I haven't been back to Canada in seven years. It was a great trip then and when Dave Poteat called me about heading back to Buck Country Outfitters, it was an easy yes. I had already booked Croatia and Russia for bear hunts, following a miserable grizzly hunt the year before, so why not book another bear hunt? Plus it's always a good time with Dave.

I flew in to Edmonton. Dave and his camera guy came in a short time later out of Oklahoma and then we caravanned six hours to camp. This is not a remarkable drive, not a whole lot to look at, but you're always on the watch for something because you just never know.

As we got within about an hour of camp, you start seeing the occasional bear running across the road. We got to camp and the lodge is just spectacular, overlooking a lake. It's a big beautiful lodge and it's pretty neat because while it has an impressive front entryway, every guest room has its own door on the back side of the lodge. No dragging your gear or muddy boots through the main building. Just drive around back and find your door like you're at a motel. The back has a covered porch so you can be protected from the weather while you're putting on or taking off your boots. Shoot your bow back there. It's a really well thought out lodge, along with being genuinely nice.

But I wasn't shooting a bow this year. I really wanted to shoot a lever action and in my safe was a Marlin 1895 .45-70 begging for action. That made me extra excited about this trip. It's not an old rifle. I won it at a Professional Outdoor Media Association auction a couple of years earlier. But it screams cowboy and there's just something fun about shooting it. There's some extra paperwork to get a firearm into Canada but it was worth it.

Well it didn't take long. Maybe it was the forecast with rough weather expected or maybe I thought it was a bigger bear but by the end of day one I was tagged out. I had a lot of bears coming in and out of there. They were coming right to the bottom of my ladder to check me out. Eventually a nice bear who seemed pretty chunky showed up so the old Marlin roared. Even got to do a quick cowboy reload with that lever action and hit him again, rolling him to a stop.

I got to spend the rest of the week hanging out, walking by the lake, checking out the nearby bison ranch, and seeing what other hunters brought in, which honestly is never a bad time in a hunt camp. There's always some kind of adventure to get into. On the way back I swung by the University of Alberta Botanic Garden. I enjoy visiting museums, old churches, and even places like botanical gardens in these foreign places. It was a good day to do it and once again Canada delivered.