Hunting Grizzly with the 45-70

[buckbrush]

They used to kill them with spears, or maybe more properly with a lance while distracted by dogs, so why not a rifle?

I will bet there were a lot less Inu's back then, and a lot more (and fatter) Polar bears.

How do you bite the balls on a female bear?

Inu's use sleds to hunt .. Have for a long time. The dogs are kept around to eat all the game they kill, the inu's prefer the food from the Co-Op.

 

[win94luver]

For those of you who have never seen the Inuit hunt polar bear and think it is impossible to place a 22 between the shoulder blades, allow me to explain. When the Inuit see a bear they want, they turn the dogs loose on them. The dogs surround the bear and attempt to bite the testicles, the bear will sit to protect his balls and wheel around on his ass to fight the dogs. The Inuit them move in and spine the bear from behind at very close range while the bear is 100% occupied with the dogs. I have no doubt that even a 22 short can at least temporarily incapacitate the bear with a spine shot from a few meters.

You must think we fell off the hay wagon with Jethro Bodine.

 

[remington jim]

For those of you who have never seen the Inuit hunt polar bear and think it is impossible to place a 22 between the shoulder blades, allow me to explain. When the Inuit see a bear they want, they turn the dogs loose on them. The dogs surround the bear and attempt to bite the testicles, the bear will sit to protect his balls and wheel around on his ass to fight the dogs. The Inuit them move in and spine the bear from behind at very close range while the bear is 100% occupied with the dogs. I have no doubt that even a 22 short can at least temporarily incapacitate the bear with a spine shot from a few meters.

LMFFAO ! Too Good ! RJ

 

[Slamfire]

 

[Boomer]

I'd freeze a big ball of the pure BS being slung on this thread load it into a 70 cal Brown Bess, dump in 1/2 pound of ffg and let fly.

You must think we fell off the hay wagon with Jethro Bodine.

Perhaps you guys need to take a step back, and realize that Douglas has a really nice polar bear full body mount that he took with a bow and a pointy stick; could be he knows something about the subject that you might not. In Ontario dogs are used to tree bears, so they can be shot safely, at close range, so why wouldn't a similar tactic be used by the folks that invented polar bear hunting? Small caliber rifles are overwhelmingly the primary choice of northern subsistence hunters, and the tactics for taking large and potentially dangerous animals reflect that reality. The Inuit are nothing if not pragmatic, so yes, snowmobiles have largely replaced dog teams, but dogs are useful for hunting on the sea ice, since the problem of actually killing a 1000 pound bear, with a .22-250 factory load, persists.

 

[anglia2]

As above , I've spent some time in the North . I've seen some large things killed with little bullets , that's just how it is .

 

[BigUglyMan]

A good friend of mine hunts and guides for polar bear. He uses a 257 Roberts almost exclusively. Occasionally he breaks out his "big gun"...a 25-06. I have to laugh at two of the dumbest posters on this board calling out one of the most experienced. This is our world.

 

[remington jim]

Lots of Moose - Caribou etc shot over the years By FNs too with a 22 Long Rifle ! 1 or 2 thru the lungs and sit back and let them die ! RJ

 

[hoytcanon]

Always a plethora of "armchair critics."

 

[BigUglyMan]

Always a plethora of "armchair critics."

Until hunting season hits...then these threads wither.

 

[hoytcanon]

Until hunting season hits...then these threads wither.

Because the real experts are in the woods, not at a keyboard and the armchair critics at their keyboards have to wait until they return with stories for them to critique...

 

[bearkilr]

Small caliber rifles are overwhelmingly the primary choice of northern subsistence hunters, and the tactics for taking large and potentially dangerous animals reflect that reality.

I think sometimes people mistake that for implying they're somehow better hunters than those of us who use bigger calibers. From my experience, their concern for wounded animals is minimal, if maybe even nonexistent.

 

[BigUglyMan]

I think sometimes people mistake that for implying they're somehow better hunters than those of us who use bigger calibers. From my experience, their concern for wounded animals is minimal, if maybe even nonexistent.

