Here is the ultimate adventure story, told by an expert and documented with more than 140-full color photographs, of one explorer"s quest to come face to face with the great bears of North America-Polar, Brown, and Black. While numerous books in the subject of bears exist, none has approached their subjects with such drama, adventure, and extraordinary showmanship as John Pezzenti, one of the foremost wildlife photographers working today. Confronting his subjects as close as is humanly possible and still surviving, Pezzenti needs no special effects: He creates uniquely intimate portraits if these giant beasts and pulls the viewer himself into the middle of his photographic event-immersing the reader in all the action and the thrill of proximity. The result of this amazing twenty-five year passion is a collection of the most compelling and powerful photographers ever taken of bears in the wild. Not just a photographic portfolio, however, Shooting Bears is accompanied by a riveting text that could stand alone, and that immediately engages in the ultimate wildlife adventure, by introducing the reader into the intimate life of bears in their natural settings. Descriptions of the challenges Pezzenti faced in his quest for the supreme photograph-including being mauled, stalked for five miles by a rogue bear, and coming nose-to-nose with a grimacing black bear in the dead of night-are all included. Many other equally enthralling stories detail his "up close and personal" adventures-all in the service of getting the supreme photograph.