MEXICO — Brycen Waugh of Mexico, who recently turned 9, completed a hunting “grand slam” in his very first year of hunting.
Tagging a turkey, a bear, a moose and a deer in the same calendar year takes a good deal of skill, and a fair amount of luck.
“He worked very hard for this grand slam by helping bait the bears,” said his mother, Kate Gurney. “He spent hours opening pastries and then hours filling the bait barrels at three different bait sites. He spent hours trudging through the woods, walking miles up mountains in search of a moose and deer.”
“We’re all avid hunters. We’ve been taking him in the tree stand since he was old enough to walk,” she said.
Brycen said he knew what the grand slam was.
When he was asked if he was able to keep still and quiet while in the tree stand, Brycen said “Yes.”
His mother added, “He usually falls asleep.”
Brycen disputed that. “No, Jason was the one that fell asleep.”
Gurney said, “On the day you shot your deer, dad said you were sleeping and all of a sudden, here comes two doe walking in to wake you up!”
Regarding his grand slam, Gurney noted, “He got very lucky. His great-grandfather, Eugene Waugh, got picked for the moose lottery. His pepere was subpermittee originally and when Brycen shot his bear (after getting his turkey), he figured he might get a grand slam, so he got hold of the state and was able to change the subpermittee to Brycen.”
“His pepere got drawn for a doe permit. What are the chances of that? And he signed it over,” said Gurney.
“Gov. LePage just changed the law as of January, so there’s no age limit to hunting anymore. He (Brycen) was all excited,” said Gurney.
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife doesn’t keep grand slam records, according to spokesman Matt Latti. Nevertheless, he said “that is quite a feat for a hunter of any age.”
As for Brycen’s age, “I wish I could definitively tell you whether he is the first in Maine to do that, but unfortunately we don’t keep those types of records,” Latti said.
“We’ve received reports and pictures about a number of young hunters and their successes, but I have not seen anything like that. Whether he is the first or not, the skill, dedication and discipline he must have to accomplish that is impressive,” he said.
In April, Brycen shot his turkey in Bryant Pond and a 130-pound bear in Lang Township in September, hunting with his parents on both occasions. In October, four generations of Waugh males — his great-grandfather Eugene, pepere Bruce, father Derrick and Brycen — went up to Golden Road where Brycen shot a 275-pound moose.
On Veterans Day, Brycen went hunting with his father and pepere in Readfield and shot a 110-pound doe.
Gurney said her son comes from a long line of hunters on both his mother’s and father’s side.
“We enjoy spending our quality time together hunting as a family. These are memories that he will have forever!” she said.
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