.223 for bear, deer, elk and moose.

[Mish-pop]

Roe deer is to Europe like Whitetail is to the US and here there is also a special appreciation for non typicals, like this that I hunted last weekend using my Blaser K95 single shot in 5,6x50R. Load used was Hornady's 75gr ELDM pushed by 26,0 gr of Varget for 2,906 fps.
View attachment 703389

Shot was taken from 225 yds and the bullet went through the heart. The buck jumped high in the air and left on a death run for 20-25 yds. In the next pictures you can see entry and exit sides in the carcass. View attachment 703391View attachment 703392View attachment 703390

That is a really cool looking buck!

 

[Juan_ID]

So now that the thread has its first brown bear what’s next on the list of firsts?

 

[H280]

So now that the thread has its first brown bear what’s next on the list of firsts?

I think someone should take it up a notch to Cape Buffalo, the North American dangerous game pinnacle has now been taken with the 223. I think African dangerous game should naturally be next.

 

[Grundy53]

So now that the thread has its first brown bear what’s next on the list of firsts?

Giraffe
@Ryan Avery

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[Hunter270Win]

Coastal Alaskan Brown bear. 223 2 shots


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Man… what are all the “.338WM minimum for elk/moose/bears” gonna say now?

 

[Trapperkid]

Man… what are all the “.338WM minimum for elk/moose/bears” gonna say now?

They’ll call it a fluke and really lucky

 

[FCCDerek]

I'd like to see someone take a Bison. Those are some big animals as well and are fairly tough. Nilgai should be on the list as well.

 

[swavescatter]

I'd like to see someone take a Bison. Those are some big animals as well and are fairly tough. Nilgai should be on the list as well.

I have a guide that will sell me a Buffalo from Ted Turner's ranch for a discount. I'll start a GoFundMe for it here and if Rokslide pays I'll use the 223

 

[AlpineCarpetbagger]

They’ll call it a fluke and really lucky

Biased sampling. We aren’t hearing from the dozens, perhaps hundreds, of forum members who were eaten by bears attempting this.

 

[BigNate]

WTF bullet? Out of what?
Come on on man!

 

[Ozarkansas]

Coastal Alaskan Brown bear. 223 2 shots


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[Timjohnson11]

Absolute legend of a bruin.. The bear that fell so that rockslide could live

 

[Formidilosus]

Do/did you guys actually think there is something special about grizzlies or brown bears that makes them different than every other species?

 

[FCCDerek]

Do/did you guys actually think there is something special about grizzlies or brown bears that makes them different than every other species?

Other than a bit of extra thickness, there isn't. Muscle, bone, fur, skin, etc. Same as any other animal, just scaled up a bit.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Nothing extra magical. In the vital areas some extra hair, extra fat, thicker skin, denser rib bones.

Nothing worth getting worked up over or needed a .400 Ultra Super Heavy Duty Magnum™

 

[FCCDerek]

Nothing extra magical. In the vital areas some extra hair, extra fat, thicker skin, denser rib bones.

Nothing worth getting worked up over or needed a .400 Ultra Super Heavy Duty Magnum™

Like other bears, the more important factor is anatomical knowledge of where their vitals are located. Put a properly constructed bullet there at sufficient speed, they die pretty quickly.

 

[Luke S]

Grizzly/brown bears are flesh and blood but I was wondering about getting adequate penatration because their chests tend to be more rounded compared to a similar sized ungulate.
Theoretically I don't think it's unreasonable to wonder if a given bullet could fully pentrate the vitals of an elk or smaller grizzly but run out of steam on a really big brown bear to the point that it's doing significantly less damage to the second lung. That would still kill obviously but maybe not as fast.
I hope we get a good autopsy report. A 223 fully punching both lungs would be the final thing for me. A failure would just mean we found the ceiling for a .223.

 

[roosiebull]

Do/did you guys actually think there is something special about grizzlies or brown bears that makes them different than every other species?

I would assume that a brown bear is more soft than an average cow elk, and I have no idea why they are spoken of as some hard to kill creature. A huge black bear is softer than a blacktail, I always figured brown/grizz were a scaled up version, and the vitals on a bear, being where they are, make them an even softer target

I do know a coastal brown bear skull is nothing special, they don’t have thick hide, and relatively small lung capacity for their size, but people sure like to make them sound bulletproof… my guess is that there is a history of people using large cartridges with hard bullets, with narrow wound channels making said large cartridges seem almost not enough

And they have big ass teeth and claws

 

[Luke S]

roosiebull I think yes and no.

First, if an elk runs 100 yards in a semi open area that is no big deal. You probably won't think of it as much different than a DRT elk. A grizzly that runs 100 yards is going to get your blood pumping because you either have a gun fight on your hands or you are frantically trying to finish it off wondering if you'll have a rodeo in the alders. Same reason why lots of people hunt elk with bows but doing the same thing to a grizzly is considered rolling the dice a bit.

Another factor is that bear anatomy is a bit different than a deer's. Its possible to hit a bear, break a shoulder and not kill it because you missed the vitals completely. I have heard multiple stories of that happening in Alaska. That is a shooter problem not a caliber.

So yes, grizzlies/brown bears get mythologized but there is some valid concern there. I'm anxious to learn more about this bear and hopefully hit one myself with a smaller rifle and compare.

 

[FCCDerek]

I would assume that a brown bear is more soft than an average cow elk, and I have no idea why they are spoken of as some hard to kill creature. A huge black bear is softer than a blacktail, I always figured brown/grizz were a scaled up version, and the vitals on a bear, being where they are, make them an even softer target

I do know a coastal brown bear skull is nothing special, they don’t have thick hide, and relatively small lung capacity for their size, but people sure like to make them sound bulletproof… my guess is that there is a history of people using large cartridges with hard bullets, with narrow wound channels making said large cartridges seem almost not enough

And they have big ass teeth and claws

The potential aggression of a grizzly or coastal brown bear is what sets them apart. When they're hurt and have decided to take their anger out on you thats where the magic usually comes from. They can be quite dangerous, and move extremely quickly. They are faster than a horse, and can be on you really abruptly. Something moving that fast right at you can be hard to kill if you can't maintain control of yourself and shoot under pressure. I ran into a grizzly on a black bear hunt a few years back. I was about 30 feet away from it. It's a sobering experience. Fortunately nothing came of it, but I was done hunting for the day after that.