The Mountain Eagle
WHITESBURG WEATHER

Struttin’ Time:

One down, leaving two still to go



Struttin’ Time columnist Steve Brewer poses with the first of three black bears he hopes to kill during hunting trips the rest of this year.

Struttin’ Time columnist Steve Brewer poses with the first of three black bears he hopes to kill during hunting trips the rest of this year.

And the games have begun.

We left on September 6 on our way north to hunt black bear. Even before we pulled from the driveway, some drug-infested person ran over our mailbox. I called 911, loaded on up and left. I was hoping the “Thin Gray Line” would get here before they all got out of the truck that was embedded in the tree behind my mailbox, but only the driver was still there when we left. The other two had hit the hills.

Be aware, had they had hit one of my family or me, they would have been there when the police arrived.

Another 30 miles, the check air light came on in our truck. This was on one of the four new tires I had put on for the trip. Another three miles, after airing up, stopped for roadwork and stopped another four times in an 11-mile stretch of road. Wow.

I had already answered the question dozens of times, “When will you be back”? The answer is always the same, when I tag out or my time with my outfitter expires.

We made it to the halfway point, Hagerstown, Maryland, on time, but were delayed several times, by, you guessed it, roadwork. We lost count of the times.

We left the following morning at six, and arrived in Jackman, Maine, around six that evening. My friends and guides were there.

On Monday, the 11th of September, I was taken to my stand at 2 p.m. and hunted till dark, same on Tuesday, and I saw nothing. Then when I returned to the cabin, Mimi told me Baby Camden had sent her message. There is no telephone service, not even in our room, in Jackman, Maine, and she wanted us back for Grandparents Day at her school on Friday. A nine-year-old has not a clue how far away Jackman, Maine is from Lexington, Kentucky.

The heat was on me to tag out and be back in time. The guide and I decided to hunt all day on Wednesday in hopes it paid off. It did, I tagged out at 8:45 am.

We made it back to have lunch with our Baby.

My black bear checked in at 204 pounds, his meat is in the freezer, his hide at the taxidermy

I am off hunting until October 14, black bear hunting in North Carolina. I am 33 percent toward my goal of three black bears this year.


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