Todd’s bear

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minutes of extreme exertion, ended in grass up to the 6’3” Senorake’s chest.

The duo confirmed where the dogs were by GPS, when all at once, the dogs were right around the hunters.

“If the dogs are around you, where is the bear?” said Senoraske.

A quick look around and Senoraske spotted the bear, getting his gun ready for a shot. All that could be seen, was the animal’s head and back, which was level with the grass.

“I was like, oh, my, this is a big one,” said Senoraske, who was ready to take a shot. “And just like that, it was gone.”

Keep in mind, this all was happening in a severe thunderstorm warning, with thunder and lightning crashing overhead.

“The least of our concerns was the lightning at that time,” said Senoraske, laughing. “It was the huge bear!”

Back into the swamp the hunters plunged and 200-300 yards later, they closed in on the bear again. With only 10 yards of visibility in front of them, Senoraske saw it and had a shot toward the base of its neck – the bear was just five yards away, making for a dangerous situation.

“It was not happy,” said Senoraske. “And that’s part of the hunt, it’s just part of the sport.”

However, Senoraske is no stranger to intense situations, having hunted bear for years, including on an expedition with grizzlies, so he whipped up his gun and dropped the bear in its tracks. The animal went down at once and the hunters collected the dogs, securing the guns, since it appeared the bear was done for, with zero movement.

Here is where Senoraske admits to what could have been a fatal mistake – he should have put a finishing shot into the bear. A whole four minutes after they thought the bear was dead, it started to raise its head, with its mouth open, in a chomping fashion.

Senoraske reached for his 12-gauge slug rifle short-range shotgun like he was in slow motion, while Kent, who was near the bear, had the animal roll onto him slightly, pinning him, but managed to get free.

“It took two finishing shots and then it was done,” said Senoraske.

During all this, it was still storming and the hunters look at each incredulously.

“It’s unbelievable, like you’ve reached the apex of your bear hunting career,” said Senoraske.

The euphoria wore off a little, as the team then had to figure out how to get the massive animal out of the middle of a very difficult swamp. Since they didn’t want to