Thanks for the kind words, Len. Appreciate that coming from a shooter who does the wonderful images that you have shown us.
Well, how about "the other side of the story"...
As the outfitter said for me to shoot, I concentrated on putting the crosshairs of the big Nikon tactical on the inside shoulder. "Trigger squeeze, easy does it..." I said to myself as I steadied the cross-hairs. I did not consciously fire, the rifle let go and I lost the picture. A split second later, during recoil still I head the deep WHHHUMMP. "Hit him again" said the outfitter as I frantically reloaded. Second shot went smoothly, it was over. Never even heard the shots go off or felt any recoil.
As I trotted to the down bear, I realized that something significant was going on - in my head. My somewhat boogered ears where in another dimension of "blasted". Firing a rifle three or four feet from a tent obviously caused the backblast from the big muzzlebreak to come right back at my head. Three days later my head still sounded like it was inside a 55 gallon drum when I whistled.
The little sparrows that I constantly heard for years are now more like sea-gulls... Tinitis or whatever they call it, big time. Somehow I think that those two shots put me closer to being a candidate for hearing aides. My bells got rung like never before, but it was worth it
