“Range is hot!” I bellowed and instructed the hunter in front of me to load and make ready. The big Dutchman settled into a solid isosceles shooting stance, nose over toes as he brought the massive revolver up. We were standing 40 yards from the target board with the rest of the hunters in camp another 20 yards behind us at the rifle bench. There was plenty of chin wagging and eyebrow raising going on back there along with a few sniggers. Nobody wanted to miss this.
When I first booked Patrick he told me he wanted to hunt bear with a handgun. I was amenable, but let him know that he had to be prepared to demonstrate proficiency, just like our bow hunters are required to do, when he arrived from Zurich. A native of The Netherlands now residing in Switzerland, he was an avid hunter and firearms enthusiast, travelling to hunt all over the globe. His opportunities to hunt with his Magnum Research BFR revolver were limited however, due to firearm restrictions in many of the countries he hunts in. Taking a bear in the United States with his pistol was on the top of his hunting bucket list. I wanted to help him achieve it.
Two .500 S&W Magnum cartridges went into the cylinder and I cleared Patrick to shoot. The recoil sent the seventeen and a half inch revolver vertical as the report boomed across the ridge like a round of artillery. I was impressed with Patrick’s control and shooting fundamentals, so I had him take the second shot before checking the target to ensure grouping accuracy. Pistol cleared and verified I called the range cold and we all headed down to the target. Two half-inch holes were perfectly stacked on top of the bullseye. The backslapping and hooting continued all the way to the lodge as the hunters congratulated Patrick on some fine shooting. His handgun bear hunt was on.
I selected a very specific bait site for my handgunner. It was a double stand sixteen feet in the air, tucked up against a bull pine tree with some natural concealment on two sides. The flip up shooting rail would act as a bench rest for the iron-sighted revolver and wrapped in camouflage burlap, provide additional concealment. This site would provide the best opportunity for an open sight gun. It boasted plenty of light right up to last legal shooting time and clear shooting lanes.
After a quiet Monday and Tuesday with no action to speak of, I settled the big man with his big revolver into the stand Wednesday and reiterated the ranged landmarks for him to estimate distances. I topped off the bait barrel and rang the dinner bell by thumping the drum. I looked up to my hunter in the stand and got the thumbs up. Returning it, I moved out. Five and a half hours later my phone buzzed with an incoming text.
“Hit it from the front. Fell and ran away. Snap shot. Hearing now.” Patrick was following my pre-hunt instructions to a tee. What he was telling me was that he marked the spot where he hit the bear, how the bear reacted and if it ran. Also, he took a mental snap shot of where the bear was when he fired, which direction it ran and that he was currently listening for the bear to crash. “Sit still, keep listening. On the way” I replied. After I arrived, we moved down to where the bear was hit, next to the bait barrel to look for blood. We had little success. Taking cues from Patrick, we used his mental snap shot to follow the likely escape route; flagging our way into the thick cedar. Roughly 100 yards later I made the announcement to the handgunner who was 50 yards to my right – “dead bear!”
A few of the other hunters in camp arrived to help with the retrieval and as we passed the stand Patrick let his big magnum roar from, I paused and pointed down the shooting lane to the barrel and where the bear was hit. They marveled at the distance and their jaws dropped further when I told them the range finder verified distance – 50 yards! Once again, the Dutchman received a round of applause and congratulations back at camp. He made his dream come true, with an amazing display of marksmanship. As I prepared to head back up to the clubhouse for the evening, Patrick was thanking me profusely. I congratulated him and thanked him as well – I had my own bucket list item riding on this hunt. Thanks to Patrick, Tucker Ridge had its very first handgun bear in stunning fashion.