Gotta move faster than that.
These hunters in Arkansas got the surprise of a lifetime when their deer hunt turned into a bear sighting. After downing a doe, Devin Simpson and his wife Daelyn (lucky guy) were situated in their tree stand, waiting the appropriate amount of time for the animal they had just dropped to bleed out. And it’s a good thing they waited…
The video Simpson posted to Facebook, which showed their deer getting snatched up by a hungry black bear, has been viewed over 1.5 million times. And if you are wondering, “Does Arkansas even have bears?” I’m happy to inform you that they do. It’s estimated that about 5,000 black bears call Arkansas home, and they are the only species of bear that are known to live in the state. Definitely not at the top of the list (Alaska has over 100,000) but there are many states, mostly in the Midwest and Great Plains, that don’t have any.
So one could say that the odds of watching your deer get dragged away by a bear in Arkansas are 1 in 5,000 (I know that’s not how odds work but just play along). All the hunting couple could do was sit there in the comfort of their tree stand and watch nature take its course. I suppose they could’ve fired a shot near the bear or yelled to try and scare it off, but it’s hard to come between a hungry bear and a meal. They at least got their phone out to record the unbelievable event that the great outdoors offered up front row seats to.
The bear wandered out of the woods to their left, seemingly tracking the deer to its final resting place. The doe was laying out in the open, and once the black bear made it through the brush, it set its eyes on the female deer and went right up to it. Bears are obviously known to do some hunting themselves, but they won’t pass up the easy opportunity of a fresh, no-fight-necessary meal either.
So the black bear picked the deer up by the neck and quickly dragged it off. Devin and Daelyn sat there trying to stay as quiet as possible as it all went down, even fighting back laughter as they simply could not comprehend a bear moving in so expeditiously to steal away their doe.
And it all happened on opening day, as Devin Simpson explained in his Facebook post:
“Interesting Opening Day! Two doe walked under the feeder in the shooting lane. Daelyn told me to take biggest one, which was on the left. Point, Aim, shoot. That doe dropped instantly. I let the doe sit for about two minutes. She continued to bleed out and work out her nerves. I stand up to go get her, looked to my left, and then…”
Killing a deer is obviously the goal of the hunt, but I’d imagine that the Simpsons (the hunters in this video, not the yellow sitcom family) are okay with taking home this remarkable video instead of the doe that they shot.
As you might imagine, the video has become increasingly popular online, and those who have stumbled across it have left some equally entertaining comments below the clip :
“So do you still gotta fill out a tag? That is awesome!”
“You rang the dinner bell.”
“Sad you lost your deer but so cool that you got to see something like that happen.”
“I’m so glad this is on video no one would ever believe this story.”
“I think I’d be done with that stand until bear season.”
A follow up video revealed that this mama bear had a cub nearby:
