And so it happens!!

On Sunday, 9/30, I was sitting on stand waiting for a bear to approach the bait.  There were only two days left in the bear-hunting season.  Clearly, my anxiety over the situation  - whether or not I would fill the bear tag I had been waiting 9 years for - was through the roof! 

I sat for most of the day and had not seen any bears.  At 6:30pm, I was entering my 110th hour on stand since September 7th.  The sun had fallen beneath the trees, and the slight wind had died down to almost nothing.  The woods was quiet now - except for the sound of a few snapping twigs that my ears were picking up on.  As I scanned my eyes in the direction of the noise, a black bear was working its way out of the swamp to my south.  As my heart raced, the bear slowly and cautiously worked its way towards the bait.  I could immediately tell this was a good-sized bear, so I slowly readied my bow and myself for a shot.  The bear started heading away from the bait for a few steps, and I feared it had either smelled or seen me.  Thankfully, it turned back and headed into the bait.  My trail camera captured one (dark) photo of the bear as it was standing next to the bait log:

At this point, the bear was facing directly away from me, so I took the opportunity to draw my bow.  What felt like an eternity was probably only 5-10 seconds, but when the bear turned, I let the arrow go.  With an illuminated nock, it was very easy to see that I had made as good of a shot as I could have hoped for.  The bear took off and ended up expiring in the thick brush 20 yards from the bait log.  I had my first bear!  With shaking hands and a quivering voice, I radioed to my Aunt, Uncle, and Dad back at the cabin that I had just shot a bear.  After an excited run back to the cabin to get a gun and ATV/trailer for the ensuing tracking/hauling job, we found my bear right where I was sure it was.  I was elated to be holding onto my first-ever black bear!

We quickly took care of the bear, got it registered, and delivered it to the taxidermist.  It was a 270-pound (dressed) female!  I couldn't be happier!

There's a lot that goes into a hunt of this kind.  The planning, the practice, the baiting, and the waiting.  As I think back to all aspects of this hunt, I'm extremely pleased with how all of it went.  The hunt that I had started orchestrating in February ended up exactly as I had pictured it!  God blessed me with this rare opportunity and provided the perfect ending to my dream Wisconsin hunt!

If there's anything that can make a good hunt a great one, it's the people you share the experience with.  I'm incredibly fortunate to have shared this achievement with my Uncle, Aunt, and Dad.  They were all present to congratulate me and help me with my bear on Sunday.  My Aunt helped create/make/bake some of the bait we used.  And, a special shout-out to my Uncle.  His diligence - going to the cabin to bait almost every day for the last month and a half - was without question the key to this successful hunt.