IF a new Grizzly hunt, what gun

[Rman]

"We saw them about 100 yards facing directly away and down wind. Almost immediately the sow stood up on her hind legs with nose in the air. As soon as she smelled what she wanted to she turned and came right at us with the boar in tow."

That sounds like an another aggressive bear... at around a 100 yards? Say it isn't so, folks?

R.

 

[Southcountryguy]

"We saw them about 100 yards facing directly away and down wind. Almost immediately the sow stood up on her hind legs with nose in the air. As soon as she smelled what she wanted to she turned and came right at us with the boar in tow."

That sounds like an another aggressive bear... at around a 100 yards? Say it isn't so, folks?

R.

Isn’t so.

 

[Buckmastr]

A reminder... this is the quote that kicked off all of this BS; "stopping a charge starts at 100 yards"
How is that any different than "Started about 125 yards away"
Everyone gets so focused on what they want to see... and read into things... like "At no time did I feel in danger at 100 yards"
Then why did you "yelled and stuff but he kept coming so I got ready"? At what distance was that? About 100 yards?
At this point, it doesn't really matter... as the damage has been done, and it has more to do with how forums work than with reality and experience.

The contradictions should be obvious... they are what are being pointed out. Nothing more.

R.

I’d suggest in the future that when myself or anyone gets charged, that the rifle first be thrown into the bush, and a rangefinder deployed. Can you hurt a bear with the rangefinder swing/bonk move? Anyone??

 

[conor_90]

How would you even see the bear if you weren’t in the alpine?

 

[Southcountryguy]

I’d suggest in the future that when myself or anyone gets charged, that the rifle first be thrown into the bush, and a rangefinder deployed. Can you hurt a bear with the rangefinder swing/bonk move? Anyone??

You, sir, have already shown your disdain for bears and how you would probably be happy if they are eradicated. So, salt is out.

 

[Buckmastr]

I like hunting bears. But I just love hunting. So bears shouldn’t feel special. Sir.

 

[Gatehouse]

My last encounter was similar but not the same. My 17 year old son and I ran into a boar courting a sow on our way in to hunt black bear. We took an alternate route to get around them and carried on about our evening. Hiking out we took the same alternate route but they had moved a bit as well. We saw them about 100 yards facing directly away and down wind. Almost immediately the sow stood up on her hind legs with nose in the air. As soon as she smelled what she wanted to she turned and came right at us with the boar in tow.

I yelled and got zero reaction so I fired my rifle into a dirt bank to the side of them. That stopped both of them and then the boar turned and hit the timber. She started coming again. I let another one go into the same bank and she stopped then turned to follow the same direction the boar went. I thought that was the end of it. But within seconds they both came back out of the timber 20 yards from where they went in and started coming again. This time they were closer to a small dam on a nearby creek so I shot again into that small pond creating a fairly large splash. That turned them back into the timber and I didn’t see them after that. By now it is getting pretty dark.

Would I fire warning shots again? Not sure. I had six rounds in my rifle so now I have three, and my son has a full magazine in his rifle. As Gatehouse above I had a line where I was going to shoot for keeps, but there was also two bears so maybe that was foolish. But the sow was the only one that was showing any aggression. He seemed to be just following her. Who knows.

Here they are when we first encountered them.

I think you did well, but I stopped doing "warning shots" decades ago. I don't think the bears know what it is and you have one less round in your gun and the potential to jam it (unlikely as it may be ) But I have seen liots of people jam a bolt gun. I like to say "you can only put one round in the chamber at a time!

The splash likely dissuaded them more than the noise- bears don't really understand noise lime we do. But you got home safe and the bears are all okay! Well done!

 

[Southcountryguy]

I like hunting bears. But I just love hunting. So bears shouldn’t feel special. Sir.

You already said how you shoot black bears for being in your garden and are confused to why people think grizzlies are more valuable. That, sir, shows how you value them.

It’s okay to be fearful of them. Not okay to kill them entirely on this fear.

 

[Buckmastr]

Ok thanks for the lesson.

 

[Gatehouse]

"We saw them about 100 yards facing directly away and down wind. Almost immediately the sow stood up on her hind legs with nose in the air. As soon as she smelled what she wanted to she turned and came right at us with the boar in tow."

That sounds like an another aggressive bear... at around a 100 yards? Say it isn't so, folks?

R.

100 yards away, a bear standing up..she wanted to know what you were. She didn't figure it out so she came in. People forget that grizzlies evolved on the plains, not in the forest. Black bears evolved in the forest. So black bear defense is generally to run, hide. Grizzly defense is to move in. They come in and challenge. Only rarely do they complete the charge. A man with a rifle-doesn't matter if it's a 30-30 or a 50 bmg- can wait to 30 yards and decide. And their potential for a hit at 30 yards is way better than a moving bear at 100 yards.

