not for the first shot, but in case I ever needed to make a follow-up shot. I could do that but you can feel comfortable that 25 yard shot is right in the wheelhouse. They set a blind up on the ground so there is a barrier between you and the bears but being on the ground gives it a real different feel so I like that. If you're going to be that close to an animal. It's really cool to be on the ground and not looking down on them and being able to really check them out before you take your shot.
How do the guides help you prepare?
I make sure I have a backpack. I pack some rain gear in the backpack. I pack an extra jacket and typically have some layers with me that I can take off if I need to. Cliff is great. I think because Cliff lives in Canada year-round he can take the temperature, the colder temperatures, better than I can, so he he typically brings a little bit less clothing than what I do but I think if you come up here you just want to be prepared for a variety of temperatures. The rain gear sometimes even when it's not raining is really nice to wear because it keeps the wind off of you on the boat ride.
What's a typical day at bear camp?
It's pretty pretty laidback. Breakfast is at 7 for us bear hunters. Sometimes we'll show up a little bit after the fishing crew eats and have a have a cup of coffee and some breakfast and discuss our strategy for the day. That might really entail us going to check a bait or two, doing a little bit of fishing, catching some Walleye or Pike and then heading out. What I like to do is a long sit so if I can get on the stand early afternoon and stay for as long as I can stand it which might be eight or nine hours in the past. I'll do that but that gives you the opportunity to get in and get settled and and really enjoy the whole outdoor experience.
What qualities of your guide most stood out to you?
Cliff is great. He's got a great feel for the fish and where they're going to be and he's really gotten some nice bear hunting experience under his belt in the last few years and he's a guy you can trust and he's very willing to please and anxious to please and make sure you're having a good time. We tell a lot of jokes and a lot of stories and you know there's a big age difference between us but when we're out there together I don't feel it. I hope he doesn't either. Yes this is the third year that I've hunted with Cliff and Cliff and I have been have become pretty good friends. I actually have invited him to come down to the States deer hunting and he came down last fall. He's the kind of guy that just fits in everywhere and when I brought him down to the States to meet my friends and hang out with my hunting crew he fit right in and they loved him. But uh Cliff probably, I've fished my whole life and I would say that his sense for where the fish are, how to catch a fish is among the top two people I've ever fished with in my whole life, freshwater fishing. He's got a nose for it and a knack for it and if you need a lesson he's more than willing to provide a lesson in how to catch them.
I was happy this week because I caught the first fish before he did a couple times. Just a wonderful fisherman but on the bear hunting side, as I said earlier, he has really gotten into the bear hunting. He has a knack for it. He works hard at it. He pays close attention to the bait sites and make sure that they're eating there and that there's no break in providing them with food and getting the the bears to come in. He's getting pretty good at judging the bears. He's seen enough of them now that he'll look and say "Hey that's a good bear." Whereas I'm looking at it through binoculars and really studying everything and he's right every time.
What qualities of your guide most stood out to you?
Well the first thing is again I just love coming up here every year. When I come it's like coming home for a family holiday honestly with some of the friends that I've made so I have to say that first and that comes in front of the success with hunting and fishing. I killed my biggest bear ever and it's a green score, but I know the bear I shot with a bow will score in the Boone and Crockett record book which is awesome, and that's the second one like that I've taken up here so that's a first and that's a personal best. I had never caught a Grayling. We went out and fished for Grayling for half an hour and caught three and one was a trophy Grayling. So first and best Grayling I've ever caught, and then also had a personal best on a Walleye that was just under 30 inches long so that's the biggest Walleye I've ever caught. So I think that's four things and actually I'm hoping for a fifth in the next day or so of fishing. I'm still looking for the personal best on the Pike but I'm knocking on the door right now. These pike are just so cool and so aggressive and it's really dramatic when they hit your lure and a lot of times they'll give you a second chance so that's wonderful too. It's just a great place to be.
