This is the first time posting on this part of AR forum. If we had a bell curve showing quanity of Alaskan Brown bear shot verses distance what would it look like?? Verbal response is as good as actual graph. Thanks roger

Sadly most people who hunt one of the worlds greatest dangerous game animals are quite chicken and so most brown bear hunting isn,t dangerous game hunting at all ..It,s long range target shooting ...
I always try to get it under 50 feet if at all possible ..

I would say the majority of brown bear kills are under 150 yards but there are those that will shoot at longer ranges. For me, the closer the better but I try to limit myself to nothing over 100 yards. We owe it to them to make the kill quick and painless.

For big bore rifles---100 yards!

I've shot bears from 7 yards to about 250, but good grizzly advice is abotu 100-150 yards. This gives you an excellent opportunity to make a perfect shot, and enough time to react if somethign goes amiss.

This isn't always possible due to terrain and vegetation, of course.

Lots of advise, but the truth is it depends on where you are in relation to where the bear is, just like any kind of hunting..I have seen bear at 2 miles and 20 feet and in between...

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Lots of advise, but the truth is it depends on where you are in relation to where the bear is, just like any kind of hunting..I have seen bear at 2 miles and 20 feet and in between...

Ray,there wasn't any intent to stretch that curve out to 2 miles. Can you narrow your brackets just a little?? roger

closest kill on a grizz was with the .06 & 220 grn. at approx. 18ft.(outside my duck blind) and the furthest was shot with my .375RUM & 270 grn. at approx. 150 yds. on a gravel bar. Others within 100yds.

quote:

Originally posted by grizz007:
closest kill on a grizz was with the .06 & 220 grn. at approx. 18ft.(outside my duck blind) and the furthest was shot with my .375RUM & 270 grn. at approx. 150 yds. on a gravel bar. Others within 100yds.

OK! That certainly paints a picture. Thank you. roger.

The point I was trying to make was anywhere you hunt you get long and short shots regardless of the terrain..I have never been able to determine that in advance..I hunt the thickest nasty stuff in the world for elk and it steep and hard to walk on, most all of my shots are very close going away, but every year some of our bunch shoots a bull across a canyon 300 yards off in the thick stuff, but hasn't happened to me in years. The same can apply in East Texas brush and on Alaskan bear, nobody can answer the question with any degree of certainty..didn't mean to over state it in the first post, sorry about that.

My first one was 76 yards, next one was 125 yards, followed by 25 yards, and finally 80 yards all with a 338 WM.

Anywhere from 50-150 would be my perferred range. Might stretch it out a might as situation depended. I passed up a dadny blond griz two years ago at 230 yards because I just didn't like the angle and never got another chance. I was using a 300 win mag hunting moose, might have taken that shot with my 338 rum or 375 H&H.

quote:

Originally posted by sep:
My first one was 76 yards, next one was 125 yards, followed by 25 yards, and finally 80 yards all with a 338 WM.

I haven't had the opportunity to hunt grizzlies or brownies but I am addicted to hunting big black bear.
When hunting them I prefer to get as close as possible. For one reason it's not complicated to stalk close to a feeding bear and also the closer you get the better you can judge their size.
On really big bears you do not have to get so close but I still prefer it.
My last 2 bears were shot at 26 yards and 15 yards. I'm going out this weekend and I hope to have a close encounter with old Ursus Blackus...

I've seen a few decent bear hunting DVD's. Bart Lancaster's is really good. Bears are shot at 30 yards to 250 yards in that movie. I think with brownies/grizzlies you take what the good Lord gives you.



* yeah I know, it's Urus Americanus...

I shot my Kodiak bear at 25 yards with a .340 Wby. Mag. I was using a handload with 250 grain Nosler Partitions. The shot was through the neck, and the bear didn't take another step. Very exciting!

I think you'll find a significant variance between spring and fall killed brown bears. I suspect most fall bears are shot on salmon streams at closer ranges. I did a fall hunt with 3 other hunters and all bears were shot at less than 50 yards.

