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Old 02-20-2018, 10:09 AM
coyoteman coyoteman is offline
 
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Default Black Bear Shot

One of the most difficult task black bear baiting is to convince the hunter were to place the shot, if you "deer" shoot a bear he is most likely lost in the extreme thick brush, a killing shot is high on the shoulder blade and they drop in there tracks.
A plan came to mind, the on site shooting range has a typical tree stand 25-30 m is average. Hunters hit were they are aiming most have shot deer, elk, moose behind the shoulder bang down, not going to work for beer.
When all hunters finished shooting i asked who would like to shoot a bear, a full size plywood cut out, looked easy, except i had cut a 3 in hole and put some white paper behind---now dont hit my plywood--the number of wounding dropped considerable, of course the hole very high on the shoulder.
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Old 02-20-2018, 11:41 AM
glen moa glen moa is offline
 
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I’d like to see a pic of the target please.
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Old 02-20-2018, 12:27 PM
Ultimate Predator Ultimate Predator is offline
 
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15 bears all arrowed behind the shoulder all died quick weird.
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Old 02-20-2018, 01:31 PM
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To me shooting like a deer is on straight broad side,

Back edge of the front leg 1/3rd up the body (typical heart lung)

or

Front edge of the front leg 1/3rd down the body (both shoulders spine)

So how does it differ
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Old 02-20-2018, 01:35 PM
curtisb curtisb is offline
 
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I hunt bears from between 8-12 yards from the ground. If I can get set up at 18-20 would be a bonus. And I've only ever killed one from a tree and that was because his little bother put the fear of god in me; on the ground the night before! And I shot him center mass with a 30_06 from a little under 15 yards as I had put by bow away. lol.

Only ever killed a few of them, but I certainly shot them in the vitals, and would do so again. Meaning the same way I'd shoot a deer. NOT in the shoulder or up high.
I'd be curious to see this target you speak of...
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Old 02-20-2018, 01:57 PM
coyoteman coyoteman is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultimate Predator View Post
15 bears all arrowed behind the shoulder all died quick weird.
The shot i refered to is for the rifleman, and it wouldnt work for the bowman, of course, the bowman has one shot, behind the shoulder, angle forward thru the vitals, for sure a killing shot, and they dont go far.
I have skinned, cleaned, numerous bow shot bears, and the damage to the vital organs shows why, i wear rain pants for a reason, when makeing that first high incision often times there is one massive gush of blood, for a total bleed out.
The bow in the hands of a good bowman is truly a silent deadly killer.
My blog on the black bear may be of interest. cheers.
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Old 02-20-2018, 03:49 PM
IronNoggin IronNoggin is offline
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Here's the Boar I took last fall.
40 yard shot, 150 grain Nosler Partition from my 270.
NOT your "average" sized bear.



I shot him about 1/4 of the way up his chest, aiming to hit the heart (it did) and offside shoulder (it did) as he was quartering away.

Although I put a follow up round into his neck, it was entirely unnecessary.

Here's a picture that shows the damage done on the ENTRY side of the first shot:



Ribs blown right out. Heart Smashed. Shoulder broken.

Recovered Bullet:



I've only killed a handful of bears, including Grizz.
I ALWAYS take the type of shot I just described.
Take out the heart & lungs, and the offside shoulder, and he is going NOWHERE. Period.

Cheers,
Nog
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Old 02-20-2018, 03:52 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by coyoteman View Post
One of the most difficult task black bear baiting is to convince the hunter were to place the shot, if you "deer" shoot a bear he is most likely lost in the extreme thick brush, a killing shot is high on the shoulder blade and they drop in there tracks.
A plan came to mind, the on site shooting range has a typical tree stand 25-30 m is average. Hunters hit were they are aiming most have shot deer, elk, moose behind the shoulder bang down, not going to work for beer.
When all hunters finished shooting i asked who would like to shoot a bear, a full size plywood cut out, looked easy, except i had cut a 3 in hole and put some white paper behind---now dont hit my plywood--the number of wounding dropped considerable, of course the hole very high on the shoulder.
What "range" do you go to? Because by the sounds of your post, your range.....

