What did you kill your Grizzly with?

[Leaky Waders]

Hi,

For people who have actually hunted or backed up someone hunting grizzlies...what caliber did you use to kill your bear?

Background: Many threads on these board are based upon - can this kill a bear? The reason, I think, is because bears are the most ferocious predators in North America. It's a natural question that the hunter would like to know before he enters bear country.

So, for all of you who are fortunate enough to have done it, or who have hunted with a client, or guide, or even a family member...what is the actual caliber and make that worked? Was it scoped? If so with what were the scopes dimensions. Is there a story behind the hunt? Did it charge? Was it a stalk?

I've read magazine articles and all the past threads...I'd like to hear from real hunters if you don't mind sparing the time.

Thanks,

LW

Just for full disclosure...I have never killed a bear.

 

[H&Hhunter]

.338 and .375H&H.

No big story, both were up in Caribou's country up around Kotzebue. Both were fairly small bears. My buddy popped the first one with his .338 at about 200 yards and it took off. I smacked it with my .375H&H and laid it down.

 

[klutchless]

Hit a black bear with my truck once.

 

[Ed4032]

Can't you just put up a sign that says "Bear Free Zone." I am sure that works.

 

[Mike1234567]

Or a sign that says, "We don' need no steenkeen bears-es".

 

[ridgerunner1965]

bear guns

this guy is askin a serious question from yuall whoall have experience in this area.lets hear from sum guys who have actually shot a grizzer bear.?

 

[ridgerunner1965]

no offense H@H, yur post is what we wanna hear

 

[Mike1234567]

rr1965... mebe yer to serus fer sum us ode foke.

 

[shaggy430]

A leather glove!

 

[janobles14]

i was on a hunt but struck out. only big brown killed was with a .338 lapua mag. didn't drop so fast either! didn't run a lot....but i wasn't going anywhere NEAR that thing for a hour.

 

[a-sheepdog]

I have not actually hunted them but my brother in law shot one with a 416 Rigby with good results. Shot placement is vital of course, not sure how quickly it went down.

 

[KodiakBeer]

There's grizzlies and then there's grizzlies... Some of the inland bears never get much over 400 pounds. A friend shot a grizzly in north central Alaska that he thought didn't go over 350 pounds. It was a male, and when the tooth was submitted it turned out to be 27 years old. No doubt it was a bit heavier in its prime, but bears in that area never get much larger than that.

Grizzlies on the coast, well...

 

[MtnCreek]

You can't post a photo like that with just a 'well...' How bout a little more info.
Thanks!

 

[Shadow 7D]

Yep, it's a griz....

 

[Cosmoline]

Anyone want to make up a story to go along with that photo so it can be the next "killer bear" meme?

The only direct account I can give you about DLP is of a friend who shot (or shot *at*) a griz with a Win 94 in .30-30 I had loaned her. The griz had been trying to get to the dog food cache and/or the dogs, who were going nuts in the kennels. This was in the middle of the night. She fired at it, says she hit it, but it ran off so who knows. I had previously told her to use the slug gun, but for whatever reason she opted to use the Win. Never got that rifle back, either ;-)

I know folks who've hunted them with the .375 H&H and .338 WM, successfully and with no drama I'm aware of.

 

[ZeroJunk]

It had DB Cooper's wallet in it and a hubcap off a 1963 Ford Falcon.

 

[El Mariachi]

Last time i saw a grizzly that big....it had tusks......

 

[Jaymo]

Those are the funniest looking woolly mammoth feet I've ever seen.

 

[KodiakBeer]

That's actually just a typical big male coastal bear. It's a good one, but nothing extraordinary.

The reason you don't see many pix like that is because there's a sort of idiocy surrounding guides and bear pictures. They always make the client kneel five or ten yards behind the bear to make it look bigger, but in fact that pose fools the eye in the other direction. You see the optical illusion for what it is and think the bear is smaller than it is.

This picture below is of a friends bear taken about 1999 or 2000 with a .375. I've lost touch and so don't have his permission to freely use the picture, which is why his face is blurred out. But, like the picture above, you can see how large the animal really is when you don't use camera tricks to exaggerate it further.

 

[RinkRat]

My first car was a white 64 Ford Falcon with a red steel dash paid $25.00 for it I think that thar bear is bigger then my car was nice Brownee what did you take it with and how far did it stroll before it fell

 

[H&Hhunter]

Kodiak,

Is your friend still selling Kimbers?

 

[KodiakBeer]

I believe so!

 

[HarcyPervin]

any numbers on either of those bears?

 

[KodiakBeer]

Neither of the bears are mine. I know the second bear squared over ten feet, but the skull measurements fell shy of the record books. It was taken on the south end of Kodiak.

Again though, these are good trophy bears but there's nothing extraordinary about them. People just don't realize how big these coastal grizzlies actually get and for that, I blame the guides. Guides are often very skilled at finding bears, but almost universally they seem to have a complete lack of imagination when taking that trophy photo. To show the size you need scale, and for that the hunter is the best choice. They all seem to rely on the classic pose with the hunter kneeling 3 to 5 yards behind the bear and then of course you have no idea if you're looking at a seven footer or a ten footer. People naturally assume the bear is smaller and the hunter further away.