Lost Bear. Want to help others(VIDEO added PAGE 4)

[tippit]

Having been at Bear Quest for 12 years, I would give guys anatomy lessons on why they had a great shot or lucky shot on the bears we were skinning.  The shot looked OK...but one peculiarity of the bear chest is that it is cone shape flaring at the abdomen and narrowing toward the front legs.  I've seen where a broadhead skimmed off a rib and slid forward never entering the chest.  One bear we skinned had that happen to but the arrow cut the brachial plexus (where all the major vessels come out of the chest to the front leg) as it slid forward.  So even though the shot looks good, it could have been defelected and neve entered the chest...thus a flesh/muscle cut.

[Gun]

That's exactly what happened to me on a nice cinnamon Bear Jeff. We saw later on video that the bear turned at my release. My arrow skipped along ribs and under shoulder blade. A friend of mine killed the Bear two weeks later. His entry hole was two inches from where I hit. Seeing your pix on original post I too would have thought "Dead Bear".
But as Kevin said weird things happen.
Two years ago I thought I shot a nice buck thru the heart. Trailed him for two days over 3 miles on fresh snow and never even saw him again.

[SERGIO VENNERI]

That Bear is dead close by ! Sell your Teckel and look for ravens !

[Whip]

Looking at the pictures I can sure see why you are questioning what went wrong - I would have felt very good about that shot.  But as Tippit said, strange things happen.  A bears chest is amazingly cone shaped as it comes up under the front legs.  Once you take the front quarters off one you can really see it.  

I'm wondering if the high angle of your shot had anything to do with it?  Personally, I disagree with those who say your hit was too high - I am thinking the opposite.  It looks like it was a bit below mid-line, and combined with that steep angle that might just have caused the arrow to slip along outside the rib cage.

99 times out of 100, your bear would have been down within less than 100 yards.  But sometimes strange stuff does happen, and luck still plays a part - sometimes good, sometimes bad.

[TURKEYFOOTGIRL]

Yeah i feel that bear is somewhere in there. Not sure how he made it so far. Watching video it doesnt appear anything weird happened angle wise. It went straight thru and hit log leaning at bait. Was back in today listening for ravens. Heard and saw some but never anything looking like a kill site.

[Kevin Dill]

I guess if we could hit a baseball-sized spot with 100% reliability (bear distances) we would see fewer of them go unrecovered. I'm personally not completely convinced this bear died from that shot. I would have bet MONEY it did, had I been there and seen the hit. But again, there is a certain degree of roulette when you combine internal anatomy, blade alignment/path, subtle animal movements or reactions, etc. Would the exact same hit produce the exact same outcome (unrecovered bear) most of the time? My thought is no...it wouldn't. Did the bear ultimately die? I think it's reasonable to believe it did but not until making it's escape good.

Would a 3-blade do better? Some say it would, but I'm not convinced. I too have had multiple instances of 3-blade heads skipping off ribs on angled shots and sliding between the chest and shoulder. I recovered one and proved it. Would a hit 4" forward produce 100% kill rates? I doubt it. Sooner or later Murphy shows up and wrecks our logic. Being logical humans we always try to find the logical answer to a puzzle, but in some cases the outcome is a matter of randomness and illogic. I can accept that, even if I don't enjoy having it happen to me.

Great discussion.

[Tim Finley]

I studied your picture more and I see the hair of the elbow under the chest and it is far back. the back half of the bear is broadside but the front half is turned looking towards you . He has his body twisted creating a forward quartering shot . You may have gotten only one lung .

[TURKEYFOOTGIRL]

Can drawing.a video on photobucket? I could edit to like ten seconds. Bear is quartering but turns head toward me when he hears me drawing.

[TURKEYFOOTGIRL]

heres a fifteen second clip of shot. I do believe it was all liver. No lung and just a bit back.

[durp]

i think ur right about the liver hit

[Tim Finley]

Its a lot plainer in the video he wasn't twisted or quartering towards you just shot alittle far back and Im sure you feel bad about it . The last bear I shot was in 99, I made a bad shot and hit him right in the middle of the guts, I had shot about 25 bears and he was the only one that got hit to far back. I watched him go about 50 yards and drop dead on the run no death moan, no kicking or thrashing it was just like he fell asleep in mid stride, it surprised the heck out of me. The next thought in my head was thank god for Snuffers!

[robertson]

Originally posted by TURKEYFOOTGIRL:
   
heres a fifteen second clip of shot. I do believe it was all liver. No lung and just a bit back.

Agree with you a little to far back .

[Ray Lyon]

I've killed three black bears with 42, 35 and 60 yard recoveries, no losses.  I believe your shot was too far back. In my opinion, the first presentation at the start of the sequence with the slight quartering away was your best shot. At the time of the shot, he's actually turned slightly towards you on the front end and the left front leg was actually coming back (maybe at sound of shot) and gives the illusion that the shot is closer to the lungs than it was. Finally, all three bears I've shot took off like scalded cats, yours actually looks hunched up in his run out-just like a gut shot deer. I distinctly remember marveling at how quickly a bear can move with each one I shot. Yours looked like a trot out compared to mine with that little bit of footage.

I'm sorry you lost this bear.  No one obviously likes to see that, but it is a good learning discussion, especially on how we may see an arrow and where it actually hit.

[TURKEYFOOTGIRL]

Im hoping my wife or i get another crack this year. I would like to slowly dissect one and get lots of pictures. Its crazy how the bear had his front foot all the way back by the back foot seconds before i shot. My intent was to shoot that quartering shot then she turned at full draw and i thought broadside. Perfect...

[Flatshooter]

I believe that shot was low and too far back. When hunting bears from a tree stand better to be high than low.