Wesley Redford, my lifelong hunting partner and myself (Phillip Fore ) made several scouting trips late September looking for a location to hunt with a food source close to a good bedding area with little hunting pressure. We found a spot with acorns near a swamp and very thick bedding area. I knew this area was known to be credited with several Bear sightings and told Wesley not to be surprised if we saw a Bear, not to mention Deer & Turkeys.
      We were settled in our tree stands 20 feet high by 6:00 AM even though legal shooting light was 6:37 AM. This was Sat. October 3,2009 , the first day of bow season in Powhatan County Virginia and the first time when Bears would be legal to harvest thru the entire bow season.
     I was using a Summit Titan Tree Stand, Mathews Switchback  Compound Bow, Beman Carbon arrows ,Montec G5 Brodhead , and Scott release.
      At 7:50 AM I heard the sound of a very large animal traveling thru the woods toward me. I readied my bow as this 7 Ft., 400 lb. Pope & Young , Black Bear showed himself and at 27 yards I released my arrow. My arrow entered just behind the front shoulder as the bear spun and ran past the base of my tree. I heard the Bear crash into a thicket but stayed in my tree until 9:30 AM to avoid pushing the bear and preventing a recovery.
      Wesley and I found our trophy about 100 yards from my tree and the celebration began.
     I feel truly blessed and thanked God for the Hunt of a Lifetime. My journey started when I was 8 years old on a farm in Chesterfield County and at 55 years old & 47 years of hunting this was truly my hunt of a lifetime.