Hunt for a Man-Killing black bear!

[Guy Miner]

One heck of a story from years ago, hunting down a man-killing black bear. Some scoff at black bears, but I respect them.

The Hunt for a Man-Killing Black Bear, From the Archives

The author set out with his hounds to hunt down a black bear that had killed a camper in Colorado in the early 1970s.

www.outdoorlife.com

Guy

 

[DrMike]

Exciting account of close action with an enraged black bear. Guess that is one reason I've enjoyed hunting them over the years. Never know what you'll encounter. Yeah, it is wise to give blackies respect. A six-foot black bear is a powerhouse.

 

[JD338]

Cool story and an exciting hunt.

JDy

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Interesting story.

 

[rjm158]

Man, that was close. I've never hunted anything that bites back (not counting coyotes) but after reading this story I believe I would check every round of ammo I took to make sure it would feed and chamber correctly.

Ron

 

[NYDAN]

Exciting story. Thank goodness he hit the spine on the charge.

 

[salmonchaser]

Great story, can’t say I remember the story but I read every issue of outdoor life back then. I would have been 16.

 

[KinleyWater]

Man, that was close. I've never hunted anything that bites back (not counting coyotes) but after reading this story I believe I would check every round of ammo I took to make sure it would feed and chamber correctly.

Ron

Man, you know, I never thought of that. I will add that to my list of things to do before my next outing. Shoot, I wouldn't want to lose a deer because of a handload that wouldn't chamber, but the idea of facing fangs and claws makes it worse.

 

[rjm158]

Kinley, in 1995 I was sent to Sig instructor school. One of the things taught was to disassemble your pistol, then use the barrel to chamber check every round of your duty ammo to make sure it would fit correctly. When reading this story, that came to my mind.

Ron

 

[Guy Miner]

Something to try is ejecting a loaded round... Once I had 30-06 rounds that shot great but were too long. The bullet stuck in the rifling! So when I tried to eject the loaded round, the bullet stayed in the barrel while the case was ejected and powder spilled, filling the chamber and action! What a mess....

Guy

 

[Ridge_Runner]

Something to try is ejecting a loaded round... Once I had 30-06 rounds that shot great but were too long. The bullet stuck in the rifling! So when I tried to eject the loaded round, the bullet stayed in the barrel while the case was ejected and powder spilled, filling the chamber and action! What a mess....

Guy

Been there done that! 105 gr of WC872 will make a mess!

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Something to try is ejecting a loaded round... Once I had 30-06 rounds that shot great but were too long. The bullet stuck in the rifling! So when I tried to eject the loaded round, the bullet stayed in the barrel while the case was ejected and powder spilled, filling the chamber and action! What a mess....

Guy

Been there. Was a good lesson learned. Dan.

 

[preacher]

Great story! I've hunted right out of Colbran myself. I have also visited the Rocky Mountain Park...very rough country. We visited Estes Park several times. Coming back from dinner one night, my car headlights saw a "humungous" Black Bear, his coat was thick, shiny and his head was very, very small for his body size! He was right behind the Stanley Hotel, trying to get into their locked dumpster, ha. He/she took off like a scaled ape when my lights hit him too. Smart bear.

 

[6mm Remington]

Pretty amazing story Guy! I have never doubted what a black bear could do to a person. Thankfully I've never had a bad encounter. Quite a few years ago when I was working a day shift on Patrol for the Sheriff's Office we got a call from a residence north of town about 15 miles. During the day no less a mountain lion came into a yard and snatched a child playing in the yard and took the child into the woods and partially consumed the poor kid. I happened to know a couple folks who had lion hounds and were avid houndsmen. I was able to get in touch with one of them and he responded with some dogs and met up with FWP and officers at the scene. In a short amount of time he was able to track and tree the lion with his hounds. It's been a lot of years and some of the details are a bit foggy now but it was a pretty terrible thing for this family to have to go through.

 

[PJGunner]

Been there. Was a good lesson learned. Dan.

Many, many years ago I read where it was a good idea to run every cartridge you planned to take on a hunt through the action of the rifle regardless if it was one of your reloads or a factory round. I thought it a good idea and have done so ever since.
Paul B.

 

[JD338]

Something to try is ejecting a loaded round... Once I had 30-06 rounds that shot great but were too long. The bullet stuck in the rifling! So when I tried to eject the loaded round, the bullet stayed in the barrel while the case was ejected and powder spilled, filling the chamber and action! What a mess....

Guy

That's never happened to me

JD338

 

[RL338]

Something to try is ejecting a loaded round... Once I had 30-06 rounds that shot great but were too long. The bullet stuck in the rifling! So when I tried to eject the loaded round, the bullet stayed in the barrel while the case was ejected and powder spilled, filling the chamber and action! What a mess....

Guy

I have several rifles that I have to pull the bolt to eject a loaded round. Those big long sexy bullets do have that draw back , especially with cold fingers.

 

[preacher]

I've seen plenty of paw prints of Mountain Lions where I have hunted a bit further South, here in Utah. But never have seen one. There have been a few times when a young one comes into the suburbs here. Freaks the locals out. Animal Control catches them. Makes the news every time. Big cats, Bears, Wolves, Coyotes....they have to be kept away from the toddlers and small kids, no matter what!

 

[KinleyWater]

I've seen plenty of paw prints of Mountain Lions where I have hunted a bit further South, here in Utah. But never have seen one. There have been a few times when a young one comes into the suburbs here. Freaks the locals out. Animal Control catches them. Makes the news every time. Big cats, Bears, Wolves, Coyotes....they have to be kept away from the toddlers and small kids, no matter what!

Never seen a lion in the wild. Have known one guy who was bow hunting for elk that saw lion prints on top of his boot prints as he was coming back on day. He wasn't sure if it was stalking him, or just headed the same way, but he never bow hunted that area again.

 

[DrMike]

Have seen lions while hunting on several occasions. I do see more lynx than lions, but there are lions throughout this region.