By Mark Hampton
Originally published in the 2024 September/October issue of Safari Magazine.
Editor’s Note: Author Mark Hampton submitted this article for publication shortly before his untimely death from a heart attack while hunting in Tanzania. It is with great pride that we publish this piece as a salute to Mark, who was much more than simply the preeminent handgun hunting writer in the world. Mark also was an outspoken evangelist for hunting and its inescapable ties to sustainable use conservation. He was active in SCI as co-chair of the Record Book and World Hunting Awards Committee. Mark, it has been an honor to work with you. You have left the world a better place for your having been here. May you rest in peace.
As I climbed up the wooded ladder into the blind, my mind was wrestling with trepidation. We hadn’t seen a bear yet, but we had put in long hours, hoping, waiting, anticipating for a bruin to appear.
It was deathly still.
Fog engulfed the forest, and visibility was bleak. Quietly as possible, I loaded the gun and got settled in for the long, insipid wait. My guide, Marko, got his gear situated.
“When the bear shows up, do not say a word,” he whispered. “And be careful not to touch the window with your barrel.”
There wasn’t actually a window; it was just an opening covered by an old green wool blanket with a piece cut out so you could see. For a test run, I eased the gun out of the shooting port and took a rest from the wooden ledge on the outside of the blind. Not touching anything, I felt confident I could get the gun into shooting position without making a sound.
The fog dissipated, and we could see clearly now. Huge spruce trees surrounded us. The bait was 50 yards away. I wasn’t looking forward to the next six or seven hours sitting in this elevated blind, watching for any movement. My attention deficit disorder soon kicked in, and my thoughts drifted.
I was watching an insect crawling around the floor when Marko whispered, “Bear!”
Immediately, I looked up and sure enough, this beautiful bear was standing 50 yards away. Slowly and very cautiously, I eased the gun out of the void portion of the blanket and took a rest. I cocked the hammer and placed the crosshairs on the bear’s shoulder. He was not standing in the perfect position, so I waited for the right shot. It seemed like an eternity, but the bear finally moved, presenting a picture-perfect opportunity.
As I started tugging the trigger so gently, target panic ensued, like “buck fever.” The crosshairs were moving all over the place. I backed off the trigger, took a couple of deep breaths, and tried to calm my nerves. The second time I placed the crosshairs on target, they appeared steady enough to squeeze the trigger. When the hammer dropped, the evening solitude was abruptly shattered.
For many of us, Bosnia has been an overlooked, underappreciated hunting destination. The small and sparsely populated country in southeast Europe rests on the Balkan Peninsula, bordering Serbia to the east and Croatia to the north. The country’s modest multi-ethnic population is less than 4 million residents.
Mountainous terrain with heavily forested plateaus engulfs much of the northern real estate. Timber is a thriving industry. Wood products such as furniture have been essential exports to the economy. Rich in natural springs, Bosnia is blessed with many crystal-clear rivers, including the Sava, which flows into the Danube near Belgrade. Most of those rivers are home to several species of trout and grayling. Little did I know, fishing is world-class here.
Another fact unbeknownst to me was that Bosnia hosts a variety of big game, including European brown bear, boar, chamois, roe deer, wolf and capercaillie. The capercaillie, a large species of grouse, is highly sought after by bird-hunting enthusiasts. Pheasant, quail, grouse, woodcock and ducks are also abundant. The little country boasts a tremendous amount of quality outdoor activity for the sports-minded.
Back in the early to mid-1990s, Bosnia witnessed a wicked, tumultuous war that entailed horrific atrocities. Today, the country is stable and peaceful. It is a beautiful country, indeed, with diverse wildlife alongside many places of cultural and historical significance.
During the 2024 SCI Convention, I visited with my friends at Safari International, Zlatko and Toma Sokolik. My wife Karen and I enjoyed a hunt with these dedicated professionals last year.
The discussion turned to other options as Safari International operates in several European countries such as Macedonia, Greece, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, along with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
When Zlatko mentioned European brown bears in Bosnia, I was all ears. I had never experienced Bosnia, so it didn’t take long for Zlatko to convince me this was a good opportunity for a nice bruin.
