Rhino Hunter
Well-Known Member
So for an early college graduation present I decided to buy him a guided bear hunt. I also took this opportunity to add to my gun collection. I purchased a Ruger Gunsite Scout in .450 Bushmaster and topped it off with a Leupold VX-R 1.25-4 Red Dot scope. Accurately placing black crosshairs on a black animal in the dark woods can be difficult.
I was with him during the hunt as a paying spectator. LOL.
On the 4th day of a 5 day hunt we were able to get on a real nice bear. With one shot from the .450 BM it dropped in his tracks. It was a close shot (I know this is a LR Forum). I couldn't be prouder.
In Michigan the average adult male black bear weighs 150-200 pounds, and it takes multiple years to build enough points to draw a tag. His bear weighed 457 pounds live weight. It was a "Monster" for Michigan. There is a mandatory 24 hour check-in for the successful hunters here. The DNR officer said to him "Son, this is the bear of a lifetime. If you hunted every year for the rest of your life you'd probably never even see another bear this big." You should have seen my boy smile when he heard that!
After the hunt he told me "Dad, I think I'm hooked on big game hunting now." Perfect!