Alaskan Brown Bear.

[eaglesnester]

My advise would be not to undertake that hunt with a front stuffer. Grizz are tough as nails, they can run 35 miles an hour and be on U before U or anybody else can react. (back up shooter)They have heavy dense muscle tissue and dense bone, they require a premium bullet for good penetration and maxim hydrostatic shook. If U do not have real good bullet placement the bear may run off into the devils club. Now ya got a real pucker factor when U have to go in after em. Alaskan Browns can be bullet sponges once they get adrenalized.

 

[Rifleman1776]

It has long been my dream to go on an Alaskan grizz hunt. I would also like to get a home grown (Arkansas) black bear. I read every scrap of paper I can with something about bears and bear hunting on them. Many reports I have read say a bear will turn and run to the side with the source of pain when they are shot. This is not technically a charge. I'm sure if they are coming at you it would look like a charge however. :shocked2:
I have a book my son sent to me when he was living in Alaska about grizzly stories. Some were real 'grizzly' with the outcome. Anyhow, one story is about a very large old griz that was killed after many years of being a suspect man killer. When skinned they found many bullets in his hide, muscles and bones. He had been shot many times but, until then, never killed. One of the bullets was an unusual caliber and was able to be identified as coming from the rifle of a man the bear was suspected of killing many years earlier.
Like others here, if the opportunity ever comes along, I would like to do the hunt with an ml flinter. But, reality is I would probably take a modern rifle in the .338 win. mag. category.
I like tradition. But realize getting mauled and killed is traditional and I ain't that pc.

 

[cynthialee]

If I ever decide that a bear needs to die, I am calling Uncle Dale and his boys and I will have them take care of it.
I don't mind a nice rabbit hunt or a deer hunt, but I am not silly in the brain enough to think I could kill a grizzly with a front stuffer!

 

[Spikebuck]

I'd venture a guess that many a grizzly met it's death to a front stuffer and PRB during the Rocky Mtn Fur Trade Era.....

 

[BrownBear]

I'd venture a guess that many a grizzly met it's death to a front stuffer and PRB during the Rocky Mtn Fur Trade Era.....

Read the L&C Journals. They killed several with roughly 54 cal balls. Of course, they did lots of running, cussing, tree climbing while reloading and firing again. Puts a whole new light on "fair chase" when you're the one being chased! :rotf:

 

[Spikebuck]

No kidding!!! I was going to put on my post that I'd also venture a guess that a few mountain men lost their lives to the grizzly as well!

I guess ol' Hatchet Jack and his Griz came out on the same end of the deal!! Got Jeremiah the 50 Cal Hawken he'd been wanting, so at least someone came out ahead on the deal! :grin:

 

[crockett]

Getting back to the Fred Bear video, I've seen it and it looked like the bear didn't know where the trouble came from, Fred Bear was behind a rock and shot it after it had walked a little past him and when the bear got hit it just ran straight ahead. Comparing the arrow and PRB- I'm not sure which kills faster, I wouldn't assume the PRB is more effective. In either case you sort of have to let the animal bleed out but the lack of sound with the arrow might cause the animal to lie down or drop faster than the blast of a firearm. If you do try it I'd have the guide as a backup in case of a charge.
Quite a few mountain men were nailed by the Grizzy and some died. It seems the situation would be even worse with a Brown bear.

 

[GreyWhiskers]

I remember L & C mentioning how hard the big bears were to kill. Their hunters were getting chased after the shot and that it took multiple shot to bring them down. :shocked2: I believe they said that they started shooting them in the head after that. GW

 

[FishDFly]

When I was in Alaska the owner's brother carried a .44 Mag in a fully enclosed holster. I had read that shooting a brown bear with a pistol was a waste of time.

After I got to know him better I asked him why he carried the pistol. He said when the horses are strung out in a line, if a bear is going to take out a horse it will take out the first horse, his. He said when the horse leaves, so does your rifle. He said the pistol was to get the bear off of him. He said originally he used an open top holster until an alder partially pulled the hammer back and dropped the hammer. He was shot in the leg.

After hearing his explanation, I rode last.

The owner said, having clients chewed up is not good for referrals or repeat business.

 

[AZbpBurner]

Never did see any wisdom in stocking the freezer with meat from anything that regards me as a snack :idunno:

 

[bigted]

well I know nothing about the big brownies down south BUT , they are the same basic bear that we have in the interior ... and friend allow me to state and re-state that the stories are well founded and absolutely real. we have statistics happen here in Alaska every year and this year is no exception. there has been some 3 or 4 mauling's already this year and this is not in the brush !!! it is rite in town or in your own yard sometimes. running/joggers get it every year and they do nothing to enrage the bears.

im not trying to be negative ... however ... please do be educated as to what kinda critter your going after. these bears are awake only a short time every year up here and they are famished all the time so anything that may or may not get in their way or may or may not be in completion for the same food source is an instant enemy to be dealt with in a most direct fashion. these bears do NOT have any fear! they do not do the intimidation tactics! they will not be cought having a fair fight or giving you a chance to escape! everything in their world is constant and dealt with in the same constant fashion ... death and dismemberment... feeding at times on the unhappy victim ... piling brush on the remains for a snack later on ... and laying up on this pile of brush and guarding it with their lives... there is NO back down in these critters.

upon stumbling upon a bear in the midst of guarding his next meal , you will be dealt with in a silent and deadly fashion immediately...no warning and the only thing that will give his position away is the tingling sensation of losing your hide and life.

good luck with your fun bear hunt and when you fail to kill him and he is in the alders ... [which you will have to crawl thru on hands n knees]... you will have a near death experience within the first second you decide to "go in" after your fun exciting hunt animule.

or maybe you will stand there while your poor guide goes in there to kill what you started before an enraged and wounded bear is turned lose on the next unsuspecting person that happens to be in his path.

have a ball and cherish your hunt.

