ORIGINAL: JsmesB67
Who here would hunt coastal brown bears with a muzzleloader? What precautions would you take and why? Given the harsh climate i.e. wet/damp, windy, cold,what would you do to insure ignition?
I personally would give it a try. I think a well placed shot should do the trick. As for precautions, I would have a back up person with a modern rifle of large caliber who was an excellent shot themselves...
Because of their shear size and strength I would want a projectile that would penetrate deep with excellent expansion. I would also want to push that projectile with as much powder as possible to get the most possible shock benifit. I have read somewhere that the great bears have massive shoulder bone and muscle structure so I am not sure if I would try to break them down. I would shoot for the most internal damage shot, through the heart and lungs.
The weather conditions would be something to consider. Also you have to take into consideration the kind of muzzleloader you are using. If it is an inline I would put a finger cot over the muzzle of the barrel to keep moisture out of that end. I would use a closed breech type inline with a 209 ignition. This should solve most moisture problems. I would make sure I start the rifle off with a clean dry barrel that is the same temperature as the outside air when I load it.
If I had to use an open breech inline rifle, then I would have a breech cover over that to keep it as dry as possible. Again, a finger cot over the open breech. They are a lot more water proof then people think.
If I were forced to use a conventional sidelock rifle or flintlock rifle, it would be a large caliber. Something is the .62 caliber range with a roundball as a projectile or a large conical. Again a finger cot over the muzzle to keep that end dry. On the #11 cap I would use a small piece of clean plastic fish tank hose to go around the cap and seal it to the nipple. I would also change that nipple every hour on the hour. If it were a flintlock this would be the biggest challenge. I would of course have a leather cow knee to cover the lock. I would load Goex or Swiss 3f as my prime powder since it is better at holding off moisture compared to the 4f grade. Even with the cow knee I would carry some isopropyl alcohol and patches. I would swab the pan, frizzen, and flint off every half hour and change out the prime every half hour or load the prime (if this is possible) right before I was going to take the shot.
Also because of the respect of the great bears, I would practice until I was able to place my shots out to 100 yards perfect. No matter what kind of rifle I was shooting. I would not take any shot that was not high percentage....
good question. Really makes one thing.