Quote from Guy's post.......And I've got a 375 H&H "Tropical" that has become known as "Dad's bear rifle" after three black bear from 15 feet to 306 yards.
I had a black bear, at a little less than that.....I could hear her breathing and could see her nostrils flaring as she was breathing! And, I was unable to shoot!
I was hunting over baits, and was approaching my bait and still around 100 yards away from my tree stand. I had the 100 yards to cover, with only two small evergreens between me and my stand. I was crossing the opening, when the bear (a young, dumb, blonde) came bounding out of the timber to the bait. I immediately fell to the ground to hide, and figure out what to do. I wasn't comfortable with the distance, knowing that I had to close. The trees were to off to my right, one at around 70 yards from the bait, the other around 35. I figured I'd use the dense evergreen to obscure my stalk. I crawled to the first tree, placing it between me and the bear. Now standing, I waited for the bear to face away from me.....when she did, I side-stepped, lining-up the second tree for the rest of the stalk! I made it to that tree, but made a bad mistake....I almost crawled into the limbs to get the best cover. It was at the time, she started feeding on new grass growth, right toward me! She fed right- up to the opposite side of the tree, turning to her left and continued....bringing her to my right side. I was watching her through tiny gaps in the thick conifer! I was so close to the tree and it was so thick....I would have to wait for her to clear the tree line.
Her head had just barely cleared the outer limbs, which put her head around 10 feet from me. It was at that moment she froze, breathing hard.....I guess it was at that point she smelled me! She wheeled and ran for the dense timber. Though, not in a terrified sprint.....more of a lope! I stood there, in utter disbelief, that I had a bear that close and failed to get off a shot!
After a few moments to compose myself, I thought, "What the hell, I'll go into the timber and try to find her" When I first got into the timber, it was thick and dark, and it took a little while for my eyes to adjust. Imagine walking into a dimly lit barroom from bright sunshine! While my eyes were adjusting, I could hear a noise not far in front of me! When I could see clearly, there was my bear about 35 yards away, back to me....tearing into a rotted log. I brought back the hammer on my 629 S&W, took aim....waiting for her to turn. She stopped her work on the log, and turned to her left. In just a moment, she was broadside. That's when 265 grains of cast bullet hit her! She immediately went down, but, started to gather her hind legs beneath her as though preparing to run.....it was at that instant, another bullet hit her right behind the shoulder. She was down!
When, I approached her, it was at that time I realized that .....I had shot and killed a "naked" blonde!
Previously, when she was so close, I was focused on her head.....not noticing that she was pretty badly rubbed! Even with that, she still made a pretty, two tone, brown and blonde rug! memtb
