Illustration

I went bear hunting with a joung friend recently. It was 12:45 in the afternoon when we noticed a bear on a area below us, about 100 yards away. The bear looked up at us in the truck as we eased to a halt. I put the truck in reverse and quietly backed away the same way we had come. I stopped about 200 yards away and parked.

My friend took his bow and arrows and quietly went down the raod again to see if mr. bear was still there. He was. So, I brought a range finder and judged the range at 54 yards, downhill. That was well within the range of my muzzle loader matchlock rifle, but I would only take the shot if my friend said that he couldn't try it with the bow and arrow. I thought it was a pretty good chance that I would soon get a chance, when my friend hunched over to get lower, and off he went down the road.

He went another 200 yards and then turned off the road onto a trail that would bring him back to the bear. The wind was not good. It was blowing past the hunter and nearly straight to the bear. Still, the archer pressed on, with me watching from a perfect vantage point above.

The archer closed to within 50 yards of the bear, and the animal hadn't seen or sented him. Then, to my amazement, the bear actually began slowly walking towards the hunter. I noted the range at 30 yards, well within the range of the archer, but he kept stalking closer.
The bear kept walking closing the range, too!

At less than 20 yards, I saw the archer stop, and draw the bow string back. The bear raised his head and noticed the archer motionless before him. A milli-second later, I heard the bow string twang, and at the same time, the bear fell to the ground without a twitch.

I thought, how often do we face what may seem like long odds on success and simply give up without even trying? This hunt was clearly a long shot on success, but it did work out.