What does it take to kill a grizzly?

wyosam

WKR
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Aug 5, 2019
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Can you go hunt in Africa for large game with a .223? If not why?
Your ford ranger might pull your boat but a f350 pulls it better is all I'm saying.

Depends on the boat. Unless I had another need for a 1 ton truck, I sure wouldn’t buy one to drag my river sled around.


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MT-nuffgun

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 24, 2023
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190
I’ve only killed a black bear, but I would imagine it takes the same to kill a grizz….. “proper bullet placement” would probably be where I would start. I have yet to come across a critter where a big bullet placed badly was the best solution in the end.
 
Joined
Feb 17, 2020
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You're probably going to get people telling you that you don't need a big gun to kill a grizzly bear. That is true. But for self defense situations you want a weapon that will break that animal down and stop it while it is in a charge. Just think how much energy a thousand pound animal is going to have while charging you at something like 20-35 mph. Of course being able to shoot straight is the most important factor. I personally would not want to have anything less than a .375 H&H while in big bear country. I personally feel that a .308 is best left for black bears
 

Tanner

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I’m all about smaller, easier to shoot and spot critters for non dangerous game, but for my guiding purposes and brown/grizzly bears I definitely would prefer some more ass, mostly just for peace of mind.

FWIW, the last grizzly I guided was shot with a 7 REM Mag with 140 TSX. Shot walking at us, at about 40 yards. Entered high in the chest and exited out above its butthole.

I’m still working through what I’m going to set up for the small amount of guiding I’ll do this year but leaning heavily towards a flyweight 308….
 

MT-nuffgun

Lil-Rokslider
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Jan 24, 2023
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FWIW, the last grizzly I guided was shot with a 7 REM Mag with 140 TSX. Shot walking at us, at about 40 yards. Entered high in the chest and exited out above its butthole.
So your saying that bullet was placed properly for that angle/scenario…
 

Choupique

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Oct 2, 2022
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I know if I had to defend myself against a bear that wanted to eat me and using a tank wasn't an option, I'd rather have an AR15 than a .458 win mag. I might actually get a hit or two before he eats me vs 1 really loud miss before he eats me.

In any scenario, I get eaten. Only variable is whether or not the bear has a couple of holes in him while he's eating.

Maybe a big long spear would be better. Those kinds they used in the middle ages to jewg horses out from under the calvary
 

IBen

WKR
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May 15, 2021
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I’m all about smaller, easier to shoot and spot critters for non dangerous game, but for my guiding purposes and brown/grizzly bears I definitely would prefer some more ass, mostly just for peace of mind.

FWIW, the last grizzly I guided was shot with a 7 REM Mag with 140 TSX. Shot walking at us, at about 40 yards. Entered high in the chest and exited out above its butthole.

I’m still working through what I’m going to set up for the small amount of guiding I’ll do this year but leaning heavily towards a flyweight 308….
Im going to be using a chopped 17 inch tikka superlite 308 with rmr for guiding. Im down sizing from a 22inch 30-06 with irons. Think it should be about 5.5 lbs
 

MT-nuffgun

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 24, 2023
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190
Oh yeah…. Don’t think I’ve ever advocated for anything other than that.

unfortunately on a charging bear, that ain’t always what you get, as I’m sure you know.

I agree, but along the same lines, I don’t believe a bigger bullet/cartridge combo would have resulted in a great outcome had it impacted to the left of where your client hit and impacted the leading edge of the bears right shoulder. I however, do believe that there is probably a large number of cartridge/bullet combos that if impacted in the same exact spot as your client in that scenario, would have ended that bear in the same fashion.
 

Tanner

WKR
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Oct 13, 2013
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Colorado
I know if I had to defend myself against a bear that wanted to eat me and using a tank wasn't an option, I'd rather have an AR15 than a .458 win mag. I might actually get a hit or two before he eats me vs 1 really loud miss before he eats me.

In any scenario, I get eaten. Only variable is whether or not the bear has a couple of holes in him while he's eating.

Maybe a big long spear would be better. Those kinds they used in the middle ages to jewg horses out from under the calvary
I personally like the idea of a Roman phalanx but haven’t found the requisite number of volunteers to try it yet…
 

z987k

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Sep 9, 2020
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AK
I know if I had to defend myself against a bear that wanted to eat me and using a tank wasn't an option, I'd rather have an AR15 than a .458 win mag. I might actually get a hit or two before he eats me vs 1 really loud miss before he eats me.

In any scenario, I get eaten. Only variable is whether or not the bear has a couple of holes in him while he's eating.

Maybe a big long spear would be better. Those kinds they used in the middle ages to jewg horses out from under the calvary
Agreed. I'd rather have a semi-auto rifle than anything in a bolt gun if it's defensive.
30 223s is much better than 3 458's. You need a cns hit and energy is beyond irrelevant.
 

BLJ

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Jan 19, 2020
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Idk yet. Any recommendations?
Never have or see myself needing to defend myself against a bear, but my Tikka 308 that’s been cut to 18” shoots 180 Swift A-Frames very well. And at 2510 MV. Just a thought.
 
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