I was sitting twelve feet above the ground in my bowhunting stand, deep in a cedar swamp. Twenty-five yards in front of me, three little bear cubs were feeding on a bait pile. Somewhere below and behind me was a large sow bear, intent on protecting her cubs. This was making me a little nervous.  To make matters worse, it was quickly getting dark.

 This was not exactly the best situation to be in. Black bears are normally afraid of man and attacks are rare.  However, most black bear attacks that do occur are when humans get too close to a bear’s cubs or come between the sow and cubs.   That’s exactly where I was.

The sow and the three yearling cubs had come to the bait about an hour earlier. I had become so entranced in watching them, that I didn’t realize it was getting dark. The sow…