Black Bear Hunt Failure (experience... thank you Rob :) )

[ChromeArty]

You missed. And honestly....you have no idea what you're doing.

There is always one...

I assume you started out knowing everything? My post clearly states I'm a novice... so your powers of deduction aren't that impressive my friend. I'm glad that you are the exception to the rule in this thread

 

[juliansk]

I hit a black bear at about 80 yards into the shoulder with a 139grain SST in 7RM. Tracked him for 6 hours and never found him. Bullet selection is huge.
Went to monometals (Barnes TSX 150 gr) and have my looked back. Dropped one this year at 30 yards, he dropped, rolled over and expired.
Bears are tough. Thick bones, thick shoulders, low blood pressure. Be sure of good vital shot placement with a good bullet. Worry less about the calibre, most will do the job. Calibre will just pick the shooting parameters.

 

[ChromeArty]

Good chance it was this^^^. This exact thing happened to my on a prone shot at a large whitetail at 50 yards. Half inch diameter branch less than 2 yards from the muzzle that was not not visible in the scope.

I wish I had the excuse... but I don't... there was nothing in the way.

I did have a clean rifle... and when I checked to see if my rifle was out of zero, the first two shots were high and right a bit... as someone previously mentioned, I may have taken the copper fouling outta my barrel that I was zeroed on... I dunno, only excuse I got. I don't feel inwas overly excited... and missed due to boar fever... but maybe. I just have to hope he is okay. I'm heading out tomorrow to the same spot to redeem myself

 

[ChromeArty]

I hit a black bear at about 80 yards into the shoulder with a 139grain SST in 7RM. Tracked him for 6 hours and never found him. Bullet selection is huge.
Went to monometals (Barnes TSX 150 gr) and have my looked back. Dropped one this year at 30 yards, he dropped, rolled over and expired.
Bears are tough. Thick bones, thick shoulders, low blood pressure. Be sure of good vital shot placement with a good bullet. Worry less about the calibre, most will do the job. Calibre will just pick the shooting parameters.

Thank you for your post... I will continue reading and learning. Cheers brother

 

[emerson]

You won't find an experienced hunter that doesn't have at least one story similar to yours.

I once had a turkey dead in my sights. 25 meters away. Pulled the trigger and he flew off. I never found him.

I’ve been there with a bear too. There are many more misses by experienced hunters than anyone hears about.

 

[ljones]

I wish I had the excuse... but I don't... there was nothing in the way.

I did have a clean rifle... and when I checked to see if my rifle was out of zero, the first two shots were high and right a bit... as someone previously mentioned, I may have taken the copper fouling outta my barrel that I was zeroed on... I dunno, only excuse I got. I don't feel inwas overly excited... and missed due to boar fever... but maybe. I just have to hope he is okay. I'm heading out tomorrow to the same spot to redeem myself

2 possibilities come to mind. Have you practiced shooting prone? Were you resting the rifle on a bipod? On a jacket or pack, off a log or hard surface? A hard rest or the way you shoulder the rifle in prone position as opposed to the position you were in sighting in the rifle can have a dramatic effect on point of impact. I once rested a rifle on a railway track and shot at a bear when I was new to hunting years ago, and the bounce of the rifle stock off the hard rail at the recoil, and the less than ideal way I shouldered the stock in that position caused me to clean miss a broadside shot at about the same distance you shot at. It also caused my less than stellar quality scope to mess with the internals. Went to the range the next day and the shots were bouncing all over the target sometimes 8-10" between shots. Scope was toast. I learned that day that there is no such thing as an easy dead to rights shot, that you have to practice from all positions and learn to take those factors into account, and to buy quality gear and not go cheap and never use a hard rest. Even padding of the rifle sling under the forestock on a harder surface can make all the difference for the better. Not sure if this or any of those factors influenced the results of your shot. But I have also since then taken prone, head on shots, even head on head shots on bear and they have been bang, flop results.

And as already stated while we try as hard as we can to never miss with the first shot, it happens. There is also the saying, that if a hunter claims to have never missed, it is likely they either haven't shot at many animals or are a liar...

 

[TedNugent]

Why is this a failure?
Does one measure success by the kill or the experience of the hunt and the harvest and cut tag?
I would suggest you learned something and a failure it is not.
This might be a case of boar fever and a clean miss and Yogi just got an education.
Bear 1 - CA 0.
There is always tomorrow and the only easy day was yesterday.
Rob

I strongly agree with this sentiment. Could have been a lot worse and you still have. A tag to fill.

 

[tigrr]

Another thing I have found is grass pulls a bullet down. Standing shot hit middle of target and prone shot hit 6 inches low. All because of some standing hay in the flight path.
And another thing is a bullet hits higher on target when it is raining. Try it, you will be surprised. test best done at 500 - 1000 yards.

