Post by: MerriamMagician on September 09, 2013, 10:56:33 AM
Exact same thing happened last week to my hunting partner. He shot the bear at only 40 yards with his 270. Another good broadside hit. The bear was hit hard and sidestepped and rolled twice before scampering his way straight towards the creek bottom. It was another fruitless trail of no blood or anything. Nearly 3 hours after starting to track, we caught another lucky break as we just happened to see a black spot under a blowdown. It was the bear, and he was laying faceup under the branches just like my bear. He had so many pine needles on him it nearly completely camoed him up.
Just two days later I used the same 270 of my buddies to shoot a large bear feeding in a clear cut. It was a 300 plus yard shot, but appeared to be another solid hit. The bear flinched and rolled before tearing off into the dark timber. We could hear him grunting as he blazed into the bottom. Once again we went to the spot of the hit and began the tracking process. And again no trace of blood or anything. Unfortunately this time we couldnt make the recovery. We searched for hours then came back twice the next two days. Nothing at all! :dunno:
I am curious to know what other bear hunters use as their weapon choice. I have heard that all the fat on bears often plugs the wound and that is why there is no blood trail. Would using archery equipment or simply larger caliber guns say in the 7mm and 300 ultra mag range be a better option to open up larger wounds and help to leave a decent blood trail? I just think I owe it to the bears to use a more effective weapon so we can recover the bears we hit. :tup:
Post by: Gringo31 on September 09, 2013, 10:59:57 AM
Post by: headshot5 on September 09, 2013, 11:23:03 AM
I know a couple years ago there was a thread about shooting them higher up on the body (shoulder blade shot), and it sounded like it puts them down pretty good by breaking the shoulder bone. I have never tried this shot, but there was an extensive thread on it, i'll have to see if I can find it.
Post by: Jonathan_S on September 09, 2013, 11:31:37 AM
Also, keep shooting until they're not moving.
Post by: h20hunter on September 09, 2013, 11:47:28 AM
Post by: MerriamMagician on September 09, 2013, 12:35:50 PM
Post by: h20hunter on September 09, 2013, 12:38:23 PM
Post by: headshot5 on September 09, 2013, 12:47:13 PM
Post by: Machias on September 09, 2013, 05:37:27 PM
Post by: Windwalker on September 09, 2013, 10:43:30 PM
Under normal circumstances a bear is easy to DRT. That said..
Saw a bear with a blown apart busted shoulder side hill half a mile before holing up under some brush. (We were in the middle of a road trip out in BFE going through an Indian reservation….middle of the summer and had no gun or way to reach it and put it out of its misery.) From what we could ascertain, no vehicles within miles and the terrain what it was ..and out of season for regular folks would guess it had traveled quite a distance. Outward appearances, it traveled slower in obvious pain but with 3 good legs didn’t show signs of giving up and being dead any time soon.
Think their determination sways the outcome. Have DRT’d several with 300 Win mags and 270s with factory and hand loads and 44 mag. Pistol.
Still to this day –after many years it pains me to recall the loss of the largest bear I ever laid eyes on with a good shot at 250 yards from the very same load out of the very same 300 Win. Mag. Saw the shot hit and I know he was dead. He didn’t though and after a down hill fall he got up and went up over the hill to who knows where. Hunted for that bear 4 full days every day till it was too dark to see. Wasn’t because of it being big but the fact I lost it that pains me. Wife lost one to a 270 at 25-35 yards walking uphill towards her on the trail she was on -center chest shot. Should have been the focal point of a smoldering hole. We hunted that one for 2 days thru impenetrable brush. She practiced a lot and is a dam good shot. For all purposes that bear should have been DRT. We were sick at the loss – not because we didn’t harvest a bear but we want to know the animal is not suffering and I personally cannot stomach wasted game. She DRT’d another bear with that same gun at 200 yards. Same factory load..bang flop. So why didn’t the other drop? No idea. A clear shot both times. I never found a trace of blood on the first.
One twig can spell disaster and yes I have seen some with rolls of fat that left squat for a blood trail for quite a distance. Eventually- with luck have found where it built up and blew out a coagulated glob. These are from well placed shots. Have thankfully never been involved with anyone tracking a gut shot.
Is there a magic recipe- maybe...maybe not. Yea you can brain it at close range..but keep in mind the ramifications are far worse if Murphy steps in. Nasal and jaw shots are not what you want to contend with. Hollow points- DO NOT SHOOT A BEAR IN THE HEAD WITH HOLLOW POINTS. Has it been done successfully…probably. Advice is like you-know-what. (This was before the information age of the internet) And yea there is quite a story behind it- turned out well but got pretty dicey…actually really dicey and can say with reasonable certainty no one privy to that situation will ever carry hollow points bear hunting. A hollow point 44 mag will pancake at point blank and skid off a skull. And it seems to make them angry…very angry when you do that..so take my advice and don’t do that.
Practice, practice, practice, and keep shots within the realm of reason and limiting to the known ability of you and design parameters for optimum expansion using a well constructed bullet, shot placement will limit the need to trail. Just because you can see it and hit it doesn’t necessarily mean the bullet will deliver the means for a clean kill. Put the largest well constructed bullet through the vitals at a distance the bullet is designed to expand in an open area so you won’t lose the track and bada boom. Unfortunately if given the opportunity they seem to gravitate to areas where only a mink can get through the brush and crawl into a hole.
Post by: Machias on September 10, 2013, 06:25:18 AM
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on September 12, 2013, 04:39:41 PM
Post by: Houndhunter on September 12, 2013, 07:07:44 PM
Post by: Ductsquatch on September 19, 2013, 04:35:57 PM
Post by: 7mmstalker on September 19, 2013, 10:16:38 PM
The spine was nearly the size of a B Ball bat, but had only a pencil sized entry hole and no exit at all.
A 308 should be plenty for Black Bear, but if you already have another rifle that will throw an equal weight bullet with higher velocity it couldn't hurt. Should make a bigger hole on the way out, and break bones more violently.
Post by: scree on September 21, 2013, 09:03:00 PM
With a rifle, breaking the shoulder makes a lot of sense to me. Bullet construction has come a very long way in the last few years and can make a substantial difference. That is not to say that shot placement is not even more important but it all factors in. I guess my thoughts are a larger caliber rifle with a premium bullet are not sure fire but certainly would help.
Post by: Crunch14 on September 23, 2013, 11:53:39 AM
Headshot5 and h20hunter: Do you think a 180 grain nosler partion bullet from a 308 is good for breaking bone or should I consider a different bullet?
I use those in my .30-06 as well as my Dad. They are awesome. We've never had an animal take more than a few steps. Bear, Elk, Deer all have dropped pretty much in place.