How many daughters make this request of their dads when it comes time to plan a trip to celebrate their senior year in high school?
Sierra Scott didn’t want to go to the beach. Or the mountains. Or to Europe.
She wanted to go bear hunting.
“For years, Sierra had been saying that for her senior year, all she wanted was a bear hunt,” said Sterling Scott, her father. “Not knowing a darned thing about bear hunting other than this would be the first animal we would hunt that could actually eat us, I hoped it would pass.
“Bit it actually intensified as her senior year rolled in.”
Dad shouldn’t have been that surprised. His daughter, 17, had followed in his footsteps, showing a love of everything from bass fishing to deer hunting.
And there were plenty of segments on her highlights reel. She qualified for the Bassmaster High School Nationals with her partner, Crewz Berry, in 2015, and later shot a 9-point buck that fall.
So dad set up a trip with well-known outfitters John and Jenn Rivet in northern Alberta, Canada for a three-day bow hunting trip.
They returned in early October to their home in Parkville, Mo., with plenty of memories…but no bear. They saw 16 bears and one moose the first day, some of them close enough to shoot. But most were sows, which meant they were either pregnant or had cubs, so they got a free pass.
On the final day, a bear that the outfitters had nicknamed “Big Brownie” approached right at dusk. When it turned broadside at 12 yards, Sierra drew back her bow and took aim.
She quickly lowered it, though, saying she couldn’t get off a clean shot in the near-dark conditions.
Her guides praised her decision, knowing that the shot might have resulted in a wounded animal.
Her father was proud that Sierra had shown she was an ethical hunter.
“Even if Big Brownie were coming home with us, I couldn’t have been more proud of Sierra on this trip,” he said.