Autumn Pratt from Grayling, Michigan, is literally following in her mom’s footsteps as a hunter. In 1997, Autumn’s mother, Dawn, killed a black bear with bow and arrow that proved to be a state record in the women’s archery category. Roughly 26 years later, during the fall of 2023, Autumn used her bow to tag a bear that scored even higher than her mom’s, etching her own name into the state’s big-game records book.
In 2009, Dawn became the first woman to claim a Commemorative Bucks of Michigan grand slam by tagging a deer, bear, turkey, and elk that qualified for state records maintained by CBM. And to this day, she remains the only woman to achieve a CBM slam. But Autumn is trying to change that.
Photo courtesy Dawn Pratt
The 16-year-old already has deer, turkey, and bear records, and she is trying hard to obtain a coveted bull elk license through the state’s annual lottery draw. She has seven preference points toward obtaining one of the hard-to-draw licenses. (Dawn says she applied for 23 years before drawing her own bull tag.)
Photo courtesy Dawn Pratt
Both of Autumn’s parents, and especially Dawn, are rooting for her to get a state-record elk and complete her grand slam. If she is fortunate enough to obtain the tag she needs, they will do whatever they can to help her succeed.
The application period for elk permits runs from May 1 through June 1 each year, and hunters are limited to one application. (Only 80 bull tags were issued by the state in 2024 and there were more than 40,000 applicants.) A separate drawing is held every year for what’s called a Pure Michigan Hunt, and the few hunters who are drawn each year get tags for all of the state’s limited entry hunts, including elk and bear. Hunters can apply as many times as they want for a fee.
“I’ve been putting Autumn’s name in for the Pure Michigan Hunt every year to increase her chances of getting an elk tag,” Dawn tells Outdoor Life.
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After all, Dawn helped Autumn get a bear tag for the Red Oak bear management unit in the northern Lower Peninsula in 2023, when she collected her state-record bear. It takes more than 10 preference points to obtain a bear tag for Red Oak, and Dawn had 12. When Dawn drew a bear tag for the unit in 2023, she transferred her tag to Autumn. (The DNR allows successful draw applicants to transfer their tag to a person of their choosing or to someone on the DNR’s list of disabled hunters.)
Getting Started in the Deer Woods
Since both of Autumn’s parents are avid hunters, it’s not a surprise that their daughter has become obsessed with the sport. She started deer hunting with a Parker Crossbow at the age of six, and she’s stuck with it ever since.
“I took my first deer, a six-point buck, during the youth hunt that year,” Autumn says. “I was hooked and I’ve continued to deer hunt every year with pretty good success.”
Photo courtesy Dawn Pratt
Four of the whitetails Autumn has taken with a crossbow are state records. She tagged two of those deer in 2023, including her highest scoring buck, an 8-pointer that scored 119 ⅛. (The minimum score for typical archery bucks in the state’s big-game records is 100.)
When it came time to graduate to bear hunting, Autumn wanted to ditch the crossbow and hunt with a compound bow like her mother had. Her father Jerry bought her a compound in 2021. She shoots a Bear Legit model with a release, and uses Victory VFORCE arrows tipped with 125 grain Tuffhead broadheads, with a 100 grain brass insert to get the weight to 225 grains.
“I would practice with the bow often, but I just wasn’t able to draw enough poundage to make a clean, lethal shot from a reasonable distance until late fall of 2022,” Autumn says. “I shoot in the school archery league and with continued practice I was able to dial the draw weight of the bow up to 35 pounds by the spring of 2023. That was the draw weight I hunted bear with that fall.
“I spent most of my summer months practicing every day in my grandfather’s backyard. My mom was like a drill sergeant. If it rained, I had to draw my bow in the living room several times to keep my muscles toned and my form consistent. She told me the rigorous practice would pay off, and she was right.”
Tagging a State-Record Black Bear
“When bear season opened, I ended up wearing a polar fleece predator camo outfit that my mom wore in 1997 to kill her record book bear,” Autumn writes in an article about her bear hunt. “It fit well and I felt it would bring me good luck.”
Photo courtesy Dawn Pratt
Jerry was sitting with his daughter in a tree stand 15 yards from an active bait when bear season opened last fall. Although anticipation and excitement ran high due to game camera photos they had of bear activity at the site, they didn’t see a single bear on opening day. They returned to the same spot the following day. Autumn writes:
Once we got in the stand and it quieted down, a sow and two cubs slowly approached the bait. They sniffed around briefly, but seemed slightly on edge and moved on.
I patiently remained motionless hoping that another bear would show. It wasn’t long before I saw a black figure moving towards me without a sound. As the bear approached the bait, I could tell he was nervous. He was constantly scent-checking the area and came in and out of the thick cover twice.
I was focused on taking a shot the next time he walked into the opening, so I stood and prepared to draw my bow. The bear slowly reappeared and went to the bait. He turned and exposed his vitals. At that moment I drew my bow with ice in my veins. I zeroed in on my target and let the arrow fly. I heard the loud ‘whack’ and knew I had hit the bear in a good spot as I watched him barrel out of sight with a growl.
My dad and I waited and listened for the sound of the bear to get his direction. We waited about 45 minutes before sneaking down and out of the woods to get help. We retrieved my bear with a lot of help from friends and a long haul out of the woods. He had a dressed weight of 330 pounds and had a skull measurement of 20 9/16 inches.
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In addition to being a new state record, Autumn’s bear was entered into the Pope and Young record book. The minimum score for black bear skulls in the P&Y book is 18 — the same as Michigan records.
Her mother’s bear scored 19 15/16, but was much older and a little heavier than the one Autumn got. Dawn’s bear had a dressed weight of 343 pounds and was aged by the DNR at 21 years old, while Autumn’s bear was only six years old based on an examination of its teeth. Autumn was 15 at the time.
