"Unwelcome
Return"
Acrylic, on panel, 18x36
SOLD
The hunter struggles up the hill with
his trophy elk atop one of his pack-horses. Its been a
long, hard, but successful day and hes looking forward
to getting back to camp. The mountain light is going fast, as
he approaches camp, and he is vaguely aware of sound and movement.
But in the twilight it is hard to determine the source. As he
nears his home-away-from-home, he can now see that it is two
grizzlies, and they are ransacking his tent. He has no foodstuffs
at camp, but the bears have paid him a visit anyway. He reaches
for his Winchester, but he knows it's not going to stop this
sow or the fully-grown cub. All he can hope for is to scare them
off. He stops at the crest of the hill, remaining motionless;
he watches his unwelcome visitors. They see him, but momentarily
stare back at their foe. Then, without warning, the mother makes
a run at him. He backs up a little; he fires at the charging
bear. He is not sure if she is hit, but she turns and with her
cub in tow, runs off into the darkened forest. The hunter breathes
a sigh of relief.
He sets to work reorganizing his camp,
tethers the horses and after having supper, some welcomed elk
meat, he dowses the fire and retires for the night. He hasnt
put his head down long when he hears the horses getting agitated,
and then he hears the all too familiar woofin sound
Oh my God, he thinks, shes back ,and that sound
means shes upset. Grizzlies are very unpredictable. She
is either going to charge the tent, the horses or just try and
destroy everything in sight. Half holding his breath, the hunter
moves in slow motion to grab his Winchester. He carefully pulls
the flap of the tent to one side and looking out, sees that the
bear is standing about four feet from the tent. He can almost
feel her breath. Wheres the cub, he ponders? He points
the gun through the tiny opening and fires. The bear absorbs
the force of the shot, which seams to have hit her in the head.
She goes down, falling backwards, but immediately bounces back
on her feet. Momentarily confused, the bear then comes straight
at the hunter as he gets another shot off, dropping the bear
one more time. Quickly, chambering another bullet, he watches
as the bear rises to its feet once again. Now outside the tent,
he fires again, hitting it in its rib cage. This time the bear
doesnt even go off its feet, it just stumbles. Desperately,
he fires again and at the same time, he is also looking around
for the cub. The sow runs broadside to him, now, and as it disappears
around the other side of the tent, he fires again. This time
the impact sends her over the side of the hill, she rolls and
disappears in the darkness. He then hears the following sound
as the cub chases the mother into the dark abyss. Woofing.
Unsure as to whether they might return,
the hunter has a sleepless night, but hopefully the bruins have
learnt a lesson.
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