Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Our first impression of Vince's place was a mixture of amazement, utter chaos, and a little fear. Cars were parked haphazardly anywhere they could fit in the small gravel driveway, and people with various quote unquote goodies for the bears were milling around, laughing, talking and tossing food to large bears in the chosen proximity. It was noisy. A stench of garbage and decaying corn was in the air. Litter was everywhere. And off to the side, surrounded by people, was an elderly man in glasses, smiling and talking.
[00:00:30] This man was the bear Man.
[00:00:34] There is a place in the remote northwoods of Minnesota, North America. It's located near the town of orr, population approximately 300. Outside this town is an area where normal rules are put to one side. It's a place where humans and wildlife meet. It's a special place, wholly unique and not without its controversies. This is the Vince Shooty Wildlife Sanctuary, run by the American Bear Association, ABA for short. The ABA is dedicated to promoting a better understanding of black bears and all wildlife through education, observation and experience. I'm your host, Philip Stubley, and welcome to the Bear Den.
[00:01:11] That quote at the top of the episode was from Clarie Lee, recounting her first time visiting Vince Shooty's homestead.
[00:01:17] We are somewhat jumping ahead as Vince's bear man origin story stretches back much further.
[00:01:24] Humans and black bears first interacted around 10,000 years ago, and human reactions have varied from respect, wonder, apathy and fear. Native Americans believe them to be descended from humans. The Roman Empire saw bears as a symbol of nature's power and savagery. They brought them into the Colosseums to slaughter for entertainment. Bear baiting was also a popular sport in Elizabethan times. Elsewhere, bears and humans have long competed for food and territory. Fast forward to the 20th century and a humble logger found a way to peacefully coexist and share food and territory with black bears. But it wasn't always that way.
[00:02:01] I suppose it is time for a short disclaimer. Vince was born in a different time. Putting it politely as this is a positively inclined podcast, many of the things he did will be more than questionable today. It's easy for us to look back and judge, but I personally think that's a fool's errand. I'm not here to glorify him or assign any value judgments. This is the story of what happened, plain and simple. By telling it, we are not saying we approve these actions. Now that's out the way. The chain of events that brought us here Today started over 100 years ago. Back in 1913, with the birth of Vince Raymond Schutte on December 4th. Vince was the youngest child and the only son of Stefan and Anna Schutte, both immigrants from Ljubljana, Slovenia. Vince had five older sisters, Anne, Mary, Amelia, Angela and Barbara. His parents were hard working and owned a small dairy farm near Greeney, Minnesota. But the family lived in poverty. They mostly lived off the produce of the farm itself, cultivating a vegetable garden and raising livestock, including cows and chickens.
[00:03:01] At age 14, Vince's father, Stefan, suffered a debilitating stroke. Vince quit school and stepped up to manage the farm. He was loyal to his family and felt it was his responsibility to support his sisters while they were in school. As he put it himself, I had a sick father, five sisters, and I had to keep them in school. His father told them to stay in the country and speak American, whatever that means. And Vince took this to heart as he grew up, Vince had dreams of becoming a prize fighter. During the 1930s, he worked in the historic Civilian Conservation Corps. This was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States, and it was aimed at unemployed and unmarried men. During his time here, Vince was known to fight anyone that came along. Even though he had left school, Vince's reputation as a fighter spread far and wide. So much so that the principal of Greeney School challenged Vince to a duel. The principal said, vince, you've been knocking my boys around long enough. Tonight you're gonna have to fight with me.
[00:04:01] Vince was never one to shy away from a challenge. That evening, the two combatants met. Vince recounted the fight.
[00:04:09] My trainer said, vince, use your head. Maybe you can outsmart him. So I attacked the guy, real light. That's a trick you see, I was playing on him next. Another light tap. His guard was down. Then I sent in the knockout. You heard this right. Vince literally beat up the school principal. Oddly enough, nobody that challenged Vince to a fight asked for a rematch.
[00:04:31] Talent scouts from Chicago apparently did try to recruit Vince to train as a heavyweight title contender. His mother feared that Vince would get hurt and talked him out of signing up. Vince later came to regret this decision, feeling that he possessed the skills to make it big and could have made a lot of money.
[00:04:48] Vince Tutti versus Muhammad Ali. The prize fight the world was robbed of.
