One that got away

[Nambaster]

After harvesting both my Idaho spring bears, I brought a friend and his 16 yr old son to a spot where I had regularly seen bears. We spotted a small black bear and went back and forth on whether the 16 yr old wanted to harvest him. By the time he had decided to give it a shot we were unable to locate the black bear. Shortly after losing the black bear we located this cinnamon colored bear. He bedded down and so I set up the spotting scope and hand digiscoped the shot. Unfortunately we were unable to recover the bear. We tracked him on hands and knees into a thicket and could never locate any blood beyond approximately 100 yards from the shot.

I once endured significant heart break losing my first 6x6 bull elk to adrenaline and a shot that was quartering toward me at age 13. Reflecting on the emotions that I felt I wanted to be as supportive of the 16 yr old as possible and try to encourage him to grow from the experience. I am hoping he will return for the fall bear hunt. I have uploaded a video of the shot for any input.

 

[Mtnhunter1]

Nambaster..." I have uploaded a video of the shot for any input. "

From the video, it appears that the bear was covered up with brush at the shot. The instructing adults should have told the young shooter to wait until the bear was clear and provided an open unobstructed shot.

 

[Nambaster]

Nambaster..." I have uploaded a video of the shot for any input. "

From the video, it appears that the bear was covered up with brush at the shot. The instructing adults should have told the young shooter to wait until the bear was clear and provided an open unobstructed shot.

I guess I should have mentioned that the 16 yr old shooter was 80 yards in front of me between the bear and I. I am not sure what his angle was. I was on a hillside watching from above while he descended and crossed a river to get within 75 yards of the bear.