My spring bear in the AK Range was at 170 yards. Another hunter killed his at "way too close!". I was told to bring a .375 so I followed instructions. R&R Outfitters were correct. .375 worked great.

The best of guides really place a High value on both their clients and the bears, and will work hard to get in close for the best chance of a killing first shot. The most carefree guide in AK turns into all business as you close on a big boar. Think under a 100 yrds. anytime they can. Mine ended up around 50 yrds.

HBH

Thanks for the great information
roger

here's some data to skew the cure in the other direction:
Brownies @
10 steps
4 steps
-1/2 inch *

* barrel pressed into the chest of brownie


bhtr

Just back from SE Ak. I took mine at 110 yards and my companion took his at 55 yards. See little reason to shoot +125 in this beautiful country.

Shots at brown bears can and should be taken as close a practical. Under fifty yards is my preference but the average for all my clients in thirty years is probably closer to 85-90 yards. The longest taken was 211 yards and that guy had just come off a rifle course at Gunsite and was comfortable and confident. I consider anything over 100 yards a long shot on bears.
The main difference between shooting bears and deer, elk or sheep is that while a poor shot on deer may result in a long tracking job, they are at least trying to get away - instead of possibly circling back on their track in order to kill you.

Two at about 75 for me. Both in the open - one on a tide flat, the other on a wide gravel bar - and both in an excellent place for follow up shots. None needed but plenty taken in the second instance. Bear died in the open and away from the pucker brush. I've had guides tell me part of their prefered situation is the potential for follow ups. Follow ups are not always an option but closer was definately prefered.

quote:

Originally posted by sep:
My first one was 76 yards, next one was 125 yards, followed by 25 yards, and finally 80 yards all with a 338 WM.

..

For a resident hunter or guided client I would say this was very reasonable and responsible all around ., With this and and most other calibers .. Provided the hunter can hit with it ........ Closer is more exciting ....But it can also cost a trophy if the bear skeedadles while being stalked .....

coastal brown bear ranges can be significactly less than interior grizzly ranges, brownies tend to be closer than the 150 mark almost all the time, while grizzly in sheep country tend to be around the 150-200 mark quiet often.
i like the 30-75 yard window the best if terrian and conditions permit, but it don't always work out that way.
I've had guys missed brown bears at 40 yards and kill them at 250, point that gun at the bear of their dreams and alot depends on the guy shooting, not the distance. 120 yards a couple days ago.

..... I,m guessing around 9-91/2 ft sq. Nice bear .. It,s too bad he liked to scratch his head , but still a beautiful trophy .... WTG .

quote:

Originally posted by gumboot458:
..... I,m guessing around 9-91/2 ft sq. Nice bear .. It,s too bad he liked to scratch his head , but still a beautiful trophy .... WTG .

Are you sure that's not just the way he parts his wig??

ya crazy itch, when your in unit 13 and you see a nine foot two with a head itch...you scratch it for him!! missed a chance at a ten or about ten by just a couple mintues right off the runway six days into it...took pics of his tracks, 8.5" track one of the top two bears i've seen out there, took a nine six outa there last year, 26" plus, this nine two had some buffalo hide on his back, but some of the best under side guard hairs i've ever seen, make a great standing mount...and i hate standing mounts.

His legs and chest are beautiful , we don,t get that much down here because the brush is very thick and it kind of cards them out ...

What did he get blasted with ,,, Your holding out on the story ....
Some of us on here may have been too stupid during bear season to go bear hunting [roofing my house instead] and so need to vicariously hunt .

story....short and sweet version, saw him run over the ridge just down from camp when we arrived that night, next day we found him and three other bears in a 200 yard circle in the bottom of the valley, 1400 foot down or so, one little boar hanging out waiting for sloppy seconds and one other young bear that didn't have a clue and a sow that just wanted to sit on her rear and stare, he was patient, we hustled down to the bottom into the timber and got a 120 yard shot with his .300 winny, bear came ungluded, i tagged him in the guts with my .416 he exited the scene....went up to where he was hit, looked into the alders and there he sat/stood, he turned and the client plowed him about four more times before he gave it up. tough bird this one was. last four shots were about 25 yards i'd say, he wasn't moving off or at us, just wouldn't go down.
Client actually helped pack him out, which was super nice of him, made my job easier and gave him a bigger appreciation for what he did and where he did it at. never did see any of the other three bears before we shot, although the eyes in the back of my head mighta just been squinting cause of the sun!!

