I once had a 15 year old client who was hunting with me in the Chugach Mountains and he whacked a huge black bear with an '06. The male bear was positioned in a small clearing among dense alder at about 300 yards and the hit sounded good but the bear didn't go down and instead, dove into the alder brush. I followed him up and found him to be very much alive when I came upon him and finished him off with one shot from the .375 H&H magnum.
On another hunt in the Chugach, I had a client who whacked another tremendous black bear with a .375 H&H magnum at a range of about 200 yards. The hit looked good and sounded good, yet that bear dove right into the alders as well. When I came upon that bear after following him up, he was very much alive and required another round from my .375 H&H to finish him off.
In both instances bullet construction was the "demon" in the equation. Otherwise, I think both of those bears would of been dead when I came upon them.
