Donated tag lets Dorchester youth bag a bear
SUBMITTED PHOTOS
“It was hard to see the bear sometimes,” said Hunter referring to the movement and skittishness of the bear.
“Jody said, “shoot . . . wait, wait, . . . shoot” several times during that time,” Keith told me. “Hunter hesitated a couple times but then the shot came.”
“I didn’t know if I hit it right away,” Hunter told me. “I thought I had to shoot it again.”
“Hunter was saying ‘I have to shoot it again!’ and Jody said “no,” then Hunter said ‘I do’ and Jody said ‘You don’t,’” Keith said.
“And then the bear fell over and I said ‘Yes!” said Hunter.
On hunts like these, the moment right after the shot becomes pretty emotional for all involved. Elation, pure joy, excitement, and pride go along with hugs, back slapping, and high fives. When watching the expressions when Keith and Hunter glanced at each other while re-telling the story of this bear hunt, it’s clear those emotions still exist and have burned a memory permanently for them to remember for a lifetime. “I kept repeating ‘aim at the heart section,’ ‘aim at the heart section,’ ‘aim at the heart section,’ 10 year old Hunter Lageman told me. He was talking about an intersection of a horizontal line running through the animal’s nose and a vertical line running up the back side of a bear’s front leg.
This was all covered the day before, in an afternoon orientation meeting for the hunters heading to the forest the next day, at Big Bear Guide Service in Iron River. They have a luncheon, go over all the expectations for the hunters and a DNR warden covers the rules about bear hunting.
After the orientation, Hunter, his dad, Keith, and his mom, Sara, headed over to the Brule River Hotel where they stayed the night.
They got Hunter up about 6 a.m. After getting ready, they and their guide, Jody Apfelbeck, headed to the blind they were going to hunt from. The guide service doesn’t want the hunters walking into their blind until after daybreak so they arrived at the blind about 7:20 a.m.
But this story really starts about five years ago when local outdoorsman and author Joseph Dick Lange contacted the Abbotsford Sportsmen’s Club through Apfelbeck, wanting to donate his black bear tag to a youth hunter with disabilities. Besides the tag Dick and his wife Michelle also provided plenty of financial support to that hunt and continue to do so to this day. Dick has also donated a bobcat tag to a local youth hunter through the Abbotsford Sportsmen’s Club as well.
Since that first hunt half a decade ago, other area hunters have come forward to donate their highly cherished bear tags to local youth hunters with challenges. Most want to do so privately, seeking like Dick and Michelle to be a supporter of kids with challenges behind the scenes.
Throughout those five years the guide has been Apfelbeck. Jody has put together a pretty good team to support the youth hunters. After someone donates a tag and finds a hunter, Jody coordinates with the outfitter for a spot. The cost of the hunt is covered by the Abbotsford Sportsmen’s Club and F3 (Fur, Fin and Feather). The Langes donate towards the mount of the bear. Jody, a long time hunters ed instructor, then spends some time getting the hunter ready for the hunt with target practice, firearm safety, and what to wear.
A 450 Bushmaster firearm was acquired in the AR format for these young bear hunters to use. The idea is to ensure that these hunters will have a firearm of suitable caliber for bear which they can handle. It’s a good fit for length, weight, and the recoil pays dividends when it comes time to make a clean shot.
“Jody stood up to stretch and started saying ‘bear, bear, bear, bear’ and quickly knelt down next to Hunter to help him get ready,” Keith told me. “My heart was pounding and I’m sure Hunter’s was too.”
“Mine was really pounding,” replied Hunter. “I was thinking I wasn’t going to get a bear because we were waiting a long time.”
“It was about 45 minutes,” Keith clarifi ed.
Hunter got ready, just like he practiced with Jody. He followed the bear in the scope for 20 minutes while Jody coached him through the experience.
“I have the time of my life taking these kids out, seeing the look in their face after they take the shot,” Jody said. “You only shoot your first bear once, something that never can be taken away or repeated and I get to be part of that. As long as I’m able, and we have a tag to fill, I will continue this hunt for years to come,” Jody added.
After that initial little party in the woods a lot of things happen quickly. First you have to let mom know. Then, you call the guide service as they require hunters to wait for one of their guides to track, field dress, and recover the bear. Some quick pics and then some formally posed pics to keep the memories fresh.
They packed the field dressed bear with ice and started driving home, since it’s usually warm during bear season and there isn’t any time to waste. They raced towards home and stopped at Grandpa’s house to show him the bear, and then they showed it to the tag donor. From there it’s to the taxidermist for caping. The last leg of the race is to the meat processor.
Hunter’s bear weighed in at 124 pounds field dressed. He was the first person from the Big Bear camp this year to harvest a bear sitting over bait, on the first day of the bear season for bait sitters – Sept. 15. Hunter is having a full body mount done by Wild Things Taxidermy.
Hunter was telling me at one point that the gun kicked a lot when they were target practicing with it and he didn’t like that very much. I asked him how much it kicked when he shot that bear and he told me “I never felt it.”
Congratulations to Hunter and a job well done for everyone that was involved in this hunt!
A NICE ONE -Hunter Lageman, center, poses for a picture with his parents, Ketih and Sara, after he bagged a black bear in September near Iron River.
