Humans and bears - Wild encounters

[brotherbear]

Cowboys, Mountain Men, and Grizzly Bears by Matthew P. Mayo;

Norris dozed fitfully and was snapped awake by a rustling and the unmistakable heavy chuffing of a bear busy eating. In the day's early light, Norris peered toward the elk carcasses. There was his bear - had to be. It seemed heavier than a horse and massive in every way possible. The great head itself was down, busy nosing at something, while the beast's haunches rippled with its rich fur. It pawed and dug, busily covering the elk with earth. Norris noted that the bear had dragged one carcass closer to the other so that they were nearly side-by-side.

He rose slowly to a knee and lifted the Winchester, which he had triple-checked to ensure it was fully loaded: fourteen rounds and a special explosive shell in the chute, ready to fly. If they didn't do the trick at this distance, nothing would. And my hunting days will be over, thought Norris.

He drew a crisp breath silently through his nostrils, then slowly let it out as he snuggled the stock to his cheek. Dead-on shot, he thought, and touched off the trigger. It caught the mighty bruin high on the shoulder. From the jolting impact, Norris knew it had done the necessary damage, probably severed the beast's spine. The bear dropped and Norris's suspicions were confirmed.

Then the bear bolted up as if jabbed with a bayonet and roared out his shock and pain. Before the bear could swing around Norris pumped four .44-caliber bullets into the same spot on the wounded animal. With each impact the animal staggered and dropped, then rose again. In its bawling, swinging rage, the big boar grizz finally fastened his eyes on Norris - and bolted straight at him.

The park superintendent felt his heart hammering at the walls of his chest and throat. He gritted his teeth and worked at thumbing in a second dynamite shell. The massive grizzly's charge was a flat-out run, its impossibly wide head held low, the maw bellowing, curved fangs glinting through bloody froth, front legs pawing the snowed earth, the great curving claws lashing and clicking with each stride.

At fifty yards and closing fast, Norris aimed at the bulk of the hurtling furred mass and pulled the trigger. The explosive bullet caught the bear in the throat and shattered the beast's lungs. The kingly creature's front legs crumpled and his maw drove forward, furrowing the snow, its back end piling in a heap. Still groaning and chuffing, the grizzly pushed himself upright yet again. And Norris fired once more, breaking the bear's neck with another shell. The bear collapsed and the shoulder hump wagged its last as the animal came to rest, yards from the man.

Taking no chances, Norris plied the still form with .44-shells without let-up until no more cracking reports came. The echo of his last shot eventually washed away over the surrounding hills, as jarring sounds will, and a shocked stillness clung to the lakeside scene. Reply