I don't think that a guy shooting a polar bear has some disregard for wounding animals. Generally you want those things dead so they don't get unhappy with you.

 

[bearkilr]

I don't think that a guy shooting a polar bear has some disregard for wounding animals. Generally you want those things dead so they don't get unhappy with you.

I was talking about their practice of using small calibers on all game. Their reason for using small calibers on polar bear isn't because they're more appropriate or they're better hunters but because it's what they have and use on other game as well. Also ammo is generally cheaper for smaller calibers, especially so at remote hamlets.

 

[anglia2]

I was talking about their practice of using small calibers on all game. Their reason for using small calibers on polar bear isn't because they're more appropriate or they're better hunters but because it's what they have and use on other game as well. Also ammo is generally cheaper for smaller calibers, especially so at remote hamlets.

Your last line hit the nail on the head . Most of the Inuit and other indigenous people I knew didn't buy to many different rifles , they used what they had or could afford , and small bore ammo is cheaper . The last time I was up in the eastern Arctic there were a lot of 223's around , the main reasoning I heard was ammo is cheap , if you've ever gone shopping up there , you know how expensive everything is . I'm not passing judgement either way , it's just the way it is . You can take a lot of seal meat with a can of 223 , for a lot less than a similar amount of 06 ammo would cost .

 

[medvedqc]

A good friend of mine hunts and guides for polar bear. He uses a 257 Roberts almost exclusively. Occasionally he breaks out his "big gun"...a 25-06. I have to laugh at two of the dumbest posters on this board calling out one of the most experienced. This is our world.

it is a shame but long gone are the days we listened to the most experienced people will it be for any kind of activities ...

 

[medvedqc]

Your last line hit the nail on the head . Most of the Inuit and other indigenous people I knew didn't buy to many different rifles , they used what they had or could afford , and small bore ammo is cheaper . The last time I was up in the eastern Arctic there were a lot of 223's around , the main reasoning I heard was ammo is cheap , if you've ever gone shopping up there , you know how expensive everything is . I'm not passing judgement either way , it's just the way it is . You can take a lot of seal meat with a can of 223 , for a lot less than a similar amount of 06 ammo would cost .

i had to deal with some guys from Inuvik and we were selling by bulk 22lrs, 303 british, 12 ga. mostly. they used also more 22-250 than 223 but it was few years ago.

geese season was a prime for them and they used a lot of steel bullets, federal kind was their favourite.

always laughed at me with my big guns ...

 

[Boomer]

I was talking about their practice of using small calibers on all game. Their reason for using small calibers on polar bear isn't because they're more appropriate or they're better hunters but because it's what they have and use on other game as well. Also ammo is generally cheaper for smaller calibers, especially so at remote hamlets.

Your last line hit the nail on the head . Most of the Inuit and other indigenous people I knew didn't buy to many different rifles , they used what they had or could afford , and small bore ammo is cheaper . The last time I was up in the eastern Arctic there were a lot of 223's around , the main reasoning I heard was ammo is cheap , if you've ever gone shopping up there , you know how expensive everything is . I'm not passing judgement either way , it's just the way it is . You can take a lot of seal meat with a can of 223 , for a lot less than a similar amount of 06 ammo would cost .

And more rounds are fired at seals and caribou than at polar bears and bowheads. When goods are being flown in at $5 a pound, a .223 makes a lot of sense in arctic hamlets.

 

[anglia2]

And more rounds are fired at seals and caribou than at polar bears and bowheads. When goods are being flown in at $5 a pound, a .223 makes a lot of sense in arctic hamlets.

Exactly . One young guy ( Inuit , great kid ) was our assigned Polar Bear watch . He hunted most things with a 223 , that kid was one of the best shots I've ever seen . He was head shooting seals out to about 200 yards from a boat . Try shooting from a boat that's bobbing up and down , difficult to say the least .