BEARS IN ALASKA

[BANNOCK]

First I would like to say hello to everybody here, this is my first post. Im leaving for Alaska the 24th of May I will be hunting brown and black bears. Im looking to here from anyone who has hunted brown/grizzly bears with a flintlock the largest caliber rifled gun I have is a 54. Is this enough Im shooting 110gr of 3f and a PRB, the gun has killed a large bull buffalo.Did a search in the hunting forum and really didnt find much a little about guys useing wheel weights to make balls, harder lead they say. If there is anyone still alive who has killed a brown/grizzly with a flinter I would love any insight into this they may have. Dont want this to be my last post!

 

[Idaho Ron]

A griz with a PRB, Well it was good to talk to you. :youcrazy:
I hope you have a back up plan, I know they did the job in the past, but :hatsoff:
Ron

 

[bob1961]

what does the guide say bout this idea....what gun will he be holding on the bear over yer shoulder....best shot would be is to make sure the bear don't know where the shot came from :v ...............bob

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I can't speak from expierience here but I do know for fact that the old timers would use a load with 2 PRB's when bear hunting (loaded fer bear) which out of curiousity I have shot a few times at 25 yds. I can see how this would be a damaging load. but then they weren't hunting brown/grizz, just eastern blacks (they get big and mean too) good luck, make sure your guide has an '06 or bigger. and knows how to use it.

 

[Hamourkiller]

You might want to look at alaska outdoors forums as they have a black powder section and currently have a thread discussing this issue.
[url] http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/forumdisplay.php?f=38[/url]

There should be some people on there that have done what you are wanting to do.

Hope the link and info helps

Hank

 

[BANNOCK]

The guide has been in this line of work for 30 years he says lets do it, he will be backing me with a 375H&H. He ask how close I would like to be to take the shot I said 60 yards or less BUT NOT TO MUCH LESS!! Guys I really hate to do this hunt with a modern rifle. Thanks HamourKiller Im going to check out that sight shortly.

 

[BRUN]

Go for it!Sounds like the guide has a good back up.Ya might want to take a large side arm just incase.Maybe try the double ball also.Good luck on your hunt. :thumbsup:

 

[paulvallandigham]

I would not recommend you use a .54 cal. round ball on any bear. Try to find a conical bullet that will stablilize in our gun, and use that on bear. At the short range you are going to shoot, you want to anchor that bear quickly. You really only have the one shot, and then you need to use a back up gun. You are not going to be able to reload a ML fast enough to save you from an angry wounded bear charging you. Hit him as hard as you can with the heaviest concical you can shoot, and you will have your bear. You simply need the extra Ballistics Coefficient that a conical delivers to make sure you penetrate, and shock the nervous system of a bear in order to put it down.

 

[jethro224]

I'd bring a good pair of running shoes too. And practice up on endurance sprinting... just in case. :shocked2:

Good luck on your hunt. Don't forget to post on how it goes. We'll be interested to hear the results.

 

[rabjr]

Fred Bear got up close and personal with a bow. With ideal conditions and precautions taken, I'm sure this can be done. If it were me though, I'd invest in a .62 cal rifled gun for this hunt. :v

 

[hawkeye1755]

I said 60 yards or less BUT NOT TO MUCH LESS!!

When you see this, i hope for you, you aim well. :shocked2:

Waidmanns Heil.
:hatsoff:

 

PRB for grizzly is fine but you may want to take a file with you. After you shoot that bear with the .54 he's gonna chase you down. While you're running, take out the file and file down the front sight 'cause when that bear catches you he's gonna shove that ML up your a$$ and without the front sight it won't hurt so bad. :shocked2: :grin:

 

[rabjr]

:hmm: Yeah, after a couple bad experiences with Grizzlys Lewis and Clark gave orders not to shoot a bear unless there was more than one man there to shoot.

 

[BANNOCK]

Well atleast Im getting some input checked out that sight Hamourkiller some say yes some no. What I would really like is something from someone that has done a brown/grizz with a flinter any caliber any projectile. Something on a different note Im wondering about availability of blackpowder in Anchorage Im thinking, although I dont know that flying with it would be alot of red tape. Thanks for the bear picture Im probably not going to sleep tonight.

 

OK, not quite what your looking for but it's somethin'. My brother shot a grizzly with a .300 win at 30 paces. 180gr partitions loaded to the balls. The bear was faceing him and he didn't have much to shoot at so shot it just below the eye (so close the bullet hadn't climbed to the elevation of the crosshairs yet). Anyway, the bear (aged at 9 years and squared 8') was blown right over backwards and in the time it took to chamber another round (with a kliengunther bolt action) the bear was up and comin'. He shot it two more times, reloaded but didn't need more. STILL had to wait several minutes for the bear to expire. All shots were killing shots. Then, on a sheep hunt, his partner shot a large sow grizzly with a .308norma mag at about 100 yards. The bear went down got up and started comin' They shot it several times more (don't know for sure 2 or 3 likely) and the bear stopped its advance at about 15 yards distant. In his opinion, hunting a grizzly with a single shot (and this even applies to my Ruger #1 .338) is fool hardy. The problem isn't that they're made of kevlar. It seems to me that one of the largest grizzlys killed on record was killed with a .22lr. The problem is IF you don't get a good kill on the first shot, they can get ugly. Haveing a guide with a rifle is wise of course. BTW, a wounded bear doesn't immediately seek out the cause of it's trouble. They're first instinct is to run. The problem comes when the direction the bear chooses to flee happens to be your direction.

 

[roadrat79]

Sorry I dont have any experiance for you but I am going up there this fall also for a moose & caribou float trip hunt (we actually hope to avoid the grizzly). Best of luck to you. I would check these guys out for different types of bullets and weights, [url] http://www.prbullet.com/bullscn.htm[/url] Their Ultimate 1 semi spritzer comes in various sizes up 600 grains in .54 cal.

 

[shmrck1]

I'd bring a good pair of running shoes too. And practice up on endurance sprinting... just in case.

jethro,
You don't have to outrun the bear......just make sure your faster than the quide :rotf: :rotf:
snake-eyes :hmm:

 

[Jac Spring]

I second the reply about using a good conical. I'd further recommend casting your own with a 1-20 tin to lead mix - experiment with harder alloys too like wheel weight. If your pole shoots em decent - go with the heaviest, hardest conical that it will shoot.

Practice reloading bring an extra pair of undies IMHO. :haha:

 

[Idaho Ron]

Here is a picture I just had to add. This is a friend of mine. He is a taxidermist here in Idaho. Again I ask how big of a muzzleloader does a guy need? This is a real picture, it has not been altered in any way. Ron

 

[Rebel]

How about one of them Kodiak .72 cal double barrels, and even then i would want a GOOD guide with a big backup gun.