I nodded my head to him and a second later, the blast of his .500 Smith & Wesson echoed against the distant hillsides. The bear never flinched when the bullet hit him and it continued to get up. Immediately I fired my .500, the bullet striking the great bear center mass and again, it never flinched. We were about 20 yards from it and in a spot where we could be readily seen by the beast. In a blur, we continued firing when our backup with his 45/70 fired twice into the bear on the 7th or 8th shots. When the first 45/70 bullet hit it the bear went down and it got back up, the second hit didnt seem to faze it. Glen and I advanced and kept firing at the bear. We stopped 15 yards from the wounded brownie and then I heard one of the most terrible sounds I have ever heard in my life come from Glens gun. Click. He had run out of ammunition. Immediately I leveled off at the animal and squeezed the trigger, the Smith & Wesson exhaled its firebreath . The bear went down and stayed.
Collecting our wits, we stayed back from the beast just in case it came back alive. Its a very good idea not to go charging in after a kill, especially with bears. I like to give a minimum of half an hour after the bear goes down before going up to it. Simply said, its too dangerous. Glen Sr. said the moment we started firing he shouldered his scoped .338 just in case the bear attacked us. In the end, the bear had been shot 12 times. Two bullets found their mark from the 47/70 rifle and there were 10 slugs from the pair of Smith & Wesson .500s, all shot at close range. As we spoke, Glen Sr., a registered Master Alaskan guide said he had seen bears die with one shot and others like this big boy that took a barrage of shots before going down. Funny thing.
I turned and told the men that I would try a stalk on the smaller bear on the edge of the river since I might not get another chance to bag one. Glen and his father started the task of skinning his bear out and I told them of my intentions.
The bear was only 150 yards away and sniffing the hundreds of dead salmon that lay on the shore. While I made my way towards it I lost sight of the other bear that was across the river. My heart was beating unbelievably and intent on getting close enough I would move only when the bears head was down. Fortunately the wind had not changed and I was still downwind from the boar. My backups were perched on a small hill 30 yards behind me as I made my approach.
Suddenly, the bear stood up on its hind legs and provided me with a full chest shot. Drawing my .500, I shot in a split second knowing a second opportunity might not ever occur. When the 470-grain bullet hit the bear with a dull thud, the bear slammed backward into the frigid water. I cursed as the water was fast and probably would carry the body of the bear downriver, perhaps lost forever. I blinked and suddenly the bear jumped back up on the shore and started racing upriver. I shot two more times in rapid-fire succession. The bear jumped into the water and started swimming to an island 30 yards away. I yelled to my backups not to shoot until it was in shallow water. Seconds later, the bear lay dead. The Smith & Wesson had done its job well. I had bet my life on it.
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