Poacher used .22 caliber air rifle pellet to take down bear in Colorado, authorities say

The Gazette ^ | Jun 23, 2022 | Spencer McKee

[SJackson]

Authorities are hoping to solve a poaching case that took place in the remote area of Creede, Colorado, involving a bear.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) officials are seeking information about the illegal killing of a bear after a sow aged seven or eight was found in the Rio Grande River in the area of the Mountain Views at River's Edge RV Resort on October 1, 2021. It was determined that the bear had been shot, with a .22-caliber air rifle pellet found in its chest cavity. This is a notably small round that was probably fired from a low-power rifle, making it fairly surprising that the shot was able to take down a bear.

According to CPW, the case has been actively investigated since the bear was found. With the case ongoing, authorities have asked the public for help.

"Willful destruction of a big-game animal is a felony in Colorado and can result in a lifetime suspension of hunting and fishing privileges," said Brent Woodward, CPW’s wildlife manager in the Creede area. "Convictions could result in fines ranging from $750 to $3,000 and jail time, depending on the charge."

[SJackson]

Outdoors/Rural/wildlife/hunting/hiking/backpacking/National Parks/animals list please FR mail me to be on or off . And ping me is you see articles of interest.

I'm very skeptical, but I suppose stranger things have happened. Not completely clear the pellet was the cause of death. Needless to say, not a good choice of caliber. In most cases the bear would be poaching the human.

[Yo-Yo]

Probably someone shot the bear with a .22 air rifle just to scare the bear off from rummaging through their trash, but the bear eventually succumbed to the wound.

[Bob434]

Properly,placed pellets can take down an animal that large, but it woild have to be a lucky shot, not hitting any bone, and hitting a vital organ. They actually,have pellet rifles now that will smash through bone and take down caped buffalo even. I have a .25 cal that can be used to take down coyotes (provided the state allows the caliber for larger game), but really a .357 through 50 caliber and higher shoukd be used for larger game

[GeorgiaDawg32]

Or maybe it was an incredibly lucky shot, which hit the bear at the right speed, right angle and found an extremely vulnerable spot in which to enter it’s body..

Stranger stuff has happened, Biden “winning” the election being an example..

[noiseman]

See?… No one needs an “assault rifle” to defend themselves; all you need is a pellet gun. And you only need one shot as well. /s

[DesertRhino]

The golden BB has brought down more than a few combat aircraft.

[MercyFlush]

“Low power”? My decent Remington air rifle fires a .177 pellet at ~2700fps and pentrates windshields that deflect a 9mm.

[PUGACHEV]

Lewis and Clark brought a large caliber air rife with them. It had an air reservoir in the stock, and was capable of firing a dozen shots before needing to be re-pumped.

[fruser1]

Must’ve been a Texas Heart Shot.

[MercyFlush]

North Korean infantry units had some success with improvised anti-aircraft units composed of riflemen using speed rings. Certainly not the best thing to do but if that’s all you’ve got then what the hell, give it a try.

[LibWhacker]

Possible if miracles are afoot.

Bella Twin, an Indian girl, and her friend Dave Auger were hunting grouse near Lesser Slave Lake in northern Alberta. The only gun they had was Bella’s single-shot bolt-action .22 Rimfire rifle. They were walking a cutline that had been made for oil exploration when they saw a large grizzly following the same survey line toward them. If they ran, the bear would probably notice them and might chase, so they quietly sat down on a brush pile and hoped that the bear would pass by without trouble. But the bear came much too close, and when the big boar was only a few yards away, Bella Twin shot him in the side of the head with a .22 Long cartridge. The bear dropped, kicked and then lay still. Taking no chances, Bella went up close and fired all of the cartridges she had, seven or eight .22 Longs, into the bear’s head. That bear, killed in 1953, was the world-record grizzly for several years and is still high in the records today. -Grizzly Guns, H.V. Stent

[TexasGator]

” but really a .357 through 50 caliber and higher shoukd be used for larger game”

Lots of good .30 calibers out there.

[Nifster]

David slew Goliath with a stone

[oldtech]

That was a great comparison about the likelihood of that being a fatal shot. I don’t think there has been any real explanation forthcoming for how Biden actually won the election, though. The bear was obviously just a very lucky shot, but Biden’s win was completely planned. The nation would have been better off if the situation had been reversed & that bear had been elected president.

[TexasGator]

Model?

[TexasGator]

Lay off the booze!

[JimRed]

With smaller caliber, lower velocity rounds, shot placement is critical.

[Yo-Yo]

Or maybe it was an incredibly lucky shot, which hit the bear at the right speed, right angle and found an extremely vulnerable spot in which to enter it’s body..

Stranger stuff has happened, Biden “winning” the election being an example..

But if it was, as the title suggests, a poacher, then I would expect the bear to be poached, not left intact to be discovered.

When I first read the headline about being killed by a .22 air rifle, my first thought was a shot through the eye into the brain.

But this sounds like the bear was shot, wandered off, died somewhere else, then discovered.

[Bob434]

Yeah I wish I had gotten the .30 instead,of the,.25, but I’ve been watching impact videos between the two, and really the .25 is better in some cases, and very title difference otherwise. For instance, the .25 Wil. Go,through 2 oak,boards, while the .30 will only go,through the one and bounce off the second. B Oth guns having same fps. The damage channels in things like pork are almost identical too. Very little difference. There’s a big debate,on which is better. But I still.think I would,have rather got the .30- though the. 25 I have gets 70 fpe which is massive hitting power for,that cal, most are around 40-50 fpe. Some slightly,more. Depending on pellet.