grizzly bears what do you think

[frank the hunter]

hi everyone. i have hunted grizzlys before but with a compound bow but now i shoot bare bows & love them. what do you guys think that a 50 pounds & 28" keeping the shoots to no longer then 20 yards would it do the job & what weight arrow would you shoot. I cant realy shoot any heaver. thank you guys for any help & have a safe day.

[Don Stokes]

"& have a safe day."? Can you do that while hunting grizz?    

I think I would want more bow, and be sure the guide with the BIG gun is close by! They have several inches of thick hair, tough hide, and fat to penetrate before you get to the goodies. Dan Quillian shot 70# with a long draw, and penetrated to the hide on the other side, quartering slightly away. Superceders and big Snuffers.

[amar911]

I'm think you would have enough bow unless you get into a real monster, but I would be looking at arrows of at least 700 grains with something like the Ashby broadhead for maximum penetration. Fred Eichler has shot grizzly and brown bear with his 54 pound bow, and those were big bears. You have to have everything tuned right and make a good slightly quartering away shot if possible to ensure good penetration. I would want more bow poundage too, but you can get away with 50 pounds if you are really good. I second the big gun backing you up! That is always a good idea with dangerous game.

Allan

[Rick P]

50 pounds is the low end of legal gear for Browns here in Alaska. I don't hunt them because they almost always taste horrible, I've herd interior bears aren't bad and I ate some of a young one without access to fish that was good. I don't get why anyone would want to hunt one but if you must don't do it without a back up with one major cannon in his hands. Even if you hit perfectly that bears heart beats slow, you'll be poo before he bleeds out.

[nock hunter]

Grizzlies have thin hide in behind there shoulders in the arm pit area.An arrow placed in there from a 50lb bow with some weight behind it and a good broadhead should do the trick.Just make the shot count and make sure he doesn't see where it came from.The key is shot placement.Hit him in the shoulder square on and your going to have one mean bear,hit him behind the shoulder and you'll have your bear.

[Don Thomas]

I think #50 is too light. This opinion is based on both personal hunting experience and experience guiding hunters carrying both rifles and bows. You might be okay on interior grizzlies, but I would be reluctant to back up a hunter with a #50 bow on large coastal brown bears. Too much chance of marginal penetration followed by hard feelings if I had to make a quick decision to dump the bear or a very nasty trip into the alders (or both). Don

[Jerry Wald]

Just my two cents worth, but all you really need is NERVE and a good back up plan.

Obviuosly you need to be good with your equipment and I think 50 pounds will do fine with a heavy arrow and a good tip BUT placement is everything.

What I mean about nerve is that I will almost guarrantee you that the first time you go after something that can actually hurt or attack you...YOU will have some NERVE ISSUES.

I have taken 11 blackies now and no grizz but they are different quarry for sure.....I MEAN IT.

This is a video of my spring bear hunt. This bear had killed my buds horse and was in the process of buring it when we found him. he ran into the bush and was making quite a racket....huffing and puffing - it will bring the hair up on your neck believe me.

He charged me twice and then I got the shot. I shot low (f%*&^%(&%(&%), but I got caught up in the moment and didn't pick a spot...it happens and it sucks, but it's hunting.

My buddy ended up shooting it through the lookers on the last charge....probably a good idea....not the biggest of grizz but he took down a full grown horse so I know what he can do to a human.

I would love to have a handgun, but don't get me started on our Canadian firearm rules, but they will make me a criminal soon I think. It's rediculous that here in the yukon in grizz country they won't listen to reason that if a person hunts with a bow that it would be a great idea to have a handgun on you somewhere....BUT.

So here's the video and the bear. I know it was finished with a gun and you will probably take it off the site because of that, but I hope you don't cause I think it's important for ppl to know what can happen and it happens real fast.

When we skinned him out I hit him in the foreleg (not proud of my shot at all), but then he went in the bush. the next time he came out he was pissed...sorry no video cause I was hitting the dirt while my buddy put him away.

Here it is and some pics ok.

my buddy is videoing and i am on the ground about 30 yards away and my heart is in my throat. He has false charged me once and then the second time he came in he was standing on his hinds waving his head and then punding the ground......

really makes you think about a bow, but hey that's what we do right.

this was the third time he came back and I got a shot. The next time he came back my buddy finished him.

