Black bear shot placement

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

A friend of mine lost a big black bear a couple years ago...shot placement was great, but the bullet didn’t penetrate enough. Bears are fat and have long hair, if your round doesn’t pass through the far side of the chest cavity, your blood trail will be almost non-existent because the hair and fat will plug the entry hole, and the bear will be hard to find. I’m sure his bear was dead, but we never found it. He was using a .308 with 165 barnes ttsx, shot was at 300 yards.


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Thank you for sharing, and I hate to lose any game animal as well.

With the 180 TBT or TA, penetration should not be a huge issue as long as POI is correct. These are tough controlled expansion bullets. At close range, the issue may be lack of expansion, per micus' experience. Hopefully two (entry/exit) .30 caliber or better holes will be enough in this situation if I'm fortuante enough for an opportunity.

 

[black dawg]

Any body going for right behind the shoulder shots or any shoulder shot, should make sure that shoulder and leg is straight down. I think alot of problems come from people not realizing how much bears can move their shoulders around. I really think this is why the "middle" shot is popular with guides.

We usually aim several inches forward of middle. I have had much better results with fast expanding bullets causing more internal damage......than tougher bullets making two holes.

I have used the shoulder shot to "break them down", it is pretty amazing what a bear can do without either front leg functional. After a couple of those, have used only several inches behind the shoulder with softer bullets shots, with much better results. I havent found a combination that guarantees a blood trail.

 

[meatsports]

subbed

 

[Gmul]

Going on my first spring bear hunt in a month in BC. Learning lots!

 

[roosiebull]

Like anything in the hunting realm, don’t overthink it too much.

aim a couple inches further back than you would on a deer or elk... I have heard the middle of the middle, but I couldn’t do it, I’ll aim between the middle and the shoulder crease given its a broadside shot.

I personally don’t get too fancy shooting at bear, they are soft and easy to kill if you shoot them well, and are about the toughest and hardest to kill if you don’t shoot them well.

I don’t get in a hurry shooting at bear, I will wait for an angle I like... bear are hard to see their anatomy, and they don’t just stand like deer and elk, they will sit down, and lots of different body positions that make it harder to see what’s going on... I just wait, I like broadside or quartering away... shoot both lungs and they are dead super fast, bear die very efficiently with double lung shots

 

[GarnerAF1]

I think with all the good advice everyone is giving. Sometimes strange shots happen though. Two years back had one of the closest and best possible shots I’ve ever made with a rifle. We watched over and over the footage and we searched for three days and never found my bear. Absolutely still makes me sick today but freak recoveries from the animal have happened. Good luck! Hope all the questions and practice pay off on an easy and quick harvest!


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[Bigfeet14]

Fantastic information you guys. I really appreciate the input on this thread

 

[Dinny]

I like head shots. They tend to stay put and saves the trouble of tracking.

 

[Jbogg]

I like head shots. They tend to stay put and saves the trouble of tracking.

I had a deer come past me one year with its lower jaw bone dangling buy a few threads of skin. Slow death due to starvation is a pretty horrible way to go. I Took a headshot on a large hog a few years ago that worked out fine, but I won’t do it again. Heart lung area presents a much bigger target, with more margin for error.

 

[Yoteassasin]

I always aim for the opposite shoulder. Be very careful of shooting to high on bears. there is a lot of fat and bulk on their ridge that the bullet don't hurt. I've never personaly lost a bear. But I've seen many run off on bad shots , down a canyon you'll never get in to . They wee all a result of some one overthinking placement. Bad neck shots , too high on the spine shot , too far back shot

 

[Bigfeet14]

Have you all had interesting run ins with wounded bears? Seems it's be a little more dicey than a wounded deer or elk.

 

[Lowg08]

Have you all had interesting run ins with wounded bears? Seems it's be a little more dicey than a wounded deer or elk.

I myself have only dealt with a handful of wounded bears. I’m a firm believer in head shots though. Mostly just ticked off about the dogs. Had a drunk guy in another hunting party shoot one through the hips to our dogs and that got really interesting really fast.

 

[marshland_max]

Well.........deff don't shoot it in the arse..........

I'd probably avoid the middle of the middle advise..................been on some of those stupid liver/gut shot tracking jobs...............usually a bad hit = a lost bear.........

Head shots.......................works 50% of the time great and the other 50% leads to a terrible tracking situation and usually a bad hit = a lost bear...................Popular north of me when running hounds and bears are bayed up in a tree or backed into a corner. Can get scary quick.

