Shot my first bear with a bow

[smithkl42]

Shot my first bear with a bow last night.

Unfortunately, it was after hours, in my backyard, with my kids' 15 pound bow and target arrows :-).

Came home after a day of hunting where I didn't see anything all day, only to find a bear in my backyard ripping apart my compost pile. It wouldn't leave, so I pulled out my kids' beginner bow and some of their arrows, and let fly. The first arrow went high, but the second bounced off its flank, earning me a dirty look. The third smacked it in the head and it ran off.

Much less satisfying than getting a real bear, but much *more* satisfying than letting it have its way with our compost pile.

[lamrith]

HAH.. 

Only thing that could top that is if you used a paintball gun, with pink paintballs..

[acrim]

Hope its just my paranoid mind , but  be careful about multiple hunting law violations advertised on the interweb.

[brew]

Hope its just my paranoid mind , but  be careful about multiple hunting law violations advertised on the interweb.

copy that...i'm always dumfounded by the amount of illegal activities that get posted on social media websites

[Antlershed]

Hope its just my paranoid mind , but  be careful about multiple hunting law violations advertised on the interweb.

copy that...i'm always dumfounded by the amount of illegal activities that get posted on social media websites

[hunter399]

Hope its just my paranoid mind , but  be careful about multiple hunting law violations advertised on the interweb.

This is sound advice,alot people looking to increase there points for turning people in.

But he could of shot this bear if he felt threated , and sounds like he has kids also,i think what he did was the right thing to do legal or not,by hazeing this bear may keep him from coming back and give the bear a chance at not getting shot next time.

The black bear is classified as a game animal (WAC 232-12-007). A hunting license and open season are required to hunt black bears. A property owner or the owner’s immediate family, employee, or tenant may kill a bear on that property if it is damaging crops or domestic animals. You must notify your local Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) office immediately after taking a black bear in these situations (RCW 77.36.030).
The killing of a black bear in self-defense, or defense of another, should be reasonable and justified. A person taking such action must have reasonable belief that the bear poses a threat of serious physical harm, that this harm is imminent, and the action is the only reasonable available means to prevent that harm.

A bear that won't leave sounds like a threat ,

I would watch what you post here

[smithkl42]

Out of curiosity, given that I was explicitly *not* hunting it, didn't injure it, and wasn't trying to, and was just trying to haze it to get it to go away - that's not actually a hunting reg violation, is it? A 15 pound bow with dull target arrows wasn't going to do any more damage than throwing a small rock at it, but it felt like I could do it from a safer distance. (I certainly wasn't *intending* to violate any rules, but if it were actually an unintentional violation, I really would like to know.)

(And FWIW, I do have a bear tag, and if it had been an hour earlier, would probably have taken the shot, with my real bow.)

[steeleywhopper]

Don't forget he was baiting it in with his "compost pile".  

I'm kidding!

[hunter399]

Don't forget he was baiting it in with his "compost pile".  

I'm kidding!

Wow ,now that's funny,lol
I wouldn't be surprised to hear someone say it .

[Antlershed]

I realize you were just trying to scare the bear off, but do you trust all potential LE that may read this to give you the same benefit of the doubt? Attached below is the definition of "To Hunt" from the regs. So, given that what you did technically meets that definition, violations could include hunting after hours and hunting with illegal equipment.

Using the self defense argument after the fact would be a stretch since if the individual was truly acting in self defense, the hunting bow that meets the minimum draw weight with broadheads would be a more appropriate weapon.

Again, I'm not trying to blast you, and I'm about as pro LE as one can get, but you would be wrong to think there aren't wardens who would try and make this same stretch.

[Southpole]

I realize you were just trying to scare the bear off, but do you trust all potential LE that may read this to give you the same benefit of the doubt? Attached below is the definition of "To Hunt" from the regs. So, given that what you did technically meets that definition, violations could include hunting after hours and hunting with illegal equipment.

Using the self defense argument after the fact would be a stretch since if the individual was truly acting in self defense, the hunting bow that meets the minimum draw weight with broadheads would be a more appropriate weapon.

Again, I'm not trying to blast you, and I'm about as pro LE as one can get, but you would be wrong to think there aren't wardens who would try and make this same stretch.

He wasn't hunting, he was hazing an animal to leave his property alone... and was attempting to be humorous about it. I'm thinking this thread is probably going to go south quick

[JakeLand]

He was HARMLESSLY teaching a bear a lesson it's no more or no less then swatting your kid on the butt when not behaving

[Pegasus]

A bear that won't leave your backyard is a threat to you, your family and your property. Taking steps to protect them while using a non-lethal method(kiddy bow) might not be the brightest solution but certainly should be tolerated by a LEO. That said I have seen the WDFW agents write up people for much less who then have to go to court to get a reasonable person(judge) to remove the ridiculous charges.

[smithkl42]

Good points all, everyone. Thanks for the feedback. The interesting point I didn't realize is that "harass" (which is more-or-less what I did) comes under the definition of "hunting" - that was new information to me. And while I'm confident what I did would be seen by any reasonable person as a reasonable way to get rid of the bear, I can also believe that there are LEO's out there who wouldn't qualify as reasonable. I'll be careful about what I post. Sounds like there are plenty of folks here who've had more experience in that arena than I have (which is, of course, one of the main reasons for hanging out on forums like this - to learn).

[Dan-o]

 

I think it was a great story, BTW.