Humans and bears - Wild encounters

[brotherbear]

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

Lewis and Clark's men thought that eight lead balls would be enough to kill the big grizzly. They were nearly wrong.

"That bear is a brute," whispered Sergeant Ordway to one of the six men in the hunting party. They both watched the massive honey-colored beast as it snored, its back to them, utterly unaware of their presence. They had paused in their slow, low crawl toward the animal. Forty yards away from it, they were still undetected. A low-flying bee lazily circled the bear's head. An ear twitched once, twice, and still the bear's massive furred side rose and fell in the steady rhythm of a seemingly deep sleep.

Ordway agreed in silence with the bear's decision to take a nap. It was a cloudless day in May and the sun was unusually warm this late afternoon, a warmer day than they'd had in nearly a week.

Ordway raised himself from a crouch in the tall grass of the meadow. He saw movement off to his right. It was the other four men, all sharing glances with him. Following his lead, they stood, raised their rifles to their shoulders, and sighted on the bear. Two of the four stood at the ready, rifles poised, waiting. From their past experiences with the great brown bears, they knew that a following round of shots may well be needed.

The leader felt a pang of regret shortly before he and the other three designated first shooters opened fire on the unsuspecting beast. It was the only thing in the meadow engaged in an innocent pursuit and they were here to kill it. But duty and a hunter's curiosity overcame his moment of weak emotion.

Within seconds the four shots stuttered and boomed across the rolling grass plain. And quicker than any creature of its size had a right to react, the great brown brute rose as if scalded. A blood-chilling roar emanating from the beast froze them all in their tracks - for a brief moment. For that is all they had before the beast's massive claws pawed up great clumps of prairie grass and it lunged, open-mouthed, at the closest of them.

The two men who had held their fire now discharged their shots. Both found their mark. One was but a petty wound but the second broke the bear's shoulder. And for the span of a breath Ordway and his men thought the beast might go down. Each man hurriedly worked at reloading his weapon. But the bear recovered, and broke once again into a full gallop at them.

"Run men! Run for the river!" Ordway's order was not necessary, as the brute, showing little sign of injury, was already bearing down on them. As it gained ground, the two men at the rear of the small group of hunters broke off toward the beached canoes, lunging at the nearest craft without pushing it into the water. The bear slowed not a whit, bawling and slavering and shaking its head as though a swarm of bees surrounded its face.

Ordway and the other three stumbled to a stop and crouched in a cluster of willow saplings to reload their rifles. After they finished tamping the balls down, they wasted no time in again drawing aim at the bear and shooting. In doing so they managed to keep the bear from a final lunge at the men in the canoe. They also managed to lure the bear's attention to themselves. Reply