No, it wasn't like that even though there was a second bear.
The first which came was bellow 350 CIC and my guide/friend wasn't nervous. He knew that there is a bear of 390-410 CIC which the client wanted. The second bear/the big one from the photo came but in fresh snow he looked smaller and not more than 430. So the guide told him that this is the bigger bear than he wanted. When the client saw the bear he said that he is happy to get this one and 20-50 CIC over wasn't the problem for him to pay. When he shot it with 4 shots from 300 Norma Magnum using the barnes TSX they went down and there was a bear much bigger than they wanted. After skinning they measured the bear and they found out that it is the national record. The thing is that this bear wasn't seen on the grounds there and this was the first time that even the guide saw him otherwise he wouldn't allow the guest to shoot. If it's a national record the trophy can't be exported, client doesn't pay and the state definitely won't pay it, so no one gets anything from it. The other thing is that in those conditions it was easy to misjudge the trophy. I spend there many weeks myself and this bear wasn't noticed there or any bear over 450 CIC. The agency from Zagreb which brought the guest to us screwed everything up because 3 days later it was said that the new national record was shot which allowed this bear to be exported but the agency wanted to overcharge their client and at the end he probably decided to pull away from it. If he called us directly there wouldn't be a problem and the price would be in guest's limit.
That is the true story because this case stirred up the whole hunting association in Croatia.
It is shame because the bear is there, we never got a penny from it and guest lost something which he could get at the end.
If the agent cared about the client more than about the money he would get it. The price was cca 22 162€ but the client had right to claim VAT back and at the end the price would be cca 16600€ which this client would be happy to pay.
The trophy is in the main building of forestry department where I am going tomorrow. When we look at it we always feel bad because of the whole situation. My guides never push client to shoot before he knows the estimated price and if they are wrong we sort that out but the client goes home happy. Client doesn't pay misjudging. It is not the first time that the agent screwed the client and to be honest it is common practice in every country. Thanks God that there are always a few agents in each country which do they job correctly.
On the photo is the trophy with my guide/friend. He is tall man.
