Jeeze, give him just a little bit of slack? There are no 'perfect' persons in this world, hunters & shooters included. There's always the possibility of a miss, a wounded animal, and a lost animal in fair chase hunting. Something less than the perfect ending.
Remingtonman: I really appreciate your hunting story and can sympathize with the circumstances. I hunt bears in the mountains in Alaska - similar steep terrain and conditions. They can be difficult to recover without a very good first hit. Thick alders and brush, steep terrain, and sometimes little for blood trail. If your bear was still moving strong after 300-400 yds, I would tend to agree he wouldn't have been recovered even if he was hit. But I believe the extreme angle of your shot resulted in a high miss. I've developed a drop chart for sloped shots in the mountains, which provides holdover data covering 10 degree to 50 degree slopes in 5 degree increments for my rifle/load. I print these drop charts on the waterproof paper available for outdoor uses and find it as important as the rangefinder. Take either one away from me and the longer range shots are no longer feasible up or down the mountain slopes. I can tell this isn't your proudest moment out in the field, but I suspect you'll do better the next time around. Please continue to share your hunting stories, and I do hope you sleep well.
