Hi: Has anyone shot any large bears with the 400gr Woodleigh bullet?I have only shot 2 with them so far both head shots could not find bullet. Going after a really big one this year and he is spooked real easy so not much chance of head shot this time.Any performance reports? Dan

Why would you shoot a bear in the head and mess up the skull? Bust 'em in the shoulders.

As to the question, never used Woodleighs.

I shot one with a 404 jeffery using woodleigh 400grn soft points. drilled it in the shoulder ,perfect mushroom.result-dead bear. I ask the same question why would you want to shoot them in the head? apart from a small target htere will be nothing left of the skull????

Not that I can consider myself an expert on bears, not by a long shot, but I just got back from Kamchatka where I ended up shooting a 9 foot bear.
I had taken my .375H&H which got snapped in half on day three, so I ended up having to shoot the bear with the guides Druganov Tigre, in 7,62x54, the clip stacked alternating FMJs then a soft point.
I was worried it wouldn't be enough gun to kill a huge Kamchatka bear, but it was plenty. The first shot put it down, then when the bear started to growl and thrash around so I sent another 4 rounds into the shoulder in quick succession taking advantage of the semi auto and 10 shot clip.
The bear was still before the last round reached him.

However, from the exit holes it was apparent that any of the first 4 shots would have killed the bear with no problems, the 5th shot went into the ass.

I have to say that I was very surprised at what a 9 foot bear amounts to once it is on the ground. Not very much in my eyes. They are very photogenic and look huge in the pictures but up close, I thought a big bear would be kinda like a mammoth with teeth.

I guess they are very compact and densely muscled, and this was a spring bear so he had no fat on him whatsoever. In the fall with another 150lb of fat they might look different.

If I was to do another bear hunt I doubt I would take a big bore, a .30 cal, or even 7mm would do the job just fine, so why are people going after them with .416's and .485's?

What's a 485? 458 I assume. I think folks take larger caliber rifles for many reasons. I'd imagine small calibers work well on DG (which a bear certainly is) when things go right, but as we all know, Murphy lurks in every hunter's pack and things don't always go right. Enter the larger bores and the opportunities they present.

As an aside, last year I was near a big male tiger in an enclosure and while he weighed perhaps half of a big briwn bear, he was truly awe inspiring and frightening. To hunt an apex predator I would use as much rifle as I could reasonably shoot which today is a 375.

400 gr woodleigh softs would be pretty potent bear medicine. If they are good enough for cape buffalo they are good enough for brown bears. I use 500 gr woodleighs in my .470 NE and have taken over 11 buff with them.

Hi Guys: I shoot in the head when it is presented but mostly chest or shoulder shots. I don't collect trophys so i don't care about recking the skul but this guy[we go after him again tomorrow am]is so big i will keep the hide if we get him. I use the 458wm cause i like it but also hunt with my 30-06 and 7x57 and they have killed bears no problem.Dan

400 grain Woodie is a great bullet out of a 416 for bear, it will open up plenty. IMO over-kill for sure, great bake-up combo, but then again I think a 375 with 300 grain bullet is overkill on a brown bear. My bad, the bullet is for a 458wm, my answer is the same, it will open up plenty.

OK guys, the responses I see are answering a question that wasn't asked. gunbug is asking about a 400gr Woodleigh for his 458WM.

Also, while the question and responses are being considered, include the 405gr Woodleigh in .458 for the 45-70. It's designed per Woodleigh web page for up to 2000 fps.

KB