I will tell you what has worked for me repeatedly on bears. A bullet or slug straight through the lungs.......DRT or with in 50 yards every time!

I aim on were the shoulder crease meets the ribs. 12ga foster type 1oz slug, 30-30, 35 rem 30-06 all have performed well with basic cup & core bullets.

I've never not had a bullet pass through on a bear. I have seen overly stiff bonded bullets or mono's pencil through and fill with blood, fat, and hair. Something to consider.

We also tend to shoot them close here in the North East. Usually over bait or with hounds. Even in the woods we get them in close.

See profile pic if you have questions.

Good luck in the Bob!

 

[roosiebull]

I like head shots. They tend to stay put and saves the trouble of tracking.

have you shot bear in the neck? i like that shot on deer.... certainly don't need to hit the spine for a very effective shot, always shied away from that on bear because i haven't seen it done a bunch like i have on deer.

as for head shots.... bear have small lungs, i bet if you take a mature boar's skull and set it next to one of his lungs, there wouldn't be a very big difference in the "vitals" size.

i'm not very brave shooting bear, i will probably stick with what i know, because i have been on a few track jobs with people that showed me how tough bear are if you don't kill them good, and how easy they die when you take out their lungs, but i also know that shots that make me nervous to take may still be very efficient ways to kill bear as reliably as my shots of choice.

 

[Cyril]

I am not an expert on bear by any means but center punch on lungs for any game I have shot has always been best(center front to back, but bottom third bottom to top). With deer, my double lung shot with archery equipment tend to go 75 yards or less, most under 30 and fall in sight. A heart shot or heart and single lung average over 150 and farthest went 265.

On the Bear I shot this year, I lined up for middle of the middle and split the distance between there and his shoulder. Right through the center of both lungs, he went about 20 yards and The blood trail was visible from my shot location at about 110 yards. It looked like the drift logs had been painted red. 200 grain accubond 325wsm.

 

[lang]

Wigeon, just curious where your buddy aimed? How far did you track it? I'd bet this happens a lot that fat and fur get blamed for plugging holes when the vitals aren't hit. Again we had multiple bears hit right on the shoulder line half way up out of a tree stand, broadside that we tracked over a mile and eventually lost blood with two holes from broad heads. One was still alive the next morning. No way vitals got hit. World of difference aiming back a few inches from the shoulder.
Like Black Dawg it may be a shoulder position thing, but aiming farther back has removed any issues we've had previously.

 

[Lukeetreatz]

I have been hunting black bears on the west coast of vancouver island for 20 years now and I only shoot for the head. If you miss you either completely miss the animal and don't have to track a wounded bear or you hit the neck(spine) and the bear is dead anyways . The woods are so thick here if a wounded bear runs into the bush it gets real dangerous real fast and a black bears heart rate can go down to 7 beats per minute. I have had people tell me the head is a smaller target and harder to hit but in my opinion if you can't hit a them in the head you shouldn't be taking the shot.

 

[pk_]

Having a difficult time understanding the difference between the middle and the middle of the middle?? Isn’t the middle of the middle, quite literally the middle?

Or is it just being more precise, like the difference between bullseye and center of the bullseye??

Sorry if this was covered, I read majority of posts but didn’t see a clear definition of ‘middle of middle’.

 

[Dead eye BT]

In my opinion, head shots are NEVER a good idea on bears, or any big game animal. The poster above stated:

“If you miss you either completely miss the animal and don't have to track a wounded bear or you hit the neck(spine) and the bear is dead anyways.”

Here’s another “or”: You just blow off the nose or jaw, which leads to a wounded animal that is very difficult to track and most likely won’t be recovered. But it will suffer a long, slow, miserable death.

No thanks.

I’ve shot around 25 black bears in the last 30 years. I’ve recovered all but one within 40 yards from where they were shot. The one I didn’t recover was a shoulder shot that impacted too low. And yes, that bear probably suffered a long, miserable death.

I still believe my odds are better shooting for the heart/lung area.

 

[Cyril]

About 15 years ago, on opening day of the general firearms season I shot a whitetail doe that had its lower jaw shot off. This was around mid day and I had not heard any shots that were particularly close. No one came up tracking, there wasn’t much blood to track. Wound was from that morning, just glad I was in the right spot at the right time to put the deer out of its misery.