12-Year-Old Boy Shoots Bear Mauling His Dad During Hunting Trip in Wisconsin

The weekend might not be here yet, but your favorite dispatch from the great outdoors is. 

So grab your coffee or whiskey (no judgement) and let's get caught up on the outdoor news and views from the past few days. 

Here's what's worth reading about so far this week:

• That boy’s a hero - 12-year-old shoots bear dead while mauling his dad 💪

• No bear selfies, please - Montana man charged after posing with bear cubs 🙈

• Ribeye of the skyyyyy - Wisconsin’s got a lot of sandhill cranes and isn’t sure what to do with them 🥩

• Double trouble - Colorado officials looking for help in two separate poaching cases in Pueblo County 🕵️

• Daddy daycare - Dad straps daughter to his back and heads out to get his buck 🧑‍🍼

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CALM UNDER PRESSURE
12-YEAR-OLD SHOOTS ATTACKING BLACK BEAR TO SAVE HIS FATHER

In an incredibly heroic story out of Wisconsin, a father is recovering from injuries sustained during a bear attack that was miraculously thwarted by his 12-year-old son. 

Ryan Beierman, 43, was out hunting black bears with his son Owen, at their family camp in the Wisconsin woods. Located just outside of Siren, Wisconsin, roughly 90 miles north of Minneapolis, the pair had just climbed into their tree stand when a black bear appeared below them.

Placing a non-fatal shot on the bear, Owen and his father waited for about 20 minutes to pass before they decided to hop down and take a look for the bruin on the ground. Using the help of a neighbor's hunting dog, the trio headed to the area where they last saw the bear when suddenly they heard the dog yelp and pass by them in retreat…

🤳 Montana bear hunters facing charges for impromptu photo shoot with bear cubs. I get it, a good Instagram photo op is tough to turn down. Well, actually, I don’t get it at all, but I suppose that’s a different story entirely. The truth is, the temptation to post something for a few likes is real, even for us hunters and anglers - even if it’s illegal. Psychologists and game wardens alike know this and keep a keen ear to the ground in local watering holes and social media profiles, waiting for the next idiot to slip up.

And a slip up is exactly what happened in this story out of Montana when a local biologist called up Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks game warden, Frank Blundetto, to tell him about a story he’d heard through the grapevine. 

According to the rumors, there was a photo circulating that depicted a pair of bear cubs being held by the scruff of their necks and a quick Facebook search rewarded Blundetto with exactly what he was looking for. 

He tracked down the photographer, the wife of one Reuben MacArthur. After questioning McArthur, the accused admitted to trying to help his son fill his bear tag when their dogs treed a sow that looked to still be nursing. After rounding up his dogs, the group came across two cubs and decided, against their better judgment, for a photo shoot with the young bears.

Even though the bears were safely released, MacArthur is being held liable for his son and their collective wildlife crimes; and is facing charges for unlawful possession of a big game animal. If found guilty, he could face a $500 to $2,000 fine, up to six months in jail, and suspension of all fishing and hunting licenses in Montana for 30 months. 

🥩 Wisconsin sandhill cranes have become a victim of their own success and now the state doesn’t know what to do with them. With a nickname like the ‘ribeye of the sky’, the sandhill crane is for many, a bucket list hunt. With deliciously tender meat and limited hunting opportunities, a lot of hunters are chomping at the bit for the chance to take a shot at one - possibly even in Wisconsin.

Responsible for $1.6 million of crop damage to Dairyland farmers each year, the booming populations of these large birds are moving from conservation success story to local nightmare. Crane populations in Wisconsin have blossomed from an abysmal 2,000-or-so birds back in 1982 to well over 12,000 as per 2023’s Christmas Bird Count. 

“I think the crane population is going to continue to increase,” Dorothy Harms, who is president of the Sauk County Farmers Union, said. “So I think there really does need to be a look at, you know, how do we kind of keep a balance with this?” 

While hunting is one option the state is weighing, the other option is a chemical treatment designed to give the birds a stomach ache and prevent them from damaging crops. And while I am personally thrilled with the idea of introducing more chemicals to our natural world, maybe we ought to try hunting first?

