Tuffcity

Grizzlies aren't made of steel. Their hides puncture about the same as black bears and people have no difficulty chasing blackies with 55# er's. Sure they can be a little bigger, but that just gives you a slightly larger heart/lung area.

If I ever manage to pull a griz draw here I'll probably chase 'em with my 55# curve, because I shoot it a lot better than my 60# longbow. But I'd also have someone I trust backing me up with a longarm they feel competent with. BC has a 40# minimum for all big game, except bison which is 50#, and as mentioned before, sharp broadhead, proper placement will get the job done.

Oh, LB;
For bear backup I'd recommend 12g. slug, slug, slug, slug, slug closely followed by practice, practice, practice...

RC

arrowsmit

I'd say as heavy draw bow as you can shoot good, a gimpy bowhunting partner, & a pair of high quality cross country running shoes. hehehe.

Lilhunter

Vic,

Does this mean I can take you for a partner on my next grizz trip? Hmm, or was that Chad

arrowsmit

Chad may be a better 'partner' for that hunt...I think he's still nursing a bum foot?

Lilhunter

man you take the fun out of everything. Just come on up next late april early may! see ya then..........

c903

A 50# flame-thrower!!

ohvalley464

I don't care what size of recurve you have, a griz is just too much for that type of bow. Before you start to think that the Native Americans successfully hunted grizzlys for thousands of years, remember that they didn't do it alone. There was at least a handful of them. 6-8 recurves and 15-20 arrows will bring a grizzly down. And maybe one of them wouldn't come back. If you really feel the need for the adrenaline rush and do this, I'd have several backups. Short barreled shotgun alternately loaded with at least double 00 buck and slugs. Just remember that a bear can cover 30 yards in about 3 seconds. In a short burst they can be just as fast as a horse. A couple of 44's or 45's wouldn't hurt either in case something goes wrong and it all gets way too up close and personal.

Arthur P

Not exactly correct. There were a lot of griz, kodiaks and polar bears in the Pope and Young book prior to the invention of the compound. Recurves and longbows have taken game up to the size of elephants and rhinocerous! If you can handle the draw weight needed and select arrows heavy enough for the size and toughness of the critter - and have the stones to poke one of them bad boys with an arrow[:-] - a stickbow will do the job.

IrishLad32

Just a couple days ago, for kicks, I watch The Restless Spirit. Fred Bear with his recurve vs a Kodiak-one arrow. Fred Bear with his recurve vs African Cape Buffalo-one arrow. There was also a part where one of the guys who use to hunt with Fred killed a moose with one arrow. I'm not an expert on hunting grizzly, or anything for that matter, but my understand is that grizzlies are so ominous because they're big, mean carnivores that have no qualms about turning on a human. Pound for pound aren't moose bigger? The difference is the grizzly could attack, which is very serious, but that doesn't mean a recurve bow isn't capable of taking one down. With a 55# bow, proper arrow set up with a sharp broadhead I don't think there's anything in North Armerica that a 55# bow can't take down.

Brandan