The plan was for my son to shoot a black bear over bait this spring. He tried. He really tried. But, at 13 years old and having a "Y" chromosome, he just does not have the patience to sit in a ladder stand for very long. And. summer soccer has started.

My daughter asks if she can shoot a bear. Skeptically, I says sure. She has had little interest in CF anything since she got punched by a 12 ga. shooting clay at a friend's house a few years ago. She's hell with 22 RF though!

Her first game animal was a grouse last fall - her first killin'. But, who am I to discourage a kids new-found passion!

Out to the bait we go. Four days of getting home at 1 AM. Last night with a bear in the truck.

Obligated to get a far-back shot!


I think she's happy!


Crappy old .308 Win in a youth-stocked Sucks 700 shooting factory Federal 150 grain boolits.


Happy Dad too.


Trussed up into a sled and ready to be dragged half mile to the crummy.


Wouldn't take any help. She told me afterward, " It was hard, but I liked it"


Armed guard services provided by bearhunter (seemed appropriate) and a .416 Taylor.
[img]http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a303/Ironbender/Kendra%20Black%20Bear/KendrablackBear0171.jpg[/img]

That was reassuring after seeing the brown bear poop the size of a basketball about 25 feet from the bait barrel.

Unstretched, but no slack, the bear measured 5'1". Pretty happy for her first bear and she's already looking forward to next spring!

Mr. ironbender;
Thanks for sharing the photos and story, I love threads like this!

Please send along congratulations to your daughter on that fine black bear. What a great start to big game hunting.

I'd like to send you a tip of the hat for taking the time to take your children out hunting. Well done sir!

Thanks again,
Dwayne

AWESOME!! My 15 yr old daughter, shes a pretty lil blond also, has no interest in shootin anything that isnt "biggame". She killed a HOG of a Whitetail for her first deer and then got to go on an Auodad hunt. She wants to kill an Elk and a Blackie next.

Very cool story and photos Bender. Your daughter does indeed look very happy. It's great that it was both her idea, and that she had success. She seems to be a determined young lady, and you've got all the reasons in the world to be VERY proud of her.

Very Nice

Nice work Dad....

Hopefully it is the first of many victims.

bender
Much too cool for words!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did she do it with a lariat, riding crop or something like that? I would bet on her being up to it. She is something special!

Want my chili bear-de recipe? We have done two whole bears this spring and have 1 1/2 more to do...
art

Heck ironbender, with a girl as cute as that, the bears will probably just stand and pose if she asks them to .

You've got a lot to be proud of. Send her a pat on the back with an 'atta girl for me.

Outstanding! Terrific grin on her face. The rug will be her trophy but you need to frame that photo and hang it on your wall. You two did great!

You had me at Teen.......

Congrats to the both of you. As always I'm thrilled to see dad and kid together killing stuff.

sweet! congrats to her.

Excellent!!! Congrats to the hunter and pops for doing your part to help control the predators!! Should taste real good in the crockpot.

That is 100% awesome! Congrats to you both!

Congrats and great job!

ironbender:

That's a nice looking bear and a nice looking young lady. My favorite photo is the one of her dragging that bear back by herself. She must be a trooper.

She must have an attractive mother. Obviously your daughter didn't get her looks from you.

KC

Simply outstanding. You've obviously done some (many) things right that she decided "on her own" to do this deed. Congrats to both of you (for different reasons). You both deserve to be proud (for different reasons)- as I'm sure you are.

Very Well Done! --- Mel

I'll say that the pics came out pretty good...that is...except for the one bhtr took whilst shaking like a monkey on ice.

I must say, however, those showing Kendra's smile didn't come near as close as I pictured the real thing! It was a mile wide and lit the almost midnight o'clock sky like a Roman Candle!

Great job pop...Awesome job Kendra! Thanks for giving me a ring on the telly...

bhtr

It's official, man.

I looooooooooove your family<grin>!

Congrats to her....and am lovin' that grin she is sportin'!

Awesome job from all! Tell her congrats and all that! It's too cool!!!

M

Dude, I am in love with your daughter! (not some creepy old man either). That is friggin' awesome! Tell her I sa congrats!

Yeah, she's a cute kid. She gets her looks from me 'cause her momma still got 'em!

Scott-
She'll kick yer azz!

Wow! ironbender that is awesome. As a father to be in about a week a half I can only imagine how proud you must be.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for all the kind words. She is a hell of a kid and it's all I can do to brag on her. From her academics, her sports, her extra curricular activities, her work ethic, and the way she has a black and white view of right and wrong.

I, like many here, married up, but I also got kids I hope to deserve.

Look out for that AZ kid, 'bender, he might just take you in an armwrestling thing... And farriers ain't usually push-overs...

I'll just shoot from here. I'm too old for that!

Edited for a different pic. Ya done good and no one on this side of town is complaining.


All I have to say is "bear" and there is a smile I can't slap off her face!


Nice to have you and Mr. Taylor on the job!

Might not be a bad idea... I already posted some time ago Casey has biceps like Rosie's got thighs...

I'll use a TSX then!

Great pictures Bender. Neither of you will ever forget this hunt. We need more kids like your daughter into hunting.

GB

Some lil Stud is gonna wish he never messed with that lil Filly!!! I bet she carries the boys books just for fun...

Wonderful. You both deserve to be proud. Way to go, and hope you've recruited a new partner. Don't ever slight the females when it comes to doing tough stuff. They may not be powerful, but over time can kick our butts.

Congrats to the both of you. I'm glad to see a family that hunts together.

Hey, it is ok. You can trust me, I carry a badge and a gun to work every day


And she does have some guns!

