Posted on 12/11/2007 2:29:24 PM PST by thefactor
A 5-year-old Arkansas County boy killed a black bear Sunday weighing more than 400 pounds.
Tre Merritt, a descendant of Davy Crockett, was hunting with his grandfather Mike Merritt when a black bear happened upon their stand.
"His 10th great-grandfather was Davy Crockett," Mike Merritt said. "And Davy supposedly killed him a bear when he was three. And Tre is five and really killed a bear. I really doubt if Davy killed one when he was three."
Mike Merritt was in the stand at the time but said Tre did it all by himself.
"He came in about 40 to 50 yards," Mike Merritt said of the black bear, "and when he got in the open, I whistled at him and he stopped and I said, 'Shoot Tre.'"
Tre confirmed his grandfather's account.
"I was up in the stand and I seen the bear," Tre Merritt said. "It came from the thicket and it was beside the road and I shot it."
At first, Mike Merritt didn't think Tre had hit the bear with his youth rifle.
"I said, 'Tre, you missed the bear,' " Mike Merritt said. "He said, 'Paw-paw I squeezed the trigger and I didn't close my eyes. I killed him."'
The bear turned out to be 445 pounds — 12 times the weight of Tre. Mike Merritt said tears rolled down his cheeks when he found out his grandson killed the enormous bear.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...
But Davy did it at the age of three.
Dang! Good for him. (But if his name is really “Tre,” I hope the ghost of Davy Crockett shows up and slaps his parents around.)
oops. VIDEO at site.
they address that. the grandfather is skeptical of that story. but he knows he saw this 5-yo do it. the legend grows...
And I was wondering if I should teach my 8 yr old to shoot the .22 this Christmas Vacation.
I see now that they do. I should have read more closely. As soon as I saw the title of the thread, I just started singin...Davy, Davy Crockett, King of the Wild.....etc.etc.
You should! My sons started bb shooting when they were younger than 8. An average sized 8-year-old can handle a small-caliber rifle or pistol, with help.
a good gun story...
And he killed him a Bar, not a bear.
Not to be a party pooper, but is it legal for a 5 year old to hunt?
i was about 4 when my dad took me behind my aunt’s farm and taught me to shoot his .380 pistol. remember it like it was yesterday. growing up i shot mostly .22’s. cheap, user-friendly, easy to learn on. good luck to your son.
10 generations already
They don't make em like they used to. When I was your age...
They don't make em like they used to. When I was your age...
great story.
That’s nothin’. When I was four I ran around with a handful of copperheads in my pockets. They all were escaping when my Mom opened up the washer and there were about a dozen of them swimmin’ on top of the wash water. Boy, did I get a whippin’...My tenth Great Grandfather wrote that all men are free with certain rights...(John Locke)
depends on the state hunting law. it’s arkansas. i would assume they give you a hunting rifle as soon as you pop out of the womb. but i’m a yankee so i have no idea. any razorbacks around here?
This story makes me want to watch Jeremiah Johnson, but I won’t watch anything with Redford ever again.
For years I thought the song said “killed in a bar when he was only 3”. I couldn’t figure that one but put it down to idiot adults who didn’t know what they were singing about. LOL!
The sentence about Crockett is ambiguous; I’ve always interpreted it to mean that Crockett killed the bear when the BEAR was three.
Guess we need a new one
Out in the woods of Arkansaw
5 year old Tre huntin' with his paw-paw
Aimed up his rifle and shot what what he saw
Blew away a bear, one helluva haul!
Tre, Tre Merritt! Boy of the NRA!
I thought that the legend was Davy killed a "bar" when he was only three....which leads me to believe he was Irish.
What did the kid use? A 22? Possible but highly unlikely to kill a bear unless ...
I find that a difficult stretch. While it is possible, the math makes it rather unlikely. If Davey Crocket had a child at age 20, (in 1806) and then every single one of this kid's ancestors became a parent at age 20, then you could get 10 generations. But if you start including the occasional parent at age 30-25 then it gets more and more difficult to get 10 generations between this kid and Davey Crockett.
As a comparison, my fourth great grand father (great great great great grandfather) fought in the Revolutionary War).
"him" and "he" more likely refer to the same, Davy Crockett
Yes, your child has reached the age of reason. Five years old is WAY too young in my opinion.
