Bear situation...

1899

1899

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Bear hunting experts, I have a question. Let's say you shoot a bear, while it is standing broadside at about 100 yards or so. It instantly drops. After about 5-10 seconds it bellows and rolls over. Then it gets up stumbles and drops again. Bear gets up goes about 5 feet or so and drops. It gets up again and jumps into the brush. Upon inspecting the first place it dropped, you see lots of blood. At the second spot not so much. But the bear is not there. You wait 15 minutes and start tracking, but there is very little blood to follow. Where was it hit? I have an idea, but am not sure since I don't have any substantial bear hunting experience. What do you think?
 
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I'm going to guess you hit it a little high, above the lungs yet well enough below the spine too. Dropped the bear but maybe not fatal.

Bears also have so much fat that very often fat will close up a wound after the initial shot.
 
Demonical said:
I'm going to guess you hit it a little high, above the lungs yet well enough below the spine too. Dropped the bear but maybe not fatal.

Bears also have so much fat that very often fat will close up a wound after the initial shot.
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That was my guess. I'll find out what happened later tonight, if there bear is found.
 
Sometimes they are hard to put down on the spot. I have seen what you discribe with lungs only, heart/lungs, high lungs, and sholder only shots.

Shooting quarting towards through sholder bone then on through the lungs is the most efective shot and it is even better if you are shooting from above, like a tree stand.

Always keep Shooting till they drop:D
 
sounds like the CNS was disturbed, could be a touch high above the lungs but below the spine

hard to say. too bad the bear wasn't found :(
​
 
1899 said:
Bear hunting experts, I have a question. Let's say you shoot a bear, while it is standing broadside at about 100 yards or so. It instantly drops. After about 5-10 seconds it bellows and rolls over. Then it gets up stumbles and drops again. Bear gets up goes about 5 feet or so and drops. It gets up again and jumps into the brush. Upon inspecting the first place it dropped, you see lots of blood. At the second spot not so much. But the bear is not there. You wait 15 minutes and start tracking, but there is very little blood to follow. Where was it hit? I have an idea, but am not sure since I don't have any substantial bear hunting experience. What do you think?
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You did not shoot again? Why not?

You keep shooting until the bear is dead, as it obviously was not in this case!!
 
Gibbs505 said:
You did not shoot again? Why not?

You keep shooting until the bear is dead, as it obviously was not in this case!!
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Wasn't me hunting. The fellow thought the bear was dead from the way it dropped. He started to walk towards it and muffed a follow up shot on the bear when it got up to move into the brush.:redface:

Plus it was his first bear.

And you didn't really have any input to the question I posted.
 
1899 said:
Wasn't me hunting. The fellow thought the bear was dead from the way it dropped. He started to walk towards it and muffed a follow up shot on the bear when it got up to move into the brush.:redface:

Plus it was his first bear.

And you didn't really have any input to the question I posted.
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Now, that, however, was a fine shot.... :p
 
1899 said:
After about 5-10 seconds it bellows and rolls over. Then it gets up stumbles and drops again. Bear gets up goes about 5 feet or so and drops.?
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I would have shot it again and never let it get up to do that last five feet.
When I am hunting bear I shoot it, chamber another round immediately and get ready for another shot.

Not good going after a wounded bear.....it might be a little upset.

However to answer your question it sounds like it was hit high above the lungs or maybe even below the lungs in the gut but since I didn't see it happen it is really tough to say.

Jacky
 
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But would it instantly drop from a gut shot? I have never seen a gut shot animal drop like that, although it is true that I have only ever seen one animal gut shot. Like TB and Demonical mention, a high shot would give a shock to the spine and cause immobility. My guess is that it then took several seconds to regain its faculties. Anyhow, I'm sure it's a lesson learned.

I had a funny experience on a white tail. It was slinking away and I fired a shot. The bullet went through the tips of the shoulder and OVER the spine. The deer dropped and I thought that was that. It got up about 5-10 seconds later. Luckily I was ready and sent one through his lungs. When an animal drops at the shot, I generally don't keep pumping lead into it.
 
Too bad about the loss of the bear, I am sure the hunter that lost it feels bad enough without being berated by arm chair experts.
I agree with Bartell, sounds like a shot close to the spine, a commom mistake with bears is shooting too high or too far back. But a paunch shot would not likely have caused the reaction described. If the bullet passes close enough to the spinal column the shock/energy can cause the animal to go down temporarily.
I can visualize a scapula shot... this would disrupt the spine and drop it and a damaged shouder could cause the stumbling/tripping after the bear got up.
I am not a bear expert...JBRO.
 
BIGREDD said:
Too bad about the loss of the bear, I am sure the hunter that lost it feels bad enough without being berated by arm chair experts.
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This is why he didn't ask any questions himself.:(

BIGREDD said:
....I can visualize a scapula shot... this would disrupt the spine and drop it and a damaged shouder could cause the stumbling/tripping after the bear got up.
I am not a bear expert...JBRO.
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He did say when the bear got up it fell over onto the side that he shot (left side).
 
Gibbs505 said:
You did not shoot again? Why not?

You keep shooting until the bear is dead, as it obviously was not in this case!!
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I've heard this with bears....just unload!!

We had a similar problem not a couple years ago.

If you don't nail em in the bread basket, they'll bleed and then clot up. And then wander around in a really pissy mood!!
 
I would go back and check for ravens, crows... that bear is toast. Hit high , because pieces of brisket would have been on the ground. The wind was knocked out of the bear. A very close tracking job will lead to it. A backup (friend) would be the way to go, as its hard to scan the ground proper, and watch for a wounded bear. Good luck, and let this be of help to folks out there, a bears vitals are small , and a bear is big. Learning from pictures that show lungs , and heart set inside the body will help a bunch.
Frank
 
jacky said:
I would have shot it again and never let it get up to do that last five feet.
When I am hunting bear I shoot it, chamber another round immediately and get ready for another shot.

Not good going after a wounded bear.....it might be a little upset.

However to answer your question it sounds like it was hit high above the lungs or maybe even below the lungs in the gut but since I didn't see it happen it is really tough to say.

Jacky
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I agree. I usually bear hunt with a semi or a levergun. Fire first shot, chamber another and keep aiming at the bear. Any move and he gets another one simple as that. I am not tracking a wounded bear...
 
I would go back and check for ravens, crows... that bear is toast.
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Ravens and crows never seem that interested in bears for some reason. I've noticed they don't even seem to bug the gut piles as much, i've run across a few that were largely undisturbed and should have been. Maybe it's just a fluke, but it just seems that way.

But i think the answer is likely what you've been given - cns near miss.

There are two other possibilities that come to mind - shoulder hit that didn't take the bear out but dropped him for a bit (hence the stagger on that side). Or possibly a hit to a blood vessel cluster that gave him in effect a minor cardiac arrest. I've heard that can happen, never seen it, but apperently they can recover from that long enough to get into the woods, and die shortly after.

With a bear - shoot till you're sure. They're notorious 'sleepers'
 
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