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Link: Pahrump Valley Times

The Bear's Revenge

From my tree stand seat I could see a mammoth black bear walking toward the bait I had been watching for several hours. Slowly he made his way until he was within shooting range. Concentrating my focus on the target area behind his left front shoulder I drew my bow.

Just as I began to put pressure on the release, I heard the sound of fabric tearing and I slumped forward to my left, nearly falling out of the tree. The cloth seat in the stand had deteriorated from weather and age and nearly tore in half. The release went off and I heard a loud thud as the arrow struck something. The big bear had departed and I saw my arrow sticking in a log near where he had stood.

After descending from my perch, I examined the arrow and saw faint marks of blood and a handful of hair on the ground. I searched the area thoroughly, but could not find any more blood. My near fall from the tree had caused me to shoot low and clip some belly hairs from the bear. Needless to say, I was thankful I had been wearing a safety belt.

Once again I climbed into the tree, standing this time since I no longer had a seat. An hour later, the same large bear, "Big Yogi" as we came to call him, appeared from the direction he had fled and settled down 40 yards away.