A chance meeting with an old bear in the woods
I just returned from a black bear hunting trip to northern Quebec. The guides told us shooting would be under 50 yards in dense brush, so don't bring scoped rifles. I removed the scope from my 6.5 x 55mm Swedish Mauser and mounted my EOTech #552 on the front unit of my 2-piece Weaver mount and zeroed at 50-yds. At the end of shooting light I spotted this bear at 50' through the brush...it approached to 30', sensed something was not right, stopped, stood, sniffed around, turned and walked away. I stood, walked to the side, and saw I had one chance as the bear passed a 2' clear space between the trees and dense brush...resolved not to shoot unless I could be sure of a killing shot. Thanks to the EOTech, which I had set on very dim brightness, I was able to make a an offhand perfect heart shot at 50'...the bear moved about 25' and collapsed, dead. The bear was old with worn, dull teeth and about as big as they get in that area. I credit the EOTech for being able to make the shot, as I think it gave me about 15 minutes longer shooting time. I couldn't have made the shot using iron sights in that dim light and brush.
