CLINTON TWP — When Ashley Shank took her compound bow and climbed into her tree stand on the first day of bow hunting season Saturday, a bear wasn’t on her mind.

But one was in her sights, up close and personal, a short time later.

Shank, 33, of Sarver was only starting her third season as a hunter, period. She bagged an 8-point buck on Nov. 2 of 2014. She got nothing last year.

“I had a used bow back then. I was just starting out,” Shank said of her deer kill. “The guy I was dating (now boyfriend Luke Lesseski) was shooting a bow and it looked like fun.

“I decided to give it a try and I got into it.”

Shank began attending 3-D shoots to improve her shot. Last January, she bought herself a new compound bow.

It came in handy Saturday while in that tree stand. She turned around and saw a black bear sitting on the ground, only seven yards away.

“He was sitting there scratching his ear, like a dog,” she said. “I mean, I was shaking. My tree stand is maybe a half-mile from where I live and I had never seen a bear in those woods.

“When the bear began to walk away, I loaded my bow and hit it from maybe 12 yards away. He ran for 75 yards, I heard a crashing sound, then no more running.”

Lesseski, also of Sarver, was hunting with Shank on this day. But he was a mile away when she shot the bear.

“This was only her second time in the tree stand by herself,” Lesseski said. “She’s afraid of heights. She’s not very comfortable up there.”

Shank describes her feeling as “petrified” when it comes to heights.

“It’s something I’m trying to overcome,” she said. “I want to go on a white-tail hunt in Illinois at some point and the tree stands there are much higher up than mine.”

After shooting the bear, Shank sent a text message to Lesseski. They waited a while before following the blood trail and finding the bear.

They called the Pa. Game Commission, which came to the scene for verification. The bear weighed 310 pounds.

“The Game Commission gave me a certificate for it,” Shank said. “This was the craziest thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“That was an impressive achievement for a hunter as inexperienced as she is,” Lesseski said. “Ashley didn’t panic. She took the shot at the right time.

“I’m 35 and began hunting with my dad when I was a kid. I’ve never experienced anything like this.”

Shank has the head of the buck she bagged two years ago mounted on a wall at home. She is having a full body mount made of the bear.

“Now I’m learning about this Triple Crown, where you get a deer, a bear and a turkey,” she said. “I guess I’ll be going after that now. I’ve already got the hardest two.”