What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

Starting plans on Alaskan Brown Bear hunt, and just wondering if my 338- 378 Wby is a good choice ? Otherwise I might have to buy a new gun, and I'd really hate that.:D

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

Yup, you definitely have enough gun. That will be a good choice.

Make sure you use premium bullets, nosler partition, etc., and practice shooting a lot.

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

Yes, but so is every other caliber from the .30 Mags on up to the 700 Nitro Express. I do have to admit that the .338-338WBYwould put a major slam on any bear. I myself like the .375 Remington Ultra Mag if I got lucky enough and could afford to go on a kodiak bear hunt.

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

Buy another gun 'cause more guns is a good thing; but what you have is a VERY good round for what you are doing. I actually think that going Brown bear hunting is too dangerous for you and I will grudgingly take your place for you:D

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

If I had a 338\378 thats what I would use but if not I would buy a 375 rum. Last year in Ak. me and my buddy were just finishing butchering my moose when a bear comes out of the bush at less then 50 yds. I grabbed the nearest gun ,my buddys 375rum, my 300win mag was on the other side of the moose near the bear my buddy looks for any gun when he sees my reaction then he sees the bear near ,he then runs behind me.That when I realize it's a black bear and it begains to eat the fat we piled up beside the head . I ask him if he wants it ,he said he only has a moose tag and he's not using it on a bear. I had a carbou tag left so I decided to shoot it . When I hit him though the shoulder it lifed him up in the air and floped him completly over were he landed 15 feet from where he was, stone dead.I was very impressed with the cal.and knew I would have to have it some day for a grezz hunt that I can only dream about at this time. because of guide fees. Good luck.

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

The other gun I was considering buying for this hunt was a 378 WBY. I've always had great success with WBY until recently (see, need help accuracy post) and have been very impressed with the knock down power. I know the 300 UM and 300 WBY are very similar ballistics wise, I wonder how the 375 and 378 Wby compare. Although I'm probably done with WBY guns, I will still use their calibers in other gun makers.

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

I'd have to bring my 375 H&H mag, I think it would kill one plenty dead...

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

I would like to try my .416 Rigby on one.:)

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

dayna0306, neat story how big is your moose and did you take pics that you could show us?Also just soI understand you could use your cabou tag on a black bear correct or am I wrong?Here in Idaho out of staters can use their deer tag on bears if they so choose.

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

I would feel fine with the Marlin 45-70.

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

hey idaho the bull was 58" and I need to get help from my keds to learn how to post photos and yes on the tag use the moose tags are $400 you can use it on a carabou or black bear the bou tags are $325 and black bears are $225 .I shot a good bou 4 years earlier on my first trip there that trip cost me $1800 from pittsburgh to the artic and back. the moose hunt cost me $3000 ,worth two years of overtime to me .You got to go befor you will be requird a guide.the laws may change soon.good luck

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

JHunter111:

You made an excelent choice for brown bear. If you handload, let me know I have a wicked load for the .338-378 Wby. Mag. Good luck.

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

I don't handload as of yet, but I probably will someday as I have all my WBY brass. Looks like 338/378 will work good. Thanks for all your opinions.

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

I use a bow on 'em, so I guess I'd say your .338-.378 is plenty.

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

:D

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

Kodiak,

Do you archery hunt Brownieswith a backup weapon or backup hunter?
If so what weapon?

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

No back-up.
I keep a .450 AK model 71 Browning in camp or in the truck for going in the brush to collect them but have never needed it. They don't go far after a well placed arrow.

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

:D

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

I saw a nice Brownie in a gun shop last week that was taken with the 480 Ruger. Really nice bear.

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

James,

Any word what the back up hunter or the guide was carrying as back up?

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

He was hunting on his own. I don't think that he feels a backup is required with the 480 Ruger. It packs a punch on its own. I am not overly familar with the 480 but I think bullets over 400 grains are available. Penetration would certainly not be an issue. Hodgdon shows a 405 Grain Gas Checked Cast bullet @ 1337 fps. Its not a feat that I would attempt but for a hardcore hand gun hunter, its been done many times even with the 44 Magnum. He just moved here from Alaska.

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

I seen the best hunting video I've ever seen a couple of weeks ago. It was on OLN I believe. There's this guy who's hunting brownies with a recurve bow. I think its the guy that has Easton's world of bowhunting but I'm not sure. Anyway, They stalk up on this brownie, the bear has no idea he's there. so he nocks an arrow and lets it fly, but he misses. the bear takes a couple of steps and stops. So another arrow is nocked and loused. This time he hits but the bear knows where hes at. The brownie woofs and starts charging the hunter.

