hey Everyone
Earlier this winter I started talking about bear hunting with my son who just turned 5. Some of you may remember we were the lucky pair that won the photo contest for a hunting trip with Liam Urry. We have booked for Nov of this year and will be sure to post a full report.
Back to the bear hunt. He was showing quite a bit of interest and said he wanted to try it out. Made plans with my father and we all went and set up a couple baits and checked a couple times before season. About a week into season we had all of our baits hit with bears coming fairly consistent which means time to hunt. I made plans with my dad to leave after work. We have apprx and hour drive to get to area. My son and I climbed into the stand about 6:00pm.
By the time I got him tied in with his harness and all settled in it was appx 6:45pm. We were just talking quietly, eating snacks and watching the birds and squirrels when I saw some movement back in the trees. I told him to sit really still as I could see a bear. He immediately replied excitedly “a real one”. I told home yes and that we needed to sit very still. As the bear slowly made its way in I looked over and he had the biggest smile and could see him shaking. He said he wanted me to shoot him. I said he wasn’t the really big one that was coming and he said we should let him go. We watched him at the bait about 30 yards away for a few minutes before he slowly walked off.
After he left Jeremy started asking questions about how big he was and if he was a baby. I told him no he was not a baby just a medium sized daddy bear. He thought about it for a few minutes and said “if he is a medium daddy bear I would like you to shoot him so I can have him for my room” I asked if he was sure and he said yes so I told him if he came back we could shoot him. I am a believer that kids this age need to experience success to get them really hooked on hunting/fishing. I do teach them that it is about being outside and enjoying the woods and not the catching/killing that is important but kids have a fairly short attention span when this young and a few outings without success or at least seeing something may turn them off from wanting to go.
Back to the story. Not 15 minutes after saying we would shoot him I see him coming back. He takes his time and is very cautious coming in. (Due to larger bears in the area) After 10 minutes he decides its safe to come in. I ask my son once more if he wanted him and he says yes. I took the angling away shot and hit him just behind the shoulder with bullet exiting his chest. He dropped on the spot and didn’t move. As he let out his death moan I could see the look of concern on his face. I told him that he was not suffering and that it sometimes happens. Right away he said he wanted to get down and go see him. I told him we needed to leave him for a few minutes and we would get packed up. As we got down we walked over to him to check him out. Jeremy was ecstatic.
As for the bear he was a little bigger than I judged, a boar about 200 lbs with a perfect coat. We took our pictures and loaded him up on the quad and were back at the road waiting for my father to pick us up by 8:30pm. All in all it was a great night and my son loved it and was already talking about going back. I told him we would have to wait until next year. I have posted our pics. I think he is now looking forward to Africa a little more. I know his grandpa and I are sure excited for the upcoming trip. As I said before will be sure to post a report on it.
Thanks for reading.
Earlier this winter I started talking about bear hunting with my son who just turned 5. Some of you may remember we were the lucky pair that won the photo contest for a hunting trip with Liam Urry. We have booked for Nov of this year and will be sure to post a full report.
Back to the bear hunt. He was showing quite a bit of interest and said he wanted to try it out. Made plans with my father and we all went and set up a couple baits and checked a couple times before season. About a week into season we had all of our baits hit with bears coming fairly consistent which means time to hunt. I made plans with my dad to leave after work. We have apprx and hour drive to get to area. My son and I climbed into the stand about 6:00pm.
By the time I got him tied in with his harness and all settled in it was appx 6:45pm. We were just talking quietly, eating snacks and watching the birds and squirrels when I saw some movement back in the trees. I told him to sit really still as I could see a bear. He immediately replied excitedly “a real one”. I told home yes and that we needed to sit very still. As the bear slowly made its way in I looked over and he had the biggest smile and could see him shaking. He said he wanted me to shoot him. I said he wasn’t the really big one that was coming and he said we should let him go. We watched him at the bait about 30 yards away for a few minutes before he slowly walked off.
After he left Jeremy started asking questions about how big he was and if he was a baby. I told him no he was not a baby just a medium sized daddy bear. He thought about it for a few minutes and said “if he is a medium daddy bear I would like you to shoot him so I can have him for my room” I asked if he was sure and he said yes so I told him if he came back we could shoot him. I am a believer that kids this age need to experience success to get them really hooked on hunting/fishing. I do teach them that it is about being outside and enjoying the woods and not the catching/killing that is important but kids have a fairly short attention span when this young and a few outings without success or at least seeing something may turn them off from wanting to go.
Back to the story. Not 15 minutes after saying we would shoot him I see him coming back. He takes his time and is very cautious coming in. (Due to larger bears in the area) After 10 minutes he decides its safe to come in. I ask my son once more if he wanted him and he says yes. I took the angling away shot and hit him just behind the shoulder with bullet exiting his chest. He dropped on the spot and didn’t move. As he let out his death moan I could see the look of concern on his face. I told him that he was not suffering and that it sometimes happens. Right away he said he wanted to get down and go see him. I told him we needed to leave him for a few minutes and we would get packed up. As we got down we walked over to him to check him out. Jeremy was ecstatic.
As for the bear he was a little bigger than I judged, a boar about 200 lbs with a perfect coat. We took our pictures and loaded him up on the quad and were back at the road waiting for my father to pick us up by 8:30pm. All in all it was a great night and my son loved it and was already talking about going back. I told him we would have to wait until next year. I have posted our pics. I think he is now looking forward to Africa a little more. I know his grandpa and I are sure excited for the upcoming trip. As I said before will be sure to post a report on it.
Thanks for reading.
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