Londynn Langley shot her first game animal — a turkey — at 6 years old.
She has shot other turkeys and grouse. And she has been on deer hunts.
On youth day this year, the 12-year-old from Presque Isle shot her first bear using her grandfather’s .35 Remington rifle, keeping a family hunting tradition that spans generations. Her grandfather, who has nurtured her interest in hunting, couldn’t be prouder.
“There is a rich life in our family around hunting,” said her grandfather Mike Langley of Ashland.
He is a retired Maine guide after 44 years of helping hunters find the game they were seeking. He guided nearly 50 moose hunters before he was even drawn in the lottery for his own tag, Langley said Tuesday. His son Tom — Londynn’s father — is also a Maine guide.
Now Langley enjoys hunting with family, including his granddaughter.
For the hunt on youth day, Londynn and her grandfather waited almost two hours in a ground blind approximately 30 yards from a bait site the family has been using for about nine years. Langley maintains the bait site, even in years when the family doesn’t hunt bear.
The pair saw a bear come into the bait at 5:46 p.m. It ate, then left, repeating the ritual a few times, but not giving her a good angle to shoot it, Londynn said. Her favorite part of the hunt was watching the bear go through this eating and leaving ritual, she said.
Finally the bear was in a good position for Londynn to take a shot. She hit the boar in the shoulder. It took off but it didn’t go very far, she said.
“I was very excited. I wasn’t sure I hit it but once we left the blind we found the blood trail and I was pretty sure he was shot,” Londynn said.
The two stayed in the ground blind for 15 minutes or so after the shot. When they found the bear, they called Londynn’s father, who helped them get the animal out of the woods. It weighed 103 pounds.
The family plans to eat the meat, including having some of it ground into burger and made into summer sausage. Langley said the meat is really good if you take the fat off.
Londynn also will have a half body mount made for her wall.
She wasn’t sure where she would hang the mount in the house, but speculated she would put it near the front door to startle people.
Although her favorite hunt is for turkey, Londynn said she would go bear hunting again. Her advice?
“Give it a try. It’s really fun and a good experience,” she said.