   

 

Jer Bearless, but still here

[talltines]

Grizz have thin skin and strong bones.  I shot my bear with a 63# bow and a 565 grain arrow.  Got a complete pass thru at 7 yards.  I would have to say that I would be much more comfortable shooting a bow in the upper 50's or more.  Mainly for trajectory's sake.  I'd want something to shoot pretty flat out to 20 if that was my comfortable shooting distance.

[NW Jamie]

Originally posted by Don Thomas:
I think #50 is too light. This opinion is based on both personal hunting experience and experience guiding hunters carrying both rifles and bows. You might be okay on interior grizzlies, but I would be reluctant to back up a hunter with a #50 bow on large coastal brown bears. Too much chance of marginal penetration followed by hard feelings if I had to make a quick decision to dump the bear or a very nasty trip into the alders (or both). Don

Mr. Thomas having first hand knowledge certainly should be heeded! I have not hunted brown bears with bow, but after living on the Kenai Peninsula for a few years I can share with you that being up close and real personal to a few brown bears with fly-rod in hand and once with a 50 cal. black powder rifle while within a few yards of some browns I sure would want more oomph than a 50# bow. I shoot a 55# and 58# bow and if the desire or opportunity came up to hunt for bear I sure would try to work into a 60# something before heading into the bush. So, those bear are really big, my two-cents is listen to those that have done it, good luck.

[Steve H.]

I shot my brownie with a 54# longbow BUT I bet I was a bit under full draw.  It was a small bear however and I had plenty of bow for her.  Arrow was DF with a 160 grizzly and I had complete penetration of about 2 feet at a quartering angle, entered thru shoulder muscle, exit in front f hind quarters.  So I think 50# is enough on a small-medium sized bear.  Kodiak or AK Penn where the bears are bigger might be pushing it!

[frank the hunter]

thanks for the help guys & the video was great. i tryed shooting more vertial with my bow & found that i can pull more poundage. Thanks again have a great day.

[dragon rider]

Personally I think a 50# bow would be fine, as long as you remember to shoot it from inside an APC.

[JMartin]

I can't hunt Griz with my longbow yet, I can still walk around without a wheelbarrow. I'm gettin there though.

[Ragnarok Forge]

If a 40 lb bow with EFOC arrows can penetrate a water buffallo 50% of the time, then a properly set up arrow out of a 50 lb bow at 20 yards can easily penetrate a grizzly.  They are not nearly as tough as a water buff.

As stated before practice hard and put it in the boiler room. Stress will be way high taking any shot at dangerous game.  

So what happens if you hit a shoulder?  Easy fix, arrow over 650 grains.  Razor sharp braodhead - two blade single bevel, tanto cutting tip.  Arrows tuned to your bow for perfect flight, with a minimum of 20% FOC.   This type of arrow will shoot thru ribs or shoulder bones and penetrate plenty deep for a clean kill on a grizzly.

Lots of people want to shoot more bow and can't.  If this is true for you, don't get discouraged.  Become very proficient with what your shooting.  A bow you can comfortable pull and shoot accurately is far more important than more draw weight.  Fred Eichler killed his grizzly with a 54 lb bow.  I plan to hunt them with a 55lb longbow.  

There is a lot of talk about how much better trajectory you can get with more poundage, how much better penetration, etc...  Draw weight and arrow speed are very low on the importance factor for penetration.   Unless of course you can get 20 to 30 lbs more draw weight and then were talking some serious penetration improvement. You are not gaining that much speed on your arrow by going up 10 lbs in draw weight. And speed is not what kills!  Arrows that penetrate well are what kills.  Optimizing your arrows for the bow you shoot well will give you a lot better penetration.

If you haven't done it yet, read the Ashby reports and particularly the 3 or 4 most recent ones.   Your bow is plenty heavy, focus on optimizing your arrows and working on your skill with the bow instead.

American Indians lived with and killed plenty of grizzlys with stick bows, wood arrows, and stone points.  I would bet their bows were often well under 50lbs and did not shoot nearly as fast as yours if they were 50lbs.

