here is the answer you need to hear > you lost the bear for two reasons: poor shot placement and you used a poor bullet too. the 338 Win Mag is an excellent cartridge in the hands of a hunter on any bear ,but always use good bullets like Barnes, Nosler Partitions, or some others. sorry but sugar coating your shot placement mistake won`t bring that bear back,better luck next time. practice practice practice/ load better bullets in your bear hunting ammo,it might save your life. Pete53
