A big bear & a big magnum.........


Strut10

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Just a little re-cap of how being an avid......nay, rabid.....supporter of the Off the Porch Gang made my day yesterday a happy one.

At the end of a bear drive yesterday I got the exact opportunity I had dreamed of to try out my .375 Weatherby. I had one split-second chance for a shot at the bear of a lifetime. He was approximately 40 yards and walking straight away from me. I put the crosshairs on the middle of what I could see and sent a 250 grainer on its way. The bullet hit his butt about 4 inches right of the tail and a couple inches lower. It drove through 7 inches of fat, 18 inches of hind quarter (smashing the top of the femur), and travelled on up into the cavity somewhere. I did not find the bullet. But it went through a minimum of 5 feet of black bear. Now, I'm not suggesting that anyone needs a .375 Wby. for black bear. But I would bet the farm that even my .300 Win Mags. would not have been up to the task at hand in that particular instance. I imagine I'd have had less than a 50/50 chance to get a follow-up shot due to the terrain. The .375 planted 677 lbs of bear on the spot.........not counting the 15 yard downhill roll.

Ya'll think I had magnumitis before??? Well..........

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Guest shotist

Re: A big bear & a big magnum.........

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Now, I'm not suggesting that anyone needs a .375 Wby. for black bear.

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Hehehe...you're not? smile.gif

See, if you'd have used that 45/70 with an LBT bullet, you could have gone completely through lengthwise, rolled him half ways into the next briar patch and been able to eat around the bullet hole to boot!

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Re: A big bear & a big magnum.........

you keep going bigger... that's not a bad thing, but if you start telling me you're shooting squirrels with a .50BMG i'm gonna think you have a serious problem

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Re: A big bear & a big magnum.........

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you keep going bigger...

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Not until I have reservations somewhere off this continent. wink.gif I believe the .375 is approaching the upper limits of what I consider "fun to shoot"........ at least in an 8 1/2 lb. rifle that I'd carry around for the day.

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Re: A big bear & a big magnum.........

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You are just LUCKY that was not a charging goundhog. Because if it had been...........all bets would have been off if you could have stopped him. Even with a 375 WBY! wink.gif

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Good point!! wink.gif

Lucky for me..........all I saw was a bear.......no groundhogs. WHEW!! crazy.gif

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Re: A big bear & a big magnum.........

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Strut------What bullet were you shooting? Had to be pretty stout-----partition or barnes? CB

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Believe it or not, Bob, it was a 250 gr. Sierra GameKing (spitzer boattail) at 3050 fps. I really do not expect that I will ever get it back. But I would REALLY like to see how & where it ended up. I just was not physically able to do a search & rescue on it myself.

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Guest Colorado Bob

Re: A big bear & a big magnum.........

Strut----Everyone knows you can get that kind of penetration out of a "plain jane" bullet, especially if it's a boattail------Since I've been scanning the "net"---I've come to "know" you can kill any thing over prairie dog without a partition. I'm just glad that the elk I take every year don't scan the "net". They would know they have nothing to fear from the hornady "spire points" I use on them.

Conglads, again. That is a REAL big bear-----pushing interior grizzly size. CB

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Re: A big bear & a big magnum.........

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Conglads, again. That is a REAL big bear-----pushing interior grizzly size. CB

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Thanks, Bob!! wink.gif

Actually, when I took him to the taxidermist, there were two grizz finished & ready for delivery there. Neither one weighed as much live as my blackie.

Don't tell the bear he got smacked with a GameKing. He'd be so embarrassed to not have been crumpled by a Partition, Grand Slam or an X. crazy.gif

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Re: A big bear & a big magnum.........

I know what ya mean, brother! I shot last year' s cow elk at 280 yards as she quartered away a little more than I would have liked. The bullet went in forward of the ham, ran the length of the elk4-5', broke several ribs, and smashed the shoulder where it came to rest. Gun: 300 RUM, bullet Barnes VLX 165 Gr, mz vel: 3500 fps. Here is the bullet.

[image]bullet.JPG[/image]

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Re: A big bear & a big magnum.........

[ QUOTE ]

I know what ya mean, brother! I shot last year' s cow elk at 280 yards as she quartered away a little more than I would have liked. The bullet went in forward of the ham, ran the length of the elk4-5', broke several ribs, and smashed the shoulder where it came to rest. Gun: 300 RUM, bullet Barnes VLX 165 Gr, mz vel: 3500 fps. Here is the bullet.

[image]bullet.JPG[/image]

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Another proud member in good standing (with accolades) of the Off the Porch Gang!!! grin.gifgrin.gifgrin.gif

Good show, sir!! wink.gif

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