Question about bears?

[Big TULE]

O.K. i have never hunted bears untill today. My brother in-law and i were up scouting for elk and deer. And in one clear cut we had 5 mature elk 4 calfs 4 mature deer and a fawn. After watching them for a half hour (we were down wind) we spotted a bear. Well my brother and i deliberated about it for a minute, i had my 300 win mag and he didn't bring his rifle. Now we were thinking it would be about a 400 yard pack out up hill with no pack boards and no way to do anything to it. Well we figured we would get it out if we had to be up there all night. The reason why is because it was the biggest bear either one of us has sceen. My guess was 350 lbs. beautiful black shiny coat. Well i settled into my rest, was shaking a little bit. never shot at a bear before. Took my breaths to calm down. And squeezed the trigger. Whamo..... Well the bear didn't go down, it didn't flinch. It ran right at us for about 25 yards and couldn't get a good shot at it. then it turned and split. Well it was gone to the big timber and it was time to go start tracking it. But what we didn't find was blood or any tracks. This was at 7 this morning and at 4 this after noon and about 4 miles zig zagging in the woods we found nothing. Now my question would be if you were shooting 180 grain nosler partitions and you hit said bear would you expect it to go down or show signs of being hit? I feel like crap right now because we found no sign of anything and i am not sure i hit it or not but we had to look untill we could look no more. I am a good shot and i had a good rest but my distance judging is kind of rusty. Croshairs were centered at the center of the shoulder and i am zeroed at 200 yard, bear was about 250-300 yards at a slight decline in slope. Anybody have any words of encouragement???

[ZACKYDAD]

Big Tule, I'm gonna say maybe you got a little Buck Fever. You sound like your an experienced hunter,I certainly would've taken more than a few breaths to calm down.Man you must of been excited.I would've been shaking.I believe there would've been some sort of sign of blood,with the kinda load you were shooting.Good luck

[skein]

Big Tule,

First off, let me say I appreciate the time you spent looking for the bear, or for signs that you hit him. None of us wants to wound an animal and leave it, especially not a bear.

I suspect you may have shot over him. Here's why:

Bears are hard, hard, hard to judge, size-wise. He may have looked big because he was closer than you extimated. Were you able to pace off the distance between the animal and the shot? That, too, is just an estimate, but it helps give you a picture of actual distance. Sometimes it's just not possible though.

Another thing. Shooting down (or up for that matter) requires us to aim lower than we would on level ground. If you underestimated the distance and held right on, you could easily have shot right over him. The 300 WM has a pretty flat trajectory, and combined with his being a little closer than you thought *and* shooting downhill, that round could easily have carried over him. Maybe not much, but enough. That would explain why he ran right toward you - he was running from the sound of the bullet impact *behind* him. Remember, he would hear that way before he would hear the report from the rifle.

In reading your post I kind of discounted the "buck-fever" possibility, because you purposefully stilled your breathing and readied yourself. And I believe you when you say you are a pretty good shot.

I think there's every chance you shot over him.

My 2 cents.

Skein

[Big TULE]

Hey skein, we thought i might have shot over him but we wern't sure. Couldn't really walk it off, kind of up and then down and back up and back down like little benches or fingers in a clear cut. Yeah i had a little bit of buck fever at first, But i lowered my rifle and took some breaths and waited for a broadside shot. The bruin was walking away from me at first, i saw it sit down so i knew i could relax, as soon as i put the rifle back up he was broadside with his head down. But i do not think i hit him and that really bothers me. I have had one shot kills on bulls at longer range off handed. So using a rest i figured i would be dead on. guess i was wrong.

[ 08-18-2002, 07:57 PM: Message edited by: Big TULE ]

I have seen black bears hit by 338's run 100 yards and die. Go back and track your bear.

[tailchaser]

A lot of times when I've seen a bear get hit especially when he's not at attention, he'll roll. Then he'll get up sometimes, but I would say 90% of the time that first bullet takes them off of their feet for a moment. I also shoot a .300 mag, and when I hit them with the 180 grain ballistic tips, you know when they get smacked. The sound is distinct by a big whop, not a crack usually. But to answer your question, yes there usually is a difference when you hit them.

tc

[Don Becker]

I'd say Skein has it analyzed just about right . . . . but, (and you've probably already thought about this) at your very next opportunity (before your next hunt) be certain to check that zero just on the off-chance you might have gotten your scope knocked-off center.

