If You HAVE To Shoot A Bear, Where Would You Aim?

[ddixie884]

Shoot, shoot, shoot............

The way I shoot, anywhere except at the bear. Then I'm bound to hit it.

What would be your first move if you woke up in your tent to this:

Shoot, shoot, shoot......................

 

[Laketime]

Right at his Nads

 

[riverrat38]

The way I shoot, anywhere except at the bear. Then I'm bound to hit it.

What would be your first move if you woke up in your tent to this:

Insert 12 Gage in open mouth and pull!

73,
Rick

 

[Skeet 028]

Of the 2 grizzlies I was involved with...Both were wounded. First I wasn't sure of.. bear came at me angled a bit to the left. Bullet went in just to the left of the head and down the spinal column. An absolutely lucky shot with my 41 mag as he was DRT..again luckily. 2nd I shot was definitely wounded and I broke both shoulders with the first shot from my 375 H&H. 2 more JIC through the lungs. Many years ago in a galaxy far far away. Your adrenaline is spiking for certain. I have never intended to hunt grizzlies on purpose. But we do have quite a few in the area I hunt elk in. This may be my last elk season. I'm 74...too much work getting an elk

 

[brucev]

My BIL lived up in Alaska for about 7 years. He thought a .300 Win. made a might fine rifle for big game. He wouldn't listen to me. I tried to tell him a bolt-action was all wrong. He wouldn't listen! Personally, I'd grab my nice ever reliable always loaded and ready to go M-1 Garand and point the front sight end of the rifle at the bear and then proceed to pump nice .30-06 Armor Piercing round through his hood ornament. I figure after the first round, he wouldn't have any sinus problems ... headache or anything else to worry about. In fact, from just about any angle of presentation, that AP stuff will go in and through and right on out. I've used common plain Jane factory .30-06 to shoot deer, alligators, etc. from various angles. Complete penetration has been the norm. Even with Texas heart shots ... bullet just goes in making nice little hole and then out the other side ... leaving a bigger hole Shot one in the left hip to the side of the tail pipe and the bullet exited the right front shoulder. If I'd used AP ... it would have had enough zip to go right through any other deer standing down range. If my BIL had listened to me, he would have been able to use the M-1 for general shooting of game animals ... and if he ran out of ammo, he could stand there like a man and butts-stroke that animal in the head and then shove 8 inches of cold steel into its heart! But, my BIL just wouldn't listen. What a waste! What a waste! JMHO. Sincerely. bruce.

 

[Golphin]

Forum Rule #1. Never read with your glasses off. I just read “I would aim at the BEER!”

I try and aim the beer for my mouth but have missed before and that is a sign that maybe I don't really need any more.

 

[WCCPHD]

If I ever shoot a bear it will be self-defense. In that case, I will shoot at BEAR. I will shoot many times and it will be my intention to put more holes in the bear than he has fingers to plug them.

 

[Nedroe]

The way I shoot, anywhere except at the bear. Then I'm bound to hit it.

What would be your first move if you woke up in your tent to this:

Tell my wife her mom was here

 

[Peak53]

I had the biggest black bear I have ever seen on my deck just after bedtime last night. Actually, it was brown in color, but let's not quibble. BIG! My best ammunition is Cinco the Border Collie - who of course was on the inside of the door/window. Bark! Bark! Bark... Porchlight. What is that screaming? Oh, it's me! BIG bear kind of glances toward the window and nonchalantly ambles his bulk down the stairs. I like the thought of bears in the woods, and what they do in the woods ... just stay off my deck!

PS: It's kind of funny about these all too frequent bear encounters through the glass. Cinco is all ferocious until the bear leaves, then he is kind of sheepish after. What's that about? I'll be carrying a flashlight and a backup when we go for our evening walk in a few minutes.

 

[Chukar60]

Go with this.

It’s an official Alaska State Parks bear target.

Those guys should know.

So the object here is to shoot his teeth out?

 

[Rimmer]

Go with this.

It’s an official Alaska State Parks bear target.

Those guys should know.

Yes and when he opens his mouth, a shot to his brain and spine.

 

[UncleEd]

The official Alaska Parks target is
indicating to shoot for the softest
parts of the bear's face, the cheeks,
eyes, mouth. Gives the best chances
of putting a bullet into the brain pan.

And besides, Grizzly Adams used to
say "it ain't sporting until you can
smell the bear's breath."

 

[CalmerThanYou]

^^That did not work out very well for Leonardo in "The Revenant"

 

[Spurdann]

The best place to shoot a bear is about 20 feet from the truck.

 

[Absalom]

The official Alaska Parks target is
indicating to shoot for the softest
parts of the bear's face, the cheeks,
eyes, mouth. Gives the best chances
of putting a bullet into the brain pan.

I believe the thinking is more broad than that. Any bullet placed within that circle with sufficient penetration will hit shoulders or vitals if it misses the brain.

Bears have relatively thick skulls, but they aren’t elephants. A decent bullet will penetrate. Most bears in Alaska are killed with the .30-06.

If someone overthinks this and believes they have to somehow shoot past the head into shoulders or vitals, they’ll almost certainly miss, and an unpleasant experience will ensue.

 

[zzclancy]

As Clint Smith would say, shoot UNTIL the bear knows he's dead.

 

[woodsltc]

I saw this thread and thought about where to aim before I saw Absolum's post with the bear target.......I'd already thought that if I had to shoot a charging bear "straight on" I would aim at his nose. Hopefully it would kill/disable him or if not at least he would have painful time trying to eat me.

Don

 

[Hair Trigger]

Shoot, shoot, shoot......................

He WAS shooting; unfortunate for him, it was a DSLR camera instead of a gun.

The story on that photo is grim; it's not a Photoshop. I can't remember the name of the guy, but he was a noted nature photographer and that was the last picture he ever took. Seems like it was about ten years ago.

 

[BigBill]

One deer/bear season two hunters came from two valleys over looking for a wounded bear they shot, it was bad heavy pouring rain. I took them to where they were staying. At my camp the three of us went looking for a wounded bear, I’m packing a 338 wm, 225gr win sp. we went through all our dry clothes that day had to hit the laundry mat that night. Couldn’t find the wounded bear. The following season we shot a bear five minutes from my camp. Upon butchering I found a perfect 30 cal bullet intact in its back side. It healed over. It was logged in the meat and stopped. My 338 bullet entered broke four ribs on exit and left a silver dollar hole. I put my shot in the boil maker.

 

[9mmPatriot]

First shot should always go into your buddy's knee.

After that you can shoot the bear in multiple places.
Take your time and get good sight alignment and sight picture.