Sullivan East Student Goes Deer Hunting, But Encounters Bear
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Logan Morrell had waited months for the chance to go deer hunting with his cousin.
The fall weather was inviting, the anticipation intense.
After finding their usual private spot in Sullivan County, Logan began his vigil in the tree stand while Brian Morrell ventured into the woods.
Just before darkness fell, the sense of calm was interrupted by something wild.
Logan, 15, spotted something moving twenty yards away. It wasn’t a deer. Far from it.
“Yeah, it was different,” Morrell said. “My cousin said there were bear around in that area, but I had never seen one in my whole life.”
As the curious object moved within 15 yards of his tree stand, Logan was jolted by the unusual sight.
It was a 150-pound, four-foot-long black bear.
There was no time for contemplation. It was time for Logan to rely on his instincts.
“The bear walked right up behind me in the tree stand,” Morrell said. “He didn’t even know I was there.
“I just turned around and got ready.”
On the first attempt from his crossbow, the 5-foot-7, 120-pound Sullivan East sophomore connected with a clean shot just behind the shoulder.
The arrow came from an elevation of approximately 15 feet.
Startled by the thud-like noise from the crossbow, 30-year-old Brian Morrell hustled out of the woods to check on his cousin.
Logan had just passed a rite of manhood, albeit in unique fashion.
“I didn’t have time to get nervous,” Morrell said. “Everything happened in a few seconds.”
Needless to say, Logan felt a sense of exhilaration.
“I couldn’t wait to get off the stand and look at the bear,” Morrell said. “We couldn’t find the bear that night since it was so dark, so we went back back the next day to look for it.”
The bear is now awaiting floor mounting at Critter’s Taxidermy in Bristol, Va.
Since that adventure-filled Saturday afternoon on Oct. 4, Logan has shared the tale in his low-key fashion.
“My friends think it’s pretty cool,” Morrell said.
As for his parents, the emotions range from pride to relief.
“I wasn’t really worried about Logan,” Morrell’s father, Terry, said. “He’s a pretty good shot, and he was up in the tree. Logan can outdo me in the woods.
“I’ve actually never seen a bear in the woods, and I’ve been hunting for 20 years. My nephew [Brian Morrell] was wanting to get a bear, but this was Logan’s chance.”
Logan has accompanied his father on hunts since he was seven years old. Over time, Logan has come to relish the 5 a.m. wakeup calls, bone-crunching cold and lengthy waits.
The continuation of a family tradition is what really makes Terry proud. Terry Morrell has even purchased a Lifetime Sportsman’s License for his son.
“I started hunting with Brian when he was Logan’s age, and now Brian is taking Logan on hunts,” Terry Morrell said. “It’s good to see that cycle continue.”
Sherry Morrell has confidence in her son’s savvy and accuracy in the woods.
“Logan is a very dedicated outdoors boy, but he did make me a little nervous and scared when he called about the bear,” she said. “I thought he was just joking at first. Logan knew what he was doing, though.
“I did tell him that he wasn’t going back the next day.”
Logan is already plotting and planning his next adventure. Morrell harvested his first deer two years ago during bow season.
“My father got me interested in archery two years ago, and I’ve just gradually improved,” said Morrell, who also participates in muzzleloader hunting season. “My father and I are going hunting again in about two weeks, and I can’t wait.”
Logan said he’s eager to discover what lurks in the woods.
“I had never even thought about shooting a bear before this,” Morrell said. “Things just turned out that way.”
(276) 645-2544
Who: Logan Morrell
Age: 15
What: Bear hunting
Where: Sullivan County, Tenn.
Notes: The Morrell’s are members of Kettlefoot Rod and Gun Club in rural Bristol, Va. Logan also hones his archery skills at the Miller’s Outdoors archery range in Piney Flats, Tenn.
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Reader Reactions
ROTFLMAO!!!!!!
Penis car??? HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa! Have you taken a look at the freakish pick-up trucks that absolutely flood this place???? The big stacks, the billowing smoke blowing in people’s faces, contaminating the air. There is where I think you will find your people with penis problems, just the same as Freud described people who like big guns. The equation is so simple, Big gun, little Peepee. Gosh I cant believe you just handed that one to me like that!
I was born and raised here so really, I have just as much right to say that you should just go away. These mountains and wildlife are most certainly not exclusively owned just for your twisted pleasure.
As for my right to question the things that I see that are wrong, I dont know if I could see you as a lesser person, but ya, you would be even lesser if you did not stand up to what you know in your heart to be wrong.
That is how the world has “Progressed” Some of us saw that slavery was wrong, and spoke up. It was frowned upon, even by some who were enslaved themselves. But in the end, the world was awakened, and now it is seen as the evil it is.
The same thing with wife beating, it is an even more recent change of attitude, but your butt will be dragged off to jail now. 30 years ago, it would have gotten a big laugh. Even by the people who scoffed at the thought of facing God and saying,“ I did nothing Illegal”.
