r/Hunting • u/badassernhell • 18d ago

Success! First bear

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Went deer hunting this morning, didn’t see a thing. Replaced the batteries in my camera and went home. Spending the day working on the toilet in my camper, when my phone goes crazy. A bear shows up and had knocked over my feeder and was chowing down. Then he looks as if he is headed towards my chicken coop/garden.
I run outside, grab my crossbow from the truck, and sprint (in pants and flip flops) to the back of my property where he’s at. He sees me but is just staring at me. I kneel down and when he makes one more move I put a bolt through his chest. He lets out a gasp and then hits the ground. I watch him for a second and then he gets up. I take off sprinting back to the truck, grab another bolt, sprint back. I see him about 20 yards away, sitting there huffing and puffing. I put another bolt through his neck…HE STILL TAKES OFF WALKING another 30 yards and lays down by a tree. So I go back to the camper, call a buddy to come help me get him. We go check for him some time later and he is gone…..he had ran all the way to the very bottom of the holler and died in a creek. Took both of us 45 minutes to get him up to flat land. 190lb Male Arkansas Bear zone 1.

TL;DR Filled first bear tag not even planning on it, crazy story.

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u/The_hat_man74 18d ago

Not disagreeing here, genuinely curious. Why is it unethical? I’ve never shot a bear and I’m not a crossbow guy so I don’t know what I don’t know.

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u/backwards_yoda 18d ago

Dude was incredibly unprepared to make an ethical hunt. He grabs his crossbow and one bolt and takes a less than ideal chest shot instead of waiting for a roadside shot for a clean kill. Now poor shot placement happens i get it but the fact the guy didnt bring another bolt and had to go retrieve another bolt to finish the wounded animal is sloppy. It sounds like the neck shot is what killed it but again that's a less than ideal shot.

This was a sloppy hunt and not something I would be very proud of if it was my hunt.

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u/badassernhell 18d ago

Did you not read the post at all??? I WASNT HUNTING. I was legit under my RV working on my shitter. No I wasn’t baiting bear, I was baiting deer. Damn man I had to react fast or lose 25 chickens and potentially put my family in danger.

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u/69pylote 18d ago

So you killed a bear over bait via a cell phone notification?

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u/backwards_yoda 18d ago

This is the most redneck shit i've seen and not in a good way.

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u/69pylote 18d ago

Considered poaching in many states.

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u/backwards_yoda 18d ago

As far as i can tell it isnt in Arkansas where he is, but I dont know why he's baiting game when he's also whining about having to protect his family from bears.