I try to get as close as possible but my last and definately largest mountain/interior grizzly that weighed app 1000lbs was between 230 - 250 yards.

Wasn't packing my range finder with me and actually thought due to the size of it that it was much closer more like 150 yards.

That is why I like to shoot flat shooting rifles like my 375RUM with 300gr Partitions @ 2750fps.

Also I practice out to 300 yards all of the time so that if/when, like this last bear I need to stretch the shot out more than I want too.

quote:

Originally posted by moki:
I try to get as close as possible but my last and definately largest mountain/interior grizzly that weighed app 1000lbs was between 230 - 250 yards.

Wasn't packing my range finder with me and actually thought due to the size of it that it was much closer more like 150 yards.

That is why I like to shoot flat shooting rifles like my 375RUM with 300gr Partitions @ 2750fps.

Also I practice out to 300 yards all of the time so that if/when, like this last bear I need to stretch the shot out more than I want too.

.


Once I get moved . , a friend that has been keeping a #1 that I had some work done to and rechambered to 375 Whby , might turn loose of it ,, He,s afraid I will take it out in the skiff or paint it or something .,., He was mortified how the bug dope on my cheek took the finish off the butt stock..., Summer time you know ..

Anyway . that is what I like about the fast 375,s .,., If I bump into a good deal on a Remington 375 RUM stainless I might buy it ... I like how light they are ....

I know I can get at least 2700 with a 300 gr bullet and probably 2850 or more from the 270 gr....

That is a huge interior bear .....A guy I know and his son guided a client on a 8'1 1/2" black bear on POW Is . this spring ...., My answer to the ? about little calibers and bear hunting ...

gumboot, I am thinking you are in the Hoonah area.The guy guiding on P.O.W. that got the big Black was that Stan Johnson and son Ben?
James Phillips Sitka guide

Yup .leaving on Wednesday ... Changed my posted location a bit prematurely , but it wasn,t spring time any more .....Stan is here doing whale watching tours ......

I did my hunts off the snow goose this year . Stan took my place on the last hunt will I hunted Browns out of Sitka.The green skull on that bear was 21 10/16 . Hope Stan is seeing more whales than I ,, whale watching and fishing are down a bit in Sitka Sound.
Jim

While brown bear hunting north of Sitka at the end of May we saw the "humpers" in pods almost every day. Think it was near Poison Cove, etc.

When I started hunting Grizzlies, I always pictured the perfect shot at somewhere between 100 and 200 yards, preferably with a steep canyon in between. In the event, I ended up facing my bear, during a heavy snowstorm, at about 20 yards. I was close enough to see the bullet impact in the critter's fur. Not what I had in mind, but you gotta play the cards you're dealt.
Grizz

distance from browns depends on circumstances I like to get within a hundred yards mostly because of the second shot opportunities.I say the closer the better but sometimes you can't get there. I do two hunts a year far Browns in southeast and this year we got fifty yards and sixty yards one shot and three shots . I've never lost a bear when we have been within seventy yards lost a few at the one fifty range though.
Jim

had a client flat out miss at 40 yards on kodiak this spring...did get it with the second shot..it happens. sometimes at the mid range clients seem to be better with as their not as hyped up by a close encounter, 70-150 seems ideal, never lost a bear on a long shot, but last a few at mid ranges and down to 50 yards.

Just found out yesterday that a buddy of mine shot a 7'5" mountain grizzly at 20 yards in the middle of May of this year.