Just as those who beat other people and enslaved them did so because “It was THEIR RIGHT”
A very big difference between livestock and wild life, is most livestock is raised humanely and when it comes time for their life to end, it isn’t done in a cruel inhumane fashion.
There are no pictures in the paper with the smiling executioner, and parts are never saved to hang upon a wall like some sort of sick memento.
I will most certainly stand before the gates and say that I have sinned, from the moment I was born I sinned, and I was sorry for them. I will have no excuse, and I will not offer any. I will be judged exactly how I should be, and I will not pretend that I know how that will be because I am not so arrogant.
I do know in my heart that loving and appreciating the life that has been given to me, and standing up to those who will stop a beating heart “just for Fun” will not reflect badly on me.
You may have become accustom to everything living and dying by the wave of your hand, but I, on the other hand, will not be bullied into submission. I will not shut up, because you dont like it.
If you really didn’t care what I thought, you never would have placed a word in this discussion, but you did, and that makes you a liar too.
On the other hand, I am showing people that killing for fun is a horrible sick amusement. I hope you do hate me, because that is how I got you here, and keep you here on the stand, where the world can take a good look at you.
Now maybe you will take a look at yourself so that you may see how the world sees you. And that is the first step to making the world a better place. Plus, while you are here arguing with me, another animal continues to live.
If this doesn’t mean anything to you, maybe someday when you are lying on your deathbed, you will be wishing with all your heart for just a minute more, and you will realize just how precious life really is, and maybe you will wish that you hadn’t taken it so callously from so many other innocent creatures.
to eddie107 ........ you can put me any line you want, but i wont let you or anyone else take away my God given rights. So drive off in your penis enlarging car, and just go away! Also - the friends I was refering to loves deer meat, elk, wild turkey, bear, etc .... (if I had the time, I would explain it to you, but with a mind made up that what you say is right, no use too!!!) I respect what and who deserves it - I my frined, have NO respect for you! BYE!!
now - for hpd4u - God bless you and your warped since of being! Im thinking that you must be a monk or something totally clean, that you have ever killed anything or eaten anything that was killed! So if you (or eddie) eat ham, steaks, hamburger, goat, or when you ate that beautiful bird called a turkey at thanksgiving, how does that differ than me going out and killing my turkey? I eat it, though as a wild bird, but you my friend ate one that was “fattened up” just for your enjoyment! But here in lies the questions: Who killed that bird? You may not have - but somebody did! Isn’t that guilty by association? Also - does your belief allow you to judge others as you have done me? If so, I do pity you when you get to the gates of heaven and they ask you if you have sinned! And I will continue to “Judge not least you shall be judged!“ and also continue my God given right to hunt, fish, and enjoy my passage of my manhood that my father gave me, as his before him, and before him!!! Again - God bless both of you and when I say my prayers, you two will be in them! (By the way - since this has gotten so far off course from the original topic - Again - Congradulations Logan - and by all means do not let people like these interfere with your right to hunt and kill your bounty - weather it be deer, bear, elk, fish, or bird!! )
I’m done with this now - say all you want too - that is your right, just as I have done what I wanted to - because it is “MY RIGHT!!!!“
kcsbald - Even hunting and eating your kill is still hunting for sport, unless you can’t afford to feed yourself and your family as others do.
There is just no justification for it unless the local food banks and the Salvation Army are out of food.
If you declare yourself to be a hunter then you are killing for sport, not because you are hungry. This is the reality of hunting, but you will go on pretending to yourself that you eat your kill, so it is acceptable, and thus you will keep killing our beautiful God-given wild life and not feel guilty.
You are not fooling anyone with your “I eat what I kill” excuse for sport hunting. Maybe that makes it easier for you to live yourself when you kill God’s beautiful creations, but I can assure you God is not fooled by the excuse you use to destroy his beautiful living things.
Dont worry about it, you dont have to put yourself in that category, I put you in that line already.
What you are saying, is you like to kill things, so you eat what you can tolerate, and try to pawn the rest off to “friends”.
Call me names all you like, if anyone decides they will think about the life they are taking, and decide they really dont have a justifiable reason why that soul should die, then my efforts are not in vian. Animals are exactly like us in every way. They live, love, hate, and dream. The only crime they committed that separates us, is they did not eat from the tree of knowledge.
Those who do not respect life, and take it for recreation, are the biggest wastes of life.
so lets see - now im a poor excuse for a human being! no - those are the child rapers, wife beaters, etc…... but i can not and will not put myself in the catagory with them! you see - im a “Hunter” that puts the meat on my table or donate it to other who eats it! it doesnt go to waste - ITS EATEN!!!! I guess you think eating steaks, lamb chops, ham etc ... is ok! (by the way - i eat them too!!!!)
