D
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Steve: When you held that piece of pottery in your hands, did you feel an amazement that you were, at least temporarily, physically connected to a people who knew more about hunting than you or I will ever know? They were, and are, truly amazing people. Damn!! I'd like to walk in your footprints there in the Gila.Dr,
I've told the story a number of times, but for the new guys....
I was in the Gila NF with old friend and former teammate at USC, Cal...The afternoon before, I had gotten a big Merriam in a place called Rattlesnake Canyon...I had hunted this place a number of times and I always saw a lot of bear scat...It's also full of caves and steep walled side canyons...After getting my bird, I found their roost trees and meadow they were flying down to.
The next morning we go into the canyon at dark-thirty and by moonlight only...There's a small stream to cross...I jump across, but Cal missed the opposite bank and falls into the bog...Wet and slowed, I push ahead, as it's getting a little light...After going about a 100 yds on an elk trail...I just happened to look up and here's a bear in full charge (making growls & grunts too)...My gun is across my back and I'm holding the decoys...All I could think of in this split second is, stand tall, throw my hands up and yell...Too my surprise, the bear comes to a screeching halt at about 15 yds...Looks at me, turns and runs...A minute or so later, Call meanders up..."Hey, was that a cow?"...No, that was pretty much a bear...lol...About that time, the bear comes out of the willows along the creek at about 80 yds...Then literally scales the wall of the canyon in seconds.
ps...Don't know if it was my yell or the bear walking right thru the flydown meadow...The turkeys went up hill and we never did get one.
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