Rebecca's Big Bear

On December 14, 2010 my 13 yr. old daughter, Rebecca and I received a blessing from God and friends alike.  Rebecca had the privilege of bear hunting with my dear friend and awesome man of God, Mike Johnson.  We were joined by two other good friends from Asheville, NC, Brent Besosa and Sam Bennett, (as well as Sam’s son, Drew), with 4 Outdoorsmen Ministry that came to film our hunt.

I think all of you know how passionate I am about photographing bears year-round.  They are magnificent animals that thrill me every time I get close to one.  I had scouted during the pre-season and photographed these bears of Mike’s and more or less picked out the bear I hoped Rebecca would shoot.  I had identified and patterned the bears. I had a plan. But as the Scottish poet once wrote, “The best plans of men and mice often go awry”.…God had another plan.

First, arctic weather came to eastern North Carolina with 25 degree temperatures plus 25 mph winds – not good for bear hunting!  We saw just a small fraction of the number of bears that were usually there and we didn’t see the one I was looking for.  The first day we passed up a 550 lb. bear, because I knew there were bigger bears there and I had one picked that we didn’t see that morning.

The second day, before we left the warmth of the truck, Mike prayed for our hunt.  Then we braved the bone-chiiling wind walking in the dark toward the field where we were going to hunt.  Just as we got to the corner of the field we saw two smaller bears slip out of the field and into the safety of the swamp.  …Then nothing.  No more bears.

So we silently padded down the road along the edge of the field and I was feeling slightly disheartened.  I thought this was the end of our hunt.

Then I spotted a bear! - or at least what looked like a bear laying down in what was left of some standing corn.  It was 66 yards away.  I immediately motioned for everyone to sit down where we were.  Movement is what really scares game more than shapes or colors so I didn’t want us to take another step as we were already in range.  As it got lighter, we felt more exposed sitting in the road, but we stayed put.

The bear finally got up but it was difficult to judge it standing in the tall corn.  In addition, it didn’t offer a clear shot standing amongst the corn stalks.  Then the bear laid back down!  As a matter of fact, he got up took a few steps and laid down again 8 or 10 times over the next 20 minutes!  It was as if he saw us, but just laid back down to feed some more while hoping we would move along.  Because of the standing corn, I couldn’t see enough of his body to judge which bear this was or how big he was.  I could see he had a big head and decided that I would have Rebecca shoot it if given the opportunity. Each time he stood up, Rebecca got ready to shoot.  Finally the bear decided to take a few more steps into an opening in the corn field so he could see exactly what he was dealing with as we were between him and his bed in the swamp.  As he stood facing us he offered a clear frontal shot and I told Rebecca to shoot!
With the report of the gun and the smack of the 180 grain bullet from her Kimber .308, he doubled over and tried to turn tail to run.  Rebecca’s first shot was a killing shot, but with bears, my routine is keep shooting until they quit moving.  They can absorb a lot of lead!  So Rebecca pumped two more bullets into him as he tried to flee through the corn stalks.  But the bear didn’t go more than about 25 yards.

I have never walked up on a dead bear and seen it grow.  As a matter of fact, it has always been quite the opposite as even a big bear seems to “ground shrink”.  But this one grew.  He grew a lot.  He was huge!  We all agreed this bear was over 600lbs.  What an incredible bear!

We quickly posed for pictures before Mike got his tractor to load the bear in my truck.  I had to get it weighed and registered at Mattamuskeet Ventures and get Rebecca to school before noon so she would be eligible to play in her basketball game that night.  Mike went with us.  When we got to Mattamuskeet Ventures and hooked the bear up to the scales I drove out from under the bear.  When the bear dropped off the tailgate to hang suspended from the scales our jaws dropped!  The half dozen of us standing around the scales were looking at the first 700 lb. bear any of us had ever seen dead!  It was 708 lbs. to be exact!!!  Rebecca’s face lit up with the realization of the actual weight of this bear!  We were all astounded!

In retrospect I quickly admitted to my friends that took Rebecca bear hunting with a plan.  I had worked out all the details.  But God had another plan.  He didn’t show us a bunch of bears to choose from.  He didn’t show us the bear I had been looking for.  He showed us only one bear and the Lord kept that one bear hid in the corn so I couldn’t see how big he was.  Therefore, I cannot take the slightest credit.  The Lord gave me another lesson in Trust.  Put my trust in Him and don’t try to do everything on my own.  It was another reminder of my favorite Bible verse, Romans 8:28, “All things work together for good for those that love the Lord.”

Post Script:  I was blessed to have so many friends who helped make at this possible.  First, Mike Johnson gave us this incredible opportunity.  Brent and Sam drove 8 hours from Asheville and gave their time and talents to film the hunt.  Right after the Rebecca shot the bear, I called my friend and taxidermist, Jim Edwards, who grabbed his brother-in-law, Virgil Roberson and drove two hours to Mattamuskeet Ventures to see that it was properly skinned and cared for.  Then David Denton with the NC Wildlife Commission called the State Black Bear Biologist and confirmed that there have only been 10 bears registered in the State that weighed over 700 lbs.  I am blessed and so thankful for many wonderful friends!  It’s great being a Christian and having so many great brothers!