Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game shot placement for charging grizzly

I've never been to a bear camp, most times we see bears while elk hunting or moose hunting. Like I said have seen Grizz but never charged by them. But if people get charged by Grizz-It would probably be more akin to a nightmare rather than a fantasy.
Estimated population in BC of Grizz is about 14,000 and there's probably 10 times that in Blacks, so you have more chances of interacting with blacks. Bears aren't unique to Alaska. 100's of bear attacks occur yearly in Alberta and British Columbia, probably more than in Alaska. Yellowstone park probably would be more dangerous for Bear attacks then all of Alaska since they don't fear men there.

Being a moderator we would think that you would encourage discussion rather than snubbing people and driving them away.

"Be able to shoot from the hip and pray your not handicapped by a scope at that moment."

"Your reaction time would consume about 1-2 seconds, followed by turning,shouldering, finding your moving target, and then shooting. I beg to differ with your comment Sitka-no disrespect intended. If that grizz really wanted your ass- you wouldn't be telling the story about shooting a bear at 24 yards."

"Shoot it in the mouth- At least it can't eat you after it's killed you."

"I'm not talking about a two year old that just got off mommie's tit and clumsily chases new born calves because he's half starved and doesn't know how to kill. I still say a scope is a handicap in that scenario. I've never shot at a charging grizz but have shot a couple of charging blacks."

"Bears aren't unique to Alaska. 100's of bear attacks occur yearly in Alberta and British Columbia, probably more than in Alaska."

378
I am sorry if you think I am snubbing you, but what you are posting does not sound like anything in the real world. To suggest it takes 1-2 seconds to START moving during a charge, yet a bear gets to accelerate to 40MPH in half the time? Yes, I am dismissing that because factually it is very wrong.

Bears and humans are flesh and blood wired with the same "hardware" but perhaps different "software".

Bear populations in a province mean nothing... How many bears do you see in the course of a week or year? the bear I shot at 24 yards was one of over 20 unique bear we saw repeatedly over the course of a week. We saw 13 unique bears in a single day. I have seen well over 50 unique bears in a single day, repeatedly. This fall I saw tremendous numbers of bears during the smelt spawn... I believe DennisinAZ was there. I forget the exact numbers, but over a dozen bears on one small beach... thirty bears or so in one day. A number of folks here at 24hour have shot bears with me and more have been there when I shot bears. I have the luxury of not guessing about what I am posting.

Bears are not unique to AK, but the population densities would seem to be. Can you cite a source for your statement there are 100s of bear attacks every year in AB and BC? According to Herrero, there are only about 30 black bear attacks in North America each year and he was only able to document 279 grizzly attacks in all of NA from 1872 to 1980... and only 111 of those resulted in human injuries. There are far more AK attacks according to him, also.

To suggest Yellowstone is the only place bears ignore humans is very wrong, also.

Your comments on scopes do not mesh with my experiences and show an extreme misunderstanding of how things work. While too-big scopes could cause problems up close there are two questions one needs to ask; "Why pack a Hubble on a bear hunt when shooting will be close and do you think a sights of any kind are needed at staplegun range?"

And what difference does a scope or irons make when you advocate shooting from the hip? That is about the most ridiculous non sequitor I can imagine. Shooting from the hip screams Fantasy to me, sorry.

By far the most dangerous bear is the two-year-old just kicked out by Momma. They are not slower, nor clumsier than an adult and they know how to kill stuff. As a new loner they have to learn a few different tricks... but bears eat a lot less meat than most realize. And a lot less big game...

I apologize if you take the above as a snub, but little of what you posted fits in with the bears I have watched and hunted for so many years.
art

Ok point taken-But a last desperate shot taken from the hip before impact is better than none at all- correct?
Shooting in the mouth is a joke!!!
Your obvious vast experience with bears in bear country is not in question, I speak to the new hunters that pop into this forum.
I'm not speaking about only me with the snubbing comment.
I have guided for many years until hip problem-and noted the reaction time of most hunters. Even when a legal animal is pointed out to them, it takes them several seconds to figure out what it is-this is speaking about the average fella. I've had to tell people over and over take the shot, before it moves off. Most hunters would freeze if charged and would probably do nothing or by the time they would react it would be to late.
The caliber of hunters (yourself included)that you take out would qualify as experts not novices. Apples and oranges.
Have a good day Art.
Generally speaking I can't see an average guy reacting any faster than I quoted in my comments.

+1

I have never shot a griz but 600 and 700 lb black bear do pucker the anal shyncter when charging. They cover a lot of ground even when wounded. Incidently that is the only kind that have charged me. I used to work for an outfitter who had me go finish off wounded bears his clients had wounded.

When the bear charges his head is down and he is making some very fast yardage. The first one I shot at the top of its head and took out the spine a foot behind aim point. He went down but still had use of front paws and was raking the blueberry bushes when my second shot ruined a very nice skull mount.

I have to admit there was a fair shake going on at that point. I started using a bigger gun and paying a whole lot better attention. My bother and I have a name for bear spray....seasoning. Make lots of noise and you will probably never see the bears.

Randy