🕵️ Colorado officials are looking for help for two poached animals in Lake Pueblo State Park. A pronghorn antelope was found poached and left to rot on September 1st and Colorado’s CPW is reaching out to the public for help. This marks the second poaching case this month inside Pueblo County.  On Sept. 12, CPW officers discovered a mule deer doe that had been shot and killed near Rock Creek Canyon Road adjacent to the Kestrel Pond Swim Beach at Lake Pueblo State Park.

Travis Duncan, a public information supervisor for CPW, said state wildlife officials don’t currently have any indication the two poaching incidents are related, but are “looking for any information that folks can share on both of those incidents.”

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Deer hunting to begin Saturday in Louisiana: Here’s what you need to know: The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has announced that the 2024-25 Louisiana deer hunting season will begin Saturday, Sept. 21. The season will start in Deer Areas 3, 7, 8, and 10 when archery season opens. Read more at KLFY.

Indiana's proposed bobcat hunting season has quota set, limits trapping to 40 counties:  The Indiana Natural Resources Commission recently announced its first proposal for the regulated trapping of bobcats, which would be implemented in 40 counties in southern Indiana. Read more at Local 12.

Archery deer hunting opens in five Pittsburgh parks this weekend. Not everyone is happy:  On the heels of a pilot project last year, Pittsburgh will open its white-tailed deer archery program in five parks starting Saturday. Read more at Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

Upland bird hunting prospects look good in NE Oregon: Based on summer surveys, bird populations have increased in many areas, and hunting conditions should be good this fall and winter. Read more at Baker City Herald.

What hunters should know about the 2024 Utah waterfowl hunting season: With the exception of tundra swans (which require a permit from the hunt drawing that ended July 17), the rest of the waterfowl hunts in Utah are open to anyone with a Utah small game hunting or combination license. Read more at UDWR.

Packers tight end Luke Musgrave shows off his first Wisconsin white-tailed deer: "First ever Wisconsin whitetail," Musgrave wrote in an Instagram post on Tuesday that included a photo of the deer. His post on Instagram generated a lot of positive reactions, including from his fiancée, Madi Weisner. 

Will EHD affect the Illinois deer herd in 2024?: Between August and October each year –  especially during hot and dry summers – landowners, hunters, and wildlife watchers are encouraged to keep an eye open for deer with signs of EHD, the acronym for Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease. Read more at Outdoor News.

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🧑‍🍼 Wyoming bowhunter finishes the job on a beautiful mule deer with his one-year-old daughter napping on his back.  Not all heroes where capes, but some of them wear a backpack with their one-year-old daughter in it and head out hunting for mule deer. After taking a late-afternoon shot at a nice 5×5 mule deer, he retrieved his arrow that had “blood all the way up to the fletchings," indicating a good shot. Considering that the last bit of daylight was on its way out, hunter Ryder Seely called it and decided to come back in the morning to grab his buck.

The following morning Seely had to do what most dads do during the week and drop his kids off at school and/or daycare. With one child successfully dropped at school, it was his one-year-old daughter that ended up throwing a wrench in his best laid plans. Without his daughter Lainey’s name on the roster for the day, she was unable to stay at daycare. So, doing what any good dad would do, he grabbed his kiddie backpack and decided that there was no better time than the present to introduce his youngest daughter to his passion for deer hunting.

The pair made it back to where Seely had shot the deer the night before and were surprised to find the deer still alive. Without his bow, Seely had to turn back and make the 3-mile trek back to his truck to get his bow.

On their way back in, Lainey fell into a comfortable nap atop her father’s shoulders. And while he did his best to keep it quiet, she woke up just in time to watch her dad send the finishing arrow into the beautiful buck.

"When I got to within 40 yards, he saw me and jumped up," Seely says. "I jumped up at the same time, and drew my bow. Lainey woke up right before I squeezed the shot off. She got to see the whole thing."

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🦈 A Goliath grouper makes a snack out of a 4-foot shark. Watch as a fisherman is about to land a nice little shark off the coast of Florida when suddenly, a big ol’ grouper comes up and swallows his catch whole.

🍹 Sacrificing your boyfriend to save the White Claws. That was the thought process when one woman sent her man up against a black bear to save the ice chest filled with libations. I dunno, Chris…

Oh, and one more thing…