Shot placement for black bears.

[billythekidrock]

Tried for quite a while to copy the picture in this old post from another forum. It is a target picture of a bear's heart and lungs from facing front. Maybe someone else could have better results getting this shot placement guide here?
http://www.marlinowners.com/forums/index.php/topic,30878.0.html

This one?

[Airnip]

That would be it. Seems much better than the "Bear Attack" book's crecent shaped necklace picture. Thanks again.

[Huntbear]

From that pictures angle, you are already about to be lunch, because you are on your back on the ground, and the bear is giving thanks for food!!!!   

Billy, awesome write up.  Thanks, it will come in handy as soon as I can find a bear after Aug. 1.

[bearpaw]

I have to pieces of advice on shooting bear....

1. Try to break a shoulder and get the lungs with your first shot.
2. If the bear starts to get back up shoot him again until he stays down.

Every time I violate those rules it seems I regret it. This spring a guy shot a bear and it went down, it was getting up and moving around some, he was going to shoot again and like an idiot I said "I think he's gonna die." The guy hesitated and the bear got up and made it out of sight in a split second. I found blood in a half dozen places as far as a couple hundred yards away and then as usual it dried up. I still regret that remark. We shot another bear two days later but I do not like anything to get away wounded. Through the years this has happened a few times, if we would have just put another round in them it would have been for the best.

[SHANE(WA)]

Always shoot till down and not moving. Better take both lungs or kiss the bear goodbye. Bear can survive on a collapsed lung. I shot a bear years ago that just dropped rolled 10 yards and came to rest againt a tree, motionless for 5 min kept watching nothing. Bear appeared to be dead, started to pack up and make my way over and bear is up going down the hill, dragging a shoulder. Never saw the bear again

[Redstar]

Good info, thank you for sharing.

[bowhiker]

Good information there. I'm still looking to shoot my first one.

[zackmioli]

great info thanks!

[bearhunter59]

both bears I've shot have been head shots...right in the side of the head...nice big whole out the other side....dropped and never moved again....about an inch or two below the ear did it both times....they don't tend to go far whenyou blow their brains out...last one was a 225yrd shot...one shot...one kill.

[westsideoutdoorsman]

In 98' I was 16 and shot my 2nd bear.  Wasn't the greatest shot placement (back shot) as he was about 220+ yards off.  Head over heels he came down that hill towards us into the deep cover, heard some heavy wheezing and brush crashing as we figured he was on his way out.  I took my friends advice to go up the hill and follow the blood trail down instead of going to where we heard him ... 2 days later after 3 of us had been up there with machettes making trails and trying to recover him we found him, torn apart with only the hide left.  To this day he is the only animal I've put down that I wasn't able to recover and harvest. YUK

[boneaddict]

I honestly think bear are the toughest critters to put down.

[rasbo]

they get two no matter what,third one is for me

[westsideoutdoorsman]

they get two no matter what,third one is for me

Yea that's a good rule to follow.  I'm not a big fan of waiting for them to die, in my opinion their departure should be quick and as painless as possible. I like to follow the first up quickly with a second, and that third for you rasbo, if they're still breathing. 

[ctwiggs1]

Thanks for posting this Billy!  Good info

[Gutpile]

Great thread but I went a different way in 09.