Quick reaction lets hunter tell about close call

Imagine Alan Pierce's surprise when the animal that barreled through the thicket turned out to be something quite unexpected.

Pierce, a Windsor resident, was deer hunting with the Holland Hunt Club when he thought he heard a big deer smashing through the thick undergrowth.

What happened next was arguably the scariest moment of his 29 years.

"It wasn't a deer," Pierce said. "It was a whole lot bigger."

It was a black bear, standing almost 6 feet, and it was only a few feet away.

"We had just dumped the dogs and I heard them working like crazy," Pierce said. "I heard something coming through the thicket and got ready. When I saw what it was, it was like, 'Whoa.' I didn't know what to think.

"It was 5... 10 feet away. I'm not positive. I just know that it was too close for comfort."

Pierce shot the bear once with his buckshot-loaded shotgun and had to shoot it twice more to kill what turned out to be a 315-pounder.

"I don't think he ever saw me," Pierce said. "If I hadn't shot him, I actually think it would have ran right over me. That could have been ugly."

Pierce, who has been hunting all his life, said he never has hunted bear before. "I'm a deer hunter," he said. "I've seen a few bear, but never shot at one. I had to shoot this one.

"I'll tell you, it scared the daylights out of me. I was pretty shook up for quite a while."

Pierce said a half-mount will make the bear seem to come out of a wall in his house.

"We've got tons of bear meat," he said. "I've been giving it away to family and friends and still have a freezer full."

And one heck of a memory.

MORE HUNTING

Princess Anne Middle School eighth-grader Reid Walsh has been enjoying plenty of duck hunting success this season.

The Virginia Beach 13-year-old, in three trips with his father and grandfather, has killed 15 teal. And to show off his shooting prowess, Reid bagged 11 dove on opening day last fall.

Reid, a sixth generation Back Bay hunter, is an honor-roll student and is on his school's wrestling and football teams.

MEGA ROCKS

It's no secret that local waters are teaming with big striped bass. Plenty weighing more than 50 pounds have been caught the past few weeks - even a few topping 60.

But the team of Paul Brannock, Robert Remsing and Bill Brooks recently boated three rockfish in one outing that, combined, weighed a whopping 160 pounds, 8 ounces.

The three were drifting live eels at Nautilus Shoals just off Smith Island on the southern tip of the Eastern Shore.

"We only caught five fish all day and the other two were nice fish, in the 30-pound class," Brannock, of Virginia Beach, said. "We made five long drifts with the current and caught one about in the same place on each drift."

Brannock landed a 47-8. Brooks, also of Virginia Beach, scored at 51-5. Remsing, of Chesapeake, caught the giant of the lot at 61-11.

"That was the first fish we caught and it sat in the cooler all day," Brannock said of the largest one. "I know if we would have taken it right to the scales that it would have gone over 65. I know it lost that much weight.

"Still, what we did that day was no less impressive."

MORE ROCKIN'

Equally impressive was the effort of Capt. Max King in the championship of the American Striper Association tour.

King, of Chesapeake, won the tour finale with a two-fish total of 100.3 pounds. His biggest fish weighed 61-1/2 pounds and earned him a $10,000 ASA bonus (for a fish topping 60 pounds caught by an ASA member). King's team won the $4,555 tournament prize. King's fish set an ASA tourney record for the largest fish ever caught.

David Nova, a former ASA series partner of King's, finished the series as overall points leader. The White Stone resident entered the contest 10 pounds behind leader Greg Nunn of Hillsborough, N.J. Nova surpassed Nunn to earn ASA Angler of the Year honors and $35,000.

TOYS FOR TOTS

The Catchin' for Kids striper tournament this year raised about $20,000 worth of toys and cash for the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots program.

"It wasn't the best year we've ever had," spokesman Rick Williams said. "It was a lot better than we thought it would be considering the economy.

"But we managed to fill two 7-ton trucks full of toys, and that touches a lot of people over the holidays."

The tournament featured 42 teams and gave out $14,000 in cash and prizes.

Team Adrenalin won the event with a 50.76-pound striper caught by Tom Tunstall. Second went to a 47.28-pound fish caught by Bryce Bahhus on the Catchin' Tails. Dennis Massey's 44.74-pound striper gave Team Sea King third place.

Drew Camp was named the top youth angler with a 33.22-pound fish. Christy Vu was the top female angler with a 45.54 fish. She was fishing with Team Catchin' Tails, and her fish was the third-largest in the event, but rules allowed only one placement winner per team.

EAGLE RELEASE

On Friday, a team from the Wildlife Center of Virginia released a young bald eagle at Westover Plantation on the lower James River. The bird had been rescued from a Suffolk landfill this month.

Officials at the landfill found the bird and said it couldn't stand or hold up its head. It was treated at the Midway Veterinary Hospital in Chesapeake and transported to the wildlife center in Waynesboro for rehabilitation.

According to center officials, it was the 25th bald eagle treated and released in 2008.

RESULTS

- From the Virginia Beach Contender Cup Striped Bass Tournament (32 teams):

1. Matt Oliff, 55.17 pounds, $3,200 (Oliff also won $320 in the Chris' Bait and Tackle Small Boat Challenge); 2. Robert Hughes, 46.31, $800; 3. Rick Handly, 41.88, $480; 4. A.J. Marchigiani, 41.65, $128;

5. Jamie Judy, 41.19, 128 (Judy also won $320 in the Chesapeake Angler Magazine live release division).

- From the FM99 WNOR Striped Bass Tournament that provided money and fish to the Food Bank, and raised money for the station's Christmas Wish Fund:

1. Team No Name, 243.5 total pounds;

2. Team Kaylan, 240.1; 3. Team Gimp, 235.7. Team Entropy caught the event's biggest striper at 48.1 pounds.