Luck favors the Prepared.

 He did things the right way.

The kid shot his bow every day.

He studied and asked questions of successful bear hunters in his circle.

He bought bait and attractants and elicited the help of his dad and his girlfriend’s brother, Max, to dig holes, cut logs and hang the stand.

When the cell cameras proved that he had visitors, he studied their patterns and continued to feed them molasses and trail mix.

And practiced with his bow even more.

A $5 dollar youth license was helpful because the bill to feed the bears was heavier.

The landowners grew used to him regularly running pails of bait into the station with dad’s trusty, old red Honda.

Clear weather and good bait brought in more than one bear and when the competition heated up, he still fed them regularly but fed them less each time.

September 1^st, opening day, came and unfortunately, the landowners decided to fire up their mowers and do the yardwork they neglected for weeks and months prior.

The bears took the day off.

On the first day of school, he did not go to the home volleyball game but headed to the woods after football practice ended.

When the cell camera sent me pictures of two bears on station at 7:58 pm – like the RING doorbell at home, I knew he had company.

Life360 confirmed that he was in the stand and would be deciding the fate of the bears soon. I knew the answer.

At 8:09 he text me, “I did it.”

Shortly, I was on my way to meet him. The rest of the cavalry was not far behind. We convened at the truck and redyed our headlamps, knives and sidearms.

The blood trail was immediate. The tracking was a formality. The bear laid dead less than 50 yards into the darkened night.

Hugs and handshakes ensued. The recovery team sat in awe. The story of the hunt being retold already.

Luck favors the prepared.

Logan was prepared.