FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — When Atlanta Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot began naming reasons for optimism surrounding his team this season, he eventually reached the offensive line and right tackle Kaleb McGary.

Fontenot extended his arms out wide, palms facing outward, his athletic black long-sleeve shirt fully stretched — because he was depicting the size of McGary’s summer treasure.

“Kaleb killed a bear this summer,” Fontenot said Wednesday at the Jimmy Cribb Press Room in Flowery Branch. “Has the rug from it.”

Less than an hour later, McGary followed Fontenot to the podium. He would’ve been there sooner, but he was finishing up his lunch: Rotisserie chicken from Atlanta’s cafeteria, not bear meat.

“The kitchen didn’t want to cook that up for me,” McGary joked.

Atlanta’s 6-foot-6, 341-pound strong-side protector donned a backwards white hat with the NFL logo facing out, had his black headphones resting on his head and wore a brown T-shirt with fitting writing: Catchin’ Deers, a part of the Hunt Camp Brand.

Catchin’ Deers holds a company motto of “Brown Down,” but McGary had a different encounter as a bear hunter.

Every year for Father’s Day, McGary joins his little brother, Jonah, his father, Justin, and a family friend to go bear hunting in Idaho. This year, the group went to the Sawtooth Mountains, and Jonah, using a .44 magnum, netted the best of the bunch: A black bear.

“It was cool, man,” McGary said. “It was fun.”

The quartet tries to go every year but can’t always find the time. This year, Father’s Day fell June 16 — five days after Atlanta’s last minicamp practice and four days after the team’s official end to the early-summer offseason program.

Their best year, McGary said, came in their first year, when each member of the group got one. Upon killing the bear, the men skin it and take the meat — and, in McGary’s case, makes a rug.

McGary is used to using his hands to knock down opponents on the football field, but bears, which weigh around 400 pounds, require a different approach.

“I mean, you shoot it,” McGary said, smiling. “Not trying to be a smartass. I do not jump down from a tree with a rock. It’s tempting, but no.”

McGary said bears taste like a really sweet beef, which he enjoys. The family-oriented hunting trip is particularly fun for the 29-year-old McGary because he said it’s difficult to hunt in Atlanta, citing time issues.

Peak bear hunting season comes in the winter, around November and December, because bears don’t hibernate as much in Georgia. McGary noted this is due to a longer growing season, which includes more sunlight. As such, bears are active for an extended time period.

But McGary, who hunts with a .45-70 rifle, isn’t able to partake in the activities.

“Not really, because I have to go a way’s north to hunt black bear here,” McGary said. “I would really like to, but it’s hard to scout. I essentially have one day to scout and find a spot. I go hunting, but it’s more like just going for a walk and hoping I come across something.”

For now, rotisserie chicken will have to do as McGary and the Falcons prepare for a different kind of hunt: Snapping a six-year playoff spell.