 

[Moose Guide]

how many has old Fred Bear killed with a trusted long bow at distances much closer than need for a BP rifle.

While not a Brown Bear, I heard via people that knew him personally, that Fred's first two or three Polar Bears were put down with the backup rifles when they charged after being hit. So no doubt that bears can and will charge on occasion.

That said, I wonder how many Brown or Grizzly Bears charge firearms (or bow) hunters when hit. Definitely no personal experience, but are the claims of charging bears being overstated here? I don't doubt that if one was wounded and laying up in the thick stuff that a charge would be highly probable when one stumbles on it at close range. I'm asking about at the time of the shot...and let's assume a high-quality shot in the vitals.

My cousin ran into a 400 lb grizz on my brothers property at about 60 yds, when the grizz noticed him it started to advance so he backed up, the bear then started to trot at him so he shot infront of it to warn it at which point the bear charged. His next shot was a killing shot but the bear kept on charging until he stopped it with 2 more well placed shots! Two years later he was stalked by a sow grizz that continued to attack even after her spine was broken(3rd shot), with only her front legs working she couln't quite catch him! Usually they go the other way but when they don't you have big trouble!

 

[stinkyfeet]

how many has old Fred Bear killed with a trusted long bow at distances much closer than need for a BP rifle.

While not a Brown Bear, I heard via people that knew him personally, that Fred's first two or three Polar Bears were put down with the backup rifles when they charged after being hit. So no doubt that bears can and will charge on occasion.

That said, I wonder how many Brown or Grizzly Bears charge firearms (or bow) hunters when hit. Definitely no personal experience, but are the claims of charging bears being overstated here? I don't doubt that if one was wounded and laying up in the thick stuff that a charge would be highly probable when one stumbles on it at close range. I'm asking about at the time of the shot...and let's assume a high-quality shot in the vitals.

My cousin ran into a 400 lb grizz on my brothers property at about 60 yds, when the grizz noticed him it started to advance so he backed up, the bear then started to trot at him so he shot infront of it to warn it at which point the bear charged. His next shot was a killing shot but the bear kept on charging until he stopped it with 2 more well placed shots! Two years later he was stalked by a sow grizz that continued to attack even after her spine was broken(3rd shot), with only her front legs working she couln't quite catch him! Usually they go the other way but when they don't you have big trouble!

This is what makes it a hunt of a lifetime..

 

[cynthialee]

I don't understand it. I totally understand plugging the freezer with meat. But a brown bear is an apex predator that is well able to kill people. That is just a little to even odds for me.
I just don't do fair play with wild life. No thank you.


Good luck and best of wishes in your quest for brown bear.

 

[Dogmann]

I like the way you think! :thumbsup: Muzzle loader...and a flintlock! Now you my friend are raising the bar on tough fair hunt.
I though me hunting with a Ruger #1 single shot in 458 & 45/70 was fair. I love it! Good luck... Please keep us updated! :thumbsup:

 

[Dogmann]

Do you have a link to that old art young film? Cant find it on you tube!....

 

[Carl Fowler III]

How far down the rabbit hole do you wish to go? Live your dream brother...don't let others dissuade you thru their fears...push on! Oh yeah, go with the Kodiak double...see if you can get it rebored to .62 cal...use a conical for the first shot and a patched R.B. as the backup. Remember to take the wind into account, keep your guide upwind of you so his view wont be impaired by the smoke from your shot! I have seen many hunts for brown bear and a lot of them take place on fair weather days...this though could be problematic and could cause you limited time afield! :v

 

[RedFeather]

I refrained from commenting here but the Russian guided hunt was mentioned, so I'll chime in. A couple years ago I went to my class reunion (of the later years variety) and one of the "rich kids", now still-well-heeled, was holding forth upon his big bear hunt. I asked him what he bagged it with, .375 H&H or .458 Winchester? He looks me right in the eye and says, why, it was a .308. .308? I'm thinking most guides would put the .375 H&H as the lower limit. Where can you use a .308? Turns out he shot the bear in Russia on the Siberian side. It gets better. He and the guide are out by the camp one night and they spy a bear. Not having his rifle, the guide quickly offers his, after switching on the night vision scope. Night time, relatively small caliber, unfamiliar gun and guide now has no back up. You really want to try a Russian hunt?

Regarding large bear stamina, it was explained to me that, being the largest predator in the Western Hemisphere, these bears have developed an extremely robust neurological system. Consider that they encounter full grown moose and each other. Their bodies have to take a lot of abuse and keep on ticking. My dad had a friend who was stationed in the Aleutian Islands during WWII. One of the guys in his company was always keen to go bear hunting but it was strictly off limits. At a morning muster, the guy is missing. Anyone know where he might be? Well, he was talking about these bears he saw at a nearby stream. They check it out and, sure enough, there is the guy, sort of scattered around the stream bed, his empty M1 Garand nearby. About a hundred yards upstream they find the bear, dead. Fellow told my dad that bear had all eight rounds dead center in the chest. Jacketed ball, sure, but still.....

 

[Karl Helweg]

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/artic...ed-survive-after-interior-alaska-bear-mauling

 

[Shotgun232]

You could make a custom gun, in a custom caliber.... Say a 1 caliber??? or maybe a muzzle loading 40mm???? That would do the trick.

Though with modern bullets you could probably take a Brown Bear with a 50 cal, just have a PLAN B (plan C, and D also doesn't hurt). you need penetration, thus a solid copper or copper and steel bullet might be the only thing that can get to the vitals. I don't know the penetration of round ball, being pure lead.

I have taken a wolf here in MN with my bow and lets just say I had a few back up plans, and my knife was behind an arsenal of other options... :idunno: