Boone and Crockett Girls Who Hunt: The Four Bears

Boone and Crockett Girls Who Hunt: The Four Bears

At this year's Boone and Crockett Club Big Game Awards, four female bear hunters made the record books. Three of them were youth hunters, Kennedy Rasmus, Autumn Pratt and Ayla Duda. Adult hunter Mackensey Hanson brought in the largest, at 22-12/16 points. I spent time talking to all four hunters while onsite this past July in Springfield, Missouri.

Girls who hunt collage: Top L-R: Jerry, Dawn and Autumn Pratt; Ayla Duda and Pow Pow
Bottom L-R: Kennedy Rasmus, Uncle Luke and Kash; Mackensey A. Hanson

Along with recognizing trophies taken by adult hunters at the Big Game Awards banquet, the Boone and Crocket Club (B&C Club) hosts a separate evening, with the Jack Steele Parker "Generation Next" banquet every three years to honor youth involvement in the hunting world, and to recognize accomplishments of hunters age 16 and younger who have had the opportunities and good fortune to tag B&C Club trophy animals. 

These four hunters made the record books for this past term, and shared their stories.

Kennedy Rasmus: Black Bear – 21 Points, Minnesota (2022)

Kennedy Rasmus hunted near Nebish, Minnesota. Accompanied by her Uncle Luke and brother, Kash, the trio went to a stand ready to sit for the night. Kennedy said, "When we arrived, we realized that the wind was totally wrong for the location of the stand relative to the bait pile, and it was extremely hot that day, miserably hot. We all decided that it just wasn't worth it to sit that night." 

They returned the next afternoon. Around 6 p.m., two bears came in to the bait pile. Although a decent size appeared, Kennedy wanted to wait for a larger male bear. She recalled that Luke whispered, "You can shoot the one that's a little bigger if you want." To which she replied, "No. I'm waiting for a bigger one. Plus, these two are friends, and if I shot one, the other would be sad." She said her uncle chuckled.

Kennedy Rasmus

Shortly after the visit from the duo of bears, a bigger bear meandered to the pile. Kennedy said, "As this bear walked in, my heart pounded. I knew it was big. So did Luke, and so did Kash. The bear walked into the bait pile from the woods behind it, put its head down and started devouring the bait. It was facing us head-on for about five minutes. During those five minutes, my heart was beating so fast and my legs were shaking so badly that I'm surprised the stand wasn't shaking enough for the bear to notice."

Kennedy had practiced shooting earlier in the day with a Browning .270, and although she said she wasn't thrilled with the groups, she knew she could still hit the dinner plate area, and while out that day she made a kill shot at 35 yards away. 

After she settled into the stand, her uncle mentored her to dry fire the rifle, and to work with the scope. She believes that the pressure of having a live bear in front of her caused her to focus even more.

Kennedy can now add bear to her hunting list that includes deer, grouse, turkey and goose. She also loves ice fishing. She said if she could hunt anything in the world, she'd probably like to hunt for a grizzly bear. "It would be a little scary, but it would be a fun hunt," she surmised.

She chose a shoulder mount for the bear. Kennedy said, "I wanted a full body mount, but Mom said, 'No!'"

Ayla Duda: Black Bear – 21 2/16 Points, Michigan (2021)

Ayla Duda credits her grandpa, Leonard Underwood, aka Pow Pow, for her love of hunting. Some of her earliest memories including sitting on her grandpa's lap, watching hunting shows on TV and pointing her finger at the animal on the screen and say "Pow, pow!" He is called Pow Pow, not Papa, by all his grandchildren – because of his love of hunting.

Ayla began hunting at the age of eight, with her grandpa, after getting her hunter safety course finished. She said, "As soon as I got my license, we went out, and since that time, I shot a whitetail doe and buck, and then, a monster whitetail buck (21 points)." She also has hunted for turkey, wild boar and squirrels.

On this particular bear hunt, in Oscoda, Michigan, she remembers, "I was anxious and excited. I didn’t really care about the size of the bear I shot. I just thought it would be crazy for a girl, at the young age of 12, to shoot a black bear. When the dogs finally treed one, my heart skipped. We all got out of the car and started walking. I remember everyone was talking on walkie-talkies, trying to locate the dogs and get to the bear."

Ayla Duda at the Big Game Awards in Springfield, Missouri, Johnny Morris Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium, with her bear.

After a hike, Ayla and company arrived at where the dogs had treed a bear. She said, "I slowly looked up to see the bear sitting there. When he finally got to the right angle for me to shoot, I shot! The sound of the bullet leaving the .44 Mag was like heaven to my ears. Multiple men shouted at me, 'You missed!'"

She continued, "Under his breath, my grandfather said, 'You didn’t miss.'"

He then whispered in her ear: “Put the crosshairs right where you had it before, then slowly squeeze that trigger once you got him." 

Ayla followed her grandfather's instruction, focusing on the aimpoint. She said, "On the second shot, with a loud thud, the bear hit the ground. It was a lot bigger than I had previously thought it was."

