Ojibwe Hunter

Ojibwe Hunter: True Hunting, Fishing and Trapping Stories on Vince Shute’s Property before his Black Bear Sanctuary Opened (2013) by James Chavers Jr.

To the Ojibwe hunter, hunting is a spiritual event that is taken very seriously. It is not a sport… the Ojibwe were primarily a fishing people using all resources available to survive… fishing, hunting, trapping, gathering wild rice, gathering berries, gardening and foraging for edible plants. They did not waste anything and took only what was needed; life depended on those resources. James Chavers Jr.’s book Ojibwe Hunter is a collection of his true wildlife hunting, fishing and trapping stories that took place on Vince Shute’s property before his Black Bear Sanctuary opened near the Bois Forte reservation in Nett Lake, Minnesota. Chavers’ best friend of 40 years was Vince Shute whose land bordered the Bois Forte reservation in northern Minnesota. Shute became famous for his daily black bear visitors who were wild, not tame. There is a black bear sanctuary on Shute’s former home-site in Orr, Minnesota today. This is where most of the stories take place in Ojibwe Hunter. “Over 30 years on Shute’s land, I hunted moose, deer, timber wolves, lynx, bobcats, wolverine, and even shot a few wild dogs. I trapped fisher, rabbit, beaver, otter, muskrat, mink, weasel, raccoon and fox every winter. These true stories happen after I met Vince Shute in 1968 when I am 12 years old.”

Ojibwe Hunter is a collection of my true wildlife hunting, fishing and trapping stories that took place on Vince Shute’s property before his Black Bear Sanctuary opened near my reservation in Nett Lake, Minnesota. I am half Chippewa (Bois Forte) and half Irish. I was born June 17, 1956, in Cook, Minnesota. I hunted ducks and geese on Nett Lake all my life. I started when I was eight years old. Since 1966, I worked as a guide for non-Indian duck and geese hunters every autumn on Nett Lake, home of the world’s biggest and best wild rice crop in Minnesota. Every fall, September to October, I riced for a living, bringing in 300-600 pounds of wild rice a day. I hand-parched my wild rice and sold it for $10 per pound. With my good earnings I was able to buy my hunting guns and nice cars. I have hundreds of stories; many took place after I met Vince Shute in 1968 when I was 12 years old. I am incarcerated in Minnesota and will be released in 2014.