 

[brybenn]

Ive seen bears hit with 180gr bulelts from a 300wm and act like nothing happened. It walked off about 70 yards before dropping.
It sucks to say but #### happens. That bear probably became a meal for scavengers
Its not the caliber. Ive put 2 600gr 12ga slugs thru a bear and 3 guys spent 6 hours looking and never recovered it. It dropped to the first shot as it quatered to me when it got up the front left leg was flopping around. The second slug hit far back in the ribs and was recovered in the sand bank behind him. No blood other then the spray from the exit and a covered fallen tree he climbed over about 100 yards from where i shot him. It still haunts me as i have the slug in my gun room.
Ive dropped bears with my 2506 in their tracks with 120gr bullets.
A bad shot with a bigger caliber is still a bad shot. A bigger heavier flat bullet may have broken thru the brisket better though.
Either way. You hunt long enough its bound to happen again. The fact it bothers you is what counts. Itll make you a better man

 

[FGR]

Turning into thread about misses lol. Many yrs ago I shot at a whitetail in the bush, standing 40 yard slam dunk no visible obstructions. Next shot was running flat out in the open 200 yards and piled him up. Was shocked to find the first shot hadn't even touched him, point being many things can go wrong without knowing what. I still can't explain that first miss.

 

[Eagleye]

On one foggy morning, 35+ years ago, I was on a ridge, looking for mule deer.
As the fog began to lift, I spotted the silhouette of a deer on the next ridge, about 125 yards away.

As he became more visible, I could see he was a decent buck, and the silhouette was
fairly distinct, so I took a rest on a small birch, and sent a bullet his way.
He turned and calmly walked out of sight into the gully behind him. I was absolutely certain this was
a dead deer, so waited the mandatory 20 mins, and as the fog had closed in a bit again,
I wandered over to where he had been standing.

His tracks were quite visible in about 2' of snow, but.......No Hair, no blood, only his tracks
walking down into the gully. I followed his tracks for about ¾ mile. He did not bleed, nor did he show
any indications of a hit. He stopped several times (probably to check ) but his steps showed no
sign of any injury.

To this day, I have no idea how I missed that buck. It looked like a "slam-dunk", but the fact is, I
missed somehow. I was not a novice at the time either, I had hunted for at least 15 years prior.
It can happen, OP, so go back, and make the shot count. Dave.

 

[Suther]

Another thing I have found is grass pulls a bullet down. Standing shot hit middle of target and prone shot hit 6 inches low. All because of some standing hay in the flight path.
And another thing is a bullet hits higher on target when it is raining. Try it, you will be surprised. test best done at 500 - 1000 yards.

What? Can you please explain this? How could rain - which if anything adds a downward force on the bullet - cause it to hit higher??

 

[ironsighter]

I lost my first bear. Was sure I hit him. Spent hours looking for him. Ended up with heat stroke and injuries roaming in brutal dead-fall.

No blood. No fur. No bear. It was a huge cinnamon, too. It still bugs me to this day. Pretty sure I missed, but there's no way of knowing for sure.

As Ray says "it's the f&$king way she goes, Ricky - the f&$king way she goes."

Have taken bears since then, with my .270 win. None went more than 10 yards.

 

[ChromeArty]

I lost my first bear. Was sure I hit him. Spent hours looking for him. Ended up with heat stroke and injuries roaming in brutal dead-fall.

No blood. No fur. No bear. It was a huge cinnamon, too. It still bugs me to this day. Pretty sure I missed, but there's no way of knowing for sure.

As Ray says "it's the f&$king way she goes, Ricky - the f&$king way she goes."

Have taken bears since then, with my .270 win. None went more than 10 yards.

Man o man! Sounds like you definetly did everything in your power to recover that animal! Hat's off!

Ps... Ray

 

[ChromeArty]

On one foggy morning, 35+ years ago, I was on a ridge, looking for mule deer.
As the fog began to lift, I spotted the silhouette of a deer on the next ridge, about 125 yards away.

As he became more visible, I could see he was a decent buck, and the silhouette was
fairly distinct, so I took a rest on a small birch, and sent a bullet his way.
He turned and calmly walked out of sight into the gully behind him. I was absolutely certain this was
a dead deer, so waited the mandatory 20 mins, and as the fog had closed in a bit again,
I wandered over to where he had been standing.

His tracks were quite visible in about 2' of snow, but.......No Hair, no blood, only his tracks
walking down into the gully. I followed his tracks for about ¾ mile. He did not bleed, nor did he show
any indications of a hit. He stopped several times (probably to check ) but his steps showed no
sign of any injury.

To this day, I have no idea how I missed that buck. It looked like a "slam-dunk", but the fact is, I
missed somehow. I was not a novice at the time either, I had hunted for at least 15 years prior.
It can happen, OP, so go back, and make the shot count. Dave.

Thank you so much Dave! I was out this morning, will get some pics up as soon as I can!

 

[Red_Mist]

From what you describe .... you missed. Trigger time and shooting at animals in the field are two very different things. Nothing wrong with a 270. You should feel good about having missed the shot and carry on, still plenty of time for you to cut your tag this season.

 

[Ganderite]

You were shooting prone. The barrel is lower than the scope. I wonder if the bullet hit something below your line of sight? I hit the roof of my car once due to that kind of parallax error.

A 130 gr 270 bullet would miss by a long way if it hit something close to the muzzle.

