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You would like a hunting story? I can tell you about my first black bear kill in Northern Ontario. I guess it was a failure.

Spoiler alert! The bear died.
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Picture it. It was 1979 in northern Ontario. The dim times of hunting. Our methods and knowledge were lacking, hence the widespread use of c&c bullets. It was obvious that the ammunition companies didn't care about us then. Around here, no cartridges were available with premium bullets. We had a choice of three makers as I recall - Win, Rem and CIL.

I had been in the service for about 1 1/2 years, and was home visiting friends and family. A high school buddy and I decided to go bear hunting. Since I couldn't reload at the time, I went to Cdn Tire and bought a box of 180 gr. RNs for my No4 (303 British). They were either CIL KKSPs or Remington CLs, but I suppose it doesn't matter.

I used two cartridges to check my sights, and was good to go...out to about 75 yds or so. This was when I was younger and the world was less complicated than it is today. Folks didn't obsess over whether monos were superior to partitions or cup and core bullets. In fact, I cannot recall anyone ever discussing the merits of one bullet type or another.The arguments were usually about the companies that made them. Whether Rem CL were better or worse then CIL KKSP (Kling Kor Soft Points), etc. But as I said, times were different.

Before success in the field became a money and equipment contest, folks around here bought a box or two of their favourite ammunition at the hardware store and went hunting. I cannot speak for the US, but in northern Ontario, factory cartridges used old timey, c&c bullets. According to the kids and grandkids of the people I grew up with, we lived in blissful ignorance. Apparently, our ammunition was no good. RNs were no good. Cup and core bullets were no good. Lead tips were no good. Fast forward to today: The younger set says if we were smart, we would embrace the new technology and benefit from faster, more humane kills. The only thing that confuses me is that we had a better track record of taking game than our kids do today. It must be that game numbers are dropping catastrophically.

But I digress. I had my 303 and my buddy had a Savage 340 chambered in 30-30. We left his place and headed for a spot we often used as a day camp. It was down a dirt road off of Highway 17. Originally a logging road. We drove on the dirt road for about ten miles in to a decommissioned CN spur line. This was in the days when the trains still had cabooses, and they used slag under wooden ties to support the railroad tracks. If you don't know what slag is, use your google foo. They had not removed the rails or ties from the spur yet. Walking on the ties after a fresh snowfall caused the odd fall, but nothing we couldn't handle.

We walked in 1/2 a mile from where we parked to a place that we used as a day camp. We rested for a few minutes and took off in different directions. This particular area had produced several moose and lots of small game over the years, but we had never hunted bear here.

I loaded five 180 grainers and headed along a game trail that showed bear tracks in the snow. I should say that I was not wearing camoflage and made no effort to be quiet. The fresh snow muffled my footsteps, and I figured that the animals wouldn't hear me. I was dressed warmly in an orange hat and hunting coat with gloves (it was a little below freezing). I had a hot seat clipped to my belt and a canvas ground sheet with some knives rolled up inside slung on my shoulder. I think I had a couple of apples too. I was good for the morning.

I didn't walk far from our day camp. I didn't dope the wind or do anything special. I just followed the game trail for a bit until I found a spot that looked good. I sat down on a fallen tree and looked around. I had a great view of the trail. There weren't too many trees around, and I could see maybe 30 or 40 yards in all directions. There were some large rocks that I could have used to lean against, but I opted for the warmth of a fallen tree. This part of the forest was in what we used to call a boundary area. That is, a mix of coniferous and deciduous trees. I was happy and sat.

I expect that nowadays the cell phones would come out in order to pass the time. Back then, we just sat and let ourselves tune into what was around. I often took short naps. Even today, I have no problems falling asleep, although that is not conducive to good hunting.

After a time, I heard something moving in the bush to my left. I watched but couldn't see anything. This noise went on for about 10 minutes.

I had a cartridge chambered and ready. Given the limited area that I could see, any shots would be close in.

A bear wandered out from behind some alders and stopped. He was not aware that I was even there. I aimed and fired. He went into the bush, but it wasn't a quick run. I heard him making noise for less than a minute. Then silence. The way I figured it, the thing was maybe 75 yd or so away. He wasn't making any sound and I had another cartridge chambered. For me, that was the scary part. Not knowing exactly where he was, and if I had squarely hit him.

Twenty minutes passed and my buddy came in on the trail from the rail line. I told him what happened and approximately where I thought the bear was. Was it a good hit? I thought so, but in the bush it's a bit darker, so it was hard to say. Now that I had my buddy there, we both walked toward where the bear fell. No range finders, so it's only a guess how far away he was from where I was sitting, but I believe that it was less than 100 yd.

I poked him and he didn't move. Barry fetched his truck and drove along the spur line to where I was.
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About this kill:

The bear was cleanly taken with an old timey cup and core 303 British 180 gr. RN. I've really no idea why it worked. I was irresponsible for buying store bought cup and core ammunition to begin with, but I didn't have access to reloading equipment.

The bullet passed through the beast, making a mess of the top of the heart. Whether its core separated, or how much weight there was after expanding and passing through the bear, is unknown. Because I never found the bullet, I never knew if the bullet failed.

There was a considerable amount of blood inside the bear.

I suppose, given that it was a bear, I should have used another cartridge - a 30-06 perhaps - topped with a Nosler Partition. That would have made a better kill...but I'm not sure because I never recovered the bullet.

The mistakes of youth.