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My hats off to those who have taken the big ten with a bow and all the others who have taken anything with a bow. I really never gave it much thought about seeing how many critters I could kill with a bow because I was always more interested in the hunt and not racking up numbers but I got to thinking about the archery kills I've made and I've been blessed for sure. After seeing a few bears on my trail cams this year I got to thinking why I haven't bought a bear tag for years and tried to take one with a bow. I guess I have always been happy with the one I shot with a rifle yrs ago and haven't shown much interest since. Ok, now I don't want to sound like the numbers all of a sudden are more important than hunting, because they aren't, but I could end up with a possible 9 of the 10 if I tried but the numbers are starting to stack against me. My age, would I ever draw a sheep or antelope tag, my body wearing down, and not staying in shape has the odds, with each passing year, not on my side. Back to why I started this post in the first place. I'm sitting in my blind last month and miss my turkey by using the wrong pin. Wish I could remember how many times I've done that over the years. You would think after all these years I would have figured out how to control my excitement or buck fever as they say. Now I'm dozing off and as I open my eyes for the 50th time I have a black bear at 15yrds in front of me. This is why I bought a bear tag incase I ran in to one doing this archery season but not in the middle of my crack corn. This bear stayed for 1hr and 20min with so many thoughts running thru my head. I could easily shoot this bear. No one would ever know but me that I shot it over bait. I could say I now have an archery bear kill and my 8th of the big ten with a bow. I know hunters who wouldn't think twice and shoot. Could I ever live with myself and would the huntin gods ever forgive me. Well, I decide I'm going to shoot this bear because he just isn't wanting to leave. As I try my hardest to position myself, without making any noise, I finally succeed and take my best shot. Dam I wasn't expecting the flash to go off. The bear never seemed to mind so I shot several other pictures. These pictures will always mean more to me than just another number. TJ