A Night in the Bush

This is my father's Story that won a writing contest. It is a true story. Enjoy

A Night in the Bush

By Dick Wickenden

In the fall of 1961 Gord Hughes and I decided to try hunting for moose northeast of Sudbury. Using the old Hwy 69 North, we packed a lunch, gathered our hunting gear and set off. This was a Saturday trek. The last part of civilization was Capreol on the CNR rails.

We started towards Milnet, a ghost town. Finding a side road which led to the water, we crossed near Moose Mountain and drove to where the bridge was out. We parked the car and were just getting out when Gord grabbed his rifle, loaded and fired at a cow moose. This was his first time hunting big game and he took off running after the moose. I managed to grab my rifle, my knife, ammo belt and compass... As I hurried to follow, Gord was yelling about the blood on the trail. We tracked the animal until dark and found ourselves on top of a mountain in fog. The compass didn’t work as were on top of an ore body which made the magnetic needle spin like a second hand on a watch.

Which way to go???

A chain saw erupted somewhere in the distance without realizing how far noise travels in the bush, we moved in that direction. As it began to get dark, we realized that we might have to sleep out in the open with no food. Cresting one more hill, we came to a large lake and spied two hunters sitting by the fire. They invited us in and gave us hot soup. We were in too far to try walking out on foot in the dark, so they paddled us across the lake to a lodge. After we thanked the two hunters for their help, they canoed back to their camp.

The lodge owner gave each of us a bed for the night, but there was no phone to call home to advise our families that we were safe.

The next morning, after being charged $10.00 each for a cup of coffee & toast, we were back on our way. We found the portage crossing to our road and there was my car, the driver’s door still open, the battery dead. Another hunter gave us a boost and we drove back to civilization.

It’s Sunday morning and everything in Capreol was closed. We continued on to Hanmer where we found a pay phone to call our families. My wife of a year and a half was expecting our first child began to cry at the sound of my voice.

Once she calmed down she said, “Your dad’s been out searching all night. He must have half the parishioners with him.”

As I exited the phone booth I found my Dad a short distance away waiting to use the phone. When he saw me, his face switched back and forth from happy relief to anger and back again.

I look back now and wonder if we had had cell phones then and the technology of today, would we have caused such a panic to our families and friends. I guess that depends on cellular coverage and batteries.

I did learn two lessons. One was if you wound an animal, give it time to lie down and rest then cautiously and quietly trail the animal. The second was to have two maps; one for home and one to carry; both with the location and intended hunting area. Stick to that plan.