Hunting with a bayonet!

[Britsmoothy]

A good sword would make a better field tool too!

To be honest I am not familiar with a hunting sword. I will have to check it out !
Thanks.

B.

 

[Matt85]

a bayonet on a musket could give you an advantage on a charging bear or hog if you used it properly. this would require bracing the butt against something strong like a tree or the ground. but to be honest its not something i would carry into the woods with me.

a real backup would be a revolver or a brace of pistols. even a lone single shot pistol is better then a bayonet.

-matt

 

[LaBonte]

FWIW - there are today folks like knife maker Larry Harley of Tennessee who hunt wild hawgs with dogs and dispatches them up close and personal like with a knife - that's right folks a knife..... http://www.lonesomepineknives.com/HawgHunts.asp

some pics http://www.lonesomepineknives.com/HawgHunts_huntpictures.asp

 

[Supercracker]

FWIW - there are today folks like knife maker Larry Harley of Tennessee who hunt wild hawgs with dogs and dispatches them up close and personal like with a knife - that's right folks a knife..... http://www.lonesomepineknives.com/HawgHunts.asp

some pics http://www.lonesomepineknives.com/HawgHunts_huntpictures.asp[/quote]


LOTS of folks!!!!!

It's really really popular down here.

 

[tiger13]

The Mosin M44 sites are set to be accurate with the bayonet extended is one of those rifles. The point of aim changes with it closed.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

For me the fundamental advantage of a spear or bayonet is that it keeps you a safe distance from any blows.

It Does?

A boar spear typically has a cross brace as part of the spear tip to prevent the boar, once he is skewered, from running up the shaft of the spear to get to the spearman.

An 18th century bayonet is designed for use as part of a formation of men, fighting other men..., not only are there folks on each side of you but also behind you (of if you're not in the front rank, in front of you). So a man on foot or horseback coming in cannot succeed in reaching you by swatting the bayonet to one side..., as all your chums are standing there with you and one of them will get him...

Solo, with a charging bear or lion..., if you don't get the tip into a vital spot on the fist try when the animal is in range, the natural reaction of the animal would be to swat what you are holding between you and it aside, and as it is charging in a split second it will be beyond a few inches beyond the tip of the bayonet, so you won't be able to reset yourself for a second thrust...,

IF you do get the tip into the animal, it will probably force you off your feet as the inertia and mass of the animal will force the musket and bayonet from your hands..., and the animal will still get to you...,

If you get lucky and strike an instant mortal blow..., the animal will probably die on top of you, and you will be struggling with getting the carcass of the dead creature off of you, perhaps before it smothers you. Male lions weigh from 350 - 550 pounds. Black bears can exceed 400 pounds, and bears in the brown bear family can weigh as much as 1500 lbs.

FYI when defending against horses, one grounds the butt of the musket... puts it upon the ground, and back in the day one probably prayed the a charging horse didn't actually hit the bayonets as the dudes closest were probably going to be squashed.

LD

 

[Britsmoothy]

For me the fundamental advantage of a spear or bayonet is that it keeps you a safe distance from any blows.

It Does?

A boar spear typically has a cross brace as part of the spear tip to prevent the boar, once he is skewered, from running up the shaft of the spear to get to the spearman.

An 18th century bayonet is designed for use as part of a formation of men, fighting other men..., not only are there folks on each side of you but also behind you (of if you're not in the front rank, in front of you). So a man on foot or horseback coming in cannot succeed in reaching you by swatting the bayonet to one side..., as all your chums are standing there with you and one of them will get him...

Solo, with a charging bear or lion..., if you don't get the tip into a vital spot on the fist try when the animal is in range, the natural reaction of the animal would be to swat what you are holding between you and it aside, and as it is charging in a split second it will be beyond a few inches beyond the tip of the bayonet, so you won't be able to reset yourself for a second thrust...,

IF you do get the tip into the animal, it will probably force you off your feet as the inertia and mass of the animal will force the musket and bayonet from your hands..., and the animal will still get to you...,

If you get lucky and strike an instant mortal blow..., the animal will probably die on top of you, and you will be struggling with getting the carcass of the dead creature off of you, perhaps before it smothers you. Male lions weigh from 350 - 550 pounds. Black bears can exceed 400 pounds, and bears in the brown bear family can weigh as much as 1500 lbs.

FYI when defending against horses, one grounds the butt of the musket... puts it upon the ground, and back in the day one probably prayed the a charging horse didn't actually hit the bayonets as the dudes closest were probably going to be squashed.

LD

Thats a good concise reply, thanks.

