That’s for bear hunting – see P1
The basic emphasis of P1 was two-fold: 1) With the exception of one sighting, in over sixty years of huting in Eastern and Northeastern Canada, I’ve never encountered or sighted a single black bear apart from the “bait barrel”. And 2) I’ve learned far more about bears from those experiences than any other source of information.
While there are some authors and others with limited experiences who make claims that spot-and-stalk is where its at, and baiting bear makes it too easy, such an attitude reveals limited knowledge and experience where baiting is essential even to see a bear in their natural habitat. Sure, there are “nuisance bears” on farms and in some rural areas partially or progressivly under development that is still part of what was natural bear habitat. The folk who live in those surroundings see bears rather frequently, have problems with them – and usually want them gone by whatever means! And, by times, I’ve been called on to help eliminate what to them has become a scourge! However, some take matters into their own hands, and the solution is as simple as “shoot, shovel and shut up”! At others, when complaints aimed at the MNRF for their policies, or lack thereof, they’ll (the MNRF) undertake a “shoot, shovel and shut up” cull operation of their own!
Whatever – it appears as a sophisticated form of hypocrisy to those who pay top dollars for a hunt under strict regulations! And the MNRF will never let it be known what they’ve secretly done until revealed in public media by a snoopy reporter. Then, of course, like all politicians, they’ll give “their own” version of matters.
As for myself, I don’t live where bears do. But as long as the MNRF hands out expensive licenses for shooting bears within seasons, I’ll likely have one in my wallet because I’ve become a bear hunter since my first in 1989 in the northeast of our Province of Ontario. Since 1995, I’ve been doing it on my own (sometimes with a friend) much closer to home about an hour’s drive north of here on Crown Land, or 3/4’s of an hour NW of here on private land. In several ways, private property is more congenial even though the “bait barrel” is still put to good use. However, for the past couple of seasons I’ve gone back to my old Crown Land areas in Haliburton Highlands – but I’ll not reveal locations!
Since this was a basic solo hunt in 2023 and will again be such in 2024, I’m using a “bait barrel” in a natural setting for wildlife, small to large – squirrels to moose – with bear in the mix. But since it is “solo” it will not be too far from the main dirt road for retrieving a bear:
<My SUV was hidden by the thick cluster of trees on the right, parked on the far side of the dirt road about 75 yds away. The pic was taken about midway into the bait setup on the left across from my seat and blind up on the slight ridge on the left. There’s a basin or gulch between my blind and the “bait barrel” of 40 – 50 yds. This was early May, 2023.
<The bait had been hit several times in early May. The signs indicated a large bear. The ground dug up where the tote had been is a solid indicator, plus the 2.5″ diameter scat left as a signal of personal possession of this site and area!<Late October, fall season.
In the fall bear season (Sept 1st to Nov 30), I’d added a stock cartridge holder to the .35 Whelen for the 300gr Barnes Originals and 225gr Nosler ABs that both shot to the same POA at 100 yds without any adjustment to scope setting. The bait was being hit less regularly in the fall hunt until the “bait barrel” (tote) was removed in late October before moose season started the first week of November, followed by deer season. I used heavier “timber” on top of the tote to slow any bears down as well as keeping anything else (or anyone) from meddling with it. With daylight substantially shortened and the hardwoods denuded of leaves, any bears still around would sneak in after darkness had settled.
So then: What are the advantages of “The Bait Barrel” for bear hunting purposes?
Since no one, who is a sport fisherman, throws a line with a hook into a stream, river, lake or ocean, without a lure or “bait”, so be it with bear hunters! A “bait barrel” is nothing but a nuisance in back country without bear bait inside and around it! I’ll not get into what’s the best bait, but it needs to “cast out” smells attractrant to bears! And they’ll return if it tastes good to them! They love sweets! In early spring they’ll eat grass for digestive purposes, and even carrion because they’re hungry. But after that they’ll go for live game like moose calves (and will even kill the mother if necessary), deer and their fawn, or anything live they can catch! They are firstly predators! Let us never lose sight of that fact! If on farms, fruit trees, corn crops, bird feeders or your cats and dogs, plus garbage cans and bags. In natural habitats: live game, as mentioned, plus fish, and beaver on land or still in their huts. They love beaver. On Crown Land (Public Land), a “bait barrel” should ALWAYS be near a natural water source. “Near”, as within 50 to 400 yds (1/4 mile). If wounded, they will likely head for water.
- A “bait barrel” attracts the potential bear you may want to shoot to you, in your stand or blind. My setups have been from 35 yds to 135 yds from blind/stand to the bait setup, depending on several physical characteristics of the hunting situation.
- My suggestion is to use a trail cam if possible in a secure location that’s aimed at the “bait barrel”. That gives the opportunity to see what goes on there when you’re not present. The number of bears, their identity, sex and size can be determimed, as well as behaviour. I’ve yet to use them on Crown Land (Public Land) for fear they might get stolen or damaged, but that might change this year.
