what do u do when this happens
 

i recently shot at a bear that i thought i hit but i guess not cause we couldnt find any sign of blood or any sign of him . we looked for over an hour what else are u supposed to do when u think u hit a bear but cant find him?

RE: what do u do when this happens
 

Bears are not heavy bleeders like deer or elk. The bear that I killed this year had very, very little blood on the ground. I was able to find it by looking for scuffs on the ground, layed over weeds etc. If you had a good hit, it should not be far. I would keep looking. Did the bear show signs of being hit or not. Was this a rifle or a bow

RE: what do u do when this happens
 

If you have access to a good dog then I would go back with the dog and try to have him track it down. Many people say that you should aim for the vitals when hunting game like bear, but another school of thought is to try to break that shoulder and destroy his ability to scurry off. Then you can put a finishing shot in him after he has been anchored.

RE: what do u do when this happens
 

i was using a 7 mm rem mag after i shot he went on his hind legs then bolted of in the opposite direction he was facing then he turned 180 degrees again and headed for the timber .

RE: what do u do when this happens
 

Sounds like you confused him, Im sure hes not far from where you last saw him, probably in a thicket.

RE: what do u do when this happens
 

It sure sounds like you hit him, bears vitals sit a little further foward that do elk and deer. I shoot mine wih a bow and aim for the shoulder area. I try to crowd the scapula. I am shooting enough KE with a coc head that if I hit the scapula I will blow right through. A bears hide is very dense and will absorb alot of blood before dripping off. Also, the fat under the skin will work great to plug the hole. I don't mean to sound harsh here, but I would have looked alot longer than an hour if I beleived that I had ahit.

RE: what do u do when this happens
 

i would have looked longer if there was more light left

RE: what do u do when this happens
 

Its ok mooseslayer well get em next year...

RE: what do u do when this happens
 

I for one, believe in this theory whole heartedly. I always try to break at least one shoulder if not both whenever possible. For that Reason I personally prefer a slightly quartering shot. If I have my choice I would choose a quartering away shot. I can shoot through the vitals and break the offside shoulder. But, I carry enough gun that if a quartering to me shot presents itself I can confidently bust the point of the near shoulder and my bullet will continue through the vitals. If presented a broadside shot I take the generic double lung point of aim. Then I try to quickly follow up with a shot that will break bone to slow the retreat.

RE: what do u do when this happens
 

I tracked one at night that wasn't bleeding at all. I just thought about what an injured would do in that terrain/situation and I found him only about 150 yards away.

RE: what do u do when this happens
 

the same thing happened to us last sat. we arrowed a bear at 25 yds , complete pass thru just behind the shoulder, we recovered the arrow and after about 30 min we started tracking him, caught up to him about 200 yds later , couldn't see him but he was growling and moaning loudly so we backed off to wait for another hour . started after him again and he had taken off straight downhill into the thickest hellhole that I've ever been in.we tracked him on our hands and knees where you had to push your bow thru and then belly crawl to get thru for over 4 hours, it finally got to where the blood was only a speck every 10 or 12 feet so we finally gave up.All I can figure is that the shot was above the lungs and below the spine causing a wound that didn't bleed well and I feel the bear survived. When we were at the end of our tracking the bear doubled back and waited about 10 yds above us and then took off downhill again leaving no blood trail that we could find. we figured out that we had tracked him for about a mile and the only way we were able to locate the intermitten blood was by looking for scuff marks on the ground or thinking if I were a wounded bear which way would I go, next weekend we will go back and try again.

RE: what do u do when this happens
 

If that were me I would be calling in sick to work. If you hit the bear behind the shoulder. and had a pass through. That bear should be down. I have heard the death moan a few times before, that is something that you will never forget after you have heard it once. Bears won't bleed that much. Patience in tracking when hunting bears is crucial. I looked for mine for quite a while this spring. I had actually walked past the bear several times when looking for more sign. It had died and slid under a log. It made it about 80 yards, and I never did find buta drop of blood or the arrow that I saw blow through it. Darkness was falling fast and I ended up back at the truck well after dark. I had a 2 hour drive back to the house. After skinning and icing it down, that only left me with 2 hours to sleep before returning to work. You may find your bear next weekend, but I doubt either the hide or the meat will be any good. Looking for scuffs and disturbed ground may help in finding a hit bear. Look for characteristics in the animals tracks that my tip you off, that will indicate that you are always tracking the same animal. I was hunting elk with a newbie that took a poor shot against my advice to let the bow down. This gentleman proceeded to shoot the bull in the right hind quater. We tracked the bull for a day and a half. The last mile the bull was tracked by the hoof drag marks that it was leaving on the logs that crossed the trail. This was caused by the right leg becoming weak and dragging over the logs. By this time there was no blood. Just the drag marks. Good luck on future bear hunting and remember that the smallest of sign while tracking, could yield the most information.



This bear was found by searching for drag marks where it pulled itself over the windfall timber. It was also found from the scuffed ground before and after the downed trees. These were small signs, but enough for a successful recovery.

RE: what do u do when this happens
 

Others have made a lot of good comments. The bear's fur soaks up a lot of blood and the fat closes the hole some. You would want to be looking at the brush, not just on the ground. At narrow spots on the trail, look forblood smears at about afoot or so high. (Height of the exit woulkd). Once you note the side the blood is on and the height it will help in locating these blood smears on the trail. He'll likely head down hill, toward water ora creek. Deffinately toward something thick! If he crosses a creek, note if he trys to pack himself with mud. If you loose the blood trail, you may find it again on brush in an area where he has to exert himeself. Again,on the side/height of the exit wound. Good luck, hope you find him. Rick

RE: what do u do when this happens
 

i looked everywere for blood n him with no luck so from now on im not shooting bears in the rain. But what i dont get is obviously i didnt hit him well because if u hit an animal in the front part of the chest he wont be far cause theres quite a bit of impact behind a 7mm mag. But im guessing i hit him somewere prolly in a non lethal area cause when u miss they usually dont go on there hind ligs and look like it has been lost and not know were to go but what can i do its over know.

RE: what do u do when this happens
 

If you learned from it, it is not a total loss. Bears are fairly easy to gut shoot, like i said before, the vitals sit a little far foward. Good luck this season...............................elkcrazy

RE: what do u do when this happens
 

What about a good dog ....could you use it to help find the bear?

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