I heard the shot from camp. When I heard the client’s .35 Remington boom down the ridge I smiled and waited for confirmation. The text message came in 30 seconds later; a bear was down and he was a big one. I told the excited hunter to take a breath, unload his gun and wait for us; we were on the way. He quickly replied, “Ok…I’m shaking.” After I found out the story behind his rifle, I completely understood why.
Tyler came to bear camp as an experienced and accomplished hunter, but this was his first bear hunt. His cousin Josh had hunted deer here for a few years and convinced Tyler to join him and try for a Maine black bear. Like many young hunters, Tyler grew up being mentored by Granddad in the art of hunting, learning to respect nature and the outdoors. As a youth, and later as a young man, Tyler and Granddad hunted together every day they possibly could; Granddad with his lever gun bought new in the 1960’s and the young hunter with his slug shotgun. The pair spent countless hours in the fields and rolling hills of Pennsylvania hunting whitetail deer.
During the early years of his hunting career, Tyler desperately wanted try out Granddad’s gun; but as his mentor reminded him, he just wasn’t ready for it yet. When he turned 13 and deer season came around, Tyler’s wish came true. Granddad took him aside and presented him the well-worn and much loved rifle, telling Tyler he had earned it. From that day forward he carried that old .35 Rem with iron sights as his primary deer rifle. He also added quite a few more whitetails to its legacy. Many seasons came and went with Tyler and Granddad pursuing deer together until eventually, poor health prevented Granddad from going afield. A week before firearm season on deer in November 2017, Tyler suffered a devastating blow, losing his cherished Granddad and closest hunting partner.
I got to Tyler’s stand and we moved about 30 yards down ridge to retrieve the bear. When I came upon the boar and got a close look, I knew this was a great bear; the biggest I’ve ever had a client shoot. I hesitated on making a weight judgment when asked and gave a cryptic answer, saying it was definitely a good bear. We got the bear out to a tote road and began to dress him when Tyler started relaying the story to me about Granddad and his gun. Not only was this his first bear, but it was the rifle’s first bear too. I nodded at him and said Granddad is sure smiling down on you now and that he would surely be proud of him at this moment. Tyler nodded in agreement as he gazed down at the bear, hand resting gently on the smooth, black fur and shielding his eyes from me. “Anytime I’m in the woods I think of him. It doesn’t matter if I’m bow hunting, bird hunting or anything. He’s always with me” he said.
I handed Tyler the pull rope on the scale at Smith’s General Store in Springfield after our tagging agent Sherry registered the big boar; and as onlookers watched, he hoisted his bear. I read the dial and announced “313 pounds”. His expression was priceless. Later, as we dropped the bear off at D & R Processing in Wytopitlock, we watched the digital scale read out at a whopping 326lbs – field dressed. We talked a lot about Granddad and his gun on the ride back to camp. When we reached the cabin and Tyler prepared to put the tried and true lever gun in the wall rack, he took a last look at it and said to me, “Every time I hold this gun, I think about my Pop.”