However once one skewers the beast and it rolls over you or swipes at you and hits or bites at you just exactly how are you better off not having the bayonet fixed and ready? If one had a brace of pistols in preference is it not true that they would not guarentee a sure end?

B :thumbsup:

 

[flintlock75]

Yes it was durring the Ididrod sled race to Nome, That incident prompted the race officals to make carrying a firearm manditory equipment for all the mushers. This type of thing happens all the time here, most dont make national news.

 

[hornetk4]

ain't you boys and Gal herda Ben Lilly? that ol guy killed several bears with a butcher knife, hunted bears an mountain lions most of his life. He mostly hunted with dogs and a pistol or rifle.He would put a box of bullets in the pocket of his large overcoat and grab a gun, let loose his dogs and come back jn a month or two.He never took blankets or tents, he would crawl into a corner and sleep with his hounds If you want a good read get The Ben Lilly Legend by J Frank Dobie

 

[Britsmoothy]

Now yer' talking :hatsoff:

B.

 

[pargent]

It takes a lot of force to stick something with a bayonet, a forcefull foward thrust. Sounds practical but it's not , go with the backup . In the flinter times the hunting sword was used to finish off downed but not out game

 

[cynthialee]

If I ever decide to hunt for bear ( :youcrazy: ) I am bringing a couple of back up pistols and a partner who is also armed to the teeth. Bears are scary to this girl.

 

[Britsmoothy]

It takes a lot of force to stick something with a bayonet, a forcefull foward thrust. Sounds practical but it's not , go with the backup . In the flinter times the hunting sword was used to finish off downed but not out game

Thats a good point :thumbsup:

Brits.

 

[Matt85]

If I ever decide to hunt for bear ( :youcrazy: ) I am bringing a couple of back up pistols and a partner who is also armed to the teeth. Bears are scary to this girl.

ya just let me know, ill back ya up. id love to take a black bear one of these years aswell.

-matt

 

[Sean Gadhar]

I think, you should think about the other things that could happen. . .

You hit but don't kill the bear, it dosn't charge you, your way keyed up :shocked2: Now you need to reload FAST with a 18" shaver an inch from your fingers :shake:

How many hunters are charged every year? 10? less?
How many do make an Adrenalin addled reload? hundreds?

I say do the math, work on your reload speed. :thumbsup:

Heck if it's a behind the dogs hunt that run through the woods is far far more likely to kill ya then ye old bear. And I'm beting the hounds men won't love the idea of you poking around that ball of bear & dogs with your sticker :nono: If your in a tree stand :rotf: sorry just thinking of bear marks Iv'e seen where the bear went 20 feet up an aspen in 3 or 4 lunges.

 

[LaBonte]

FWIW- I hunted black bears a whole bunch back in the 1970's in western Washington - took 25 of them with mostly muzzleloaders during that period weighing from 150- 450 pounds. Mostly when shot, but not put down, the bears run and hole up and do not charge.
Only one time did I face a charge from a wounded bear, and while the pucker factor went WAY up it wound up OK (a double 12 gauge load of buckshot stopped him right now) and based on the experiences of others who have hunted them much more than me running and holing up is typical behavior.
While black bears are not pussycats by any means (in fact the only documented stalking of humans by bears of any type are by black bears) they are still not grizzlies.
Still a 150lb blackie is one tough sucker and is much stronger than a 150 lb human due to their muscle structure.
As for grizzle bears - I've been up close and personal few times - the closest was while fishing in SE Alaska. I was following a game trail between creeks and wound up face to face with a 600+ lb boar at about ten feet. I had a 375H&H in hand, but at that point it felt like a popgun - those boys do raise the hackles and the next day I traded in my 375 for a model 71 in 450 Alaskan (basically a 458 magnum lever gun). On the other hand it did turn out OK - he got a whiff of human and left real quick, but it could have easily turned nasty - and yep I had a S & W 44 mag on my hip but if he had charged it would have been like using a spit ball.....

as for lions - assuming you mean mtn lions they are generally big pussycats - many of the gov't hunters I've known over the years generally use something like a 357 - when hit/wounded the cats tend to tree up and seldom (if ever) go on the attack....

and yep Ben Lilly was quite the character and at times it wasn't just days or weeks he was gone on the hunt but years.........

 

[Britsmoothy]

Thankyou Gents and our good Lady.

The experience you speak of is of great value.

Looks like a bayonet would not assist at all.

My question has been answered :hatsoff:

B.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Not to mention you have a much much better chance of being killed by a deer coming through your windshield when you hit it on the highway than from being killed by a bear..., now a lion if you were on Safari..., :idunno:

LD