HARPERC
Well-Known Member
I have not shot as much game as many here. I have been lucky enough to do it in many places. Initial experiences largely hardcore jungle, and those initial ones are often what shape ones thinking.
We used to bait bear, a friend used to take guys out to pay for expenses so I'd help out where need be. We'd get guys in, give our input on what to shoot, where to shoot it. Get the Jack O'Connor .270 shot placement, WDM Bell elephant story, and come back to find a guy shaking in the road "I shot a bear" Cool where's he at? "He went that way" So why did you come this way?
Something about looking at a big bear disappear into the brush at dark that will challenge a guys confidence about his equipment. Kind of like sitting on Cape Canaveral rethinking the science of "O" ring technology.
Archery guys did better as they realized you had to miss that big arm to penetrate vitals. We put hounds on tracks and still failed to find many. Our best site had 5 big bear shot there, one recovered, the one I shot with a .375 H&H. Our kids had great success one shot one kills. .375 Winchester, .44 mag carbine low velocity not overpowering, but we did not advertise them as blow em over in their tracks, but as a limited technology used within set parameters excellent results. The kids were conscious of anatomy demonstrated on game type targets, and aware to wait for the shot we asked of them. Never lost a bear to the guys with .338's etc. Did get a 2AM call to find one that made it into the brush (25 yards tops) apparently a .338 KT doesn't look as big in the woods as it did in the store either.
Bullets, bullets, bullets. When mission parameters change, change your equipment. Most of what we saw were close range failures as baits were 15-25 yards. Putting a bigger case behind the same bullet may not increase it's lethality.
Anatomy, physiology, and even the psychology of animals varies within a species. Old battlers got that way not laying down and dying in hard times. Seasonal changes in body type, a spring bear is not as hard a target as a fall bear.
If you're planning on blowing through thick hide, muscle, bone, fat, and sometimes multiple layers of each, use a technology that favors success. A 220 grain Nosler Partition .308 works great up close in the above situations. Move up into the alpine on the same bear at range and the 215 Berger might have the best specifications for that scenario.
The same applies to .243's, I have no doubt I could send a kid with bigngreen out elk hunting with a .243 and get back a happy kid. I also know he's going to set it up within the parameters of that technology, and the conditions on the ground. He isn't going to try breaking both shoulders with it. Or break it down from the rear. See I got back to elk, long way around the barn perhaps.
Maybe even let's come back tomorrow is the correct choice. We are having fun right?
Being a traveler that may not have tomorrow can be a factor in your decision as well.
