I recommend using a pointy stick. Bears will typically be killed with one solid poke to the eye or nose, although you should be prepared to finish it off with your fists.
Happy hunting.
Carnivorousplantisskeptical.
Why would I jeopardise my reputation as the world’s greatest spaceship pilot by lying?
I hope it wasn’t this very lucky guy.
That isn’t somewhat crazy, that is full blown, certifiable crazy.
I’ve taken black bear with a 12 gauge shotgun using 3 inch rifled slugs. Fairly close range, I wouldn’t have tried it at more than 75 yards or so.
A worked for a guy with three mounted bears in the office. They looked to be 200 lbs. They were smaller than me. I’m 5’-3".
Ditto the .45-70. Sucker might as well be a howitzer. Past 75 yards or so you are aiming almost straight up!*
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- OK, an exaggeration. But look at a ballistics chart for the cartridge. It looks like a rainbow!
And remember, never be down hill from the bear when you shoot and it is reported that the average brown bear can cover 100 feet ( level ground ) in 2 ( two ) seconds from a standing start.
I personally saw a small black bear pull away from a big, fast German Shepard type and the bear was adding distance faster between them than the dog was covering in his running. Don’t poke the bear.
None of my business, I know, but I’m curious.
Down in one? Two? Three? Was it an auto 12, so you were shooting and aiming fast or were you pumping a pump shotgun like your life depended on it?
Be prepared! “The Kids in the Hall - How to Survive a Grizzly Bear Attack”
Down in two,.and I pumped with, let’s call it enthusiasm. I think one would have done it, but didn’t wait to see.
Good plan.
A friend of mine described learning African patois from a fellow student when in the army language school. “Give me the elephant gun.”
“Don’t you want to learn anything else?”
“No, it might be a rabbit running through the grass, but it is going to meet a nitro express.”
Just. Don’t Do. It.
Why?
Because there’s no GOOD reason to do it. Nothing about you will physically change.
Probably faster than when you first saw Barbi Benton when you were 10.
Congratulations on not missing.
What kind of bear, drewder, and what kind of hunting? Are you still-hunting Kodiaks in rain-swept alder or are you using hounds to tree black bears or are you sitting over a bait? All of this is going to make a difference.
Further, and it fits with the title of your post, if not the body, the bullet is going to be as important as the cartridge you use. Depending on the critter, you may need a very tough, slow to expand or non-expanding bullet to get to and through its vital areas. This shouldn’t be too difficult to find, but it should be taken into consideration.
Related to that, use the rifle that you shoot well, not a much larger rifle that you won’t get familiar with because it’s expensive to shoot and pounds your shoulder like a Cuban welterweight. A hit with a .270 in the chest, beats a gut-shot from a full house .45-70. Within reason, of course; you can show me instances where Natives have used .222 Remingtons to harvest Polar Bears, but I still don’t think it’s a good idea.
I found black bear to be really greasy, the one time I tried it. Other people have said it’s delicious. YMMV.
Before I read through all the fun and games ------ lifetime I’ve harvested three black bears. One with a .58 musket, one .45-70, and one with a 8mm. A 06 would be plenty to almost too much. Now if we’re talking brown ------------ there I may want to up the discussion a little. I’m not sure I would go stronger so much as bigger (.45-70, .444) with more of a smack when it hits. But that could just be me.
Bowhunting a bear from an elevated stand with proper broadheads and some skill, no problem. That dude went past bat-shit crazy to dumber than shit. And then some.
All you need is a .22 pistol. Don’t shoot the bear, shoot the friend in the leg. That way you’ll be certain to run faster than him.
I think a 30.06 / .308 would work on a black bear but kind of weak for a brown bear. Good luck trying to run with a .50 cal Barrett.
You don’t need a gun for a polar bear. Just a bag of frozen sweet peas and a shovel. You dig a 6’ diameter hose in the ice, lay out a line of peas around the perimeter of the hole, and wait behind something nearby. Sooner or later, a polar bear will come by to eat some peas. When the bear bends over to take a pea, kick him in the ice hole.
And you should say that last line aloud.
Dynamite, just to be sure. LOL. I know enough about firearms without actually owning one (yet) that 30-06 will take town a black bear, but a grizzly/brown? maybe a few well placed shots, but its personally something I wouldn’t gamble with. I vote for bring in the heavy stuff. You plan on hunting from a distance right?