A young man's bear; Updated picture

[contender]

Some of y'all may recall about a year ago,, I was helping a young man just starting out in reloading. He'd scored a Ruger .357 Maxi,, and knew very little about them. Well, I helped him find some reloading equipment, and started him on his path of reloading. He mentioned he'd like to take a deer or a bear with his Maxi. And especially the Bradshaw/Martin cast bullet.

I spoke with him last week and he was out hunting in earnest for bear.

Yesterday,, he scored a bear. However,, he used his 30-30 rifle,, one shot at about 40 yds. He said his bear run about 30 or so yards before crashing down & giving it's death roar a few times.
They were able to get the bear out of the woods before it got dark, and put it on the scales before gutting it. 321 lbs of male black. A good solid bear for a guy hunting alone, not with dogs or anything here.

He came to see me today,, to show me pictures & all. Including the one of it on the scales.

I kinda teased him about NOT using the Maxi,, but he said he was shaking too much to use it,, and even was shaky with his rifle.
But it was a great day to hear from him on this.

[junebug]

The young man made a solid decision to use the rifle. Had he used the pistol and lost the bear, it might have shaken his faith in the pistol being a viable hunting arm. He has a bear now and more time to practice and gain confidence in himself and the gun. Tell him well done for me and good decision. His time will come.

[bigbore5]

I've been coming to NC to hunt bear for about as long as they have started back having seasons. Lived here full-time since 2008. My adrenaline still gets up everytime I see one.

Congratulations to the young man on his first bear.

[x101airborne]

If your adrenaline doesn't jump up at some point in the hunt you are just killing. Great job on the young man and you for being his mentor. As someone already said, his time will come. Tell him congratulations on his first bear!

[kings6]

Thank you for taking the time to mentor and educate him Tyrone. Helping a single person join the hunters ranks can have exponential benefits to our sport and wildlife conservation efforts as he passes the history and love on to others.

[contender]

Thanks all, and I will pass along the thoughts here. He'll appreciate them.

I will say he comes from a hunting family,, and he works hard at it. Just last week,,, we were discussing stuff, and I asked him if he was going to try for a bear with the Maxi. He said "yes." So,, when he said he'd gotten the bear,, I congratulated him and followed with; "The Maxi???" He explained things,, and I said; "Well, next time!" I need to get him to send me a picture & see if I can get it from my phone to my computer to share here. My computer skills aren't always that good, but I can try.

[bigbore5]

Haven't gotten one with the Maximum yet either, but given the number my 686 has, I am sure it'll do fine

[lobo]

Congratulations to him on the bear and for you being a mentor

Chris

[x101airborne]

Thanks for updating with the picture!