Posted on 07/08/2021 5:32:58 AM PDT by marktwain
The information about this incident was found in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. This correspondent has not found any other media coverage.
The incident is confirmed by the investigation noted in the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team report for 2016, Table 16, incident 201414. In the report, the sow bear was counted as probable mortality.
On 9 September 2014, a bow hunter was calling and stalking elk in Montana. He was in the Gallatin National Forest, up Indian Creek, in the vicinity of Shedhorn Ridge, at dusk. The hunter was about three miles, as the crow flies, from their hunting camp. He was in the North West quarter of section 11, in Range 2E, Township 9S. It is a remote area. There is no cell phone coverage.
From Google Maps, approximate location of the incident
The hunter was on an upper elevation bench with a rock face on one side and a tree line on the other. A prominent game trail led to the area.
The hunter spotted a bull elk and moved closer. As he was stalking, he heard some brush move. He came to a full draw with the bow and blew on his cow elk call a couple of times. He saw some movement in the brush about 35 to 40 yards away. He blew the cow call one more time. A bear erupted from the brush, into the open, and stood on its hind legs.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
Admittedly I’m no expert on bow hunting but it seems to me that an elk is an awful big animal to hunt with a bow. Seems the chances of just wounding the animal and having it run off to die slowly are a lot higher than with a deer.
Having killed my dozens of large game animals with a bow..
It all about proper shot placement. I properly place broad head kills very rapidly.
N0o problems in killing an elk size animal.
Having a defensive firearm is very important when protecting ones self.
A 40 caliber is less powerful than a 357 or a 45. Would either of these have stopped the Grizzly?
Handgun or Pistol Against Bear Attacks 104 cases, 97% Effective
Wait a minute, they didn’t look for the bear? A wounded bear is usually an automatic for a search. Hope nobody else crossed its path.
Oh yeah, has PETA showed up at this guy’s house yet screaming “bear lives matter!!”
(Had to sneak in the BLM joke, apologies.)
None of these really have the penetration to safely stop a grizzly. The 45ACP least of all. 44mag or 10mm are the sidearms of choice.
Who armed the bear?
And an extra magazine
That said, there are elk....and there are Roosevelt Elk. Rocky Mountain Elk aren’t really all that big. Roosevelts are the size of horses.
Shot placement is critical. Broadheads come in a few general types. Of the unrecovered elk carcasses I‘ve found and seen, the small diameter, replaceable blade type broadhead has been recovered the most. That could just be a function of their popularity, because plenty of animals are recovered by hunters using them. Proper blood -trailing plays a part, as well.
Bigger animal, bigger heart.
I put an arrow in a white tail deer heart on 20 of my last 20 shots while hunting. I imagine I could do the same with elk, and I imagine the elk would go down pretty quickly.
[I cheat - I practice a lot.]
.45 cal. Long Colt?
You can get near 44 mag performance out of those.
You can get near 44 mag performance out of those.
You admitted you don’t nothing about elk hunting with a bow....
But a 10mm (almost exactly .40 cal) could easily sustain a 200 grain bullet, and the velocity would be ~1100 ft./sec, almost 40% faster. That would make the muzzle energy 70% more than either of the .45s.
On the other hand, a .357 Mag would have a 150 grain bullet at 1300 ft/sec. With a copper-jacketed hollow-point, that could be very destructive and internally very bloody.
But I have to tell you, back in the day, at the partly indoor range i was standing near the guy who was testing out his Desert Eagle, a .44 Magnum. What a heckuva bang! It shook the timbers! Just that oughta cause a grizzly to pause. With a 240 grain bullet at 1200 Ft/sec, that is the way to go, if you can manage the wight and recoil, eh? (although it only uses an 8-round magazine.)
In some modern day firearms, you can load a 45 colt to much greater velocities than that. You are correct in that the 45 "long colt" is an older low velocity load.
Ieah, there is enough room left in the ACP case whem the bullet is seated to put enough Bullseye or Solo or Unique in it to blow your M1911 to pieces if you wish.
There was a guy on another thread, talking about handloading his 10mm to get .44 mag performance. Things like that are a good reason to never, ever, ever shoot somebody else's reloads...
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