Long range spring bear down!!!

[Hunt4ever]

So after 3 weekends and 18 bear sightings later we finally made things happen...

May 25th I took this bear in NE corner with "Wanda" (coop2424's .338RUM) at 950 yards with a 250 gr berger... Been trying to get the stars to align for a long range shot for a while now and luckly got it done on first try...

We sat on our stand (with everything ready to go) for around 5 hours that morning with no movement below... So we decided to move further up the mtn; as soon as we had all the gear loaded back up in the 4runner we glanced down range and spotted a nice Boar making his way along the timber line at around 1435 yrds... We quickly grabbed all the gear back out of the rig and got on the move to close the distance but by the time we reached the next ridge he had dissapeared... Heads hanging low and hearts pounding hard we headed back up the mtn... We glassed and moved, glassed and moved all day trying to time the rain showers and scattered sun hoping a bear would show himself... Nothing was going right as the day was changing to evening, so we decided to head back to the original stand where that bear had been (thinking he might make his way back out of the timber)... On the way to the stand we were caught off guard by a sprinting black bear barreling down the hillside, over the road, and down the thick canyon dissapearing without giving us a chance to even judge the thing... We are always in disbelief as to how fast they can cover ground... Around 6:30pm we made it to our stand and were just about to get out the gear when my brother yells out BEAR!... we look down to the bottom of this clear cut and there, walking an old skid road was this good looking Black bear... Like many times rehearsed before we all grabbed what we needed... between the gun, spotting scope, rangefinder, wind guage, iphone ballistics program, ear plugs, video camera, tripod, binos and bullets we had layed out enough gear to have a yardsale! Everything was where it needed to be when i noticed somehow through the day i had shattered the cameras tripod into 100 pieces... The one thing that i was really hopeing to do was film the whole thing but without a tripod i figured we better just concern ourselves with the shot... Im now laying down with "WANDA" (i know it sounds dirty but its just the name we gave coop2424' beautiful rifle) with my brother inlaw to my left bino'd up and my blood brother to my right with the rangfinder calling out 950, then 952, then 952... then he called out -10 degree target sight angle, then, and finally 19.4 moa no wind... I was lucky enough to have a break in all the spiratic weather right when i needed it... I dialed the needed Minutes and made sure they all had a good view of the bear... He made two steps forward opening me up for a wide open broadside shot... Breath, breath, hold, half out, squeeze, BANG! The pushing recoil bumped my scope of target for a split second leaving me clueless as to how the bullet traveled... I sat up waiting for one of my brothers to say something, but all i got was silence... Then i looked back at my bro inlaw and saw the biggest grin i had seen from him... they both stayed in there optics, but literaly at the same time said, HOLY SHI%!!! they both had seen the same thing... As they replayed it for me from there views; we heard bang, then with over 1.1 sec of flight time they saw the bear drop out of sight... Both are now calling hit! I didnt want to get too excited but i can tell you my heart was pounding... We loaded up our gear and headed down the mtn... We knew it would take us at least 10 min to get there and we planned on giving him another 20... The time inched by while we kept replaying all the numbers, calculations, and what we had seen... Finally the time came to look for the bear... We walked the same skid road he had been on and finally found the spot he had been standing... We could see no bear but could see heavly digging front paw/claw tracks leading up to the timber about 50 ft away... we looked up to the shooting perch to try to get the angle of impact to look for exit blood or hair... nothing! I thought how the heck did i miss this bear? But why did he dissapear like he did?... just as my heart beat began to slow my brother yelled HAIR! We all dropped to our knees and began combing the surrounding area and found more hair, then meat, then blood! Now having a confirmed hit we started into the timber... Slow and steady looking for ground disturbance, blood, tracks, anything that would help us to his wereabouts... after 25 ft or so the blood went from droplets on leaf pedals to huge strings of lung colored red... we stopped at the edge of this tall timbered line of replanted trees, and decided to leave me on trail and both brothers to either side to increase our chances of finding the blood once the terrain got too thick... Without making it 5 steps my brother spotted the bear... HES DOWN! I made my way to the piled boar with loaded gun in hand making sure to stay alert... one barrel poke to the eye had confirmed my kill!!! All three of us had killed bear before but never at 950 yards and never did they make it such a short distance without at least a follow up shot... But after close examination i noticed a fist sized exit hole low but behind the front shoulder... We rolled him over and saw i had hit him right behind the shoulder but at a -10 degree angle had left the bear low armpit... it took out everything it needed to and the bullet devistation still shocks me...

Best and most memorable bear hunt to date! Im officially hooked to long range hunting now!

[trophyhunt]

Nice looking bear and great shot at that distance! Which scope do you have? I have the huskemaw and my farthest is only 550, also on a bear.

[IBspoiled]

Nicely done congrads

[Hunt4ever]

Nice looking bear and great shot at that distance! Which scope do you have? I have the huskemaw and my farthest is only 550, also on a bear.

Its a 6-24 Vortex Viper... Huskemaw are nice scopes! eventually an upgrade will be in order im sure, but for now its doing what we ask of it...

[Austrian Hunter]

  Nice write up!  Great job!!  I took my bears within less than 20 yards but I can see that excitement of shooting one at 950 with a riffle!!   

