Brown/ grizzly vs black bears

[RU shooter]

Thanks for all the input gentlemen . I never took the "attitude" of the brown bears into consideration , Never seen one except on the tv so zero real life knowledge on their behavior . I didn't know they sorta get pissed off when shot ! Can brown bear climb a tree like black bear ?

[Skipper]

The young ones can. Also check this video. Skip forward to about :42

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dPnp3fLOER8

[M-Tecs]

Can brown bear climb a tree like black bear ?

Not the adults but you want to be in a large tree. The big males can push and shake a medium size tree very well.

[tdoyka]

Not the adults but you want to be in a large tree. The big males can push and shake a medium size tree very well.

now i know why people want me to go out west and hunt....i'm disabled!

[leeggen]

My first thought on this thread was " don't forget to take along the brother N law.LOL Always wanted to hunt grizzly bear sometime, just a dream as another said I'm diabled and I don't want to be bear bait. Good luck to all that hunt them.
CD

[Greg S]

I would feel under gunned in Alaska with a 30-30. 45-70 with a 405 @ 1450 +, 375 H&H, 416 at standard vel or a 458 with a 400 or better same as the 45-70. Alot of the times it is not killing them, but stopping them. A 30-06 pushing a 200-220 is alot more effective hitting its mark than a wonder mag. A 12ga with quality slugs is good also.

A friend was out hunting brown bear on a fly in with his neighbor (pilot) who had done alot of guiding. Friend shoots brownie x 3 with 338. Bear still moving. Experianced neighbor one shot anchors it with a 300 WM or ultra. Monday morning at the shop, 300 ultra is da chit. No pics ect about his shot placement yada yada yada.

[RU shooter]

Note to self , if ever hunting brown bear do it from tree stand !

[Moonie]

[herman48]

I lived in Kodiak, Alaska for 29 years and hunted ducks and deer in the company of bears. I even had two confrontations with a couple of them that fortunately ended well for both me and them. Brownies can be huge. And they are tough: tough hide, a layer of fat, tough muscle, and very tough bones. If you are charged by one you have very few seconds to react with a shot and can't place your bullet precisely. So you need something with smashing power capable to inflict enough shock to stop or deflect the charge. Once the charge is stopped one has the chance to place a second (and third, and fourth) shot in a vital area. I hunted for deer in the company of brownies with a .338 WM loaded with a more than maximum dose of IMR 4350 and 250-grain Nosler Partition bullets. A friend of mine used a .375 H&H (and he had to dispatch a charging bear with it--the first ball hit the beast in the jaw and knocked him out for a few seconds. It was about to stand up again, very pissed, but a second bullet to the brain put him out of his enraged misery. This said, the famous Kodiak bear guide, Madsen, used a .30-06. He lived and died before the epidemic of magnumitis. And a former student of mine, now a famous bear guide, once was hunting for deer when he was charged by a large brownie. He had a .243, not really a bear gun. He shot the charging bear in a shoulder, breaking it and slowing down the charge. Then he broke the other shoulder, stopping the charge, and finally drilled the bear's cranium with a third bullet. End of story. When I went duck hunting I had a twenty-minute walk in almost absolute darkness between the car and my blind, on a lake shore frequented by bears who fed on the dead and dying coho salmon that came to the creeks that fed the lake to spawn. I saw them often there, and between the blind and the forest behind there was a bear trail. Often while I hunted my dog began to growl and I knew that a bear was passing behind the blind. On the way to the blind I carried my shotgun loaded with three Brenneke balls in 3" shells. I had the bag of decoys on my shoulders, the gun in my hands and a powerful 500-lumen flashlight (turned off not to scare the ducks) held in the left hand that grasped the fore end of the gun. I counted on my dog to alert me if we had stumbled onto a bear hidden in the tall grass. I had several encounters, there, one too close for comfort. But fortunately I never had to fire for effect. Killing a bear in self-defense is legal even when bear season is not open, but if you kill one in self-defense then you have to skin it and surrender hide and head to Fish and Game. Skinning and carrying to the road the skin and head of brown a bear on rough terrain is tremendously hard work, and it discourages trigger-happy dudes who would happily claim self-defense after shooting a bear that was minding his own business.
By the way, Kodiak bears have learned that when they hear a shot there's the chance of a good meal, at least a gut pile, or even a whole deer if they can get there fast enough to steal the whole animal from the hunter. This is when most maulings occur. A friend of mine, who is a bear guide, once was badly mauled by a sow with a cub. A client had shot two deer. After carrying one deer down to the boat, my friend returned to pick up the second deer and found the bears feeding on the carcass. He had no time to shoot and the sow really did a number on him. The client had to call the Coast Guard station with the boat's radio, and my friend was brought back to the town hospital with a helicopter. He was nearly scalped and had one knee badly fractured by a bite, plus various and sundry claw marks here and there. Fortunately he was wearing a hard packboard that protected his back as he lay on his belly in a fetal position. The packboard was severely mangled by bites that would have probably injured his backbone, had they reached his body.