1. Has a tree stand 25-30 meters from the target butt that you can shoot center fire from.

or

2. Allows center fire shooting on a 25-30 meter range and allows you to put up your own wooden target

or

3. Allows you to put up a plywood target at 25-30 meters from the shooting line.



Did someone re-open the "Homestead Range?"
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Old 02-20-2018, 04:56 PM
coyoteman coyoteman is offline
 
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Default One shot bear

The tree stand i refer to is on site at the wilderness bear camp.
I dont have a picture , but the plywood cut out is full size black bear, of course painted black,the 3 in hole high on the shoulder,and a piece of white paper stapled on the back size.
Today i have a large picture of a black bear, with a white dot on the shoulder on the wall of our hunting lodge. I ask all clients to have a look at this before going to the stands, Hit a bear in the shoulder he wont move.
The adrenalin rush on some hunters is extreme, and they miss clean, and in some cases wound. Last season i had a picture of a real trophy on trail cam, the client made a bad shot,had the jitters, blood trail ran out, never found it, always a shame.
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Old 02-21-2018, 05:58 AM
Redneck 7 Redneck 7 is offline
 
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When I shot my bear last spring, stalked up to about 30 yards and I put one high on her shoulder, she dropped right where she was standing and dead instantly. I know a few people that shoot them high in the shoulder, they drop dead.

That's good you're talking to your clients about that, it's really important they know what to do. I was hunting with a friend for deer and it was his first time out, we didn't see anything but cow elk. On the drive back home I asked him where he would of shot his deer and he said, "honestly I don't know." So never assume who you're taking out if it's a client or a new hunter that they know where to shoot.
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Old 02-21-2018, 06:48 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by coyoteman View Post
The tree stand i refer to is on site at the wilderness bear camp.
I dont have a picture , but the plywood cut out is full size black bear, of course painted black,the 3 in hole high on the shoulder,and a piece of white paper stapled on the back size.
Today i have a large picture of a black bear, with a white dot on the shoulder on the wall of our hunting lodge. I ask all clients to have a look at this before going to the stands, Hit a bear in the shoulder he wont move.
The adrenalin rush on some hunters is extreme, and they miss clean, and in some cases wound. Last season i had a picture of a real trophy on trail cam, the client made a bad shot,had the jitters, blood trail ran out, never found it, always a shame.
I have never heard of the "wilderness bear camp." Where is that located?
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Old 02-21-2018, 10:43 AM
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Default Black Bear

The camp--Sturgeon River Outfitters is located on the sturgeon river the closest town Geraldton--It was a huge logging camp with a network of roads on over 3 million acres, had its own air port.
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Old 02-21-2018, 11:22 AM
Kenmore Kenmore is offline
 
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With my bow...i typically shoot 4 inches behind the back of the leg...center of body up and down. Never have much of a tracking job. Can usually see them go down from the tree stand.
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Old 02-21-2018, 02:15 PM
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The reason why they go down so fast, is because the blood is all in the chest cavity. I hang all bears on a steel gallows as they come in from the field, useing an endless chain, letting the gut fall in a 5 gal bucket for disposal, then raise then high so preditors cant chew on them. In the morning pictures processing. The point being on a bow shot bear, makeing the first incision to gut, just below the ribs make sure your face to one side, the blood under pressure in the chest cavity will spray out with considerable force,a face full of hot blood not so good.Sometimes the bear will trash around and break off the arrow better use a fish glove and proceed with caution when going for the heart. Somewhat related on a scale of 1---10 listening being the subject bowman 9.5 rifleman 4.5. cheers.
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Old 02-21-2018, 07:26 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by coyoteman View Post
One of the most difficult task black bear baiting is to convince the hunter were to place the shot, if you "deer" shoot a bear he is most likely lost in the extreme thick brush, a killing shot is high on the shoulder blade and they drop in there tracks.
A plan came to mind, the on site shooting range has a typical tree stand 25-30 m is average. Hunters hit were they are aiming most have shot deer, elk, moose behind the shoulder bang down, not going to work for beer.
When all hunters finished shooting i asked who would like to shoot a bear, a full size plywood cut out, looked easy, except i had cut a 3 in hole and put some white paper behind---now dont hit my plywood--the number of wounding dropped considerable, of course the hole very high on the shoulder.
absolutely agree 100 percent, through both shoulders with a rifle drops them in their tracks, but what about at, say 15yds in a tree stand with extreme angle, that is a little tricky, I dont think it can be done
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Old 02-21-2018, 10:35 PM
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The majority of bears taken, from tree stands, the high on the shoulder shot is down through the body ---shoulder to shoulder----If you can imagine a "deer" shot low at an angle more likely to wound.In any case you dont find shoulder broke wounded bear, Were as a lung shot bear can from time to time be found well out there. I had tracking dog some years ago no worry about blood trail I found many 3-400 m out lung shot, no need to go farther woods to thick for recovery.
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Old 02-22-2018, 05:52 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by IronNoggin View Post
Here's the Boar I took last fall.
40 yard shot, 150 grain Nosler Partition from my 270.
NOT your "average" sized bear.



I shot him about 1/4 of the way up his chest, aiming to hit the heart (it did) and offside shoulder (it did) as he was quartering away.