At this point the camera man has had enough. He takes off and drops the camera while its still rolling film. You see sky, trees, ground, sky, trees ground etc. Then it come to rest pointing in the grass. But you can still hear the audio. YOu hear the hunter yell: "no!" then Boom, Boom! Then it the guide say: "I had too!" Then it cuts. I guess they get the cameraman back and are talking about what happened. They claim the bear charged to within 10 feet when the guide pops him with the backup rifle. The hunter is all upset because now he can't enter the bear in Pope and Young. Anyway I was pumped and on the edge of my seat, then I started laughing thinking of the cameraman. What he must have been thinking: "screw this i'm OUTA HERE!" still makes me laugh!

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

Shato,

Heh, Heh, Heh...

A classic case of "the rest of the story" that is so frequently left out or simply just not addressed on soooo many of these deals....
Yeah, itcan work; however,whathappens whenthings don't go "just right?" (Murphy's Law & O'Leary's Corollary) What then?
Most don't want to talk about that part... (whether there was a provision for back upin place or not).

Thank goodness for the guide who was well armed enough and savvy enoughto stand his ground and save the day by gitten 'er doine.
Only on the Internet does the assumption ofand the claim of perfectionso consistently reign supreme,
Great Story!

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

Your right, it can be done as the record books show lots of the Big Bears taken with the bow. Don't think for a nano second that the same story does not apply to many rifle hunters. Bow hunters don't have a corner on missed shots ot things gone astray. There are times when things don't go right regardless of what you hunt with. Thats part of hunting and one can accept it or find a safer sport. Sometimes the bear even wins. Could that be why some game is considered dangerous game?;)I am not a bow hunter but elephants and every other species of game animal on earth has been harvested with the bow. Long before anyone ever heard of a rifle.

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

I guess perhaps the guide shoulda honored the client's request and just let the bearwork theclient over for a bit(with Inuit type injuries, if he was lucky).... I'm thinking the client would have rather quickly reconsidered his "NO" command to the guide.Probably would have been too late and then instead of Shato and I laughing it up I could be posting it over in the "Bad News"section.

I bet had the charge had not occurred and the guy got his bear, that the footage of the guide with a gun backing everything up would have been conveniently cut out so as to enhance the "nuttin' but me and my bow versus 1000 pounds of fury" drama.... I don't need no stinking firearms.

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

It is funny that you bring up elephants. One of my associates just came back from africa a couple of weeks ago. You should see the pics of the female lion he shot with his bow, along with the rhino that he took. On his last trip he took a 6000 pound cow elephant and a hippo. Those bows are deadly even on big game. I would not have any problem using mine on a brown bear. That would be my weapon of choice. I don't hunt browns with a bow, but have taken a few blackies. What a rush when you have one standing at 12 yards facing you on the ground. I get a kick out of the bluff charges and the teeth chattering. I carry a back up pistol, but not only for the bears, its the cats that I don't trust. And we have some big cats here in Idaho.............

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

The guide did just what he should have done. However one failed hunt by one poor shot with his bow does not mean that bow hunters should swear off their sport and it does not mean that that the bow should be used for DG. Just because everyone does not feel that they need a battle tank to hide in and a fighter plane for backup, does not take away from their own chosen method of taking big game. Believe it or not, many bow hunters have no backup at all. From time to time, one will pay the price as you know from writing about it happening over there, where most are using rifles and have a team of backup. It happens in hunting and coverage showing only the good things that happen and omitting the screwups sure is not limited to bow hunters or to the internet. The long range hunting vidios come to mind.

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

Yeah, I could get struck by a car stepping out in the street too. It doesn't mean I'm going to wear an airbag suit around everywear I go. It just means I'm going to look both ways and not step out when there's a vehicle coming. Carrying a big gun as back-up is no substitute for knowing your limitations, knowing your game and using good judgement. The bowhunter in the above example failed on at least two of those three points.

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

Agreed.

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

Dadgone Rob, you a heck of a guy taking with a bow. I have taken boar with a bow. And being charged several time. And I didn't like very much and had a 44 mag as backup.

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

That Weatherby will get the job done.

I would take my .375 H&H most likely. People use it effectively against African lions which are probably the most risky dangerous game there is to hunt.

Its hard to go wrong with a heavy well constructed slug travelling with a few tons of energy behind it LOL.

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

I would use a .460 Weatherby Magnum. [8D]

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

Wheres zrex? Im sure he would take his 243 and feel overgunned!:D

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

Stick with a .338 Magnum or bigger. There is no such thing as "overkill".

RE: What Cal. for Alaskan Brown Bears
 

Until it makes you miss. It's called flinching and it's usually caused by too much recoil. Doesn't do any good to miss the nail with a sledge hammer when hitting it with a claw hammer would drive it just as well. I don't think there's a guide that would disagree that they'd rather see a client show up with a well used .30-06 than a shiny new .416.