Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Going for grizzly with a 30-30

a grizzly hit properly with a 270 and a good bullet is a "goner"....

Elmer shot dog-shidt bullets...in some cases, that's all he had....

Yah

Funny stuff as always on here.....a grizzly hit properly with a 270 and a good bullet is a "goner"....

Research may disclose...at one time anyway, the World Record grizzly was killed with a 30-30;the story showing up in Outdoor Life in the good old days.....and the World Record Polar Bear, with a 270 Winchester.

I'm also pretty sure the record brown bear fell to a 30/06...I guess these folks were not scared of bears like many internet posters....

Look it up.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Just a few comments on this,

The Grizzly shot with a .30-.30 in BC that was the "world record" for some time, was killed by Jack Turner of Lonesome Lake, BC, when it was harassing him on the farm he and his wife, Trudy Edwards, had there. This, happened in May, 1965 and Jack shot the bear because he had to, not because he wanted to or was hunting them; Trudy had told him to not shoot a bear as it is so much work to deal with one.

Jack is a legendary bushman here and was mauled by four yearling Grizzlies one evening just outside of his cabin at Hagensborg, BC while in his early 70s. He survived and is still, I think, alive at about 80.

He is the son-in-law of the famous "Crusoe of Lonesome Lake", the late Ralph Edwards, O.C., who amost singlehandedly, saved the "Trumpeter Swans" who wintered near his pioneer homestead and ended his days at Oona River off Prince Rupert, BC. I knew Jack's brother-in-law, Ralph's eldest son, the late Stan Edwards, at Ocean Falls, BC, more than 40 years ago and they were quite the family of a kind now vanished from BC...to our great loss.

As to the .270 Win. and Grizzlies, I witnessed a fair sized Grizzly killed with a .270 in the East Kootenays of BC in the late '60s and it worked just fine with a "double lung" shot. Within reason, there are lots of cartridge-bullet combos that have been used on Grizzlies successfully.

The ubiquitous .30-.30 was NOT the rifle choice of oldtimers and indians here in Canada's Grizzly country as some have stated here that it was/is. The usual choice from the 1890s on to quite recently was the .303 British and the .30-.40 USArmy and the .30-06 and relatively few kept their old blackpowder rifles of any sort once Winny 1895s in .30-40 and '06 became available.

My first lessons in outdoor sports, some 60 years ago, were from men who lived and worked here in BC in the 1890s and my early training in bush work was by slightly younger men, who had started before "The Great War". I know from these men what the popular guns, etc., were among the oldtimers and, btw, the term "Sourdough" was/is not one widely used in Canada, it refers specifically to particpants in "The Klondike Goldrush" and not to those pioneers here in BC at the same time.

When I started reading the post I recalled this story from long ago. She was squirrel hunting & the bear began stalking her. She climbed some sort of mound & fired at the grizzly. When the bear staggered or fell I can't remember which she reloaded again & again & continued to shoot. I also remember the story of a guy in Canada tending his garden with a 30-30 slung over his back. A grizzly tore through his small fence & attacked. Not sure how many shots were fired, but he killed the grizzly. While there are obviously better choices with premium bullets I see no reason why a grizzly couldn't be shot with a 30-30. I do agree there is no justification for a stunt like this. I rarely watch these TV hunting shows. I especially dislike when the hunter hugs his guide with tears in his eyes after shooting a trophy. Try hugging any of the guides I have hunted with & you would have a black eye to go with your trophy. Must be a California thing.

I also remember reading the story of a huge Grizzly killed by an Inuit woman with one shot from a .22 rimfire in Outdoor Life.

Clint Walker? Night of the Grizzly? Perhaps.

I was saddened to read that Clint died recently.

22 LR is the best caliber for grizzlies. They don't feel death coming on. Three well placed rounds and wait five minutes and get to skinning. Holes sew up with two stiches each.

30-30...Too much gun, a 25-35 is all you need, once between the eyes...