In my decades of roaming around the forests of India filming wildlife, I have been at the wrong end of the barrel more than a dozen times, with a few very close encounters – like the incident detailed below. If I remember right, it was 2009. I was on a photo shoot at Masinagudi, looking for Sloth Bears along with Sundar, another wildlife phtographer. A friend had a home stay inside deep jungle where a few bears were reported to be frequenting a clearing near the place and we decided to stay there. It was a wonderful home, right at the foot hills of the mountains, unfenced and in the middle of the wilderness. After breakfast, we set out along with the Cook (our guide for the day, an excellent tracker himself) to the clearing, hardly 500 meters away where we had decided to wait for the bears to make their appearance. It was nearing noon when we walked to the clearing, Sundar and the cook were almost 50 meters behind me. Nearing the clearing, I heard branches being torn apart. M