the hunters harvest ~

While I've been out hunting for pretty blooms ~ like the flowers of the staghorn sumac ...
my daughters and granddaughter and son in law and the son in laws brother and their friends have been out hunting the black bear.

It's black bear hunting season in Wisconsin ~ and my kids like to hunt them.

So if you're squeamish about seeing a dead bear  - you might want to quit reading ~ otherwise if you want to see the harvest photos ... scroll on :)




This is my 12 year old Grandlove ~  Brooke.  It was her first bear.  It weighed in at 133 pounds ~ the same that she weighs.

She was so excited and happy of getting her bear.  Her Mom and Dad have been with a group for years now called the Beaver Lake Bear Hunters Association.  It's a great group of guys and gals who get together each fall for the hunting season.  They do most of their hunting with bear hounds; but also sit in blinds and tree stands.  Each year the Wisconsin DNR switches it around on who can hunt the first week of the season first, the hounds or the sitters.  This year it was with the hounds. 

This is my daughter Sara.  It was also her first time harvesting a bear. Her's weighed in a pound less than Brooke's at 132 pounds.  That made Brooke happy ~ her bear was bigger than her Auntie's ... but I thought Sara's bear "looked" bigger.

This was the first time that Sara had an opportunity to take a bear.  You see, the DNR regulates how many people are alloted a harvest/kill tag.  Each year you have to buy an application and your name goes into a lottery.  Luckily she was finally chosen for one ... as were the others in the group.  Brooke lucked  out with her tag as the neighbor had donated it to her for the youth hunt - which is another hunt program that the DNR has for bear hunting.  He donated his tag to her; but in the meantime he was also sacrificing it from using it himself when the season opened for the adults.  Now his name will go back into the draw system and it could be 8 - 12 years before he'll probably get another opportunity for a kill tag.

Look at the size of the chompers on Sara's critter ... and he was just a little guy -

The next lucky gal was my other daughter, Staci ~  her bear weighed in a little more at 275 pounds.

This was Staci's second bear in her life time ... she shot a 200 pounder in 2004.  My girls are going to be busy this weekend canning meat.  Then later this fall helping their Dad make up the bear sausage.

Well ... as you know ... when it comes to hunting it always seems that the men want to harvest something bigger than the gals.  I think it's a male ego thing.  Well this year they weren't disappointed.

Staci's brother in law Jeff lucked out and harvested this big ol' boy.  It weighed in at 386 pounds.

Way to go Buckwheat!  I think that's one of the bears that used to come up on my deck and frequent my bird feeders and look in the windows at me.  Truthfully, I'm glad Jeff got him.  Now I don't have to worry about running into him on my walks and of him coming in by my deer stand. 

But ... not to be out done by his brother .... my son in law Paul had to beat his brother's bear size by harvesting this one today that weighed in at 395 pounds. It's not the best photo; it was taken with the cell phone. 

But the big bear hunter award this year has to go to our friend from the Carolinas, L.H.  His bear weighed in at a whopping 488 pounds!  Now that's a big ol' critter!!  Leave it to a North Carolina boy :)

L.H. drives up to Wisconsin every year to hunt with the guys.  Congratulations!!  I wish I would have taken a picture of his teeth (the bears not L.H.  ... L.H. has nice toofers) ... wow ... he really had some chompers on him.  I know I wouldn't of wanted to run into him on a walk.  Look at how big his paw was ... and part of it was missing.

Congratulations to all of our hunters ~ they work hard to get these bear.  Our guys are food hunters.  They harvest the bear for the meat; but when they get the opportunity to shoot a trophy  ~ that's bonus!:)

Until next time ....
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel