It was about 10:30 in the evening. I heard him out at the chicken house tearin' shit up, so, I walked about a third of the way to the coop with a flashlight and a .357. Making some noise and shining the flashlight in his direction, he looked my way so that I could see his eys shining back. The two bright coals, his eyes, were a good distance apart - a big fucker.
I fired a shot just over his head. Then, silence. I thought, "oh, shit, maybe I hit him", which didn't make sense because I'm a fair shot, but, still, it was at night...and, I was aiming for just over his head. I took a step toward the coop. Almost before my foot hit the ground, he let out a roar that tensed me mightily immediately followed by the sounds of oak brush breaking as he rushed toward me in the dark.
I turned and ran for the door. It was one of those times where you don't know if you're gonna get caught from behind when you must stop to open the door. As soon as I had the glass storm door closed behind me, I whirled with the gun, ready to fire. All I saw through the glass were the black silhouettes of Ponderosa pines swaying against the night sky. I promptly closed the 1 3/4 door.
That bear didn't come back all summer, thankfully.