Welcome back to Scary Bear Attacks! Today's episode takes us to Santa Monica, California. Yes! I am not joking. Not the town of today but a century and a half ago. Before the freeways and high rise buildings of today, Santa Monica was a seaside bear haven and yes, some of those bears were Grizzly bears.

In 1853 the area may have had about 100 people and was starting to be farmed by Mexican settlers. The local plant life was an assortment as diverse as box elder and maple to salt bush and manzanita. The temperatures were very steady without a frost and rarely going above 90 degrees. This is the perfect environment for many different plant species and animals. One of those animal species that thrived in the area were brown bears.

Andy Sublette was 46 years old on December 19th and enjoyed hunting bears and many other animals in the area. He was very proficient and was known in the area as a good guy to have around the ranch to keep the many predators from eating livestock.

The winters in Santa Monica were less humid than the summers and consequently there was less fog. The heat wasn't as bad so it made for easy and satisfying hunting. It wasn't hard to find enough deer to keep the pot filled, but Andy really enjoyed finding and harvesting those giant brown bears that lived in the area. Their hide made great rugs and could be sold for a fair price and the meat wasn't too bad either.

Andy and a few of his friends decided to head up above the hills beyond the beach and see what kind of luck they may be able to find. They each decided to hunt a different area and split up accordingly. Andy, and his dog Mick, followed a low ridge above a small creek which was overgrown with Manzanita and Alder. The thick brush made for a great place for animals to hide but also granted Andy great cover as he searched for game. Typically the hunting trips weren't really long as the game was plentiful and success was nearly inevitable any time hunters went out.

As Andy crossed the top of a low ridge, he could see a large brown mound slowly strolling across the hill opposite the creek. The hillside was covered with a new crop of clover which the bear was munching a path through. Andy knew this was a great opportunity to harvest a large animal that would provide a lot of meat and a great hide, so he crept into shooting position and began to aim for the bear's vital area.

He rested his rifle across a tree limb for support and fired. The bear immediately tossed and turned in pain, then dashed into the bush where Andy could no longer see him. Mick bolted down the hill and immediately started barking at the bottom of the draw. Andy could hear the bear rustling around in the bush a bit and waited to see if it might show itself for a second shot. He reloaded and kept watching and waiting for an opportunity. The bear didn't run far and didn't quit making noise moving around as Mick continued to bark at him.

After about 45 minutes of waiting, Andy decided to sneak down to where he heard the rustling to see if the bear had died yet. He hadn't heard a death moan, which is characteristic when a bear dies. It is almost a sad lament from the bear and can be heard from a few hundred yards in distance. He began sneaking through the underbrush toward where he had heard the rustling. The brush was parched at this point in the year due to the dry Santa Anna winds and that didn't help Andy, as he could no longer hear anything but crunching and crackling.

Andy had traveled about 80 yards toward the rustling noise, when Mick began to growl. Andy continually pointed his rifle in the direction he had heard the rustling, but wasn't aware of the fact that he had just passed the location. He walked right beside the injured bear which took cover in a small gulley.