BEARS IN ALASKA

[hawkeye1755]

Pics and story on your return, please.

Let us hope, that he will return.Grizzlys with a muzzleloader.Aim small, miss small. :grin:
Hotleaded, i found the right muzzleloader for you.

:hatsoff:

 

[Idaho Ron]

YA BABY THAT IS WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT!
It is all about the bang, that one has it. Ron

 

[mart]

Bears are tough. They are however, not bullet proof. Penetration is the key to driving a bullet to the vitals on a bear.

Handgunners use hard cast bullets at around the same velocity as a muzzleloader and take all manner of big game. Simple physics tells us the results should be similar with a hardened round ball. How hard? Try them at home on some test medium, dry newspaper works well. Try some from wheel weights, pure lead and linotype if you can get it. How was the performance on the bison? Was it pure lead? What was the penetration?

Only the very largest brown bear would come close to the size of an average bison. Bison of course are not to likely to eat you although they certainly can charge and stomp the daylights out of one's self.

Many good lead bullets exist that would allow you to avoid the dreaded plastic if you elect not to go with a round ball. You just need to try them to see if your gun will tolerate them. Having the back up that you have, I would not hesitate to take a bear with a 54 roundball.

Good luck on your hunt. Be sure to share the story and pictures with us!

Mart

 

[Sharp Shooter]

I think I would actually take a 54cal hunting with roundballs. If it killed a bull buffalo it should take down a bear. Truthfully, I think a 54cal roundball will do.

 

[DEWB]

I have an old issue of black powder hunting magazine were a guy killed a huge brown bear in alaska with a flintlock. He had a custom made kentucky rifle with a long barrel on it and he was shooting a hornandy great plains bullet that weighed over 400 grains. It doesn't say what twist he had in it but I doubt if it had a slow twist. I could be wrong but I don't think a slow twist would stabilize that heavy of a bullet. Anyway he shot the thing once and it ran off so he chased it and got another shot on it. After it was shot twice it fell off of a cliff about 8 stories high and landed on the beach below. The bear was still alive and his spine was broken but he was still trying to get around by moving his front legs. He did die and the guy got a monster bear with a flintlock,but he did have a guide and I bet that guide was packing some heavy artillery. Just imagine something that was shot twice and then fell off a cliff and was still alive for awhile, that was one tough animal!! I'm not trying to scare you but it is something to think about. A grizzly is something I don't want to mess with, but that's just me. Good luck on your hunt and let us know how it goes. Dew

 

[stalkerhawk]

Ok.each animal is different.I dont have any personal experiance with grizzly,but I have seen and heard of plenty of people who have shot them with archery equipment some primitive at that. who have put them down[url] quick.Again[/url] I think it comes down to good shot placement and knowing your equipment.Hit'em in the boiler room and they will go down.

 

[akbrownbear]

I totally agree with Mart. I have killed a griz with a .54, but a percussion and conicals. The guide is the one that is taking a huge risk in allowing a flinter and round balls, and if he is confident, there is no reason not to try it. If he is backing you up with a .375, you will be fine. However, one thing I have learned from living in Alaska for the last 23 years; if it can go wrong, it will. The climate, terrain, weather, etc., can be brutal on you and your equipment. Make SURE your flinter is in excellent shape and can take some abuse. Have you had much experience in hunting in a steady downpour that can last days at a time? If not, this is something for you to prepare for, as this possibility always exists, especially if you will be hunting near the coast. One thing most of us do up here is tape the muzzle. Yes, I said tape the muzzle. put a strip of electrical tape across the muzzle every day, and this will keep moisture, debris, mud, dirt, etc., out of the barrel. This is especially critical if you trip or fall and jam the muzzle in the ground. Happens to all of us at one time or other, and a muzzleloader is more difficult to clear that a bolt action. The air pressure ahead of the bullet blows the tape away long before the bullet gets to the muzzle, and it creates zero pressure problems. It works, and may save your hunt.

Black powder is available readily in Anchorage, as Mart said. If your guide is a good one, you can arrange for him to have a can for you when you arrive, or take you to purchase it. He should know where to get it, even if you are going to a remote town. I agree with the analogy of carrying a .454. If you are not comfortable carrying one, and have never shot one of that magnatude, you will only create problems for yourself if you do carry one "cold-turkey". I have carried either a .44 Magnum or a .454 with me on nearly every excursion I take for the last 23 years, and I still don't like the extra weight. But, I am used to it and am very familiar with the weight and recoil of these weapons. Let your guide deal with that, because he will be with you 24/7, or had better be.