Although I put a follow up round into his neck, it was entirely unnecessary.

Here's a picture that shows the damage done on the ENTRY side of the first shot:



Ribs blown right out. Heart Smashed. Shoulder broken.

Recovered Bullet:



I've only killed a handful of bears, including Grizz.
I ALWAYS take the type of shot I just described.
Take out the heart & lungs, and the offside shoulder, and he is going NOWHERE. Period.

Cheers,
Nog
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Old 02-22-2018, 05:53 AM
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Originally Posted by Wild Bounty View Post
absolutely agree 100 percent, through both shoulders with a rifle drops them in their tracks, but what about at, say 15yds in a tree stand with extreme angle, that is a little tricky, I dont think it can be done
Think entry and exit, vision it.
Bow hunters really understand this one.
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Old 02-23-2018, 11:20 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by IronNoggin View Post
Here's the Boar I took last fall.
40 yard shot, 150 grain Nosler Partition from my 270.
NOT your "average" sized bear.



I shot him about 1/4 of the way up his chest, aiming to hit the heart (it did) and offside shoulder (it did) as he was quartering away.

Although I put a follow up round into his neck, it was entirely unnecessary.

Here's a picture that shows the damage done on the ENTRY side of the first shot:



Ribs blown right out. Heart Smashed. Shoulder broken.

Recovered Bullet:



I've only killed a handful of bears, including Grizz.
I ALWAYS take the type of shot I just described.
Take out the heart & lungs, and the offside shoulder, and he is going NOWHERE. Period.

Cheers,
Nog
Now that’s a good black bear
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  #20  
Old 02-24-2018, 11:52 AM
IronNoggin IronNoggin is offline
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Now that’s a good black bear
7'6" nose to tail (no stretching) 7'8" across the fronts.
345 pounds of boneless fat & meat came off him.
After the 60 days drying period, the skull went just over 22 inches.
I will post a picture of the skull when the Euro is complete.
I'll also post a picture of the hide mount which I gave to the Rancher whose property the bear used to live on.

This one became a problem to me a year previous when he decided every trail cam he came across was good munchies. He became a problem to the locals just prior to his demise when he chased a couple back into their house when they tried to shoo him off their apple trees. His time was simply up.

Another boar moved into that block within the week after this one left. He was damn near as big last fall. And he now has a date with fate next fall should he continue to stick around.

Largest Blackie I've killed to date. And surprisingly great rendered bear lard (I got 3 full cases before passing the other half over to another couple) excellent hams, smokes & pepps.





Cheers,
Nog
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Old 02-24-2018, 12:00 PM
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Nog now your just teasing us with all those great cuts!
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Old 02-24-2018, 12:08 PM
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That for sure is a trophy of a life time,congrats.
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Old 02-24-2018, 12:12 PM
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Nog was this an island bear? I spent 5 years running up and down that island hunting black tail and I tell ya I have seen some big bears but never really paid attention until I came out here the Bears seem smaller over all.
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Old 02-24-2018, 12:26 PM
IronNoggin IronNoggin is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 58thecat View Post
Nog was this an island bear? I spent 5 years running up and down that island hunting black tail and I tell ya I have seen some big bears but never really paid attention until I came out here the Bears seem smaller over all.
Yes, he was an Island Bear.
Vancouver Island produces some of the largest black bears in the world.
For a reason - they did not have to compete with Grizzlies for access to the salmon. That, over a great length of time, created an almost sub-species of black bear predisposed to larger sizes. I have actually seen several that would crush this fellow, and one was taken on my home river a few years back now that topped 700 pounds. These are the Giants of the black bear world.

Not all of them focus on salmon. This fellow was living close to one of the Island's largest (secluded btw) alfalfa fields. And there are a handful of orchards in the area supplemented by smaller fruit tree plantations and gardens in each ranch and farm yard. He was really larded up for the winter, but had zero fishy smell or taste to him whatsoever...

Here's an indication of his lard levels:



I will be doing up a tale of this bugger once I have wandered through the hundreds of trail cam videos from that area over the past couple of years, and uploading any of interest. Be a bit of a spell methinks, but it should be worth the look when done.

Here is a picture of this fellow's last set of tracks, next to my hunting partner's size 13 bootprint:



Cheers,
Nog
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Old 02-24-2018, 01:54 PM
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As always Nog thanks for the info.
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Old 02-25-2018, 12:07 PM
IronNoggin IronNoggin is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 58thecat View Post
Nog now your just teasing us with all those great cuts!
Perhaps...
Had one of the sirloin hams off that bugger last night.
Tender, Juicy and quite Flavorful:



The Lady rather much Approved:



To the OP: Apologies on the hijack!
Did not mean to get quite so carried away.

