I watched the show a couple of times and thought that removing the quiver at that particular time, being so close to the bear was a little odd. Best guess is that some hunters don't like to shoot with their quivers on as it changes the balance of the bow and can induce some torque. Also some quivers will introduce some noise and vibration at the shot, giving spooky critters some time to jump the string. As bears are not well known string jumpers, it most likely the bow torque thing. Shockey reportedly started his career as a bowhunter, so he may have been trying to micro aim on that bear, and was worried about the quiver throwing the shot off, through the bear was pretty broadside and the shot didn't appear to be that far. The other thing I can think of is that JS may have done that to show that the quiver he was using was so quiet that he could remove it while being close to an animal without it bothering them, then using the footage later as a promo. JS does a lot of giving back to his sponsors so that could have been his motivation, but it didn�t work as planned. Either way, only JS knows for sure.
As far as the bear holding its ground, I have personally seen this on a number of occasions (similar to a grizz sitting on a carcass). It's a territorial thing, along with probably being really full and not wanting to move much and having little interaction with people not causing the bear to bolt. JS just could not line up the shot he wanted and tried a couple of different angles, as long as the bear wasn't going to bolt. I give him credit for not taking a marginal shot, and he explained why he did it afterward.
Either way, one of these days I would love to go hunt with him on one of his expeditions. Given that Eva now lives close to me, maybe I'll go over and make friends with her and she can introduce me to her Dad : ) or let me hunt with her as she's doing a great job now in her own right.
Craig
Last edited by Capt_Craig; 09/17/14.
