It started during the winter of 2010. I had been bugging a friend of mine that had grown up hunting with a rifle and muzzleloader to give archery a try. I’ve been archery hunting for years and I knew if I got Cory to try it, he would be hooked like I was and thought it would be nice to have a buddy that I grew up with hooked on bowhunting as much as me.

Rylan waits for dad while the snow falls.

The season started with my 3-year-old son and me heading up to my father-in-law’s farm where we had planned to try a new spot to bait for bears. It was a beautiful day when Rylan and I got there and I thought it couldn’t have been a better day for the two of us to spend some time together on the quad putting out barrels. The nice weather didn’t last long and before we knew it, rain moved in and then turned to snow. We managed to get the two baits set and I never heard a complaint from the little guy about being cold and wet.

Cory and I headed back up to farm two weeks later, which is only a few miles from the baits I had set in the forest.

The first few days started off nice, even though there wasn’t much sign of bears at either bait, but it was just the beginning of the season. We had a couple of nice days sitting in the stand but the next thing we knew it was snowing again and cold. We toughed it out for the last two days of our hunt and had only seen one bear the five days we sat, but it was just the end of April and we didn’t expect a lot of action this early.

The next trip Cory and I made up to the farm was a couple of weeks later. The weather had been nice so I was hoping for more bear action than we had last time. We got out early and checked the baits; one was hit but not as hard as I had hoped. We loaded the barrel up with more meat and went off to check the second bait we had set out five miles away. We were hoping for the barrels to be cleaned out.

We got part way to the bait and found the trail we used had turned into a water hole. We managed to get part way through it but ended up having to winch the quad and trailers through the last half of the trail. Once we got to the bait, we found that it hadn’t been touched yet. I was pretty disappointed since I thought it would have been a great spot for bears.

Things weren’t looking up either, as we still had to go back through the water hole to get back to the farm so we could get ready for the evening sit. After another hour of winching the quads in the hot sun through the mud, we made it back to the farm for a bite to eat and to change out of our mud-covered clothes.

Cory poses with his first archery kill.

We left the farm at 4:00 PM and headed to the stand for what we hoped would be a good night of seeing bears. It wasn’t long before the sun started to disappear behind the odd cloud that was moving in. Suddenly thunder started rumbling in the distance. After a few hours of watching a couple thunder showers go around us, it finally happened; the wind picked up, the rain started coming down and there was a lot of lighting. We were starting to wonder if we should crawl down out of the tree until the storm passed but as fast as it came in, it was suddenly gone.

The sun was shining again and everything smelled fresh from the spring shower. As Cory and I were whispering about the storm, I looked down at the trail behind me and saw a bear heading our way. It was coming in as quiet as a mouse and I could tell this was a good boar for Cory to take for his first bear.

The bear stopped on the trail and then proceeded to turn back and slowly make a big loop around us. I whispered to Cory, “Wait until he comes into the barrel and gives you a nice broadside shot.”

Cory and Sheldon (right).

The whole thing played out perfectly. The boar came in and stood broadside by the barrel. Cory released his arrow and made a perfect shot. The bear turned and ran hard but didn’t get 60 yards before he went down and we heard the moan. We knew he was down so we waited 20 minutes to make sure. After we crawled down and got Cory’s arrow, which was covered in blood, we made our way to the bear.

Cory was one happy hunter—it was his first archery kill, his first bear, and we got it all on video. As for me, we sat the next 3 days without seeing another bear. I made a few more trips up to the forest by myself but never did get a chance at a bear.

2010 will be a season that I will never forget. I was able to have my son with me putting out baits and I got to see Cory make his first archery kill. I think someone is hooked on archery now like me. ■

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