WWW.BOWHUNTER.COM 43Time and again we would drive the 45 minutes from our
house, ofoad the four-wheeler from the utility trailer, load
mass quantities of scent and bait, and then ride the bumpy
two-track to our secluded woods where we began hiking.
Upon fnding promising sign such as fresh scat the diameter
of my forearm; an empty barrel that looked like a one-ton die-
sel had run it over; or a giant, freshly rototilled patch of ground
at the base of our tree; we would confrm the maturity of our
visitor with trail camera photos, and then scurry up the tree.
And so went the roller-coaster ride of baiting brown bears.
Up, down, around the bend...and then a slow descent each
evening as the ride petered out and we returned home.
Plan B
Tree weeks into the hunt, when my frustration meter hit a
9.9 and I started noticing subtle signs of Kendra’s enthusiasm
fading, it fnally dawned on me that I needed a good Plan B.
What had Albert Einstein once said about insanity? Clear-
ly, “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting
a diferent result” wasn’t going to get my daughter a shot at a
mature brown bear.
On day 25, with less than a week lef in our spring brown
bear season, Kendra and I returned to our sites with a simple
but innovative “secret weapon” — a large, plastic garbage bag
stufed with previously worn street clothes that were fully sat-
urated with plenty of our human scent.
We snuck quietly into bait one, as if preparing to hunt, and
placed a dozen miscellaneous articles of stinky clothing in our
treestands prior to slipping out. Te predominant wind was
clearly wrong for that setup, blowing from our stands to where
the majority of our bears seemed to be coming from. It’s not
ofen that a bowhunter gets excited about a poor wind direc-
tion, but I certainly was that evening. If using their primary
sense against them was what it was going to take to be success-
ful, then so be it!
Soon enough, time would tell.
Nearly fve hours later, with numb-butt syndrome begin-
ning to set in, the roller coaster once again started downhill as
we had experienced no action. At 10:30 p.m., I contemplated
our exit. If we stayed much later, the danger factor rose expo-
nentially since the number of active bears ofen increases as
visibility decreases.
My quandary was suddenly shattered by Kendra’s hushed
but fevered claim, “Here comes one, Dad!” Sure enough, 80
yards out, a beautiful blonde-phase brownie methodically
made its way down the hill towards our hide.
Kendra slowly stood, picked up her bow, and shifed her
stance in preparation for what was about to occur. All our
hard work, patience, and perseverance were about to be re-
warded with one quality, close-range opportunity at the tro-
phy of a lifetime.The Perfect Arrow!
Te intensity of the moment was instantly erased with
the gentle thump of Kendra’s bow. Quicker than I could bark,
“Shoot now!” my seasoned archer had recognized that leg-for-
ward, open-pocket stance that every bowhunter looks for and
sent her arrow on its way. And what an arrow it was!
Flying like a dart, the perfect arrow found that magical “10
ring” located tight to the shoulder and one-third of the way up
from the brisket. To my amazement, the little two blade Helix
broadhead pierced the matted brown fur and the bright-orange
fetching completely disappeared as the carbon shaf continued
its destined path through the thick midsection of the big bear.
Te bear roared, snapped at its right side, and spun 180 de-
grees, exiting the bait site in an explosion of fury. Tree bounds
and 15 yards away, it momentarily stopped and glanced back
to see what had stung it. Tat’s when its rear end sagged and
the bear crumpled into the tall grass and deadfall. It was over,
in less than three seconds!
As I dove into my daughter’s arms, my smiling teenage
bowhunter likely perceived my embrace as a congratulatory
hug. Little did she know that I was simply trying not to fall out
of the tree!
Kendra was naturally excited, but I think it will be many
years before she can even begin to comprehend what she had
accomplished. Surely, she won’t understand the feelings of a
parent torn between protecting his child from precarious situ-
ations and pushing her archery skills to the next level, until she
takes her own children bowhunting.
Only time will tell. ❮❮❮Te author is a fshing guide and owner of EZ Limit Guide Ser-
vice (www.ezlimit.com). He and his family make their home in
Soldotna, Alaska.Special Tackle For A Special Hunt
Picking a fight with a brown bear requires much forethought, especially when setting
up archery tackle.
For this hunt, Kendra used her favorite whitetail rig, an Elite Hunter, with a few
tweaks. First, I slowly increased the draw weight to 50 pounds,
the minimum poundage to legally bowhunt brown bears in Alaska.
Initially, Kendra struggled to draw this much weight. However, with
a little strength training and plenty of practice throughout the winter
and spring, it became a nonissue.
Pinpoint accuracy is always important, but even more so when
dealing with dangerous game. For this reason I installed a single-pin
sight, and then micro-tuned Kendra’s setup with a QAD Ultrarest
and sturdy Easton Axis
500 shafts with Bohning
Blazer Vanes until she
was consistently shooting ping-pong ball-sized
groups at 20 yards.
To retain energy and aid penetration, I
added a weight tube to every arrow, boosting
their fnished weight to 481 grains. To increase
penetration even more, I opted for Tim Strick-
land’s cut-on-contact, single-bevel, two-blade Helix broadhead.Kendra displays the big
paw and long claws of
her brownie.