Shot in the bears eyes

[4575wcf]

It's getting pretty deep here, fellers.

I am a bit familiar with the area that our deerstalkert hails from. US Hwy 95 runs the length of the state from Winnemucca NV, into SW Idaho where I hail from and runs, hit and miss, out the top of the state into Canada. When you get up above Wallace things are getting pretty remote. The culture? Well there were operating mines and operating cathouses at least up until the '70's. Gotta be careful calling BS on some of those old boys, that can get hazardous to your health. You are entering a whole different time zone.

 

[deerstalkert]

Where i live was in the 20's a thriving apple production area.
my property belonged to the county Sheriff, who rode his horse into Bonners Ferry once a month to let Gomer out of jail.
through out the woods here one will stumble upon 4 to 5 acre apple orchards, still producing. where there are apples there are bears.
when i moved out here 30 years ago the nearest neighbor was 4 miles away, a cattle rancher. it was his steer that died on the mountain graze the bear was feeding on.
startling any bear will produce unknown results. mostly all one sees id the back end of a black bear disappearing into the brush. three times i have had to face down rushes by Blacks. twice i have been able to talk them out of it by shouting and waving my arms. but that one time it was him or me.
he came full on and i back peddled, tripped over a log and snapped my leg, when his head showed over the log i gave him a .41 mag 210 g up through his throat and out his neck.
call me whatever but i grieved having to kill that one. to me black bears are the clowns of the woods. and just neighbors.
a griz will usually just stand and look at us until we go away.

still cat houses operating, just called something else!.

 

[4575wcf]

Blessed, I guess is what you would call those of us who actually got a glimpse of the west as it really was. When a liberal makes a statement like "many pioneers were completely unarmed" for example. I grew up in an unincorporated town of 500 persons. Every young man in town had a .22 rifle, or access to one, and a search of any home that did not turn up a gun or two would have been rare. Such nonsense does not hold water, and never will.

 

[ML48]

If there was an award for "Dumbest Thread Ever", this thread would win it.

Hey, let's start a poll

 

[deerstalkert]

only dumber concept than shooting a bear in the eyes with shot intentionally would be shooting one with the ramrod.

 

[4575wcf]

You accomplished ML Forum members are a scrappy bunch, I'll give you that. Same reason I gave up the BP clubs some years ago. Homedale ID Gun Club runs a small range in Owyhee County. Other than Hwy 95 there is not a man made object in sight for a full 360 degree pan. That is my next stop. We are all friends here, just talkin' guns and whatever else.

 

[longcruise]

i will dispute that statement until they lay my crooked legged old bones in the same ground the BLACK bear that gave me the crooked leg. after that i won't care.

Obviously we both have world views formed by experience. I'm happy that you are around to tell your story.

OTOH, I too lived with black bears and am aware of a few attacks but my opinion on the risks associated with black bears is also influenced by awareness of the actual statistical probability of an attack.

My point was that these Frenchman were also undoubtedly familiar with black bears and would have been aware of their nature. They wanted the bear and they killed it. That was part of their profession. It doesn't appear to have been in any way a defensive encounter. If they feared the bear they probably would have quietly let it walk.

 

[4575wcf]

Precisely my take. They wished to harvest the bear. They were loaded with shot which they promptly emptied into him, loaded a ball or two and got him for keeps. They took a gamblers chance of losing him wounded or putting him on the fight though. Black bears are seldom aggressive, but when they are they make a poor sparring partner choice. The bear was perfectly within his rights to rough them up in any fashion he saw fit, by the way.

 

[Archer 756]

ML48 as i stated: Question , why does it seem that we can not stay on the subject of a forum. Page after page of info that has nothing to due with the title of any forum. :

 

[B P Arn]

I love my little old dog.

 

[deerstalkert]

anybody loves dog's, little or big is OK in my book!
i'd say from the look in his eyes he likes you too!

 

[4575wcf]

Checking out of this thread. You lost me.

 

[longcruise]

I don't mUch care for dogs. There's a few that I like on an individual basis but otherwise they are a big PITA.

 

[B P Arn]

^^^ That says nothing about dogs, but a whole lot about yourself.

 

[LME]

I love my little old dog.

If a man has a dog, a horse and one good friend he is wealthy!

 

[brazosland]

Some people just don’t have a sense of humor...

 

[ML48]

Do as I did when I first went to Alaska, upon advice of the Alaska Fish & Game, "get a large can of bear spray and eat, sleep and s**t with it". Fish and Game assured me that the spray would protect me better than any gun. (I wanted to carry my 44 Mag). Lucky for me I have never had to use it. But I trust what they advised.

You gotta love when a government agent guarantees you something. There ain't no guarantees. Keep the .44mag with you. You just might run across one them brown bears that'll eat the can and then you.

 

[ML48]

It was one grouchy old bear. He even stated on film that if one of the bears killed him, that one would be the one. Unfortunate for his girl friend though that just tagged along that year.

There is an old saying that goes: "you just can't fix stupid". Common sense tells you any animal in the wild can never be predicted. There are still fool yuppies up in Estes Park Colorado that try to pet the elk, and when the beast gores them, they can't understand why!!! They are part of the 82 million with serious mental disorders.

 

[bigstick6017555]

If I had a bear close enough to be charging me, It would not matter what firearm I had, or how humane it was, I would be unloading in his face as much ammo as I could unload, hopefully. I could care less if I hurt his feelings or blinded him, or whatever, I am just trying to stay out of his intestines. I would also think that back in the era we are referencing, that these men/women when hunting could have cared less about being humane , and concentrated more on the capture/ demise of the intended victim, by what ever means it took. Just my take on it.

 

[ARMY]

I haven't been hunting in years and plan to hunt deer this fall. In Kentucky we now have a large population of Black Bear in the eastern half of the state, about 1000 in total I am told. That is good news to me and the deer numbers above 400,000.
I have no idea as to the best part of a bear to place a deadly shot. I am serious and need to know before I confront a bear bear. I would appreciate any help I can get.