Bear hunting with rifle shot placement

[CRSWY]

Bears aren't nearly as tough as people make them out to be. This myth of toughness comes directly from shooting shoulders.
1-Don't shoot their shoulders there's no vitals there. Made that mistake many times they are quite hard to kill when you "anchor" both shoulders and do little damage to their vitals. They also don't hemorage a bunch from shoulders shots due to the coat and fat.

2-Shoot them in the vitals with a fragmenting bullet and they die really quick. Bonded or copper bullets are less effective at this
After you kill your bear examine how it's built and how fragile their vitals are

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You are exactly right. A good friend and life long Alaska outfitter tells every hunter behind the shoulder then start breaking shoulders.

 

[rlmmarine]

Ive shot 4 all have been in the head or right behind the ears all dropped in their tracks lights out 1 shot
1 with a 460
3 with a 30 30

 

[Yoteassasin]

My one recommendation is shoot lowwwww . Their vitals are at the front of the breast no higher Every bear I’ve seen lost was shot too high .

 

[Quicksilver]

Middle of the middle is the safest bet. With a thick coat and large legs, hugging the crease can fool you and it’s tough to judge exactly where that crease is. Like mentioned before, but it in the vitals as shown previously and it’s a dead bear running. Most I’ve see. Flop by 40yds with a vitals shot. Usually blows a decent hole out the ribs too. Black bear ribs are very soft, a vitals shot and they won’t put up much fight. You put a shot forward of the vitals and guy may get to hunt that bear next year! Seriously though, guy I know went for a “break the shoulders shot” on a color phase bear. Lost it…next season came across the same bear in the same area limping around and shot it correctly this time. Had scar tissue where he shot it the previous year. Bullet went through but no vitals were damaged.

 

[D.Blake]

I would advise against an anchoring shoulder shot. Bears tend to leave behind a small blood trail. If you fail to pass through both shoulders, you will be tracking a very mobile bear with only one hole to leave a trail.

I shot this bear "center of center" as many have stated above. I got on him with the scope, instinctively went to the pocket behind the shoulder, then went back another 6"-8". He ran about 60 yards and tipped over before either of us knew what happened. There is more blood in the photo below than on his entire blood trail.

Full disclosure: I have only killed one bear in my life - but I also have killed 100% of my bears in 1 shot.

 

[ramhunter]

Going on my first beer hunt this fall in Colorado. Using a 6.5 creedmoor and hopefully shooting a bear 200 yards or closer.

I have seen many different pieces of information in regards to where to shoot the bear. I’ve heard shoot the “middle of the middle”, shoot it like a deer through both shoulders, aim for the crease?

With a bow I know to aim a little back but with a gun are you better off to shoo through the shoulders?

Thanks.


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Bullets matter way more than headstamps! The 6.5 Creed is fine for black bears, shoot a good bullet like Barnes X's A-frame, Partition etc. line up bone and vitals and then hit the switch!

 

[Elkhntr08]

 

[Theringworm]

I just returned from my coastal Alaskan black bear hunt this week and I took this picture specifically to emphasize/answer bullet placement. As you can tell from the picture my shot was exactly in the middle part of the body from top to bottom of the bear. I then went to the middle of the body from hind leg to front leg and then split that distance in half again from the middle of the bear to the crease of the front leg. The bear was dead on broadside at 60 yds. This bullet went through both lungs and blew out an entire half of the heart. I hope this helps someone down the road to visualize shot placement.

 

[Honyock]

I just returned from my coastal Alaskan black bear hunt this week and I took this picture specifically to emphasize/answer bullet placement. As you can tell from the picture my shot was exactly in the middle part of the body from top to bottom of the bear. I then went to the middle of the body from hind leg to front leg and then split that distance in half again from the middle of the bear to the crease of the front leg. The bear was dead in broadside at 60 yds. This bullet went through both lungs and blew out an entire half of the heart. I hope this helps someone down the road to visualize shot placement.

How big was him?

 

[Theringworm]

How big was him?

7’5”

 

[ILIKEBEARS]

Middle of the middle here.

 

[lang]

Elkhnter08 Sorry but I've seen several bears hit in the grey on your graphic broadside and slightly quartering away that were never found...those are just the graphics that are causing lost animals! Those are why people think bears are hard to kill. They shoot what that says are vitals and will be very disappointed with the results. Way too far forward!

 

[madcalfe]

I don't particularly like going into the thick brush looking for a wounded bear, or any bear for that matter. I think the last 8-10 bears were all shot in the noodle and dropped on the spot.

 

[Nelsesmp]

I don’t know that I have ever heard of a head shot for bears. Is this common?


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[sfotiades]

Great information gents! Headed out next Wednesday to hopefully kill a bear!

 

[tefird21]

Has anyone used monolithic bullets on bears? I’ve used barnes tsx and Hornady GMX on deer with great performance.

 

[jhm2023]

I've shot enough bears that I've lost count and have seen a lot of others shot using archery gear all the way up to 33 Nosler and 45-70. In my experience middle of the middle is starting to get a little too far back and on the shoulder like an ungulate such as deer is too far forward. The vitals are set back a little further on a bear compared to ungulates. My preferred shot on a bear that is broadside is half way between the top of the back and the bottom of the brisket, this accounts for the several inches of hair hanging from the brisket, then 4 inches (or the width of your hand) back off the crease of the should if the near side leg is straight. For all non-broadside shots you need to think of a bear, much like any other animal three dimensionally since they aren't flat and envision where the vitals are based on what I described above taking into account the angle of the animal and the position of it's near side leg to make sure bones aren't in the way. Leg bones obviously aren't an issue for midsized and up cartridges when using premium bullets. The last bear I shot was like 6'7" or 6'8" and was a very hard quartering away shot with a 6.5 Creedmoor at like ~75 yards if memory serves me right.. The bullet (124gr HH) did it's job as designed, the base passed through a few feet of bear and exited causing the bear to drop at the shot without hitting the spine. Not saying they will always drop at the shot with this shot placement but they never make it far regardless if using an arrow, little bullet, big bullet, slow bullet, fast bullet. Another benefit to staying off the shoulder besides potentially losing a bear (learned that lesson the hard way and have seen others do the same), is reducing the amount of damaged meat as bears make damn good groceries, especially sausage.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Bears aren't nearly as tough as people make them out to be. This myth of toughness comes directly from shooting shoulders.
1-Don't shoot their shoulders there's no vitals there. Made that mistake many times they are quite hard to kill when you "anchor" both shoulders and do little damage to their vitals. They also don't hemorage a bunch from shoulders shots due to the coat and fat.

2-Shoot them in the vitals with a fragmenting bullet and they die really quick. Bonded or copper bullets are less effective at this
After you kill your bear examine how it's built and how fragile their vitals are

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This right here. Get a hold of some 129 Grain SST's for your 6.5 CM and watch the bear die within 20-50 yards of a vitals shot.

 

[Yoteassasin]

Has anyone used monolithic bullets on bears? I’ve used barnes tsx and Hornady GMX on deer with great performance.

Our crew uses them. I have had stellar results. Others not as good . I think it’s a shot placement issue . I wait for a slightly quartering away shot and aim for the opposite shoulder . All of mine have made it less than 20 ft . There was even one I had to give the ‘ole Texas heart shot after it tuned and it only made it 40’

 

[PredatorSlayer]

Middle of the middle is good shot placement, but they are super easy to kill. You don’t need tough bullets. Think big coyote, not small grizz or brown.