Karen and I arrived in the capital, Sarajevo, and cleared customs. We were to head north with Zlatko toward our hunting area. The landscape was gorgeous. In short order, we reached a quaint little hotel up in the mountains. The local guides had been monitoring trail cameras and wanted to hunt that evening. I wasn’t going to say no.
The common method of hunting Eurasian brown bears is from elevated blinds over bait. This has been the preferred method in Bosnia and other European countries, such as Croatia and Romania, in the past.
Shots are not long but often taken after sunset. Thermal optics are utilized similarly to hog hunting in the U.S. While some may sneer at this method, it’s legal here and when you’re in Rome…
We quietly approached the blind and got settled in the first evening. Unfortunately, the thermal optic attachment to my scope did not fit. I hoped the bear would come in before shooting light faded, allowing me to shoot with the Encore handgun.
With great anticipation, we waited, just like you would in a leopard blind. No talking, just sit and watch. Then, it got dark and we waited for a few more hours. Nothing showed up, so we called it quits for the night.
During the day, Zlatko was kind enough to show us some of the nearby historical sights. We saw several different rivers, and I only wished we would have planned for a bit of trout fishing.
That evening, we went to a different blind. Trail cameras had revealed that two nice bears were showing up. The blind was top-of-the-line with good windows, carpet on the floor to lessen noise, comfortable chairs and spacious enough for three or four people.
We hadn’t been in the blind for an hour or so when a fox showed up and entertained us for quite some time. The sun settled behind the mountain and complete darkness consumed the landscape.
Marko, the head honcho, periodically looked through his thermal aid to check for bears.
After a few hours of sitting in the pitch black, your mind wanders. It’s not the most exciting time until something shows up.
Just before midnight Marko whispered, “There’s a boar!”
Well, do we shoot or pass him up and wait for a bear?
After a little discussion, Marko felt the bear should have shown up by now, so we decided to take this dandy wild boar. I don’t have a lot of experience shooting thermal optics, but I could clearly see this hog when looking through the scope.
When the boar turned perfectly broadside, I squeezed the trigger on Marko’s 8×57. The boar took off and disappeared in a flash. We looked for blood but found very little. It was extremely thick where the boar headed so we decided to make a recovery in the morning.
I didn’t sleep much that night, thinking if I had made a bad shot and replaying the whole episode repeatedly in my mind. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn’t have changed a thing. The sight picture looked ideal.
Early the next morning, the recovery was quick as the boar hadn’t gone too far in the gauntlet of underbrush. My first head of game in Bosnia was headed for the salt.
That dandy porker broke the ice, but we were still hoping for a bear. The next evening Marko and I headed for yet another location. Evidence on the trail camera indicated bear activity by two different bruins.
As we slowly and quietly meandered to the blind down an old logging road, Serbian spruce trees towered above us. It was a picturesque forest, enchanted perhaps.
This evening was different, I could feel it.
It had rained during the day, and we could slip along without making any noise. When we arrived at the blind, it wasn’t one of the commercial types we had hunted previously but a wooden structure, something like I would have built back home. Now, if only our luck would change.
We hadn’t been in the blind very long. It was 7:30 p.m., with a lot of daylight remaining. A bear, almost magically, appeared from the forest.
With my unbridled enthusiasm for hunting with a handgun, I was extremely thankful I wouldn’t have to shoot Marko’s rifle with thermal optics. When the 360 Buckhammer roared, it launched a 180-grain round-nose bullet that knocked the bear completely off his feet. The bear rolled over, got back up and disappeared into the forest.
Immediately, we heard him groan a couple of times, followed by total silence. Marko and I looked at each other in disbelief. Marko looked at me with that infectious smile and whispered, “I think he’s finished.”
As we eased over to the area where the bear rolled over, blood covered the ground. Following the blood trail was effortless, and within 25 yards, the bruin lay motionless.
We were both jubilant! Marko was impressed with the performance of the cartridge, and I was just happy to have a European brown bear to skin. It was a beautiful bear. The moment was surreal.
Bosnia could possibly be a hidden gem among European hunting destinations. It’s definitely on my radar screen now, and I will return. Only next time I will be packing some fishing gear along with my firearm.