I but rarely hunt from a tree stand, but can see why you suggest the shot placement from them as you do.
For me hunting from the ground (we cannot bait bears over here), I will stick to my lining up of the heart and the offside shoulder every chance I get.

Hope you have a great spring season!

Cheers,
Nog
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Old 02-25-2018, 12:47 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by IronNoggin View Post
Perhaps...
Had one of the sirloin hams off that bugger last night.
Tender, Juicy and quite Flavorful:



The Lady rather much Approved:



To the OP: Apologies on the hijack!
Did not mean to get quite so carried away.

I but rarely hunt from a tree stand, but can see why you suggest the shot placement from them as you do.
For me hunting from the ground (we cannot bait bears over here), I will stick to my lining up of the heart and the offside shoulder every chance I get.

Hope you have a great spring season!

Cheers,
Nog
That ham looks awesome. I have room in my freezer when you are passing through Saskatchewan.

The shot of which you speak of so fondly is one that I honestly use on almost all game animals and I am equally fond of it.
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Old 02-25-2018, 04:08 PM
coyoteman coyoteman is offline
 
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Wow,thats looks like some good eating--the result of that one shot stop----or one stop shot----always talk about the rifle. I like to take about the shooter and shot placement, you got it right to stop that monster----
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Old 02-25-2018, 06:27 PM
IronNoggin IronNoggin is offline
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... I like to take about the shooter and shot placement, you got it right to stop that monster----
Well, it wasn't quite as "easy" as I made out.
I have been suffering from a "catastrophic retina & macular detachment" in my right (shooting) eye since last May. Long and short of that is I actually tried to give up hunting (my LIFE!) a couple of times last fall, but my Partner booted my ass hard, and would not let me do so.

The day this fellow wandered by, we were committed to taking him down for reasons already posted. Two weeks previous I had him at 60 yards at dusk, but simply could not make him out through the scope with the damaged eye. So I gave up. Buddy kicked me back into gear by critiquing the amount of Sorry For Myself I could wallow in. Damn happy he did. Started to practice with the left. Painfully Awkward. Painfully SLOW. But workable...

That evening I was set up in a ground blind that trail cams confirmed a very good Blacktail was wandering by on a semi-frequent basis, as well as a few others, and of course the damn bear. When the snow increased to the point I could not see much more than 50 yards, I instinctively knew the deer would be a no-show. But as I rationalized that, I also understood the bear just might show. No sooner thought that, and there he was...

As he passed me at 20 yards, the top of his shoulders were higher than my head off the ground. I was sitting on a small stool I pack between the blinds. Never seen that height before that close. Looked down at the old stainless 270 and very well remember thinking Do NOT Eff This One Up!

Shoulder (on the left) the first time. Scope (a good VariX III) was fogged due to my error of tucking it under my belly to keep it out of the falling snow. Damn. Dropped it to my lap, but only tried to clean it with my fingers. That had the unfortunate effect similar to smearing Vaseline over the lenses. Down again, fumble for the lens cloth, found it, and did the job properly.

The bear at this point stopped, dropped his nose into the dirt, and snuffled loudly. Perfect. Lined up the shot described, and sent that 150 grain Nosler Partition on it's way at 40 yards. Knocked him right off his feet, but he jumped up and ran HARD. Damn. Lined up and let another go at about 70 yards. Hit high in the neck, knocking him down once again. He did not get up. I was damn thankful he did not... The second shot simply ran through a little muscle and fat well above the spine. It was not necessary, but I did not know that. And we had perhaps 10 minutes of shooting light left... The thought of a wounded and ****ed off Big Boy in the heavy brush after dark is exactly why I fired again.

Exciting few minutes, followed by an extraction that required five men, a quad and a trailer.

There is another Boar damn near the same size that moved in after this one left. Rancher wants me to deal with it in the spring. Put a neighboring Rancher on that job if it is required and informed the first I will indeed look for him in the fall. This time I plan on the same shot, with my bow...

Cheers,
Nog

Last edited by IronNoggin; 02-25-2018 at 06:36 PM.
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Old 02-25-2018, 11:55 PM
coyoteman coyoteman is offline
 
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Default Black Bear

I have gutted, skinned, and butched many bears taken by bowman, you are no less armed with the bow versus the rifle. It comes down to shot placement, so of course its takes practice, so the arrow goes were you are aiming with a smooth draw and placement through the kill zone. Might be an idea to get well up there in a tree stand, those island monsters for sure going to do some chomping when hit. enjoy those a---z pictures and hunt details.
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