 

[Papaclaude]

Even 130's are fine. Black bears aren't hard to kill. I've shot some with 7.62X39 and 125's. Brisket shot shouldn't be an issue, either. The lack of blood could be due to lack of an exit wound. It's one of the problems with a facing shot - bullets often stay inside. If you missed him, no problems. If you killed him but didn't find him (where I would place my money if I were a betting man), he's feeding wolves, crows, etc., so, as Disney would say "The Circle of Life " (gag, puke). The only problem is if it's wounded but survived. Those can get to be a problem, but you did everything you could, and then some.

If you want to give your conscience a final go - take a ride out there and be on the lookout for crows. They may still be around feeding on the carcass.

Don't let it get you down - eventually, it happens to an awful lot of people.

 

[300wmxcr2]

My first elk should have been at 200yds 5 years ago. Was hunting with my brother in the Grand Prairie area, was a very cold year with about 8 inches of snow down. We located a heard of about 60 animals with 1 6x6 bull about 10 smaller bulls. I crept in and out from the edge of the field in the dark everyday for 5 days and lay in the snow in minus 20 waiting for a shot at that bull. When they were on the other side of the field I watched this bull twice a day out in the open but when ever they were entering or leaving the field he was in the middle of the heard and I had no shot, all I could do is watch him walk away.

The last morning we were able to hunt the elk left the field later than normal strung out over 100yrds and were leaving closer to the corner of the field I was in. I watch the bull in the scope as the walked and fed, cows were in front of him most of the time. At about 235 yards the bull stepped clear of the cows broad side, I rested the 300wm against a small maple put the cross hairs just behind his shoulder and pulled the trigger and I seen his antlers drop out of the scope. I had just shot my first elk, it was the most awesome feeling ever.

The herd headed out of the field and I started jogging up the field the small rise, the elk was just behind it. I couldn't see his legs when I shot. When I crested the rise there was nothing there. I couldn't believe it, I watch his horns go down in the scope when I shot. By this time my brother was texting me asking how it felt to finally get one. I call and told him what happened and he headed over, we checked the field for about an hour looking for any blood or hair. Because there were so many animals and they left the field on a few different trails we figured we cold follow each trail and pick up the blood. We walked each trails about for a kilometer where they came together and split apart
and never found any signs of blood.
I have lived that shot over and over in my mind thousands of time and still to this day can not understand how I missed, I've made similar shots probably 30 time over the last 35 years of hunting and haven't missed. The only thing I can think I seen was when I pulled the trigger he put his head down and that was his horns dropping. We went back and looked again that afternoon and still nothing. The next weekend my brother was in the area and said that the herd still had a 6x6 bull, I hope it was him.

I will never forget that morning, cause Sh%$ happened! And it will again.

 

[brybenn]

Bears are not hard to kill but hit them wrong and they wont stop. I hit a 185lb ish dry sow at 164 yards with a 405 gr remington flatnose jacketed bullet froma 458wm. Muzzle velocity was 2400fps. She was running away from me up a ridge to thick spruce. She went over a giant dead log as i shot. It was a surprise to see her as i walked in to my bait. It was a snap shot but she dropped. I watched for several mins. Nothing so i drank a coke and lit a cigar topped up my rilfe and took my gear back to the quad about 400 yards away. I drove back thru the clear cut and sown the slope parked. Finished said cigar. Went over to claim my prize and i cant discribe the sinking feeling when my prize waa a pile of dead sticks. No bear. No blood. No hair. No clue what happened. I grabbed my rifle and looked around in circles. Finally i climbed the hill and went into the thick spruce and i heard the nastiest growl ive ever heard. Made my 160lb mastif sound like a puppy. The branches moved not 10 yards in front of me and i fired a shot. All went silent and i backed out slowly. Down the slope and went up wind and lit another cigar. When i dinished it i headed straight back toward where she growled from and as i crested the hill she broke thru a spruce limb not 3' from my muzzle broadside. Ahe took the 5000ftlb plus energy hit the ground and got back up one the one remaining front leg and snarled. I racked the gun and watched her fall over. The bullet became a bomb. It took the front leg clean off at the joint. Ripped a football size hole thru the chest and her heart literally fell out of her chest. Thw most amazing part was the 9"×5" entrance hole above her back hips that broke 8" of vertibre and continued forward breaking all the ribs but 1 on her right side and smashing thru the front right shoulder flattened out qider than a twoonie against rhe chest hide. Ruined the backstrap completely and even tore into the intestines. There was no blood to be found up untill the 2nd hit. I even went back tracking and found the nice tree i shot. She went more than 50 yards and survived for nearly 45 minutes
They can be tough critters and if hit wrong it dont matter what you use.
I also dont like to admit it but i once took a shot at a small bear running down a logging road. It rolled 3 times and took off faster then a kentucky pure bred. Hours searching revealed a 1" branch with a 1/2" notch. About 10' behind the bears tracks lay the evidence of a redirected bullet. I still dont know what made him roll. Maybe he took a victory roll maybe that bullet wizzing passed him scared him that much. Ill never know