[44man]

Buy a nine! I forget the .22. I lost squirrels with a .22 but it is good bear protection.

[RU shooter]

I fully agree with you if it's a life or death situation in close quarters I would want a all the firepower I could handle to stop the threat . But if it's a strictly hunting the animal instead of it hunting you as I was trying to tell my young co workers a magnum this or that may not be needed . But saying that the animals in Pa usually run away from you not at you when hit with a less than perfect shot AND I'm safely up in a tree most of the time ! So I'm sure there are big differences Thanks for sharing your experiences .

Tim

[lead chucker]

I live in Alaska and was hunting black bear over bait with a 44 mag rifle. I have shot a few black bears with it. Had a big brown bear come in to the bait at full speed and start eating the bait he was all jacked up looked like the tazmainian devil on acid. It was time to go at that point, the wife and I snuck out of there. Brown bears are big and very fast. I use a 375 H&H when they are my intended target. If one charges you need to inflict mechanical injury to stop them then kill them unless you get lucky. At the same time they are not out to get you. They are just trying to make a living like the rest of us. Having said that if you shoot one and he sees you well he might want to get his revenge.

[tygar]

Do a search, there are plenty of threads about Griz/Browns.

I spent about 20yrs in AK during 4 decades & hunted lot of bear, my favorite hunt, & killing a black with about any decent cartridge is not hard.

Killing a Griz or Brown can take a lot of lead, especially if you hit him bad & piss him off. You can hit one in the heart & he can run 100yds & kill you before he dies.

2 stories. Me & friend, medium sized Brown 8', me with a 338, him with an 06. 8 shots in the chest before he gave it up. I also shot a nice moose with the 338, twice in the heart & it still tried to walk away.

2 friends one with 300wby, one with 338. 7 shots in chest before it died. By the way it was a sow & it charged up a 20' embankment at them 3 times.

Put up the 338 & all moose & bear hunting was with a 375 from then on. Also, had a 458 in camp in case of a wounded bear we had to go in the alders to finish.

Until you've been charged by a Brown & had that brown, smelly pile between your legs, you can't imagine what they are like.

Hunting a brown is as close to getting the adrenalin rush of combat that I've run across.

So, use the biggest you can accurately shoot, you can't be overgunned.

[rodwha]

Do a search, there are plenty of threads about Griz/Browns.

I spent about 20yrs in AK during 4 decades & hunted lot of bear, my favorite hunt, & killing a black with about any decent cartridge is not hard.

Killing a Griz or Brown can take a lot of lead, especially if you hit him bad & piss him off. You can hit one in the heart & he can run 100yds & kill you before he dies.

2 stories. Me & friend, medium sized Brown 8', me with a 338, him with an 06. 8 shots in the chest before he gave it up. I also shot a nice moose with the 338, twice in the heart & it still tried to walk away.

2 friends one with 300wby, one with 338. 7 shots in chest before it died. By the way it was a sow & it charged up a 20' embankment at them 3 times.

Put up the 338 & all moose & bear hunting was with a 375 from then on. Also, had a 458 in camp in case of a wounded bear we had to go in the alders to finish.

Until you've been charged by a Brown & had that brown, smelly pile between your legs, you can't imagine what they are like.

Hunting a brown is as close to getting the adrenalin rush of combat that I've run across.

So, use the biggest you can accurately shoot, you can't be overgunned.

Where in the hell is the "like" or "thumbs up" button?

[Petrol & Powder]

Just remember, if you shoot an unarmed black or brown bear there will be a protest but if you shoot a polar bear no one will notice.

[RU shooter]

Just remember, if you shoot an unarmed black or brown bear there will be a protest but if you shoot a polar bear no one will notice.

All bears matter ......! Lol

[tygar]

You know, they say Griz can't climb trees when adult, but I was told by F&G, that if they can reach branches that can hold them, they can climb like we do from branch to branch, until they get to small to hold them. Havn't seen it, but been told. So, make sure you climb high lol.