"Unwelcome Return"
Acrylic, on panel, 18x36
SOLD

The hunter struggles up the hill with his trophy elk atop one of his pack-horses. It’s been a long, hard, but successful day and he’s 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 hasn’t 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, she’s back ,and that sound means she’s 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. Where’s 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 doesn’t even go off it’s 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.