Ayla reminisced about that hunt, and said, "As I get older, I am slowly starting to realize how lucky I am and how grateful I should be to get to experience a hunt like that. It was one l’ll never forget."

What's next for this enthusiastic hunter? She mentioned, in front of Pow Pow, that she would like to go elk hunting, especially after meeting one of the girl elk hunters attending the Big Game Awards.

Autumn Pratt – Black Bear, 20 9/16, Michigan (2023)

When your mom has held the record for Michigan women's black bear with a bow for 26 years, and you have inherited her competitive nature, you might hope to someday beat her record. However, never in her wildest dreams did Autumn Pratt believe that she would arrow a black bear that overshadowed her mom's record and set a new one. Autumn's mom, Dawn, set the state women's archery record for bear in 1997. 

When asked to describe her hunt, Autumn said, "Wow! It felt like a dream."

Autumn started hunting in Michigan when she was six, with a crossbow. She successfully tagged whitetail deer most every year. In fact, Autumn has tagged four whitetails and a turkey that made the Michigan record book. Since she desired to achieve a Michigan Grand Slam, she needed to tag a bear and an elk.

In 2021, Autumn wanted to shoot a compound bow, and her mom drove her to and from archery club for several months so that Autumn could progress from drawing 27 pounds to 35 pounds. 

Dawn stepped up and applied for a bear permit for the 2023 season, and after being chosen, transferred the permit to Autumn. Then, the coach in her mom kicked in, and Autumn spent from May until September (2023) practicing. She recalled, "Every day I had to shoot at least 10 shots through that bow; if it was raining, she made me pull it back in the living room to get the repetition. But it worked out, because when I was in the stand and I drew that bow at that bear, I didn't think once about my form. I didn't have to think if I was holding it right. I just focused on aiming and the shot." 

In Autumn's hunt story for the Club, she credits her parents for setting up scenarios that she might encounter during the hunt, making practice sessions realistic. When it got closer to the hunting season, she and her dad, Jerry Pratt, scouted and set up two spots, hauling in various sweets to each on a regular basis to draw in bruins in the Red Oak Area of the northern Lower Peninsula.

Autumn also says her dad put up the tree stands so that he could sit with her and video the hunt. (Since he also videoed her mom hunting, he now can claim having recording two state record holders for bears.)

Autumn Pratt

Dawn gave Autumn her polar fleece Predator camo outfit before the hunt and said, "Try this on, it will give you good luck and it is as silent as can be." It fit perfectly, and Autumn felt like it would bring her the same good luck, since it's the camo her mom wore back in 1997 to kill a record bear. 

During the second night in the stand, the big bruin appeared; Autumn knew what to do, and arrowed him. Rain and darkness prohibited them from finding the bear that evening, so they returned in the morning to find him about 70 yards from the bait pile.

Autumn received three awards for the bear from the Commemorative Bucks of Michigan for the 2023 season.  She took first place for "All Entries in the Bow & Arrow" category, first place and current record holder for "Youth Bow & Arrow" and first place and current record holder for "Women's Bow & Arrow." Along with those accolades, she received a certificate from Pope & Young and Boone and of course, the Boone and Crockett Club record book.

What's next? Autumn is hoping to complete the Michigan Grand Slam by hopefully drawing an elk tag and harvesting a record book elk.

Mackensey A. Hanson, 22-12/16 points, Wisconsin (2024)

Mackensey Hanson is a testament to that old adage "First time's a charm!" She claimed a record-book bear from her first ever bear hunt, as the hunter.

Although as a child, Mackensey had been out with her dad and friends while hunting – even getting checked out of kindergarten to go on a bear hunt, she didn't really warm up to the idea of being a bear hunter until ... last year. She said she went to her dad, and told him, "Hey, I want to do this," and he said, "OK!" and then, prepared the stage for her quite well.

On opening day of bear season in Wisconsin last year (Sept. 4) in Barron County, she and her dad went out to the blind that they'd set up over bait. They waited out the morning, left for a break and came back at 2 to sit some more. They sat there as the sun went down. As she watched a chipmunk darting back and forth in the blind, her dad informed her that there was, indeed, a bear – right next to the blind.

Mackensey Hanson

The struggle was real at that point, as she tried maneuvering her rifle, chambered in .450 Bushmaster, toward the bear. He ambled out to the bait, and she took a shot on him as he moved. She shot again, and the bear headed toward a nearby swamp. She said he was still so close that all she could see in the scope was his big head.

In her story for the Club, Mackensey wrote, "At this point, I had so much going through my head. I couldn't believe I had just shot this black bear. I really hoped I got him. I couldn't believe he was that close to us."

With the help of friends and family (and a winch on a UTV), they pulled the hulk from the swamp, and began to marvel at his enormous mass. The rest is for the record books, and a half-mount for her home. 

Mackensey, a pharmacy technician, plans on hunting this fall for whitetail. She offered advice to anyone who is looking to start hunting: "Find somebody you trust, and ask for help."

Learn more about the Boone and Crockett Club and how you can become a member to promote and preserve conservation in North America.

Source: Boone and Crockett Girls Who Hunt: The Four Bears