I took an old acquaintance of mine Bear hunting a few weeks ago. He helped me get my very first turkey about 25 years ago. I recently made contact with him despite not seeing him for maybe 10 years. I told him it was time to pay him back and I wanted to help him get his first bear in return for my first Turkey. He has been Bear hunting a few times, but never laid eyes on one.
I had been baiting up one of my Bear stands for a while and dropped him off. I put myself in a spot where I would hear him shoot if he had any luck. We were texting on and off when I heard his .30-06 Rem pump go off. He called me a few minutes later and said he knocked a decent Blackie down, maybe 200 - 250 pounds but it rolled off and got its feet under him and crashed through crazy THICK woods. I told him to sit tight and not push the bear and I would be there ASAP.
Well, when I got there he told me the Bear came out and spooked a few deer that he was watching. The Bear started to walk toward his stand and I think the fact that he wanted to get one so much got the better of him. He told himself to wait and not shoot, BUT he didn't. The Bear was facing him and walking to him when it stopped for a second and turned its head. He let loose with a neck shot (one of my favorite DRT Bear shots) and dropped the Bear right there on its back. It rolled and ran like its butt was on fire.
My bud couldn't even tell me where the Bear was when he shot. We looked for signs of a hit for a couple of hours and couldn't find anything. I figured if it was a decent hit we would at least find a smear of blood where it went down and rolled. He was pretty sick over it. Thinking he got close to the spine and gave it a good shock. Been back to that spot a few times and never saw buzzads or any sign of a hit.
He went from, I GOT MY FIRST BEAR DOWN! To, I am sick to my stomach. He certainly thought that Bear was well hit! I don't think he thought it was funny when I sent him a picture of my daughter with her Bear just a few days later.
