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Kip Manuel (pictured here) stands behind his home as he shows off his traditional bow that he uses to hunt deer and hogs locally. He also uses it to kill black bears on hunting trips in the northern part of Canada. (Gazette photo by Tony Marks)

Hunting manually

Kip Manuel enjoys using a more manual bow as his weapon of choice to take down a black bear

By: TONY MARKS
Associate Editor

Ville Plattians are known for their time spent hunting the woods of the Sportsmen’s Paradise. From the Cajun Passover that is the opening weekend of squirrel season to the last weekend of muzzleloader season, this has become a rite of passage from one generation to the next.
One Ville Platte native has hunted his whole life but has changed up to a more primitive way of bagging his limit. “I hunt with traditional bows only,” said Kip Manuel. “I don’t hardly gun hunt anymore, and I don’t use a compound bow.”
Manuel described his weapon of choice. “It doesn’t have wheels and sights like a compound bow,” he explained. “I find it a lot more fun to hunt with this type of bow than a compound bow. It’s not quite like the Indians, but it’s still closer to that than a compound bow.”
As he hunts the woods locally, Manuel uses his traditional bow to go after deer and hogs. “The hogs are really bad,” he said. “It’s getting out of hand. Hogs are tearing up everything and are running deer off. These hogs are taking over, and they’re eating everything that they can. They tear up the farmers’ crops. The farmers might plant one day, and the hogs will eat all the seed that night.”
Manuel has recently begun taking his traditional bow to another part of North America that has become overpopulated with its own species of wildlife. He goes on bear hunts in the very northern part of Canada where they are overpopulated and are harassing the surrounding neighborhoods.
“I found on the Internet this guy that does bear hunts with traditional bows only,” Manuel said. “He is from New York, and goes to northern Canada and rents a cabin on a huge lake. It sounded very interesting, so I decided to seek more about it. I went my first time and went back quite a few times since.”
He described that part of Canada which is straight up from New York City. “It’s cool in June and is very pleasant,” Manuel said. “We’re on a lake as big as Toledo Bend. We have places that we bait the bears along the lake. Luckily I get along a little better than the 10 or 15 others because I know enough French to get by.”
“It’s very fun all day long,” he continued. “We’re around a campsite, and at night time we build a fire right on the edge of the water. It’s just relaxing.”
Manuel went on to describe what a typical bear hunt is like. “We don’t wake up in the mornings and go hunt early like over here,” he said. “We can go in the early afternoon normally and hunt until dark.”
“We see the squirrels, coons, and different animals come to the bait stand, but when you see them running away, then you know there’s a bear approaching,” he continued. “I’ve killed three over the last few years that I’ve gone. I have one mounted at my camp in Oakdale that was the second bear that I killed. It was a real trophy. This latest bear was more for meat, but it was a good medium size.”
According to Manuel, killing a bear is an eerie experience because of its death moan. “When a bear is dying, it runs off,” he explained. “There’s a diaphragm inside their chest, and it retracts when the bear dies. The sound that comes out of their mouths is an eerie thing to hear in the woods when it’s almost pitch dark. It’s interesting too because it’s something that nature did with the bear.”
While black bears are not considered aggressive, Manuel explained that it would be different with a momma bear that was protecting her babies. “A bear won’t necessarily attack for no reason, but a momma will if you get too close to her baby,” he said. “Sometimes when the momma bear comes in with her cubs and smells something or doesn’t like something, she’ll make some kind of sound. Those little bears will climb up the tree for safety. If you’re in that tree that they climb up, then the momma bear starts popping her teeth.”
Manuel recommends these black bear hunts to others because they are so comfortable. “It’s so cool and pleasant, and you don’t sweat,” he stated. “It’s just an enjoyable and relaxing time to do that, and it’s fun if you actually see bears and happen to kill one.”

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