Biggest in the Family

My first bear was the biggest bear in the family. It was 463 pounds with a five-inch pad.

- Cienna Kuhn of Wisconsin (11 years old)

My name is Cienna Kuhn. I am 11 years old, and this was my first bear tag. At the start of the year I drew a bear tag for Zone C. Even though I am a member of the Gresham Bear Hunters group and run dogs, my dad wanted me to sit near home and try to get a bear. My grandpa (Randy Pleshek) had a tag for the Alvin area, Zone B. We planned to go down by Gresham on weekdays for my bear, and hunt up by Alvin on the weekends for Grandpa’s bear.

I helped bait and check cameras leading up to the hunt. Dad had a specific order of putting bait in the buckets. He was very particular on the type of bait we used. He also layered the bait in the buckets. We were always changing the type of bait we used. The bear never knew what mixture of bait they were getting. We baited consistently, at the same time every day. We figured the bear bedded nearby since soon after we baited, the bear was there.