in his own words:
My name is Rick Bullmann and I am 48 years young. Besides being an avid collector of vintage BMW motorcycles, my foremost passion is hunting. Starting at a very young age, I have been able to harness many skills to allow me to successfully hunt wild game including turkey, bear, moose and deer. As my father had done for me, I am continuing my family hunting legacy by involving my two young boys and teaching them to respect our great outdoors and what nature has to offer us.
Although my hunting experiences began mainly using a rifle, 5 years ago I had discovered the enjoyment that cross bow hunting has to offer. The extra challenge of bow hunting really adds to the sport and with that, my future plans would be to hunt big game in Montana and the Yukon. Who knows what the future will bring!
Not only has Vortex Optics played a large part in optimizing my ability to hunt small and large game with great success, the quality of the product exceeds expectation. I am proud to be part of Vortex Pro Staff.
location: Ancaster, ON
email: Rick.Bullmann@halton.ca
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A Hunter's Tale: The 3 Day Bear Hunting Adventure
My first day started off at 5:00 am being awakened by the infamously annoying alarm clock. I quickly reminded myself that this was the day I had been waiting for all year! Pumped with excitement, I soon realized I was already in my car and half way down the road. The temperature outside was comfortable and the ground was laced with the first frost of the season. In the black of night, I managed to navigate my way to the stand without breaking too many branches. I quietly tied off my Crossbow to my belt, as I do every hunt, and pulled it up onto the stand and settled in with anticipation waiting for the sun to rise. As the day slowly began to dawn, it became evident by my surroundings that a bear had been feeding that night or perhaps it was feeding as I made my way in? Sadly, the rest of the day was very uneventful. I heard a pack of coyotes come close to where I was perched but, never did actually see anything. On occasion, I would close my eyes and enjoy the sounds Mother Nature provided me as if she were singing a lullaby. Of course, I was also interrupted on occasion by the aching and throbbing that resulting in sitting on one spot too long. As uncomfortable as I was at times, I dared not move too much and risk any chance at the "big one". The first day came to a close without success.
The second day started out with heavy thunderstorms and rain. The rain eventually subsided and by noon I was somewhat dry. At this point, I had decided to relocate to another stand that was situated more remotely. By the time 2:30 rolled around I could hear something walking in my direction. To my surprise it was a nice big bull moose. He stop 25 yards right in front of me and looked at something hanging in the tree between us. Was he looking at me? No sooner did he appear he was gone. That was the highlight for my second day. The only thing left on my mind then was which stand to choose to go to the next day.
On day three, the final day of my bear hunt, I had arrived at the stand and once again, it appeared that a bear had been there and left. At least the bears were hitting the baits regularly. I sat there restlessly until noon and then switched stands again as I grasped at any last hope of spotting a bear. As the day wore on it was looking like I was going home empty handed. I was even getting text messages from buddies at work telling me to pack it in. It was around 7:00 pm when I thought I noticed some movement around 200 yards away. At this point the sun had started to descend behind the trees casting dark shadows everywhere. Were my eyes beginning to play tricks on me? I had waited for a second look and sure enough, it was a BEAR! My heart was pounding so hard I was almost convinced the bear could have heard it. The bear had quietly and slowly made his way closer and closer until he was only 20 yards away. I could only see his head stick out in the clearing as if he knew that something was out of place. The sweet smell of molasses was too much for him to resist and hesitantly, the bear came out into the open. I took several deep breaths trying to leash my excitement as I peered down my scope. My arrow found its mark! What a moment!!
Equipment: Excalibur Equinox Cross bow Optimizer speed dial with Vortex Crossfire 3x32 Scope & Vortex Solo 10x36 monocular
Vortex Canada
Official Canadian distributor of Vortex Optics products.
45 Airpark Place, Unit #5 | Guelph, ON | N1L 1B2
1-866-343-0054 | info@vortexcanada.net | fax: 519-767-6600
