Brown Bears and Muzzleloaders?
06-23-2005, 08:22 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Bergen Co. NJ
Posts: 129
Brown Bears and Muzzleloaders?
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?
06-23-2005, 09:01 PM
#3
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 21,193
RE: Brown Bears and Muzzleloaders?
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?
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?
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.
06-23-2005, 09:11 PM
#4
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wabash, IN
Posts: 826
RE: Brown Bears and Muzzleloaders?
Ditto to what cayugad said. I would do it in a heartbeat and use the heaviest, highest velocity load I could shoot accurately. Backup though IS a must.......either another person standing by with hardcore equipment or else I'd have a heavy handgun with me with somebada$$ loads in it.
06-24-2005, 01:45 AM
#5
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Rocky Top Tennessee
Posts: 683
RE: Brown Bears and Muzzleloaders?
I guess one of those .70+ caliber doubles like you see in Cabela's catalog would be the best thing to have. The fact that it loads from the front won't matter much, you won't have time for any more shots anyway.[X(]
06-24-2005, 02:06 PM
#8
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Lancaster, Ohio
Posts: 809
RE: Brown Bears and Muzzleloaders?
iv heard that one of the best ways to stop a bear from getting u while u hunt is not to go for a kill shot. go for the front or back legs to disable it. then take a vital shot. also have someone to back u up!
06-25-2005, 08:09 AM
#9
Dominant Buck
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Ramsey , Indiana
Posts: 22,545
RE: Brown Bears and Muzzleloaders?
ORIGINAL: i shoot stuff
iv heard that one of the best ways to stop a bear from getting u while u hunt is not to go for a kill shot. go for the front or back legs to disable it. then take a vital shot. also have someone to back u up!
iv heard that one of the best ways to stop a bear from getting u while u hunt is not to go for a kill shot. go for the front or back legs to disable it. then take a vital shot. also have someone to back u up!
A .54caliber inline with a three pellet Triple-7 load , 400 grain Buffalo Bullet , and a musket cap/nipple. Cap sealedwith candle wax and a finger cot on the muzzle . This caliber is more than adequate since it was developed with large and potentially dangerous game such as grizzlies in mind . My brother once shot a 3" thick red cedar sapling in half at 30 yards with one of mine with a 100 grain Pyrodex RS/.530 roundballload, it would surely fell a bear at longer range .
06-26-2005, 06:54 AM
#10
Fork Horn
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Kansas
Posts: 294
RE: Brown Bears and Muzzleloaders?
ORIGINAL: cayugad
If I were forced to use a conventional sidelock rifle or flintlock rifle
If I were forced to use a conventional sidelock rifle or flintlock rifle
As for brown bear...back in the early 70's Val Forgett took a .58 to Africa and shot all the big 5 with it. Can't recall the powder charge now, but I tried that load in mine...it was up to brown bear I believe. I'm sure if Val were still alive he'd agree.
