I had to defend myself against a bear on a moose hunt up in the very NW corner of Saskatchewan a few years ago. Thankfully, for me, my rifle was already in my hands as we were tracking a moose and the guide kept telling me "be ready, we're close". We came up over a small hill and I literally walked right into 2 black bear cubs! They gave a little bark and went straight up trees faster than I would have thought possible. I immediately started looking around thinking oh crap! About 70 yards away, mama stands up sees me and immediately charges, ears flat to the back of her head and popping her teeth like crazy! She looked like a high speed shadow coming across the ground. I put a round in the ground in front of her to no effect. In the time it took me to work the action and be ready to shoot again she was very close and not slowing down at all. My second shot planted her not very far in front of me, again, thankfully for me, and I worked the bolt again just in case. It just took me about 3 times as long to type this than it did when it happened, still amazed at the speed of the bear and can still see it like it just happened. All I can say is, that time it worked out for me, could have easily worked out for the bear instead. If my rifle had been over my shoulder instead of in my hands, if I hadn't already been squared up to the bear... You can shoot at paper or cardboard all you want (and that's a good thing), say what you'll do all you want... having had it happen to me showed me how lucky I was!
The way the bear came in on us put the guide behind me and he had no shot, other than through me. And it truly happened so fast, there's no way he could have sidestepped me to get into position for a shot before it was over or the bear was on us. My 338 Win Mag reloads using 250gr Barnes TSX literally knocked the bear back like she had run full force into a brick wall. One last snap of her teeth and then the moan from too close!
So drills and practice are essential!