[Timberstalker]

Nice poke with Wanda
Great bear.

[trophyhunt]

One shot kill at 950, I don't think an upgrade is needed. If I shot that well with that scope I'd be good to go!

[Greenhorn]

Awesome bear and story!

[pencilsketcher]

  very cool, great bear

[h2ofowlr]

Nice looking bear.

[Orion88]

Nice bear

[liljozie495]

That's a deep shot! Awesome job 

[SkookumHntr]

-Great shot! Good lookin Boar!

[Cap.Silver]

Congratulations on your bear and the awesome writing skills...... I can only imagine the rush of getting ready to take this incredible long shot...... say hi to Wanda for me ...she is very cute 

[Huntboy]

Nice bear, nice shot. Congrats.

[coop2424]

Congrats again.   I am glad Wanda worked out for you even though I am a little upset i did not make the trip up to see her draw blood for the first time.  Can't wait to get her back and go chase some bears in idaho...

[seth30]

Great job and write up

[blackveltbowhunter]

Heck of a shot!!  Nice lookin bear!

[Rufous]

Truly impressive. Who built the rifle? I am interested in the details of action, barrel, stock, muzzle brake etc. I would like to be able to extend my reach beyond 600 yards and am considering options (if I can ever get a job that is).

[coop2424]

Truly impressive. Who built the rifle? I am interested in the details of action, barrel, stock, muzzle brake etc. I would like to be able to extend my reach beyond 600 yards and am considering options (if I can ever get a job that is).

It is a factory Remington 700 Sendero 338 rum with ops muzzle brake, badger 30mm rings, 20 moa rail, Bell and Carlson stock, Timney trigger and vortex viper scope. I actually picked it up used at cabelas for $579 without the scope.  I was worried the barrel was going to be shot out but it sure isn't.  It took me some time to work a load up but it is dialed in now and with this brake it kicks about the same as my 243.. 

[carpsniperg2]

congrats

[Ripper]

Holy crap that's a hell of a shot! 

[h20hunter]

That is a loooonnngg shot....nicely done. I would have like to have been along for that. A great team effort.

[combs338]

Great job.

[NWWA Hunter]

Awesome. Congrats

[Cougar125]

Awesome story!  Congrats!

[MLBowhunting]

heck of a shot.  congrats 

[chukar hunter]

Nice Bear

trying to keep this positive, but 950 is too far with to many variables that could affect down range accuracy.  Good shot or lucky....not much respect for the animal at that range. 

[lewy]

Nicely done!

[olsy]

Well done boys!

[Hunt4ever]

Nice Bear

trying to keep this positive, but 950 is too far with to many variables that could affect down range accuracy.  Good shot or lucky....not much respect for the animal at that range. 

False... Same calculated shot as a standard rifle at 250-300 Actually better... This isn't some Kentucky wind game brother... 2200+ ft per second and over 2400 ft lbs of energy at that distance... Nothing but a silent hit no adrenaline... 

[sirmissalot]

I have no doubt the rifle is fully capable of that kind of shot, but comparing a 950 yard shot to a 250 yard shot makes no sense to me. An animal takes a step at 250 your shot would likely still be lethal. A step at 950 where there is enough hang time for an animal to easily take a step, maybe more. ALOT of variables come into play at that distance, I don't care how good you or the rifle is there is still a decent amount of luck involved.

That said, sounds like you made a perfect shot on what appears to be a great bear, congrats. "Long range hunting" definitely isn't for me, but obviously there's a reason for my name "sirmissalot"!  

[h20hunter]

"So after 3 weekends and 18 bear sightings later we finally made things happen... "

As soon as I read this first sentence I knew two things: One....this guy and his team know long range. Two....this guy and his team know when to pull the trigger and when not to.

For me, that is the difference when it come to those that can hunt long range and put it together and those that don't want to or simply can't.

Again, congrats on the bear...awesome shot and a great hunt. Thanks for posting.

[Bigbuckhunter_1996]

looks awesome bub! good job

[xXLojackXx]

Nice bear bud!

As for the guys that don't agree or think LR hunting is ethical....

Those of us that enjoy it, are using highly accurate equipment and calibers specifically built for those distances and a LOT of practice in the off seasons. With that comes the experience of knowing your potential in certain conditions and not exceeding that. In a calm atmosphere (less than 5mph winds) making a 950 yard shot on a 12" target is not that hard. When shooting a 1/4 MOA rifle, and having the ability to do so, you can expect a 3-5" group at 900 yards, easy. And with a flight time of just over 1 second, it's no different than saying that same animal could take a step on you with a 45 yard archery shot. Furthermore, using equipment that measures every applicable variable in the surrounding atmosphere, makes shooting long range much more feasible. There is no guess work in this, everything is measured and calculated and practiced to a point of exhaustion prior to putting crosshairs on the animal.

My point is, when you know your equipment that is made for those shots, and your honest ability to make them, it's not unethical to take a long shot. These aren't your 1-2" groups at 100 yard factory Remington rifles, and we sure aren't your average hunters that shoot 20-50 rounds a year.

[norsepeak]

   Nothing unethical about a one shot kill no matter if it's 10 yards or 1000.  Great job!