[00:04:54] Despite this reputation as a rowdy boxer, Vince was soft spoken. And this reputation ran contrary to what was a kind and open natured individual. Vince continued working on the dairy farm and took a second job as a logger. But in 1927, the Great Depression hit and with the drop in milk prices, the the family ended up selling their cows and leaving the dairy business. Vince went into logging full time and by the age of 25 the enterprising young man formed his own logging company.
[00:05:22] By 1942, Vince had moved his northwards logging operation to the pine and cedar forest near Ore, Minnesota. He established his permanent base in the area we now know as the Magic Circle. If this place could talk, it would definitely have a few stories.
[00:05:36] Vince had a simple setup with a rustic cabin serving his dorm, kitchen and mess hall for himself and some of his workers. He had up to 40 employees. In the early days. Vince's work day began at 4am and that included making breakfast and putting on a fresh pot of coffee for the men. Vince garnered a new reputation as an excellent cook and his sourdough pancakes became famous and highly sought after. Vince always made sure everyone was well fed to the point of obsession. This may have been an influence from his childhood and from when times were tough and he sometimes went days without food. He didn't want anyone to go hungry, including some of the local wildlife. Vince also fed the birds, the deers and mice. This was a sign of things to come.
[00:06:19] Vince was always honest and fair with his hired help, giving anyone that wanted to work a job and paying them fairly and promptly. He even looked after them in times of need. One employee's mother mentioned to Vince how the family didn't have a car since her husband needed it to go down south for work. Vince offered to advance the money needed for a car if her son Bob agreed to cut in the woods that summer for him. Vince was fair, but his skills as a boxer kept the unruly elements in line. On another occasion, a drunken employee was being a bit too big for his boots and trying to pick a fight with an elderly employee. Vince took the young man to one side, ably dodging a punch, grabbed the man by the collar and seat of his pants and tossed him into the nearby creek to cool down. Vince didn't want to hurt him, just take the fight out of him and teach him a healthy lesson in respect. World War II broke out in 1939 and the USA joined the war in December 1941. Vince wasn't accepted for military service due to his value as a logger. The sawmill Vince operated supplied lumber to the box plant in the nearby town of Tower which produced shipping crates for the war effort. At this time everything was done by hand with trees being cut down by six foot two man saws. Vince, in his way was always forward thinking and by 1946, he realized that his men couldn't keep up with the demands of the sawmill and so he bought one of the first chainsaws to be used in northern Minnesota. His men were terrified of using it, so Vince was the only one who operated it. Vince had a fair few near misses and received some lifelong scars using it.
[00:07:51] There wasn't much that spooked Vince, but there was one animal that he had a phobia of. Like Indiana Jones, Vince hated snakes. This fearless pioneer would flee in terror at the sight of a small grass snake. He also disliked beavers, as he believed they damaged the forest. He went so far as blowing up their dams with explosives.
[00:08:10] These were different times. I wasn't actually going to include this fact initially, but I wanted to paint a complete picture of Vince, both his strength and his flaws. He was a man who met life head on, for better or for worse.
[00:08:22] Working in the woods wasn't all fun and games. Living out in a remote area brings you into contact with all sorts of wildlife. Remember, this is bear country. Vince's sourdough pancakes weren't just sought after by his workers. The aroma enticed other forest dwellers too. Attracted by the smell of cooking, inquisitive black bears visited the camp at the start of spring and would try to get into the cabin for a bite to eat. A black bear has a very strong sense of smell and and can detect food sources from a mile away. In fact, they can smell seven times better than a bloodhound.
[00:08:54] The loggers, like many people living in bear country at the time, were afraid of black bears. Food and fear are two of the main driving motivations of bears, and bears remember a reliable food source. If the attractant isn't removed, a bear is sure to return. The workers tried to scare the bears away, but the bears wouldn't stay away for long. The bears continued to break into the cabin and ate the food Vince had prepared for his workers. Vince would come home from a hard day at work to find the cabin door hanging open and several bears rummaging around inside or sitting on his sofa. Vince at this time was also scared of black bears and like many others, resorted to shooting them. Vince was no stranger to hunting. In his younger years, he would go out duck hunting and bring home venison and partridge, among other things. There is a mounted white wolf on display in the ALL visitor center, and this was one that Vince trapped and killed himself for dealing with his unwanted visitors. Shooting the bears was a quick and easy way to solve the problem. Vince did this for many years. But this didn't stop the inflow of bears. Then one day in the 1950s, everything changed. One morning, Vince got up and began working as usual. By this time, Vince couldn't count how many bears he had shot. It had been that many. But he was growing weary with doing this. He didn't actually enjoy taking the bears lives. He had shot so many by this time that he was convinced he had shot the last bear in the north woods.
