That musket used by West Virginia’s mountaineer mascot apparently isn’t just for show after Jonathan Kimble posted a photo indicating he shot a bear using the firearm.

Kimble tweeted to the ESPN Road Trip Twitter account that “y'all shoulda have came bear huntin with me yesterday!” and posted a photo of himself dressed in camouflage, including a West Virginia Mountaineers hoodie, along with the musket and the dead bear.

According to the Associated Press, West Virginia University reprimanded Kimble for using the musket to shoot the bear and ordered him to no longer use the firearm, which is supplied by the school, on hunting trips.

Kimble defended the incident, saying it’s tradition for West Virginia mascots to use the musket to hunt, the AP reported.

But the Mountaineers mascot agreed to the university’s demands, WVU spokesman, John Bolt, told the AP.

"While Jonathan Kimble's actions broke no laws or regulations, the university has discussed this with him, and he agrees that it would be appropriate to forego using the musket in this way in the future," Bolt said.

The West Virginia Mountaineer musket helped Kimble shoot and kill a bear for the first time.

"Other Mountaineers have gone and shot multiple deer with it before. I've taken it with me deer hunting before, also,” Kimble told the AP.

WVU alumni are backing Kimble’s decision to use the musket to shoot the bear.

"This is a smart young man from West Virginia who did nothing wrong, who was celebrating who he is," said WVU alumnus Robert Hickman. "If you're from West Virginia and you love the outdoors, or if you hunt or don't hunt, or if you fish or don't fish, it is a celebration of this state. As a former WVU graduate, I'm thrilled to death with him. Happy as can be."

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