 

[Gatehouse]

A reminder... this is the quote that kicked off all of this BS; "stopping a charge starts at 100 yards"
How is that any different than "Started about 125 yards away"
Everyone gets so focused on what they want to see... and read into things... like "At no time did I feel in danger at 100 yards"
Then why did you "yelled and stuff but he kept coming so I got ready"? At what distance was that? About 100 yards?
At this point, it doesn't really matter... as the damage has been done, and it has more to do with how forums work than with reality and experience.

The contradictions should be obvious... they are what are being pointed out. Nothing more.

R.

I didn't feel in danger at 100 yards as I know bears can't bite me from 100 yards away. Doesn't mean you shouldn't get ready for the chance that a bear might getr into your danger zone

There is a profound difference between a bear moving towards you and a bear "charging" you.

Honestly, this is pretty simple stuff.

 

[Buckmastr]

I’d imagine having kids with you on a charge adds complexity and increases the urgency to stop the bear before things get up close and personal. I’m not sure I’d want my children hunting alone in pathfinders country. Hard lessons to learn with not a lot of margin for error there.

 

[Rman]

100 yards away, a bear standing up..she wanted to know what you were. She didn't figure it out so she came in. People forget that grizzlies evolved on the plains, not in the forest. Black bears evolved in the forest. So black bear defense is generally to run, hide. Grizzly defense is to move in. They come in and challenge. Only rarely do they complete the charge. A man with a rifle-doesn't matter if it's a 30-30 or a 50 bmg- can wait to 30 yards and decide. And their potential for a hit at 30 yards is way better than a moving bear at 100 yards.

Only pointing out another contradiction... and an another incident that began at 100 yards. Very aware of the behavior. It was mentioned earlier...
R..

 

[pathfinder76]

I think you did well, but I stopped doing "warning shots" decades ago. I don't think the bears know what it is and you have one less round in your gun and the potential to jam it (unlikely as it may be ) But I have seen liots of people jam a bolt gun. I like to say "you can only put one round in the chamber at a time!

The splash likely dissuaded them more than the noise- bears don't really understand noise lime we do. But you got home safe and the bears are all okay! Well done!

I agree 100%.

The gun issue you talk about is probably a better topic than what cartridge for bear. But it’s a topic that would get even further out of hand I suspect

 

[Southcountryguy]

Ok thanks for the lesson.

Actually you gave us the lesson. Thanks!

 

[Rman]

I didn't feel in danger at 100 yards as I know bears can't bite me from 100 yards away. Doesn't mean you shouldn't get ready for the chance that a bear might getr into your danger zone

There is a profound difference between a bear moving towards you and a bear "charging" you.

Honestly, this is pretty simple stuff.

Isn't this what's been said the whole time?
R.

 

[Southcountryguy]

Only pointing out another contradiction... and an another incident that began at 100 yards. Very aware of the behavior. It was mentioned earlier...
R..

Interestingly the more you comment on this topic the more it seems your experience with bears is limited to identifying them in a hunter education course, am I wrong?

 

[Gatehouse]

Only pointing out another contradiction... and an another incident that began at 100 yards. Very aware of the behavior. It was mentioned earlier...
R..

No contradiction. I said a long timre ago that a bear at 100 yards can't bite you

Isn't this what's been said the whole time?
R.

Yes. A bear at 100 yards is no danger to you.

 

[Rman]

Interestingly the more you comment on this topic the more it seems your experience with bears is limited to identifying them in a hunter education course, am I wrong?

You couldn't be more more wrong if you tried, but you'll keep trying. And keep looking silly. No one wins on these things. That's the real problem.
You need to work on your reading comprehension, and then figure out how a forum works... you have the follow part down pretty good....

R.

 

[Ardent]

This is a recent reclassification when it was realized just how recently the Grizzly came to North America, people were here before Grizzlies.

Unlikely on the humans being here first, the 13,000 year grizzly history in North America was turned on its head in Edmonton of all places. Humans have been here much longer than we used to think, but likely not 55,000-70,000 years. The black bear would have been in for a shock when the grizzlies arrived and took over all the nutrient dense areas.

Up until the early 2000s most scientists thought that grizzlies had not arrived in the middle part of North America until after the last continental Ice Sheets had melted enough to allow passage of bears from Beringia (which included all of modern-day Alaska) through an ice-free corridor along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains (see the maps below)--probably around 13,000 years ago (all of the ages here are corrected for biases in radiocarbon age). However, the discovery of grizzly bear remains near Edmonton, Alberta, dating to roughly 32,000 (or 32k) years ago turned this assumption on its head. Recent analyses of genetic material from North American grizzly bears have reinforced the idea that grizzlies arrived much earlier, probably during the last opening in the Alberta ice-free corridor, prior to closure at the height of the last Ice Age, roughly 55,000-18,000 years ago. Recent research by Chris Stokes and his colleagues suggests that a long-lasting opening between the Crodilleran (to the west) and Laurentide (to the east) continental ice sheets occurred between 80k and 65k years ago, with a possible brief opening again around 55k years ago. So, grizzlies probably arrived--and presumably then persisted--as early as 70k or as late as 55k years ago.