This will be a bit corny to veteran hunters, but it's just a cut and paste from a manuscript going into a brochure for the outfitter. I can't claim any marksmanship ability on a hunt like this as even Stevie Wonder could hit a bear at 24 inches. I wasn't going to post any pictures because of the excessive blood and gore left by that 575 grain hard cast bullet. Anyway, here's the C&P of the manuscript.


When we got to the bait site, I was a bit confused. It really didn’t look like much but a few stacked up logs and though I searched diligently, I had no clue as to where the “blind†was supposed to be. When he’d finished refreshing the bait, Pete turned and said, “Let’s get you into the blind†and I chuckled to myself wonder where he was going to find one.

He walked up to a thicket of short pines and poplars and moved a cut tree. That’s the first time I’d seen this affair and really was in awe of how, even from 5 yards away, it remained unseen. I got in and Pete rearranged a few trees to satisfy his discerning eye. Before he left, he whispered that the bear would either come up beside the blind on the left or show up directly in front of me on the bait. He reiterated that the bait was only 20 yards away.
I looked down on the shooting table in front of me and was comforted somewhat in the aberration that lay there. The Smith & Wesson 500 Magnum pistol is just a huge handgun. Even in the hands of an old fat guy like me, it’s sometimes overpowering and loaded with heavy hard-cast bullets from rounds the size of 28 gauge shotgun shells is not something for the feint of heart. I decided to just sit there and endure the boredom I knew was ahead.

Several times my eyes wanted to rest their lids, but each time it seamed a raucous crow would snap me back to reality. I’d been there an hour when I noticed movement on the bait pile. Two thrushes were in an amorous mood dodging in and out of the log pile, but an unseen visitor had appeared.

I saw the black hair on the rump and picked up the pistol that was already cocked to reduce the chance of spooking an animal. No shot presented itself and it did look relatively small. It walked forward a bit and I saw the big black nose and muzzle appear. Just what I needed: a cub.

I was looking around for the inherent trouble that cubs bring with them just as it lifted its head. What a strange looking cub. Then I realized that the floppy ears and the red nylon collar stood a better chance of being someone’s pet Labrador retriever than a black bear cub. I stuck my hand through the blind and snapped my fingers. The dog knew he was where he shouldn’t be and when he saw the movement, he beat a hasty retreat.

I sat there for 3 more hours with nothing but the thrushes bouncing around. I was thinking what an idiot I’d become in my old age and how I should be someplace else doing something constructive. There was no excitement here, but that was before the red squirrel fell off an overhead limb and plopped on the shooting table.

Now we all know that such a small varmint is no threat to anyone, but just like having a spider on you, a red squirrel fits way down the list of things I want to have at arms length. I smacked him instinctively with the back of my hand and he smoked through the cracks in the blind to find sanctuary elsewhere. That’s when I heard the twig snap.

I kept hearing Pete telling me the bear would come from my left, but I was smart enough to know that bears can’t read the script. I turned my head slowly to the right to see if I could see movement. With the thick undergrowth, that was impossible. Then it happened.

We’ve all been in situations when a sixth and seventh sense take over. Like walking in the dark, many times underlying subconscious thoughts come into play. What alerted me I think was not something I heard but what I didn’t hear. Even with the hearing enhanced shooting muffs , there seemed to be a void of life back to my left. The hairs on my neck were at full alert as I turned ever so slowly toward this black hole for sound.

There, right in front of me was the muzzle of a very large, very black, black bear sticking into the blind through the camera port. I vividly recall it twitching a bit and then seeing the nostrils flare as the bear was about to get a full dose of my scent. I dared not move as her muzzle was next to the camera and less than a foot from my hand cannon that lay there cocked but useless. She inhaled deeply and I recall seeing just how pink the deep nostrils of a bear look like. She jerked her nose back, but stood there as if she wasn’t sure what her nose was telling her. Then she stepped across to the shooting port in the blind.

I recall thinking, “Man, that’s a BIG bear†as she looked at me through the eyes of an disapproving mother-in-law. I dared not move for fear worse things could happen though I craved the feel of that 500 like a dehydrated camel in a desert would crave water. Then she turned to look at the bait.

In retrospect, I should have let her walk on over there. I should have chosen my opportunity to turn my camera on and then film the whole episode, but that’s an easy decision for a Monday morning quarterback. As soon as she looked away, the gun was in my hands and I’d spun the Ultra-Dot shooting scope someplace in the mid-range of its intensity.

Somehow the gun was already up and that dazzling red spot was on here right flank. I knew what the pistol would do but she was still going to move away and I was going to let her. Then she stopped and I sensed that she’d realized something was amiss behind her. She bent her front body around to look at me once more and this time the dot was just behind the right front shoulder. What happened next took less time to happen than it did to read this sentence.

The big gun sounded like a battleship broadside as it went off and suddenly the entire world had been diminished to ultra-slow motion. I watched as the big bullet drove her head and shoulders away from me and into the ground. Her rear end somersaulted over her front, but the legs were churning furiously. As she completed her roll, she was already in motion right towards me. (Again, in retrospect, I’m sure this was simply a death run but with my mind racing, she may as well have been charging me.) I have no idea if I re-cocked or simply pulled the trigger of the double action revolver, but as she was only about 2 feet away by now, the gun fired instinctively. Then she was gone.

I ripped the headsets off and listened for noise only to hear twigs cracking behind the blind. That’s when the small pine tree fell on to the blind.

Somehow, my second shot had gone through the blind opening and from the looks of the shorn off stump, the big round had ploughed through the tree before it got to where the bear was or I could have just missed her and hit a tree.

I got out of the blind to see if I could find any sign. I got to where she’d piled up (Pete would later measure it and verify that her chest had hit the ground 4 feet, 3 inches from the pistol muzzle.) I followed a blood trail right to the door of the blind and the tattered pine stump and that’s where I lost the trail.

I gathered my gear and then walked the near mile back to the top of the hill to try and raise Pete on the radio or by cell phone. I got his daughter and she told me that her dad was retrieving Alex’s bear and they’d be there as soon as they finished.

When they finally arrived, Pete went back to where I’d heard the sounds after the shot and found nothing there. He did spook up another bear who ran off, but there was no blood at all.

I was dejected. I don’t think it ever dawned on me the unique nature of what I’d just been through and I think those who heard the story were more in awe of it that I was. I was just sick we hadn’t found the bear and if you can’t retrieve it, it didn’t happen. I was through hunting bears and having lost this one, I had full intentions of going back to camp and packing up for the trip home. Pete was working his way back to the bait site and I’d turned my back when I heard him exclaim, “There’s blood everywhere over hereâ€.

Where he stood was a good 180 degrees from where I’d thought she’d gone. I can only suppose that like the first shot, the second shot had rolled her off her intended trail to another and she gone that way without my hearing her. Though it seemed like a long trail, Pete would later measure that she’d gone just a bit over 20 yards before expiring.

We loaded her up and took her to town for the check in and weighing. She turned out to be a 200 pound barren sow. The first shot had hit exactly where the red dot had been and exited the off side of her neck. The second shot had also found its mark. It hit about 4 inches behind the first one and had exited bear on top of her tail. Perhaps she WAS charging me as that trajectory is hard to figure out any other way.

George I could listen to that story over and over again. It will be an experience you will never forget and some hunters will never experience.

A full mount of that bear in your den will always be a reminder of a great and exciting hunt you had.

Just wish you would go back with me next year.

We must be on ignore from some of the crew here..lol

Well George,

Certainly sounds like an exciting hunt. I can honestly say, I know exactly how you felt after thinking you lost the bear. Had an extremely similar experience in South Africa.

Glad everyone had a good time.

I enjoyed your tale George! You told it very well. Thanks for sharing!

quote:

I enjoyed your tale George! You told it very well. Thanks for sharing!

+1

Great story George.
What you ran into though was why I hate those muffs. You can't tell what direction sounds come from. I tried them deer hunting and they drove me nuts.
I understand that you need them with the big .50 though.

Nice that you got the bear but why did you pass up the squirrel ?

> WTG George ..

It is nice to see that I,m not the only one who has [ UNIQUE ] things happen ....

I don,t even tell some of mine ...

quote:

Originally posted by bfrshooter:
Great story George.
What you ran into though was why I hate those muffs. You can't tell what direction sounds come from. I tried them deer hunting and they drove me nuts.
I understand that you need them with the big .50 though.

The Walker's Game Ear power muff quads are what I use, I don't have that problem with direction of sound. I went through a few different power muff's before I used the Walkers quads.

They are expensive though. I can't afford the best after buying a good gun.
Like I said, some of you have too much money!

quote:

Originally posted by bfrshooter:
They are expensive though. I can't afford the best after buying a good gun.
Like I said, some of you have too much money!

Took me and the wife a lot of years to get where we are today, but another big factor is, I am spending my kids inheritance.
I can't take it with me..lol