a new doxology

This is absolutely fantastic and to be honest, I’m still not sure what to think about it; according to an article on espn.com, a descendant of Davey Crocket killed a 445-pound black bear while hunting. That’s a very large animal, but it’s not the size of the bear that makes the story so incredible, it’s the size of the boy who killed the bear, and who he is related to, that makes this story so unbelievable. Tre Merrit is only 5 years old and he is descendant of Davey Crocket, the legendary American mountain man (aka “King of the Wild Frontier”). Tre’s grandfather witnessed the instantly-legendary hunting story; here’s how they told it to a reporter from KATV/Little Rock,

“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.

The entire article – including a video of Tre, Mike and the bear – can be found on espn.com (or by clicking here).