Get this, about 7:30 last night, my 20 month old kid gets ornery and to calm him down, I decide to take him for a drive and my wife decides to come along. (maybe we'll even see a bear I head to this spot, close to home, that I stalked a nice cinnamon with my bow several times last year. I had decided to take him, if I saw him again. I had yet to see him this year, but every time I bring my son with me, I see lots of animals... you never know.

I park the truck, they stay, and I hike about 1 km down into the lush draw (Salad Bar). I nearly fall over, when I peer over the edge and there HE is! [:-] I burn back to the truck, grab the '06 loaded w/ 180 grain partitions and head back! In about 5 minutes with the familiar territory, I closed the gap and was 50 meters above him...

I look him over, and humm and haww. Damn, I wasn't planning on shooting anything with my family out. After watching him for about 5 minutes...he turns slightly quartering to me......I squeeeeeeze....BANG - he spins to bite at the pain and then hauls a$$ (with one flat tire) for the forest edge. I get to my knees, rechamber another round and take the texas heart just as he rounds a cedar into the darkness... don't know about the 2nd shot... I listened and got some crashing and growling, but it sounded like he was still going. No blood at the site.

I felt good about the shot, but was surprised that he didn't go down right away. I decided to take the LUCKY CHARMS home and figure it out. I decided to leave him for the night and go back early, as is my habit with bowhunting... now, I was starting to have my doubts about the shot... I was in for a long night. []