For many of us, just seeing a bear in the woods would make our season. One fortunate young hunter had much more than that happen and was happy to share the story.

You may recall a few months back a young man named Dylan Howe helped with some retriever training and appeared in a column. He is the lucky fella I’m writing about and his first bear hunt was surely one to remember. I still haven’t seen a bear in the woods and am not sure I want to see one the way he did.

Dylan is an avid hunter and fisherman and says he hunts for food not for sport and aspires to be a guide in the future. He told me this as we prepared for a day of retriever training and asked if I would help get the information together for guide school. I told him I would be happy to help. I called him a few days later and gave him the information so he could prepare for the classes. We hadn’t talked for a while, when out of the blue he called. I missed it, so he sent me a text message with a picture of himself and the bear. When I saw it I had to call and get the story.

Dylan was hunting with his Step Grandfather in Booneville when he harvested the bear. The hunt took place on September 15 and was the first day of bear season up north. The morning started as most do getting up before dawn and hiking to the hunting site. As some days go, there was a twist. They were inspected by the local game warden as they parked to head out and hunt. He quickly checked their guns and licenses and had them on their way. He was also said to be a friendly officer as all I have met are. I guess most people expect to be harassed by any form of officer these days. The truth is you will likely never have an issue with an officer unless you are breaking the law. When you are found to be in compliance, our Environmental Conservation Officers are typically more than friendly and sometimes even tell you where the hot bite or where a good hunting location may be.