Back in 1998 I was living in Michigan's U.P. Being an avid brookie chaser, I and my trusty Gordon setter pup, Sage, decided to camp out on a desolate trout pond the night before the trout opener.
About at sunset, from behind the dam in the swamp, came the drumming of a ruffed grouse...a real sign of spring in da' UP. Once it got dark, Sage and I decided to call it a night. I awoke at 1:30 am....that crazy grouse was still drumming!!! It was real cold out so I had Sage crawl into my sleeping bag and back to sleep we went.
I awoke again at first light...once again the cold woke me. I put the Tritronics collar on the pup, put on my shoes, and we exited the tent. Sage immediately made a B-line for the swamp like a true bird dog. I walked around the pond's bank taking in the beauty of the fog over the water.
Then I heard it...a roar/scream that was amazingly loud. The sound came from the swamp behind the dam and went out across the pond echoing off the ridges on the opposite side of the pond. I immediately yelled "Sage come!" and hit the button on my transmitter. Sage appeared immediately out of the swamp and came up to me like nothing had happened.
Do you guys remember the movie, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" with Donald Sutherland. You remember the sound that the invaders made when they spotted a human? Take that sound and lower the pitch a couple of octaves and that was exactly what I heard.
What did I hear that early morning? After describing the sound to a cousin that had ran traplines for over 70 years, the sound came from an old boar(bear). Myself, I haven't a clue...
Jim
