Salute to this Purple Heart veteran who downed the biggest bear I’ve ever seen in my entire life.
The Iraq War veteran by the name of Deron Santiny started hunting when he returned from serving, and fell in love with the therapeutic benefits that nature can provide. Now, he might go down in Louisiana state history after he downed a mammoth 696-pound black bear in his home state.
For those that might not know, 2024 was the first year that bear hunting was allowed in Louisiana since the late 1980s. At one point, the black bear population fell underneath the threatened category of the Endangered Species Act. It was only in 2016 when the black bear was removed from that list thanks to conversation efforts.
As OutKick pointed out, the return of black bear hunting in Louisiana was a proud moment in the state’s history, but official knew it would need to be a limited opportunity. So they only handed out 11 tags for this first hunting season back, and one of those was basically donated to the Healing Road Foundation.
The Healing Road Foundation, per their site, sets out to “provide life changing outdoor experiences for wounded veterans, survivors and their children in a safe, stress free environment.” And they were fortunately able to get in contact with Deron Santiny to see if he would be interested in taking the bear tag that was provided to him. The Purple Heart recipient kindly accepted the offer.
When it came time to actually go on the hunt, Santiny grabbed a .375 Winchester rifle and set up shop on the morning of December 17th. He didn’t see anything for most of the day, so the veteran decided to relocate to another stand. That ended up being a fruitful decision, because just as the day began to close, Santiny spotted the gigantic bear coming out of the woods. The rest, as they say, is history.
Deron bagged and tagged the bear that ended up weighing in just shy of 700 pounds. As you might imagine, the kill has gotten the attention of many across the country. Most importantly, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry was incredibly proud that the state was home to successful bear hunting once again, and he couldn’t think of a better way to get things started back than having a Purple Heart veteran take down what could be the largest bear ever recorded in Louisiana:
“I could not be prouder of the efforts of Secretary Sheahan and the entire LDWF team for making this black bear season a reality for the first time in over 35 years. Congratulations to each of the hunters who successfully harvested bears, especially to Louisiana military veteran Deron Santiny. Deron harvested the potential largest bear in state history, coming in at 696 pounds. Louisiana is finally back on the map for bear hunting, and we are only going to grow from here.”
Sheesh, that bear is HUGE.
Props to Deron Santiny for having the wherewithal to see a creature that large and still be able to take the shot. The bear is estimated to be in its late teens to early 20s, and it was harvested in the Tensas Parish of Louisiana. It was one of 10 bears that were killed during the “comeback season” for Louisiana bear hunting, and it was without a doubt was the largest of all that were taken down.
Santiny is just feeling thankful for being given the opportunity, which then turned into a hunt that we won’t ever forget (especially if the state record is confirmed after the 60-day waiting period). He took a moment to thank those that paved the way for him to be in the right spot when the colossal bear came wandering out in front of him:
“Earlier (in December), I was fortunate to be chosen to participate in the first Louisiana Black Bear hunt in approximately 35 years thanks to the Healing Road Foundation. The experience was amazing, and definitely one for the ages… I’d like to thank Governor Jeff Landry for his unwavering support of Louisiana’s veterans.”
