Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Bear Charge on Video

I thought the guide showed some real stones. I can't imagine a guide would get a lot of experience with 8-yard shots on charging bears. At some point a career switch to something safer, like the bomb squad, would be prudent.

sitkca deer, i never stated that he was aiming for the shoulder, i said it looked to me as if thats where she was hit as she was limping off holding up her right paw like her leg was broken, struck me as weird cause i thought in that situation most would aim for the CNS or the head

firstcoues
Did not intend for that to be an attack on you of any kind... You are right, the guide surely intended for the bear to be DRT and he basically missed. I think if the bear had truly been charging at a target (them) she would have kept coming right on through...
art

I got the distinct impression they happen to have the bad luck of being directly in the bears escape path. No one will know for sure, but no doubt in my mind that pulling the trigger was warranted!

no argument there, if that bear really wanted to kill em, she would have but she did die rather quickly. i would have done the same exact thing that the guide did.

The sheer force of the bullet hitting her at that close a range surely is what turned her around. I don't think any bear would have done any damage to anyone in a case like this, the guy with the shotgun was ready and waiting to do his part if need be plus the bowhunter, if thats what you want to call him, also had a rifle just in case. In this case, the bear was severly outgunned!

"Here's a question for the bear people(hunters, guides, etc.) - did they shoot the cub? If they didn't, should they have?"

jds44,

Don't know why they would have shot the cub. It is old enough to possibly survive so long as it wasn't approached/taken by a large boar. The chances of it's surviving thus just went down significantly with the # of boars there. Momma was the only thing that would keep the boars off of the cub. It's chances are slim.

It's pretty hard to explain to the satisfaction of Fish and Game just how a cub was shot in defense of life and property (please note that this was said with tongue-in-cheek.) Their "A**" would be in the proverbial toilet...


"Because they do not do any good and the avilable shots when needed are reduced by at least one. Also leads to the possibility of a mechanical problem at a critical time. Save the single most important shot for exactly when you need it."

Art,

Spot on...

best,
bhtr

The force of a bullet hitting is identical to the recoil you feel on your shoulder. No bullet stops or turns a bear solely by the impact. The only way to reliably stop a bear is a CNS shot, or take out enough bone to make locomotion impossible.

Everybody knows that you spend the surplus ammo from a hicap mag shooting the dirt in front of them to spray dirt in their face... that's the way to turn them!

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

The only thing on that video that made me nervous was when the guide stepped out in front of the hunter. That could have been a disaster and why not have an extra rifle ready along with the guy with the shotgun?

Sure I can be an armchair QB but that's basic gun safety 101.

Look at the video and learn what not to do.

Last year a kid in Oregon shot his dad in the back of the head with that kind of move. Dude hunter's are a dime a dozen, good thing he, the guide had a hunter with presence of mind to move his rifle out of the way.

I can't find it.

The hunter needs a lesson in bolt gun operation.

chucknelson, you nailed it! SU35, i dont think the hunter got his gun out of the way, i think he bailed!

[color:"blue"] "Don't know why they would have shot the cub. It is old enough to possibly survive so long as it wasn't approached/taken by a large boar. The chances of it's surviving thus just went down significantly with the # of boars there. Momma was the only thing that would keep the boars off of the cub. It's chances are slim.

It's pretty hard to explain to the satisfaction of Fish and Game just how a cub was shot in defense of life and property (please note that this was said with tongue-in-cheek.) Their "A**" would be in the proverbial toilet... "[/color]

I guess my question should have been is the cub viable on it's own? If it's not or it's borderline old enough to fend for itself, should it be shot too if you're forced to shoot the sow to prevent a prolonged death due to natural causes.

Comparing a bullet strike to felt recoil is way of base. I had a friend shoot a huge brown bear, 9'3" i believe, with a 458 Winchester, not sure of the grain of bullet but when that bullet hit that bear it bowled him over head over heels several times and killed him instantly. This was done with open sights at about 200 yards. I have to say i've never felt or seen recoil like that in my lifetime.

AkMtnHntr
"I have to say i've never felt or seen recoil like that in my lifetime."

And you never will! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> What you describe is 100% outside all the laws of physics. LOOKED like the description: very possible. Actually rolled the bear: Impossible.

Lots of folks try to rewrite those laws all the time and they still hang in there doing things exactly like they always have. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
art

OK, maybe it didn't roll him over, but it certainly bowled him over.

458 Lott

Am I reading this statement right that a bullet hitting something at 4000 ft lbs of energy is the same force in ft lbs of energy as the recoil of the rifle firing it? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Yes, I'm a bit rusty to recall which one of Newton's laws, but it states forces act in equal and opposite directions. So provided one doesn't have a muzzle brake, the force exerted on the body is equal and opposite in direction to the forces on the bullet and powder exiting the barrel. One could actually say the force in recoil is greater, because the is nearly 100 grs of powder exiting the barrel that also produces the recoil force.

Now since the rifle is some 150-200 times heavier than the bullet, and the surface area of the buttstock is something like 40 times greater than the bullet, the effect is obviously quite different. Even with my 500 jeffrey pushing a 600 gr @ 2200 fps I've not been bowled over. It does push me back pretty good though <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Thats what i'm trying to figure out too, I don't see how that could be possible, maybe someone has a good explanation for this.