RE: close encounters
I've had some close encounters with bear bow hunting. On 2 different occasions I've had bear put there paw on my portable tree stand. They both were about 6 inches away from my foot. Surprisingly I wasn't at all nervous. I got more worked up when they climbed down the tree and went to the bait and offered me a shot. 4 other times I've had them climb my tree and stop right below the stand and look and sniff at me about a foot or 2 away. Another time in Montana elk hunting I had a nice 6x6 bull thrashing the bush that I was hiding behind. He wasn't more then 10' away, that scared the heck out of me!! The funny thing was I never even got a shot off. He walked directly away from me.