[00:10:18] This morning, he got into his car and drove into town to run some errands. He returned later that day expecting to find everything just as he'd left it. But to his surprise, he found bears had once again broken into his cabin. Vince was getting desperate. This could not go on. And clearly shooting the bears wasn't the solution. I couldn't kill all of them, Vince said. And as he pondered on it more, he came to the conclusion, they're not mean, they're just hungry. Vince decided it was time to try something different. This was to be a turning point in Vince's life. Even if it didn't seem obvious at the time, Vince could not have guessed what his future would hold.
[00:10:59] In many ways, Vince was ahead of his time in the way that he tried to find a peaceful way to coexist with his forest neighbours. Now, I must warn you, you will hear about bears being fed and interactions that these days the ABA do not endorse. As ever, please don't try this at home and don't feed bears. These are historic examples and I'm telling this story purely for education, entertainment, transparency and ultimately, I'll let you judge for yourselves.
[00:11:25] They're not mean, they're just hungry became Vince Shutey's mantra. Vince figured that he couldn't live with a hungry bear. And when that bear isn't hungry, they are a lot easier to get along with. One of his old buildings at the logging camp had caught fire and burned down, leaving behind charred ruins. Vince began disposing of his table scraps and grease in this area, knowing the bears would be attracted away from his buildings by the appealing aromas.
[00:11:46] Sure enough, Vince's assumption was right. The bears stopped breaking into his cabin, instead heading for the food that he had left out for them. Man and bear had reached an understanding. Apparently, the feeding did not start out as a daily routine. Leftover food was initially placed outside every few days in this makeshift compost pile. Vince later said he believed the feeding started around 1952 or 1953.
[00:12:11] This arrangement played out this way for many years, until 1978 when Vince retired from the logging business as he was eligible for Social Security compensation.
[00:12:21] By this time his logging business was a one man operation. The old bunkhouse became the food shed which still stands today. After his retirement, Vince could focus all of his attention on the bears. He began a regular feeding schedule, one which isn't too dissimilar to what the ABA still do today. Vince fed the bears from his retirement pay and donations from people that visited the camp. Vince watched the bears and began to name them based on his observations of their behaviors and characteristics. I got to like them, they got to like me. We adopted each other, he later recounted. Vince got to know each bear that visited his logging camp and a bond between them became established. There was a mutual trust and understanding. A desperate act had become a labor of love. What had started as a short term solution had grown into something much bigger. Something that really should never have started. Once more, don't feed bears.
[00:13:10] But Vince did what he felt was right at the time.
[00:13:13] He kept this labour of love quiet for a very long time. But by the early 80s, tales began to circulate around the local community. Vince went to the homestead mill in Au in 1982 to buy a single bag of dog food. There was nothing unusual about that. The next week he went back and bought two more bags. He then began inquiring about a special rate for larger orders. The owner, understandably slightly puzzled, asked Vince how many dogs that he had. Vince sheepishly replied that he just had one. He initially did not want to reveal his secret, but he did later admit he was feeding bears. By the mid-80s, news of the bear man had spread far and wide and Vince became a local celebrity. People started traveling from all over the country to come and see this man who referred to the local bears as family. Vince fed the bears from his back porch while sitting and entertaining the growing crowds. Vince was a natural born storyteller, often weaving elaborate tales with a twinkle in his eye and a cheeky grin. He even spun a tall tale about a time that a giant snake attacked him from the creek and bears rescued him from it. He wanted everyone to learn about the true nature of black bears and connect people to them in the way that he had done. They weren't mean, ferocious animals as many believed he wanted people to see. Black bears also had a gentle and docile side. Vince, of course had his favorite bears and his main bear was called Duffy. Duffy was a cub born in either 1979 or 1980 and one of three dubbed by Vince. The cubs were Ruffy Tuffy, and Duffy. We don't know what became of the other two, but Duffy was, according to Vince, the boss bear. Duffy was a handsome bear with a big white V across his chest that made him instantly recognisable. Around 25% of black bears have chest markings or patches, commonly referred to as a blaze. Duffy came to the sanctuary every summer and Vince held a special place in his heart for this gentle giant. A photo of the pair appeared on the Johnny Carson show and brought further celebrity status to both of them. Duffy only ever visited for six weeks of a year, but he was family to Vince. It didn't matter how long they spent apart from one another.
