Originally Posted by 8SNAKE
Originally Posted by safariman
The near miss does not distract from the effort and patience required to get an opportunity, or the size of the bear.


Tells me all I need to know about your ethics and character as a "hunter", Mark. Misplaced shots certainly happen, but not many people have the nerve to celebrate them with "hero" pics and delusions of grandeur. Don't let me spoil the fun, though. Keep pretending that you've really done something noble here while ignoring the agony that bear suffered for hours and hours at the hands of your inability to accurately shoot a .340 Assissoreus. Bravo.


Even the best hunter misses sometimes, and sometimes due to circumstances beyond our control the wounded animal can't be recovered until the next morning. Sometimes the animal is dead when found, sometimes it's alive and suffering.

I've helped friends search in the dark for wounded deer on several occasions. In one case I found the buck about 2 hours after sunset on a black-as-coal night, nearly fell over him in the thick stuff. He'd been spined, but he still tried to hook me with his antlers and nearly got me.

Poking around in dense bush on a steep hillside in the dark looking for a possibly wounded deer is one thing. Doing the same when it's a 500+ pound bear is another thing altogether, a potential recipe for disaster. Black bears, especially big ones, are capable of terrific ferocity. Waiting for first light to find him was IMHO the smart thing to do, and certainly not "unethical". Putting your life unnecessarily at risk is not "ethical".

I'm sure Mark regrets the animal's suffering, he's not an azzhat. And just because he didn't get a clean kill on this bear doesn't mean he isn't entitled to rejoice in the success of his hunt.

Last edited by DocRocket; 04/02/14. Reason: Out of respect for 8SNAKE
"I'm gonna have to science the schit out of this." Mark Watney, Sol 59, Mars