Rankin Inlet (Sep 17/03) - Shawn Maley could see the sinister shadow moving back and forth through a crack at the bottom of his cabin door.

He, his wife, Chantel, and son, Jeremy, were spending the weekend at their cabin at Upper Landing Lake, just outside Rankin Inlet.

Chantel had woke him a few minutes earlier, alarmed by strange sounds outside the cabin door.

Maley could hear the animal sniffing outside as he looked over at his dog.

The dog wasn't barking, so Maley cautiously opened the door and peered outside.

His pulse quickened when a six-foot grizzly bear rose up from the blackness, standing on its hind legs a mere four feet from the door.

With heart pounding, Maley slammed the door shut as the bear started clawing at the wooden frame.

His eyes darted to the shotgun and rifle hanging on the wall behind him, then to the two beef steaks still sitting in the kitchen, leftover from the evening's barbecue.

Maley hollered to his wife to find his bullets, then screamed at the bear in an effort to scare it away.

Now armed with the loaded shotgun, he fired out the window over the bear's head in another attempt to scare it off.

Unfazed, the bear stared at him for a moment and then disappeared from view.

For the next few terrorizing minutes, the Maleys sat silently in the cabin and listened for clues to the bear's whereabouts.

A siksik was hissing wildly from under the cabin, which told Maley the bear was still close.

Suddenly, an ominous growl shattered the night, and the grizzly was back at the cabin window.

Maley sprung to the stove and grabbed a teapot full of water.

The bear was moving closer as Maley took aim and fired the teapot, registering a direct hit to the grizzly's head.

Enraged by the blow, the bear lunged at the window as Maley ducked away.

It wrapped its paws around the window and pulled it from its hinges -- its long, deadly claws flashing by the now open space.

Maley knew the bear was ready to fight to the finish as he reached for his rifle.

Fighting to stay calm as the adrenalin rushed through his body, he peered through his sights into the darkness.

Even at such close range, it was hard to target the bear in the blackness.

Sweat trickled down his cheek as his finger began to tighten on the trigger.

Maley had but three bullets and knew if he only wounded the animal, he would make a bad situation worse.

The rifle's crack echoed through the Arctic night. A bloodcurdling cry -- half growl, half moan -- escaped from the bear as it turned and disappeared.

The family moved silently about the cabin for the next 20 minutes, eyes and ears straining into the night's gloom for a sign of the grizzly.

Maley had his wife and son head for the truck as he backed slowly toward the vehicle.

Hunched over, as he moved with his rifle at the ready, his silhouette was more of a combat soldier's than a weekend camper.

The truck's engine roared to life and the family headed back to town.

Maley notified the Rankin authorities about the situation, and dropped his family off at home, before heading back to the cabin with Simon and Savik Kowmuk, and Ray Mercer Jr.

Their spotlights found the bear dead on the ground, just a short distance from where the bullet struck home.

"I tried everything I could to scare that bear away, but it just wouldn't go," said Maley. "When it ripped the window off, I said to hell with this, got the gun and shot it.

"It didn't leave me any choice."

The bear is suspected of having broken into a number of cabins in the area in search of food.

The animal most likely came from around Baker Lake, where grizzlies are far more common.

"There's no doubt it was trying to get into our cabin. It was pushing at the front door and clawing at the back window.

"It also tried to work the doorknob, so it knew its way around a cabin."

In the daylight of the following day, the bear's paw marks could be seen plainly on the cabin door.

There were also bear prints around a number of other neighbouring cabins, and on a couple of their walls.

""We brought the carcass back to town and the local Hunter and Trapper Organization has the skin, although I'm writing a letter to try and get it back.

"It's wasn't an experience I'd want to go through again."