[00:15:15] In the early days, Duffy would wait outside Vince's trailer and follow him around the yard as Vince went about his business. Duffy grew to a staggering £900, a definite contender for one of the largest black bears in history. A heavyweight title holder, something Vince may have enjoyed. It is worth noting that according to the website Bearwise, a black bear male that weighed 880 pounds and lived in North Carolina is said to be the largest on record.
[00:15:42] And while we're talking about it, we'll cover the subject of bear weights. And don't worry, there is no fat shaming here. Adult males and adult females fluctuate in weight over the course of the year. Adult males on average can weigh 150 to 600 pounds, while females with cubs can weigh 90 to 300 pounds. Pregnant females lose about 35% of their weight during the winter, while males and females without cubs lose about 30%. Now, Duffy was a big bear, but black bears are the smallest of the three North American bear species, the other two being polar and brown bears. Duffy's massive size was only outweighed by his gentle nature as he showed a tolerance to younger bears rarely seen in dominant males. Now back to Vince. Bears came and went as they pleased, weaving trails in and around Vince's home. It shouldn't be forgotten that not everyone supported or approved of what Vince was doing. Another bear Vince regarded as family was Brownie. One day, someone entered the sanctuary and shot three bears, including Brownie. The other two bears died from their wounds. Later, during the evening feeding, Brownie didn't appear and Vince feared the waste. He ventured into the woods and found Brownie laying in a field. The prognosis wasn't good. Brownie was wounded with a shotgun blast to the shoulder. Vince rushed back home and prepared chicken noodle soup alongside aspirin to give to Brownie. Brownie was laid out for a week and night and Day, Come rain or shine, Vince returned to nurture his fallen companion. Bears have remarkably fast powers of recovery. And as Brownie's strength returned to him, he followed Vince back to the homestead to continue his R and R. Brownie carried the shotgun lead in his shoulder for the rest of his days, but he never seemed to hold this against humans as a whole. The two became very close and Vince was often pictured sitting with Brownie. Vince would scratch Brownie's neck, ears and head. Brownie was a big, easy going bear and often referred to as shy and unassuming. Vince himself referred to Brownie as the cop, as he believed Brownie policed the other bears. Whenever Vince went into town, he left Brownie in charge. Bear hunting season in Minnesota runs for six weeks from September 1st. Vince never hunted a bear again after he started feeding, but he wasn't against hunting itself, as long as it was ethical. He thought hunters should leave mothers and cubs alone, but had a philosophy of do what you will, just not on my property. He was once offered $5,000 for a bear as a trophy, but Vince turned this down. During the winter months, heavy snowfall cut Vince off from the rest of the world and Vince enjoyed his privacy. And he often preferred to talk about bears rather than open up about himself. And he would complain when people plowed his driveway so they could come visit. He often intentionally didn't clear it, as he was after some solitude.
[00:18:23] By the late 80s, the number of bears visiting his property had grown exponentially and the mill was delivering 1,000 to £1,500 of corn to Vince each week. Vince scrounged around for food from local stores, restaurants, as well as garbage that people brought to feed the bears. He had a constant stream of visitors. Vince had volunteers who came to help, but he found it hard to keep up with the maintenance of the grounds. By 1993, Vince was 80 years old and was beginning to feel his own mortality. He worried about the future of his adopted family. What would happen to the bears if something happened to him? He wondered. No obvious solutions presented themselves. An uneasy atmosphere hung over the woods as rumours circulated about people planning to come and shoot the bears. Old fears about bears were reignited and Vince worried that the cause he had devoted his life to would crumble without him. The buckets of food that he carried just became heavier and everything was becoming harder. Vince's health continued to decline in his later years, until one day Vince was found collapsed in his trailer due to heart failure. He survived, but by the winter of 1994, he was required to move into town to recover. There was a silver lining. Vince was thrilled at the idea of having access to a real flushing toilet.
