2015 Buck / Bear Week is one I will never forget !!!!!

[Glasswater Outdoors]

Several months ago my 17 year old daughter approached me and said she wanted to hunt big game with me this year. Up to this point she had only wanted to hunt geese and pheasant. Her main wish was to get a bear. I pulled her out of school Monday and off we went. At 7:30am we had a big bear come in. He played cat and mouse with us for an hour but never gave her a clean shot. At 9am a momma and two little cubs came in and she never picked up her gun. we watched them for a half hour then they left. All was quiet until 4:15 when she said dad............ there is one off to our left and he is big! The big boy played the same routine as the first one and avoided each shooting lane like it was his job. With 10 minutes of shooting light he presented her with a really tight head shot. As I watched her pull the hammer back my heart was pounding. Then without shooting she put her gun down and told me she didint feel comfortable with the shot.. I applauded her for the decision, The rest of the week I hunted the swamp by myself and saw a total of twelve bears in  a 4 day span. On thursday at 4:30 I had a little one on the bait. All of a sudden he picked his head up and took off. I looked off to the left and there he was standing looking at the little one running off. He got back on all fours and decided to take a short cut for the bait which ran him past me at 30yd. The 12ga barked and the SST found its mark and the bear piled in a heap. He was the 14th bear sighting of the season for me. It was a public land hunt and I never saw another hunter all week. It was my second bear in as many seasons from the stand now dubbed as the Honey Hole by my friends. I put a friend in the same stand the following night and again on Saturday. He saw bears each day but no shot was presented. That is the problem hunting an area so thick the only shot you have is 30yds and bait 100 yards away.  On Saturday my daughter had to work in the morning so the long hike into the swamp wasn't gonna happen for the bear. We decided to hit a zone 10 property that is over run with deer and try to get her that first buck. As we were getting ready the landowner requested to kill some does. Lol she told him she was going for a buck but we will see. Well we got in the blind by 2:30pm and we had 6 deer milling around in front of us by 2:45. Loads of button bucks and yearling does. At 4:15 she said dad a buck is coming. She threw the scope up and said no it was a big doe and she wanted to take it. She asked me if she should. I explained to her that she was about to take the life of an animal and it didnt matter what me or the land owner thought. It had to be her decision. The deer came within 65 yards and stopped in an opening. Just as I was ready to tell her to take a deep breath BAM the gun blasted and the deer was knocked right out of her sneakers. I have never been more of a proud poppa then I was at that moment. Coming out of the woods she asked me When was the next set of doe days and she reminded me she still had a buck permit to fill. A new Hunter was born! I am so excited and I can not wait for next Saturday afternoon!

Edited December 14, 2015 by Glasswater Outdoors

[Devil Horns]

Very cool. Congrats! Hopefully the first of many.

[JHbowhunter]

awesome Scott - congratulations

[Rusty]

WOW, what a great week!!   

[hiking]

congrats, thats a wonderful story

[rgw]

congrats to both of you. you made memories you will never forget

[Ms Grit]

Congratulations to BOTH of you for a fantastic week of memories and the harvests too

[Deerslayer21]

congrats !!  Great story . I applaud you that you are teaching her the right way to hunt. You are a good dad !!!!

[jerseyhunter]

congrats all around

[Thunderhawk]

 

A great story.

 

Congrats on the bear and to your daughter for the deer. You should be proud!

[badkarama]

Congrats to both of you. With extension she could try for a Bear again as well as that Buck!

[LPJR]

Very neat and congrats to you both!  

[Cousin Brown]

Great story!   Congrats all the way around.  Those SST's are awesome on bear!

[mikejd]

Great story. Cant imagine how you felt. Congrats to you both.

[Matty]

That's outstanding. Big congrats to both of you. Sounds like you're raising her right  too! Great job.

 

Totally hear you on the thick areas and shooting too. I only seem to find animals where there's not much hope for shooting lanes. If I can see past 30 yards and shoot more than 12 yards I'm probably in the wrong spot.