The first photo is of Bailey, my 13 year old and youngest daughter, me and the bear she killed August 22 on Capitan Mountain, New Mexico. The second photo is of Bailey and her guide Tom White and the third photo is of 2 of the 4 bears Tom's dogs treed in one tree for Bailey.






This it the third year in a row I have hunted with Tom. He guides out of Ruidoso, NM and I booked the hunt through Johnnie Hamilton of Eagle Outfitters. Johnnie is a member of this forum and a great outfitter if you are looking for bear, lion, elk or deer hunts in Colorado and New Mexico.

As some of you may remember I took my eldest daughter Ariel on the same hunt last year and she killed a huge black bear on the third day of her hunt after hiking many miles in the mountains and enduring a drenching rain storm.

This was Bailey's first hunt for bear and first trip to the mountians. She is a good little hunter, but not really the athlete her older sister is, so I worried a bit about the potential difficulty of the hunt. However, Tom told me he had been catching a few town bears and he has a knack for catching bears folks with limited mobility can get to. So I was confident Tom could catch a bear in an easier spot than the one he caught for me or Ariel.

We caught Bailey's bear the first day, but That was the only easy thing about the hunt. The race began about noon on top of Capitan and ended in one of the most difficult places to get to I have seen in a while. The dogs ran the bear we jumped at a water trickler down and around the side of the mountain and into a very steep canyon we could not get to from the top. So we drove down to base of the mountain and located the dogs with an electronic collar locator. It appeared the dogs were in one of two parallel canyons. Tom finally figured out which canyon and we began a hike in across a ranch we had permission to cross. The just over a mile hike to the mouth of the canyon wasn't too bad with a gradual grade to the base of the mountain, but it was a heck of climb from there gaining about 1200 feet of elevation in just under a mile. Also, Tom is over 6'2" feet tall and it is a bit of effort for me at 5'7" to keep up with him and Bailey is 4'8" so we had her puffing before we ever started climbing. The hike up the canyon was difficult from the start as it was strewn with small boulders, covered in thich brush and we had to follow a drainage as the sides were too steep. It only got more diffcult as the boulders got bigger and the incline became steeper. There was a bit of grunting coming from behind me and few little squeals during falls and stumbles (there was a lot of grunting coming from me and a bunch of cursing as well), but the kid kept up and didn't complain much. We could hear the dogs from the begining of our climb, but never seemed to be getting any closer until we topped out on a little bowl about 500 feet below the rim of the canyon. Tom, at my request, had gone on ahead to the tree as fast as he could and Bailey and I slugged it out as best we could. When Bailey and I finally go there 2 hours after beginning our hike, Tom had some interesting news. Somehow his dogs has managed to tree a sow and her 2 good sized cubs and huge dry sow in the same tree. As Baiely and I topped out on the bowl the bears were treed in, we could hear growling and fighting and I thought the dogs had the bear bayed on the ground. When we got to the tree Tom told us the momma bear had been whipping up on the other sow to try to get her to leave the tree. When Bailey and I finally made it to the tree, not only were there 4 bears up one tree, but the dogs had been treed for nearly 4 hours through a brief but intense thunderstorm and still held the bears for us.

Bailey was shooting the same rifle her sister did last year. A CZ 527 carbine in 7.63x39 firing factory Golden Bear 123 grain hollow point ammo. She set up for the shot by resting on my shoulder while seated and placed a perfect broadside shot through the top of the heart and both lungs. The bear fell dead from the tree in a very short time. The bullet exited the bear and was found lodged in the off side front leg joint. With the down hill hike, even loaded a bit heavier going out, we made it to the truck in just over 1.75 hours. The day started at 5:00 a.m. and we didn't return to the truck until 7:30 p.m. The kid had not eaten anything but a muffin and juice for breakfast. I am very proud of Bailey and she suprised me with her toughness, grit and calmn demeanor when it came time to shoot the bear. She is a determined young lady who had been looking forward to this hunt for over a year. Also, she doesn't really care for the blood and guts of hunting, but she even helped skin the bear and cut of it head. This should be a hunt she will remember for years to come. I know I will.

If anyone is looking for a great bear hunt using dogs I can put you in touch with Tom White or Johnnie Hamilton.

Perry

Great post! Congrats to you and Bailey.

Very well done! Congratulations to Bailey -- I know you are very proud of her.

Perry,
Great hunt. I always cherish those I had with my son and daughter. She is out of college now and my son is in his sophmere year of Engineering studies so it will have to wait.

I did draw a Washington Moose tag this year and am looking forward to that that will have to endure the guys again on this hunt.

Whew! When I first saw the pictures, I was afraid she had got a sow that still had cubs. Glad to read that there were two sows and the one she got was dry. Congratulations to your daughter!

Perry and Bailey

Congratulations, she did good, nice shooting.

Looks like you will be needing a couple of 9,3x74R doubles for the "girls" in the near future.

Great bear. Congratulations on a good father daughter hunt.

Perry,

You're a cool dad for taking your girls hunting! Nice bear and congratulations to Bailey.

Great bear and great story! Please tell he rall of us on AR are proud of her.

Members,

Thanks for the replies. I don't think Bailey's feet have touched the ground yet. It is amazing the amount of self-confidence a child developes through hunting. Especially completing a challenging hunt.

Tony-My eldest daughter wants to hunt Cape Buffalo next year. I suppose I better shop for a nice little 9.3 bolt or double.

Perry

That was a great thing for you to take Bailey on a bear hunt.

Congratulations to Bailey. It was a tough hunt and she will no doubt always remember that day with her dad.

Bailey gets a hard earned "way to go"!
Nice bear to boot.

From the pictures, that grin of hers is not likely to wear off for some time.

A big attagirl to Bailey, and a great story.

Great hunt I find hound hunting blast. I get a lot of negitive comments about it. Until I get people to go then they all say it a great time.