[00:19:35] Into this increasingly tense situation, three friends stepped forward and talked about taking over Vince's property. The seeds of the American Bear association had been planted and in January 1995, the ABA took over the operation of feeding the bears. At Vince's request, the refuge became known as a wildlife sanctuary. It was not just for bears, but for all wild creatures that entered. Vince visited the sanctuary often as I mean, really, there was no keeping him away, was there? His apartment in town was adorned with pictures of bears, plaques, posters and trinkets. The bears still surrounded him even within these man made walls. His thoughts and heart were still in the forest, his enthusiasm for nature still as strong as ever. In the summer of 1998, whenever Vince showed up at the sanctuary, Duffy, as if he sensed Vince's presence, also arrived. The unspoken connection, even after 18 years, still existed between these two fellow earthlings. All seemed well until one fateful day on September 5, 1998, around 11:30am a shot rang out from a.44 caliber handgun. Duffy had been shot at close range by a hunter. Within 15 minutes, Duffy was found by four volunteers near the property line of the sanctuary. Duffy had died while heading straight for the Magic Circle. During a Department of Natural Resources investigation, it was determined that a father and son had been legally hunting about 200 yards from the sanctuary boundary. The father confessed to shooting a large bear, but wasn't sure if he had hit it as he'd found no blood trail. Bears with layers of fat don't usually bleed from entrance wounds. Upon hearing of Duffy's passing, Vince could only say, oh no. He knew that bears around the sanctuary could be hunted, but always hoped that Duffy wouldn't be taken. Duffy was buried where he was found. The result of this tragedy was the enforcement of ethical hunting around the sanctuary.
[00:21:22] Vince never married, but he had a family that he had chosen. He wasn't a sophisticated man, but had built up a wealth of practical knowledge throughout his life. This didn't mean he didn't have some odd ideas. He insisted styrofoam or plastic bags be given to certain bears to help clear them of their worms. Rest assured this doesn't happen anymore. But he was ahead of his time in looking for a peaceful way to live with bears, especially as humans moved further and further into historical black bear territory. Whatever your opinion of Vince, and as previously mentioned, not everyone supported what he did. You do have to admit that he was one of a kind.
[00:21:56] Vince should not be put on a pedestal. And we will discuss the question of feeding bears in the next instalment.
[00:22:02] But Vince can be admired for his unselfish dedication to promoting the welfare of black bears. Vince was hospitalised in 1999 with a broken hip. Even then, pictures of bears and stuffed animals surrounded his bedside at the nursing home. This Northwoods legend, who seemed invincible, finally passed away peacefully at the age of 86 on July 4, 2000.
[00:22:25] Part of his ashes were laid to rest at St. Bridget's Cemetery in Greeney, Minnesota. The rest of his ashes were scattered in the area of the sanctuary where his companion in life, Duffy, was buried. The pair could walk together in eternity. A sign placed at the spot reads at home with nature and at one with God.
[00:22:43] Two crosses were also erected, one for Vince and one for Duffy. The cross for Vince at time of recording still stands untouched. But Duffy's cross has been severely damaged by bear activity. Why would the bears leave Vince's cross alone? Maybe they sense something we can only guess at.
[00:22:59] I'll leave you to decide on the answer to that.
[00:23:02] Vince was gone, but his legacy was assured.
[00:23:07] Insight on Vince's early life was originally provided by Frank Pulaski, Vince's nephew, who worked on Vince's logging farm during his summers and Christmas vacations and has helped out with various handyman jobs around the sanctuary.
[00:23:20] A lot of the information on the life of Vince Schutte has come from the comprehensive book They're Not Mean, They're Just Hungry by Brian Galusha and the volunteers of the Vinscuti Wildlife Sanctuary. Brian Galusha was a graduate from the Franciscan University in Clinton, Iowa. He became interested in black bears and the Vinciutty Wildlife Sanctuary while studying with Dr. John Zimmerman. He went on to teach high school biology and along with his parents Don and Donna Galusha was a long term volunteer at the sanctuary. He went on to serve as the ABA President for a time. Brian passed away in 2022 and is survived by his wife Molly and two sons, Matt and Colton. His book is available at the sanctuary on site, gift shop or via the website.
[00:24:02] But what would happen to the bears without Vince? What was the plan? Who were the three friends that he had left his legacy to? Well, find out in the next installment. Bye for now.
[00:24:16] The Bear Den the American Bear Association Podcast was written and presented by me, Philip Stubley. The opening credits were composed by React Music and the end credits by Corals.
[00:24:25] Thank you to everyone who has helped make this podcast possible, including Karen Housman, Bill Lee, Clarie Lee, Stephanie Horner, Donna Brzinga, Ross Coyer, and Angie Page.
[00:24:36] You can find out more about the American Bear association at www.americanbear.org. you can find Vintruti Wildlife Sanctuary on Facebook and Instagram. You can ask questions and submit comments about the podcast to pswericanbear.org the ABA is a special circumstance. We do not condone feeding wild animals animals. If you enjoy this podcast, help support the ABA either by donating, becoming an ABA member, symbolically adopting a bear, or come visit the sanctuary during the season and say hello.