Hunters under 16 can only hunt under the direct supervision of a holder of a valid hunting license at least 21 years of age. At 16, a child has to take a hunter education course and buy a license before he or she can hunt unsupervised.
Talk about a blast from the past. I think I almost drove my parents to infanticide by playing that record over and over and over and over.
"King of the wild frontier!"
Hunting Age by State
No minimum hunting age: 37 states
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming
Minimum hunting age of 12 years: 8 states
Connecticut, Idaho, Massachusetts, Montana, New York, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Wisconsin
Minimum hunting age of 10 years: 4 states
Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey
Minimum hunting age of 15 years: 1 state
Rhode Island
Recent Legislation on Age Limits and Safety Course Exemptions
Delaware: Allows children to hunt without first passing a hunter safety course
Florida: Exempts children from hunter safety courses, allowing them to hunt for a year with another hunter without receiving training.
Illinois: Allows children ten and older to hunt without first passing a hunter safety course
Kansas: Allows children under 16 to hunt with another hunter before they complete hunter safety training.
Kentucky: Allows children to hunt without first passing a hunter safety course
Louisiana: Exempts those 16 and older from taking a hunter safety course for one year if they hunt with another hunter.
Maine: Allows children 16 and older to hunt without first passing a hunter safety course
Michigan: Lowers the minimum hunting age for small game from 12 to 10, and for big game from 14 to 12. Also exempts children 10 and older from hunter safety courses if hunting with another hunter.
Minnesota: Exempts young turkey hunters who hunt with another hunter from taking a hunter safety course.
Mississippi: Allows children of any age to hunt with another hunter for a year without completing a hunter safety course.
Ohio: Allows children of any age to hunt with another hunter for three years without first completing a hunter safety course.
Oklahoma: Allows children under the age of 16 to hunt without first passing a hunter safety course
Oregon: Allows children to hunt without first passing a hunter safety course.
Pennsylvania: Allows children of any age to hunt deer, turkeys and groundhogs before completing a hunter safety course.
Tennessee: Allows children ten and older to hunt without first passing a hunter safety course
Utah: Eliminates a minimum hunting age for small game hunting.
Washington: Allows children to hunt without first passing a hunter safety course.
Updated Sept. 19, 2007
Here’s a link to another site with more detail:
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/natres/minagehunt.htm
Or indian. Probably half irish and half indian and half scot. That would make him 50% more man than the rest of us and probably explains how he was able to kill him a bar when he was only three.
FReeper Kanawa did it with a pocket knife, but he’s Canadian and used to doing that type of thing.
THat’s funny.
But you know...”killed in a bar...” doesn’t necessarily mean davey was killed, it could also mean davy killed someone in a bar...
The more I think about it, the more I like your version of the song.
I thought that the legend was Davy killed a “bar” when he was only three....which leads me to believe he was Irish. .............. Yeah, and its told he lost an hand there because he later fought single handed during the Indian War
I went through the hunter safety course in WA when I was 10. I didn’t need it, since I had been schooled by my dad for years, but I saw the value of the course. They did a good job of teaching the basics of hunter safety. I’m surprised WA no longer requires it.
Thars bar in them thar woods (no not Hillary Clinton)
They should have started his shooting lessons when he was younger......:o) < /sarcasm>
Wonder what caliber the tyke was using.
Although you must have completed a hunter education class to hunt alone. Which I suppose would make most 5 yr. olds ineligible to hunt alone. But doesn't stop them from hunting with an eligible hunter.
I think this was done....because we are losing young hunters...because many will not take the time to get Hunter Certified. The hope being...if we take some youngsters hunting...they will "Catch the Bug"...and become a life long hunter as a result.
Take A Youth Hunting!!
You will be glad you did!!
I know a lot of kids named Tre and it is a nickname because the child is the 3rd.
Nickname is fine, whether he’s the 3rd, or his name is Tremaine or Trevellyan or Trevor, or even Travis.
If it says “Tre” on his birth certificate, that’s Bad.
I coulda swore that was Daniel Boone who allegedly did that.
Daniel Boone is the one who left a record carved into a tree where he killed a bear. (Kilt a bar? - I’d have to check my bookshelves ...) But he was an adult at the time.
I would suspect a 30.06,,or a 20 ga.,,,believe deer season is open.,,,but just guessing ,anything smaller would have pissed off the bear..
YES! I recall that. Thanks for clearing that up.
FRegards,
LH
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