Oh, and when you booking a guide make sure they are comfortable with being around the bears and experienced at backing customers up.  A charging bear is no place to find out your guide is not experienced or courageous.   And don't be a ninny and tell them not to shoot until your say so or at the last second if the bear is charging you. Bear kills are ugly and I can imaging hurt a lot before you die!  If an experienced guide says the bear had to be shot, then ....

Good luck and post your pics when your hunt is done.

[Whitetail Nut]

Id say 50# will do it. Its all about arrow placment. You get him in the goody box and youll have it made.

[jrchambers]

Do not set up your arow thinking you will penetrate the shoulder, as you most likely will not. i have shot a big blackbear square in the shoulder with a 680gr arow two blade out of a 63 lb bow at 25 yards the head stuck in the shoulder blade, almost nocked the bear over but didnt get in the goods,    personaly for a brownie i would be looking for a reasonable arrow weight around 600 + or- a little, and have good speed where shooting 30 isnt out of the questiong, of course 30 yards takes lots of practice but thats what we like to do.  i personaly wouldnt want to be too much closer than 20, i want time to grab my other weapon. as getting within 20 or closer to a bear with out it knowing you are there is hard enough for one guy let alone two.

[Don Stokes]

Shooting the shoulder on a grizz should not even be considered, unless you're contemplating suicide.

[Ragnarok Forge]

No one said to contemplate shooting at a shoulder.  The point of the comment was to optimize the arrow for penetration.  If you happen to hit heavy bone you can still get penetration with the right arrow and proper optimization.

[ozy clint]

black bears, certainly. brown bears, i'm not so sure. i'd be thinking 60#@28" with 10gr/# would be a sensible minimum. i've skinned black bears and there's really nothing to them. i don't have any experience with grizzlies other than seeing them. i imagine that the are a little tougher though.

[Ragnarok Forge]

The problem with brown bears and larger black bears is that they do not die very quickly if they are not hit well.  There are a lot of horror stories about big bears being shot and then mauling the shooters.  The problem with the stories ( all true ) that you don't hear is about bad shot placement, even multiple bad shot placement and that leaves the bear able to attack the shooter.  

I grew up around and have been around bear guides all my life.  I have hunted bears all my life.  They are not nearly as tough as people make them out to be. A guide buddy of mine gets a real kick out of guys who show up for a black bear hunt with a 300 Win Mag or 375 H & H.  He says they just blow the hide up and make life hard on the taxidermist. He likes to see anything from a 6.5 mm to a light loaded 308 with solids.  His mantra is big bullets you can't shoot straight don't match smaller rounds you hit with.  

When you skin out a grizzly or large blackbear you rapidly find out that they are not a particularly heavy boned animal.  Water Buff they are not.  If you hunt them enough you also learn that a double lung shot leads to a running animal that dies quickly.  Heart shots also result in quick deaths.  Most any other hit can lead to problems.

I will never forget the first Black Bear I saw killed.  I was 6 and just walking along with my uncles while they hunted a ridge for elk up near Mt Hood.  A large for this area ( 400 lb ) Black Bear swam the river in the valley below us and started up the ridge line.  One of my uncles had a tag and put a shot into the bear.  That bear got really angry and charged up the side of the ridge at us.  My uncles volley fired on that bear emptying their rifles.  

One of the bears legs was broken in the shooting.  The bear ran back to the river and swam across.  My grandfather, brother, and father were on the far ridge watching the whole thing.  I watched from across the valley as grandpa sat down, braced up and put that running bear down with one well placed round from 300 yards.  The bear was a mess and had 8 rounds in his body.  Only grandpas was well placed.

When my uncles and I got across the river, my grandpa had a few choice things to say to them about shot placement and getting over excited in dangerous situations.  He looked at my brother and I and said " Boy's when the killing begins you have to be calm and collected, nothing matters but making the shot".  I never forgot that simple statement from a man I respected.

Get close, make a clean shot and put that shot in the boiler room.  Make a bad shot and you are going to have a pissed off bear either headed your way fast, or hiding in the brush where you have to go in after him with all the advantages on his side. The real key is shoot what you can shoot straight with every time.  Get inside your comfortable accurate shooting range, and put the arrow in the lungs or heart.  Anything else with any weapon can lead to the same bad results.  Upping your bow weight will not counter bad form and bad shots due to that same bow weight.