Editor’s Note: Mossy Oak ProStaffer Bucky Hauser lives in Claudville, Virginia. During the early years of his hunting career, he was a multi-state hunter and often hunted 4 days per week or more from October until deer season ended. He hunted on two farms in Virginia and also Canada, taking many fine bucks and enjoying great outdoor adventures. Bucky lived the hunter’s life we all dream of, but after he turned 40, his hunting focus changed drastically.
In Virginia, our black bear season is at the same time as our deer season. We have a split bear season like our split archery season. I was hunting early archery deer season during October when the corn just had been cut. I set-up a ground blind right on the edge of a corn field and the front edge of my blind was on the front edge of the field. I had the wind in my face, as I watched deer coming into the field. Suddenly, the deer started blowing like something had spooked them. I knew it wasn’t my human odor, because I was facing into the wind.
That afternoon, the temperatures had gotten so hot in the ground blind that I took off all my Mossy Oak Treestand clothes and was sitting in the blind in my underwear. When the deer started blowing and running out of the field, I stood up and looked out the left side of my blind. I spotted a black bear at the other end of the corn field, only 35-yards from me. I thought, “Here I am in this ground blind in my underwear, with a bear just 35-yards-away. That bear could bite me.” The bear walked toward me. I got my bow and nocked my arrow. I really didn’t know what I’d do. When the bear got within 15 yards and turned broadside, I decided to shoot him. When I shot my bow, the bear spun around, ran back to the end of the field and went down the same trail he had used to come out of the woods. I was shooting a BowTech Destroyer bow with a Carbon Express arrow and a G5 broadhead.
I thought, “If that bear had turned and gotten into the ground blind with me, how in the world would I explain having a bear in my blind while I was in my underwear?” Luckily, I got a double-lung shot on the bear. I put on my clothes and went back to the house, because I wanted to give that bear plenty of time to drop before I started blood trailing him. I made a few phone calls, and my uncle wanted to go with me, because he never had seen a bear. The blood trail led to a bluff where apparently the bear had jumped into the river. I could see the bear about 20-yards below, washed-up in an eddy pocket. I pushed the bear out from where he was lodged, drove my truck about 100-yards down the river and waited for the bear to float to me. We were able to back the truck into the water and let the tailgate down to barely touch the water. We floated the bear around to the tailgate and slid him right up into the bed of the truck. He weighed 310 pounds. The last thing I had expected when I left home to go deer hunting was to see a bear. I sure was glad he ran away from me instead of to me once I hit him.
Day 2: Bucky Hauser Says to Get Off the Couch and Go Hunting Buck Deer
Tomorrow: Mossy Oak’s Bucky Hauser Tells about His Daughter Taylor’s 8-Point Buck
