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Welcome to my most detailed carving of 2003. Like a beacon, this antler told me a story and showed me a vision within a week of having it in my possession. Consideration of movement, placement, detail, expression and attempting to capture a story has come together here. In British Columbia we have a lot of human/bear encounters. Some incidents don't end in favor of the human and in that case the bear suffers immediate retribution. This story on the other hand ends in favor of the human, and the bears.
We begin with our ethical hunter enjoying an afternoon of hunting when he comes upon a sow grizzly and her two cubs. Without hesitation he begins to backtrack so as not to startle them. Hearing a hair raising roar, followed by the thundering sound of the charging bear, he knew he'd been spotted and it was time to make tracks. All he could think was 'Don't Look Back!'
Recalling a large spruce tree he hurtled towards it. As the sow charged she snarled loudly indicating to her offspring to get to safety. Racing with blinding speed to the bottom of the tree the hunter was climbing, she attempted to eliminate the threat posed to her and her cubs. From the hunter's safe perch, he witnessed the sow's display of strength, anger and intolerance due to his presence. Eventually the sow left, but our hunter was in such a state of awe he may still be in that tree.
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