Good luck, and have fun!! One thing I HIGHLY recommend, even at this late date, is to get in the best shape of your life. If you are just in "urban" shape, you will be defeated at the onset in Alaska. The terrain here in most bear areas can be brutal, and if your legs can't get you double-time up the mountain or across a willow and alder tangle to intercept a bear, you will have a small chance of success. Most guys that come up here thinking they are in good shape for life in suburbia are quickly humbled. Again, good luck and enjoy yourself!!!! I live here and bear hunt regularly, and the thrill is still there every time I go, which is as much as I can get out and go. I am going on a hunt in the interior in a couple of weeks, and I am getting antsy even now with anticipation. Our snow is FINALLY melting, and bears are coming out!!!!!! :applause:

 

[Rat Trapper]

I would recommend you have your guide/outfitter pick up the powder you want and caps long before you arrive. That way you will know you will have it prior to getting on the plane. Things that should be in stock and always there, have a habit of being out of stock when you need it most. You also need to talk to your guide as to when he is going to open up with his rifle. Some will shoot as soon as you do. My vote would be for a heavy conical bullet, and lots of powder. Good luck and please report back here on how it turned out.

 

[akbrownbear]

IdahoRon, great picture, and brings up a VERY important point; Brownies and some grizzlies are many times larger than the averabe black bears most in the Lower 48 are used to seeing. Your picture is a stark reminder why bigger isn't just better, it's critical for your success and maybe even your survival. :shocked2:

Up here in Alaska, we hear folks from other places that have killed deer and black bear scoff at the notion that a .44 Magnum is better than nothing, but not the best choice for defense against one of these bears. Then we hear the naysayers scoff at us for carrying a .338 or .375 Magnum rifle while in bear country. Look at your picture and see why. A bears metabolism is much slower than most animals, and an angry or amped-up bear takes a lot of killing to stop. I know. I was charged on Hinchinbrook Island while hunting blacktail deer a few years back and I had to shoot it from the hip with my .375 in the face to stop it. It landed 4 paces in front of my buddy's feet. If I had been carrying my .280 Remington or muzzleloader at that particular moment, I would not have stopped it and we would have been mauled or killed. It happened so fast, my buddy didn't even have time to raise his rifle.

BYW, it squared at 9'3".

 

[tg]

I have not hunted the bjg bears in Alaska but have been around them and fed one a bucket of huckleberries that was intended for as cobbler... but made a better distraction...If I were to hunt one with a ML I would go with a .58 or .62 rifle that would take a stout charge and remain very accurate and have a very quick reload practice down pat, I suspect the guide with a hard hitting backup gun helps the nerves a bit, I have seen those bears and they are something to behold and respect.I am not even sure I would want to take one if the hunt was free...just a mixed feeling about making use of what you kill and the population of the bears and a lot of things the big bears represent that is rapidly dissapearing....no disrespect to those who do hunt them it would just be a personal struggle for me.

 

[akbrownbear]

In Alaska, the bear population is not threatened or getting smaller. In fact, in a lot of areas, they are increasing the limit to two a year and in a few, you don't have to buy a grizzly/brown bear tag. Alaska is not the Lower 48, but I understand your concerns.

I am going after a grizzly in 2 weeks up near Tok. Have taken a griz and a brownie in the past, but always looking for a better one. I hunt them nearly every year, but until I find one bigger than the one I already shot or with better hair, I don't fire. Passed dozens up over the years that I easily could have taken.

One of the bonuses in most of the areas I hunt is there are black bears in these areas, too, and I will shoot one of these for the hams, if it isn't an old boar. They are tough as shoe leather....... :shake:

 

[RICKYD]

yep you boys up there in Alaska got bears to watch out for, but down here in Texas its amost as bad with our Jackrabbits.Theres nothing worse than a boar rabbit in rut. Had one caught my blue heeler out one time and violated him something awful.Soon as that dog got back to where he could walk. He stood out in the road til somebody ran over him... and the horns, get big as a mule deer. no joke :shocked2:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

No joke!? :bull:

 

[davy]

No joke!? :bull:

A young Texas Jakelope! :hatsoff:

Day

 

[akbrownbear]

My brother-in-law is a Texan from outside of Ft. Worth and LOVES to shoot rabbits. Are you sure it wasn't him that caught your blue heeler hound??????? :haha:

 

[Runner]

Take the 54 with a heavy roundball load. Maybe a "bear" load. Tuck a 54 pistol in your belt, and a hawk in the back. Make your guide promise to not shoot unless the bear is close enough that you are about to need the hawk! Place your shot, prepare your pistol and start to reload your rifle. If you are going to pay for the experience, then live it to the hilt! Bears are not armor plated!
Never shoot a bear in the head. Their brain is the size of the tip of your thumb inside a lot of bone.

 

[RICKYD]

you know that very well could have been him,I live about 40 miles west of Ft.worth, come to think of it he's probably the one that ran over my dog,, just to get rid of any witness's
I sure miss that dog :haha:

 

[d.thomson]

:rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

 

[akbrownbear]

He lives in Burleson, and no cat is safe in his neighborhood. When he comes up here, my beagle goes into hiding. :haha:

 

[brubincam]

ya gotta watch these critters running across the road in front of your vehicle...YOUL :surrender: BLOW A TIRE :surrender: