Colt Bradford, 12, of Hampden is no stranger to hunting success. And his father Brock Bradford is no stranger to the pride he feels whenever his son accomplishes his hunting goals.
Two years ago, Colt achieved a grand slam of a turkey, a bear, a moose and a deer. This year, Colt shot a big boar that dressed out at 295 pounds, meaning the bear was well more than 300 pounds live weight.
And his dad was right there to witness it.
“We had all we could do to get it out of the woods and gutted,” Bradford said.
The Bradfords are a hunting family that maintains seven bait sites about 2 hours north of Bangor. The Bradfords, whose family has four kids ranging in age from 13 to 7, hunt with close friends and everyone got together to figure out who was going to hunt at which bait site.
Youth day for bear season was on Aug. 24, and general bait season started Aug. 26. Trapping season began on Sept. 1. Bear hunting with dogs will begin on Sept. 9.
Colt chose the bait site he wanted, which happened to be where he shot his first bear and also where a big boar kept showing up on the game camera.
Colt and his father climbed into their enclosed platform stand that is about 9 feet off the ground and 20-25 yards from the bear bait. They were there for a bit before Colt whispered to his father, “Big bear.”
The bear came out shortly after 7 p.m. and ate at the bait site, Bradford said. Colt kept his composure while they waited for the bear to reposition, he said.
It was about 12 minutes before the bear was in the right position for Colt to take a shot. Colt used a .308-caliber rifle to shoot the bear, which only took a few seconds to fall after running about 30 yards.
“I was very thankful for the opportunity to experience it with him,” said Bradford, who has been with Colt on all of his hunts. “These are incredible moments I look back on fondly. It’s a reminder that the kids are growing up and time is going by.”
He was glad that his friend Zach Martin videoed the experience and put it on YouTube.
Colt said his favorite part of the hunt was watching the bear at the bait site.
Colt’s bear won’t be wasted. The family eats bear meat and loves meals such as bear tacos. They also render down the fat for cooking grease.
The skull will be cleaned, dried and measured officially to see if it makes the state’s record books. Otherwise, Colt will have a half-mount of his big bear made for his wall.
The boy liked hunting with friends. Bradford said that a friend’s 10-year-old son got his first bear during that trip.
“It was a lot of fun (hunting with friends). We did a lot of fishing too,” said Colt, who caught and released a nice brook trout. He didn’t offer any stats on the fish.
As much as Colt enjoyed his bear hunting experience, it’s not his favorite animal to hunt.
“I like moose hunting. I like driving around and not sitting in one spot for a long time,” he said.
He may get to take part in one. His mother got a moose permit this year.
