Archery Bear

[GrampasGuns]

I'm no bear hunter, but would love to try this fall. Have any members been successful tagging a bear with a bow? Seems like it would be very difficult but it has to have been done before! Any stories out there?

[saylean]

I missed one at 25 yards broadside a few years ago. I thought he was 35 yards, accidentally picked my 40 pin, zoom....right over the shoulder. My brother was right behind me laughing. It can be done, I plan on doing it this fall.

[DIYARCHERYJUNKIE]

my hunting partner got one at 35 last year.  It was his first archery kill.  Came around the corner in his diesel truck and the bear was laying in the gravel road.  He walked up to where it went into the brush and waited five minutes for it to show between some brush.  It didn't run more than 50 yards.

[Turner89]

I've been within bow range several times. In fact the 3 bears I've shot have all been 40yards  and closer. The closest was 15yards. I'm going to try, and do the same this fall.

[lokidog]

Shot one at ten yards back in the 80's, head on.  He dropped in 11 yards, fortunately the other direction.   

[ghostshell]

arrowed mine last year at 39.8 yards, double lungs in the high country, sep, 12. find a spot to hunt top down in the blue berry fields, thermals are your friend....... be in shape, cant say that enough. 100 plus pounds hurts, pack in lite for the heavy out..... im sure there are many on here that hunt the jungle bears with bows but spot and stalk in the high alpine is some memories.

[RadSav]

We've taken quite a few with the bow. 

When stalking bear it's rather tough.  They pay much more attention to noise than do blacktail, muledeer or elk.  They also rarely stick around and look at what made the noise.  Our best luck is to get in front of them and let them feed past you.  You can get away with some movement but you seldom get away with the wind at your back.

When shot correctly they are absolute whimps, going down in 10 to 15 yards most the time.  When shot poorly they seem like descendants of Superman!  So make sure your broadhead is scary sharp, the angle is right, the front leg is forward and you have the distance nailed.  When aiming - target the opposite shoulder on level ground and the opposite arm pit when shooting steep downhill.  That should get you to the heart. 

Expect a spin, some nasty snarling and your testicles to bang off your skull a few times...it's awesome

[tgomez]

My recommendation is to use a rifle as bear baiting is illegal in Washington. However if you have the testicular fortitude to ground stock one with archery equiptment, id recommend having a side arm with you just incase. A family friend Tim Potts shot a nice boar with his Matthews Switchback in Rearden,WA a few years ago while we were mule deer hunting. Just remember to be carefull when stalking something with teeth and claws. Good Luck to you and good hunting.

[Z_rock01]

I have shot three Bears with a bow now. One at 45 yards, One at 30 Yards and one at 6 Yards.. The Bear at  6 Yards, I was in a tree stand. The other two were Spot and stock. I would agree that Spot and Stock on a bear is A LOT tougher then a lot of people think. 

[LeviD1]

I have shot one the past 2 years. Both at about 30 yards from a treestand.

[Machias]

I've been lucky enough to take 8 so far, 5 with my bow.  It's the only way I like to hunt them now.  I will say though 4 of the 5 was over bait and one was while I was watching an elk wallow. 

[CarbonHunter]

I got one last year at 26 yards head on. I was calling elk and he came crashing in through the brush and timber from a couple hundred yards out. My eyes got real big when he came into view and I realized he wasn't an elk. Lucky for me he stopped at 26 yards straight up hill from me when he realized I wasn't an elk either. One thing I learned was that a bear that is looking for a meal sees an archery hunter in full draw as a small enough target that they won't turn and walk away giving you that broad side shot you are looking for. After a few minutes of the standoff I figured I should try for the head on shot. Lucky for me I was able to sneak the arrow into a 2" target area and get a lung.

By luck I stumbled onto my first pope and young entry after 22 years of hunting. It was definently something I will never forget.