Wow!!! Awesome!!

That's one happy kid there!!

congrats to both of you!!

Congrats to both of you. I think well done applies to more than the hunt.

Congrtulations to your daughter! And congratulations to you for raising such a great child. She is our hunting future! Not enough of us take our children/grandchildren outdoors to teach important values/ Chaz

Thats awesome good job!

Very Cool!

icing on the cake here Mike.


tks for posting this.


Sis needs to work on her Paradise game face. (grin)


congrats to the both of you, very well done on all counts.

bet the sprout is jealous, maybe it'll tame down his Y chromosome a bit. but I wouldn't count on it, developing the discipline to glass was not easy for me.

Excellent work Mr. Bender and Ms. Bender. Have similar memories with my kids...looking forward to many more. I'm thinking a trade is in order here. My daughter and I for Alaska blacks...you and yours for Oregon elk.

Keep the pics coming. Those of us stuck in the flat lands are living vicariously through you guys.

Dats way cool.

I've got girls and this is inspiring.

Doesn�t look like the "old .308 Win" slowed her down one bit. You go girl congratulations.

Thanks all. She's a heck of a good kid most of the time (she's 15 after all!)

I couldn't smack the smile off her face if I tried, she was very excited to say the least. She wants more and we'll see if that can be arranged around high school swimming in the fall!

Very cool!

Great looking bear and kid, Mike.

Thanks.

Just got in from cutting, grinding, and making sausage. The tenderloins will be prepared by the huntress for a meal, the rest was cut and ground. Had a dickens of a time finding pork fat to add to the meat. It seems all pork brought up here is "pre-trimmed". what was being sold as pork fat was just additional trimmings and about half meat. We just needed fat as there isn't much at all on a spring bear.

The sausage passed QC and will be featured at breakfast tomorrow.

Congratualations to daughter and dad.

Have ya'll thought about sending a pic (anonymously) to PETA?

good job, guys. her smile says it all.

Fantastic! Great job, and congrats to you almost as much as your lovely daughter. One thing, though: if she was responsible for securing that bear to the sled, may I suggest that a life of crocheting may not be for her. That thing looks like it was trussed up Christmas goose style by a cook who'd been at war with a bottle of sherry--or three.

very cool!

It ain't purty, I'll admit. I'm a rope and cord guy and Mark's a bungie boy. (That aught bring him out of the shadows again). My girl kid ain't to blame for the criss-cross.

That said, the bear stayed in the sled and it didn't flip on the trip out, so, mission accomplished!

AWESOME!!!!

Congrats to the huntress and her dad!

Good deal!

Thanks for sharing.

RUBBER BABY BUGGY BUMPERS!

bhtr (back to the shadows...)

Knew I'd smoke you out!

Wish I could convince my wife and 3 children to move to AK!!!!
Congratulations to your daughter.

awesome nice to see kids into hunting

Yep, highest congratulations to your daughter and to you. You've done something right to have a daughter like that, and your pride is valid. Her smile ranks those pics into my personal memory file of the "Best 24HourCampfire Photos of the Year."

Thanks for posting.

Awesome!! What a happy face she is sporting !

Tell her congrats from me...



The rope thang must be a jersey boy habit....my friend Akraven is a joisey boy and is never without a rope or 8 to tie stuffies down.

Outstanding ironbender! Simply outstanding!

Im sure your are very proud. Her smile says it all. Tell her nice work and I like the way she decided to make a plan and execute with success, beginning to end.


Joseph

I see that you have attended the Colonel Craig Boddington school of dead critter photography!

Just yankin' yer chain -- seriously, congrats to all!

John

Thanks again all. She was all for having fun making the bear look bigger. I think that was part of the smile. I told her to crouch down and move back - the bear will fill the camera and you will be smaller making the bear bigger. Back a little more...right there!

Great bear and the two of you have a personal invite to Southeast.

Congratulations! What a great event and project, and a great joy on everyone's part. my oldest daughter killed her first big game animal -- a pronghorn -- at 15. She's 29 now, and I can promise that hunting joy, experience, learning process and success has made a huge difference in her life, and our relationship. She killed her first mule deer last fall, with me, and it was one of the better quiet little trips I've ever done.

Thanks for sharing this event -- this is just a wonderful story. And great photos.

Dennis

It was wonderful indeed, Dennis. And, something not to be forgotten.

And...the sausage is flat out wonderful!

Yet another reason...

"Alaska Girls Kick Azz!!!"


Congrats! I had to give up. The browns had invaded to a point of no return.

I only saw one brownie, the first night my son and I sat on the site. A couple of poor pictures and it ran off.





For reference, that barrel has a 20" diameter.

You are very lucky to have that much fun with your daughter and son!

Well done.

Ironbender,
Thanks for sharing! I don't have any daughters but you must be very proud of her. She has every right to be proud of herself!
How much did the Bear weigh?
I hope to try your sled idea in about two months.
whelennut

Appreciate all the kind words!

Bears are seldom weighed here and this one was no exception. The hide squared 5'1" laying flat. Guide measurement likely would have been 5'6" at least! Skull was 14-14/16 green.

All in all, a representative KP blackie and just awesome for a kids first big game animal!

As I said above, I'm proud of her for a bunch of reasons. She's pretty cool for a 16 yo (Wed)!

Very Nice!!! Tell her Congrats!!!

Great looking bear, Nice job! Don't you think bearhuntr is looking old?

Thanks Greg.


Not considering his age!

Hey wait a dadgum minute!!! I resemble that remark!

Uh-oh. Where dat edit button?