By Charla Webb

It started when I got to go on my first Big Game Hunt to ALASKA !
My husband Art and I stayed on a 50' boat for 6 days and 5 nights in the Alaskan wilderness, boy is Alaska beautiful !! We watched a pair of Mountain Goats feed on top of a mountain for several days and saw around 40 bears.

A lot of the bears were momma bears and had twins or triplets with them, the others were so high on the mountain tops that it was impossible to get to them. We would glass a bear from the boat, get into the zodiac and head to the mountain.
After several attemps at a bear we finally were able to set up on an Alaskan Black Bear and with my .300 BAR and Kahles scope from Mark's Outdoors, I harvested my first Black Bear.

The next hunt brings us to what we call the Taj Mahal located on Garrison Farms, Thorsby Alabama. My husband spent $1200.00 on this deer stand ! It comes with vinyl siding, vinyl windows, metal rood and my favorite a gas heater !
On December 23, three days after our daughter KayDee celebrated her 10th birthday,Art and KayDee were in the Taj Mahal hunting. Minutes before to dark to see Art spots a buck in the field. KayDee gets into position and desperately tries to see the buck through her Leupold scope, but to no avail. One minute later the smoke fills the air and the bullet from Art's Thompson Center Muzzle Loader finds the deer. Twenty minutes later KayDee and I track the deer down and find it for Art.

One day later on Christmas Eve, Kayla our 14 year old daughter and Art were hunting back in the Taj Mahal. After watching 5 does feeding and running around in the field, they were getting ready to get out of the stand when Kayla spots a buck, with the crack of her Weatherby .270 Buck # 2 goes down !

Three days later back in the Taj Mahal, KayDee and my Dad, ( the girls call him Pa Pa) harvest Buck # 3. Pa Pa was working the Primos Bleat call when he spots a buck. KayDee doesn't have a clear shot so they wait for one. Finally the buck walks into a clearing, KayDee aims her .223, the shot breaks the evening air and hits its mark !

On January 12 we get a call from my Mom, ( the girls call her Me Ma) she tells us Pa Pa has harvested a big 10 pointer in Eufaula ! We all get into the Expedition and head down to Eufaula to celebrate with Pa Pa ! It has been 22 years since Dad had harvested a Big Rack Buck !

January 23 brings our family season to an end. The largest buck I have ever harvested, I shot this day, Ironically it was in our backyard ! Art had brought home a buck deer decoy and for laughs had set it up in the backyard ! Within 45 minutes the big 8 pointer was facing off with the decoy! The perfect combination of my .300 BAR and Kahles scope brought the big boy down !

Yes, all 5 hunter in our family harvested a Buck and I got my first Alaskan Black Bear, but that's not what made it the perfect season. We spent quality time together as a family doing something we all love. These are family memories we can never replace and we enjoy and cherish every minute of them ! Hopefully in June we will have more to write about !

All 6 of us are going to Prince William Sound, Alaska in May on another Black Bear Hunt.
Thanks to Mark's Outdoors for all the equipment needed for Our Family outdoor adventures !
Happy Hunting!

Charla Webb