Bella Twin lived closer to Slave Lake than Smith but many Smith residents remember her from time spent at Camp 8. Several stories exist about the shooting of her world record grizzly . What we do know is that she shot it with a single shot .22 rim fire rifle in 1953.
Bella, and her friend Dave Auger, were hunting grouse on a cut line near Lesser Slave Lake when they saw a large grizzly bear approaching them. They were concerned that if they ran the bear might chase them. Instead they quietly sat down on a brush pile at the side of the cut line and hoped he would pass without trouble.
He came within several yards of the couple and Bella shot him in the head with a shell known as a .22 long. The bear dropped, kicked and then lay still. Just too make sure that he was no longer a threat, Bella got closer and fired all of the seven or eight shells she had into his head.
The hide was tanned by the Aboriginals. After a length of stay in a private residence, it went to Stan Reynolds Museum, for a time. It is now is in possession of the Provincial Museum, along with the rifle used to shoot it.
The carcass, including the skull, was left in the bush. Reinhold Eben-Ebenau, a North Shore resident who was the holder of the current world record grizzly bear title, found out where the bear was laying and retrieved the skull.
The skull showed that Bella’s first shot had been right in the eye and was a fatal shot. The other bullet holes are plainly visible.
Reinhold submitted the paperwork to Boone & Crocket. Bella’s bear then became the World Record dropping his into second place. Both world record skulls are on display at the North Shore Homestead Museum, located about 15 km from Slave Lake on Highway 88. It is a fascinating place to see, not only because of the skulls, both from the general area, but also because Reinhold documented information from various antlers all of which are also on display.