Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Mule Deer- Know of any .270 brown/grizzly kills?

Hi Mule Deer and all others. Does anyone know of any actual brown/grizzly bear kills from approximately 40-50 years ago to 2023? This is a subject of 30-06 vs .270 Win ability to kill browns and grizzly bears that has been argued for almost one hundred years. Does anyone have any stories about .270 Win kills on the BIG
bears? Jack O'Connor killed two grizzly bears if memory is correct.
Also, Charles Sheldon back around 1900 to early 1920s, killed approximately 80 grizzly and brown bears with a 160gr 6.5 manlicher schoenaur rifle. Hmmmm!

Roanmtn (Roan Mountain, TN)

You should ask Phil Shoemaker, 458Win on the Campfire, who's guided for brown bears for almost 50 years. Some of his clients have used .270s and .30-06s, which is OK with Phil.

Thanks John! Keep the great stories coming.

I shot one that weighed about 350lbs 27 years ago on the Hunt river near Ambler with a Remington 788 22-250. I ended up killing it with the first shot at about 150 yards with a neck shot. They are much smaller than the bears where Phil is at. Tyler Freel shot a huge interior Grizzly this Spring with a 6.5 Creedmoor. I had students kill one while I was up in Ambler with three 10/22 ruger rifles in 22LR. They shot the bear about 40-50 times. Heimo Korth has shot probably north of 40 Grizzlies with a 22-250 in another Remington 788. He prefers a Slug gun today. I killed another grizzly DLP with a Ruger Super Blackhawk in 44 Mag when I was 18 years old fishing on the Tonsina River. It had been injured with an illegal snare and was in bad shape. I like bigger caliber rifles now. People have killed bears with 250-3000 and even 32-40s and believe it or not 25-20s.

I killed a Caucasian brown bear in Russia with a .270 Wby shooting 150 gr. Bergers a few years ago. Stoned him dead, didn't even twitch from about 200 yards. But they're not real big.

Wow! I am not believing someone didn't get badly hurt/killed with the smaller calibers. My experience tells me shot placement is the real deal here. In our modern times Mule Deer has told us about shot placement results. Thanks for your reply.

My dad shot a grizzly with his 7 Saum when I lived in AK. It’s more or less a short action 280 performance wise. 150gr Partition from 150 yards or so.

I know another guy who killed a nice peninsula brown bear with his 280. 8.5 footer.

Visited with many villagers who had cell phone pics of grizzlies and polar bears they’d slewn with various rifles, mostly 222s and 223s with the Mini14 being fairly popular.

Villagers aren’t dropping $20K +, plus travel and miscellaneous expenses for a hunt!

There’s no doubt that most any animal on Terra-Firma can be killed with a 22 Hornet…..but probably not prudent…..nor legal in many places. If it’s my hard earned money, I want to kill my bear…..not have the guide kill “my” bear! My photo, shown with a light rifle, posed with a bear killed by someone else…..ain’t how I want to spend my money! memtb

And where in the OP does he state grizzlies killed on an expensive guided hunt?

There are way more bears killed as incidentals when moose, caribou, or sheep hunting by residents each year than guided hunters kill. Scores more killed with whatever is handy in the boat or snow machine by rural dwellers. A huge percentage of the time the rifle employed will not be some giant magnum.

And in AK there are no caliber restrictions.

These are always weird threads. But I know of a Pre 64 Model 70 270 WCF that has likely taken over 50 Grizzly Bears in its lifetime. Successfully.

Jake Korrel killed both the full body mounted Grizzle and the full body mounted Buffalo in the Riverton Museum with his 270.

I moose hunted in Alberta and the oufitter's camp rifle, a Marlin .30-30 had accounted for 11 problem grizzlies in camp over about 20 years

Wonder how many Russian/Asian brown bears have been killed with lowly SKS's.

A younger brother has killed two Alberta grizzlies with a .270 Winchester with ammo I loaded for him. Winchester cases, Winchester primers, 54 grains of IMR4350, and 130 grain Hornady SP. This was some years ago so it may have been before the InterLock was introduced.

roanmtn,

One reason I suggested Phil Shoemaker is that he's guided not only clients with .270s, but many who used the .30-06, and the brown bears in his hunting area get very big.

. ..and let's not forget that Phil killed a brownie with a puny little ol' 9mm pistol.

Seems like with good shot placement and the right bullets that not much else matters.

If a .22 can kill a GIANT Grizzly, then a .30-06 will kill them way faster!

Bella Twin was a calm, quiet, clear-headed Cree woman with a trap line. May 10, 1957, she killed a massive grizzly bear with her Cooey Ace #1 . 22. That was near Slave Lake, Alberta, and the bear Twin killed turned out to be a world record that stood for a good long time.

This bear was killed 2 hours from my home in Alberta, with her teensy-weensy .22

I used to watch films of Gordon Eastman hunting in Alaska and Canada's NW Territory. IIRC his son shot a brown bear with a 270win in one of the films.

I believe it was shot with .22 longs not even long rifles. She was grouse hunting at the time. One shot to the head and down. Walked up to it and shot it several more times in the head just to make sure.

Yep, she used Longs--and shot the bear in the head with the rest of the rounds she had to make sure.

My father, who grew up partly on a central Montana homestead during the Great Depression, was also a believer in Longs, because they looked just as long as Long Rifles. He always thought I was nuts for spending the extra money for Long Rifles with my paper-route money.....