I would personally have someone call me names than to have some self righteous blood thirsty poor excuse of a human being blow my brains out for fun.
I have a lot more for you but I do have more to do than to sit and argue that when a bullet is put through some innocent creatures head, that its life which has every right to be here just as much as you, is taken unjustly.
I suppose you feel that a human that rapes little girls has a right to go through life without people looking down on them too. But as all antiquated like wife beating, slavery, and other traditions that the rest of the world has recently come to realize is wrong, killing for fun will become part of that group.
first - lets start with this statement to see who is ignorant .....“Also, I thought that you had to be a retard or a cripple to be able to use a crossbow in the woods. It is highly illegal as I remember it.“ .... ok - who is ignorant here! from the tennessee wildlife management “Longbows, compound bows, crossbows and other bows drawn or held by a mechanical device.“ is what is said to be legal!!!
ok - now for this sentense “And you are retarded if you cant figure out that the kid did it just for the fun of it.“ .... that is twice you have used “retarded” ..... sounds like a little biased here - you have something against retarded people????
Now for the kicker ......
“You may have gone to school Baldy, but you are still ignorant, and backwards people like you will always be considered a lower form of life by me and a very much growing enlightened population of people.“ ....... Where do you get off calling me a lower form of life! ........ what are you - you seem so high and mighty! you must be god ....... oh wait - that cant happen! the God I know is forgiving, caring, and he also put something between my ears called a brain to where I dont have to downgrade ANYONE to make myself feel high and mighty (which by the way - i dont EVER feel high and mighty to anyone!!!)
to finalize the words of wit to you - i bet you drive a penis enhancer car, probably have a toupee, and think you are a gift to all you are around! guess what - YOU ARE NOT!!!
ill close with this - whale dung is at the bottom of the ocean, which is as low as it can get - - to judge a man because what he believes, or by what he does - you are just under that dung!!! also - they only made a few perfect heads - the rest they put hair on!!!!!
I’ve actually never seen a bear in the woods, and I’ve been hunting for 20 years. My nephew [Brian Morrell] was wanting to get a bear, but this was Logan’s chance.”
I can see from this sentence how the bear population has gotten so overwhelming that that had to be murdered just to keep them out of your kitchen.
“[Brian Morrell] was wanting to get a bear,“ what do you suppose the reason he wanted a bear?
Was it so he could take it home and train it to do circus tricks or was it so that he could murder it and make himself feel real big and boast that he is the great bear killer to his friends?
It is obvious to me that people who need this kind of “self confirmation” are seriously mentally broken, and should not be allowed in the woods.
Half a Millennia a boat with some people from Europe landed on the shores of a Caribbean island. And for hundreds of years since then, the “Christian people” have been killing anything that breaths, - Including the native people!
Of course since the Christian people knew in their hearts that the native people were just animals, that they could put a bullet in their head and still sleep like a baby at night. Those people were just as ignorant as the ones who kill for fun today.
We stole the land and murdered anything that stood in our way, and we continue to do the same thing.
The only reason deer are having problems is because we murder any creature who would be able to help control deer population. We keep destroying land for them to live on. How much land has been turned to developing here the past 20 years?
There is no way this boy went to the woods looking for a bear to murder, the body now waits at a taxidermy shop waiting to be mounted.
“My friends think it’s pretty cool,” Morrell said. The kid obviously did it because his family was hungry and didn’t do it because he could boast of his murder. He just saw a poor animal and decided to murder it with no thought about the victim at all.
“Logan said he’s eager to discover what lurks in the woods.“
We should just cut all of the forest down and get a bunch of pickup trucks and get the slaughter over with.
Also, I thought that you had to be a retard or a cripple to be able to use a crossbow in the woods. It is highly illegal as I remember it.
And you are retarded if you cant figure out that the kid did it just for the fun of it.
You need to get a whole lot madder too. Because this is going to wash over you like a tidal wave. People are waking up and realizing what a filthy ignorant “sport” this is, and it will not be tolerated for very much longer. You want to know what the rest of the world thinks about you? turn on the TV sometime. A great one to watch is called “My Cousin Vinny” Or watch South Park, they have the perfect “sportsman” to a tee.
You may have gone to school Baldy, but you are still ignorant, and backwards people like you will always be considered a lower form of life by me and a very much growing enlightened population of people.
i do believe in God, and i also believe in what this kid did! i have read, and re-read, and re-read this article and no where does it say he did it for the sport of it! unless i have missed something - there is nothing wrong here! doing it “for the sport of it” - that would be killing JUST for the fur, or just for the mount .............. did it say anything about the meat! NO! so there in lies another situation - as it also says in the bible I read “judge not - least you shall be judged!!!!“ we have strayed so far from the original consept - congrats logan on your new harvest! good luck in all future hunts, and dont let ANYONE spoil it for you! im on your side!!!!!!
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