We can't bait in CA, but I love to track. My game warden buddy and I will hike for miles and miles, camping over night while tracking a black bears.

In the 2000 season, id say it was one of my most memorable. AFter hunting with back packs for 2 days (on a 4 day trip), we came upon a nice 300lb black bear eating berries from a juniper bush/tree. I actually walked up behind it by accident, came around another bush and was startled to see the bear 30-35 feet in front of me. He had his back to me.

I quickly and quietly unholstered my Colt .44mag and made a sucking sound with my mouth. The bear turned and I fired a round right in his chest below the chin. The bear fell over on his side and a stream of blood pumped out of the hole. It was INCREDIBLE. A perfect heart shot with the little 250grain hollow point bullet. The hard part was packing him out. That's another story. I'll never forget that trip.