Wister youth harvests 300-plus pound bear

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TANNER'S TROPHY — Tanner McAlester of Wister harvested this bear last weekend near Blue Mountain. The bear weighed 376 pounds field dressed and was 12 inches around the wrist. Photo submitted by John McAlester

Youth season starts on Friday, and I have several area youths that will go with my family as I to try get a shot at a whitetail deer. We will camp for several days. Hopefully, we will have some pictures and stories to share with everyone in my column next week.
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Tanner McAlester, age 12, of Wister made his first big-game kill a trophy when he took a huge black bear on Blue Mountain last Saturday. Tanner was on his first bear hunt, and was accompanied by his dad, Wister High School baseball coach John McAlester, his brother, Gunnar, and his uncle Bill Meeh. It took all of them to drag the big dude to the truck.
The bear weighed 376 pounds field dressed, and was 12 inches around the wrist. I am not a bear hunter, but this fellow was a big one. John is going to get it mounted, and I think they might display it at Wister Food so everyone can see it.
Tanner shot it with a crossbow at about 25 yards, and it did not go more than 40 yards before it fell. Tanner told me a few weeks back that he was going to shoot a bear, and his Uncle Bill did some scouting for him and helped make it happen. Good job Tanner!
Have a great week!
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Email questions or comments to gmidgley_golf@yahoo.com [2].