2025 Bear Derby

🐻 2025 Bear Derby: The Day the Dell Came Alive

It was late in the day, and after hours scouring the other side of the Finlay River near the Dell, frustration was beginning to simmer. Just tracks and scat—signs they were near, but the bears themselves were ghosts. I drove back slowly, scanning, thinking maybe this year wouldn’t be my year.

Then I saw it.

Off to the left, down an old road leading to an aging cut block, stood a decent-sized bear. No hesitation. That was my chance to crack the top 3 in this year’s Bear Derby.

I hit the brakes, grabbed my rifle, and walked the short 10 yards to the edge of the road. The bear was angled poorly, so I waited—15 long seconds felt like forever—until finally, I had the perfect side shot. I squeezed the trigger.

Drop. One clean shot.

With adrenaline pumping, I backed my lifted 4th Gen Ram 1500 down the road and began the Herculean task of dragging the bear the short stretch to the main Dell road. Getting it up into the truck was another story—a vertical lift with a 3-inch suspension isn’t friendly to tired arms. It took a sweat-soaked, muscle-burning 45 minutes before I finally secured him in the bed.

Celebration came in the form of an ice-cold Orange Crush and a few puffs from my nicotine vape. I started the drive back toward Fort Ware, thinking the day was wrapped.

But fate wasn’t done.

Just 10 minutes down the road, I spotted a second bear—bigger than the first. He wasn’t going to give up easily. Five shots later and a stumble over a brushy ridge for a better angle, I finally secured the head shot that brought him down.

Dragging Bear #2 to a ditch mound helped me work smarter this time. The incline gave my truck bed just enough slope to act as a ramp, and in five minutes, I had both bears loaded. Exhausted but satisfied, I made the hour-long trek home.

Fortune favored the persistent. That second bear locked me into second place at the 2025 Bear Derby.

Now, I'm sitting in my living room, Orange Crush in hand, my prize mounted proudly on the wall, watching hunting videos and replaying that unforgettable day. Two bears. One truck. A story for the ages.