Mine was in 1996, too. I was hunting a swamp in the morning and I believe it was rainy out. I decided that I would try the sunny side of our mountain when it cleared up as I heard coyotes like to hang out in this environment after a yucky morning. I was still hunting the edge of a big valley when I heard foot steps in the leaves near the bottom. I thought it was going to be another hunter. I stopped and watched to see what it was. It was a bear!!! I shot it in the chest with a .30-06 (180gr Bear Claw) and it started running. I watched it run (up the mountain) and head for an overgrown clear-cut. I shot again a couple of times as it was running and put it down. Now I had to drag this thing UP the steep mountain side. Not too bad, though, as my shooting drew a crowd and I had 4 guys helping me. We used trees as pulleys. Three guys dragged the bear and two guys pulled on the rope. When we finally got to the top, tied the legs off to a couple of heavy duty branches and we carried it to the truck like a wounded soldier on a field stretcher. We were sweating after that. It got pretty warm that afternoon.

Scott Meier
White Oak Lodge