[Big TULE]

Will be at the range on Wed. Thanks guys i feel better now knowing that i did not hit him.

[kodiakfisher]

I agree bears will show some sign of being hit. A flinch and a look at the spot where hit a roll over or something. To just look back and run towards you really seems like you missed and shot over. The problem with distances is we look at the amount of land between us and figure that is about 300 yds. Our eye adds in a dip in the land to our yardage estimate. The bullet uses as the crow flies for distance. . If you spent several hours looking for a sign of the bear being hit sleep well it happens occasionaly and looking for three days will not produce a bear that has been missed. There will be somebody that will I would have looked for a week for that bear. We are human and make mistakes. If the bear is dead that just means a coyote or wolf or other critters just scored the animal surely didn't go to waste. You have done due justice.

Kodiakfisher,

There is no waste in nature. I just don't like to hurt anything for no reason. That is why I quit bear hunting. I did take many friends out after I quit shooting them and have seen over 30 killed. Once in a while they will react other than running but the only one that reacted alot was shot with an arrow. The bear tore up the fletching sticking out of its side and the broad head tore up his heart and lungs. This bear only went 10 feet before dropping.

With the exception of the ones with broken sholders all of the others (both brown and black) took off running when hit. A small diameter, light bullet does not make a big exit wound in a bear and there might not be a blood trail. One thing that almost all of the bear that I have seen shot did was s h i t as they were leaving.

[ 08-19-2002, 05:08 PM: Message edited by: Keta ]

[birdhunter]

Bear roll when they are hit. Granted, I hunt fairly steep country for bears, but I've shot or seen shot about 10 bears, and every one that was hit rolled. They also bleed like a stuck pig. My last bear left a highway of blood when it went down the hill. Later in the fall when they get more fat on them, you'll find less blood, but this time of year they should still leave a good trail. I also agree with Keta, bears **** when hit too. If you saw that thing take off running and didn't see any reaction and never found any blood, you probably didn't hit it.

[Dogfish]

The bear I got this year also rolled with a chest shot to the lungs, but it got right back on its feet and kept on going uphill. The second hit got him in the back leg as he was moving uphill and that seriously slow him down. Even after two solid hit it still managed to travel another 30 yards.

Three rules.

1. Use a great bullet, mine was a Barnes X all copper hollow point. Leave the Federal classics at home.

2. Know your range. I used a range finder to scout my shots before the bear appeared.

3. Keep shooting until you see it go down if you believe you hit it at all.

Good job tracking after the bear. Mine left a blood trail a full six inches wide in places. The leg wound actually bled much more than the chest wound.

Like I posted I have seen many bears (the bag limit was two per year) just run off and die about 100 yards away from where they were hit. '06's, 300's, 338's, and 375's it didn't seem to matter. Bears won't drop unless bone is broken. Not much blood trail unless there is a large exit wound.

[ 08-19-2002, 12:43 PM: Message edited by: Keta ]

[kampy]

You missed. Better a missed shot than an ill placed shot. It happens. Shake it off. The next time you may settle a little better in. Great to hear you spent the time to verify a hit or miss.

Big TULE,

If I had read this I would have said that you probably missed. They usually run straight.
You did the right thing looking as hard and long as you did for the possibly wounded bear.

"It ran right at us for about 25 yards and couldn't get a good shot at it. then it turned and split."

Dogfish, birdhunter and tailchaser,

As for rolling, are you shooting these bears on steep ground? I have never seen one do
this.

Dogfish,

The blood trail from your bear was probably due to a severed artery in the leg from the second shot. Chest shots with small caliber bullets (.308 or smaller) don't bleed much.

[tailchaser]

Yes, the ones I've shot have been in some pretty good size canyons and almost always has some good slope to them. I've been on four hunts this year that we've gone 4 for 4 on bears and all of them rolled after the initial hit. Some did get up, some didn't, but definitely a good reaction.

tc

[birdhunter]

Keta,

Yeah the country I hunt is fairly steep, but hit elk or deer in it seem to run a little ways before they go down. All the bears went down and rolled. Like tailchaser said, some got up and went a little ways and some stayed down after they came to a stop, but they all rolled. Very distinct reaction.

The hit must disorentate them. All of my bears were on grass flats at tide water.