- The “bait barrel” also affords time to study “the bear” for decision-making purposes. “Is this the one I want to shoot?” And what if?: A sow shows up with cubs? Or a female in heat is followed by a bruiser of a boar bear?
- Depending on setup, the “bait barrel” may afford the opportunity to use a video cam or cell phone cam.
Don’t wait too long to take the perfect shot with your rifle. And don’t be impatient to take a shot either. The presentation the bear makes is important. A broadside, of course, is ideal, but a good shot opportunity may be lost if waiting for that! What is a “good shot opportunity”? A quartering towards you. Depending on the angle, that could be just inside the shoulder toward you, or close behind the shoulder. . . or better still, the shoulder itself. In particular, wait for a still bear and aim for a spot. A double-lung shot is not a loser. Depending on caliber and bullet selected, a double-lung hit might take a few moments for the bear to realize it’s been hit, allowing it to leave with a jump in the air and then a dead run – maybe toward you! Don’t panic! Give ‘im another if possible.
The main reason I prefer larger calibers is because they make larger holes, and larger holes means faster and greater loss of blood to life sustaining organs – wherever hit. Don’t count on a CNS hit! It may happen (by accident) but don’t plan for it. Some expect the bear to run after hit by whatever. . . I don’t! I want a bear DEAD RIGHT THERE! To be honest, I’ve found nothing better than a .45-70 using “hot” handloads for that!
Another thing: Don’t count on precision shooting – it may never happen on a bear that you WANT! You may have to just stop it, right there, and then finish it!
If you want to use a smaller caliber than mediums or big bores, I’d recommend fast 7mms or thirty’s with well proven bullets for big game (ie-moose), for we never know what size bear with an attitude might show up at our “bait barrel”.
As a rule of thumb, I think it’s hard to improve very much on mediums (.338 to .375) with carefully selected bullets placed “in the boiler room”. But don’t make ’em too tough for penetration purposes. I favor Nosler Partitions and ABs. The TTSX’s and TSX have yet to prove themselves to me. I was not happy with the original “X” or TSX that both failed to expand properly unless solid bone was hit.
My backup rifle this year (May 1st – June 15) and (Sept 1st – Nov 30) is the .375 H&H loaded with the 250gr TTSX at ~2850 fps. The claim is that the TTSX expands better and faster than the former TSX. I’ve no experience, but I’ve done adequate research. . . I’m hopeful!
It may be that sometime ago there was failure of penetration by some common bullets, especially on larger game – bullet breakup, flattened, losing cores, etc. – in very rare cases does that happen anymore. But full penetration, without adequate or no expansion, has become more than an occasional complaint these days. I’ve told this before, so bear with me: A 350gr TSX from my .458 Win Mag at 2750 fps MV failed to impress a small bear more than a .22 Hornet at 100 yds. It was facing me eating a lunch I’d prepared for it and took that magical bullet under the chin with hardly a wimper, and ran off as though I’d missed! Fortunately, it didn’t know what had just happened, so it circled around in thick bush behind the bait until it expired 40 yds behind the bait as though it went to sleep. To say the very least about that episode, I was thoroughly unimpressed! I was shooting a “cannon” developing ~5877 fp-lbs at the muzzle and about 4665 ft-lbs at impact and that little bear that weighed no more than 120 lbs shrugged it off as though it had been bitten by a mosquito!
What I’m saying is, I’m hearing too much these days about “penetration” this and that sans enough emphasis on bullet performance within the animal! Cosequently, we have “adequate” penetration and the animal runs off for 50, 100, 150 yds and that seems acceptable! NOT for WHERE and WHAT I HUNT! Especially when it concerns a bear! A bear can get into tangles (on purpose) you wouldn’t believe! When my partner shot a bear broadside while having a drink at a pond at 65 yds – using his 270 Win firing a Federal 150gr Nos Partition Premium load – it ran back up the hill from which it came, and dove into a briar thorn bush, where I finally found him in darkness with only his rear sticking out. I found him in pitch darkness because he’d bawled eleven times (recorded on video). When the shooter caught up, we each grabbed a rear foot, pulled it out of there and slid it back down hill. He then asked me: “How much does it weigh?” I said “350 to 400”. The owner of the property, a retired professor of wildlife biology at our local college, came with his tractor and transported the bear to the barn where it was weighed, before guts removed, at 399 lbs. Just before the bear was shot, it had pushed over a big tree, with a crash that shook the earth, to announce his presence that sent birds scattering in flight, and fright! That was not your average bambi taken with a .270 Win.
I helped dress it out, load it onto his truck, and early the next morning helped skin it in preparation for a butcher and a taxidermist. It was like wrestling with a large greased pig!< The taxidermist’s work.
As popular as the .270 Win is in the Mid-Western and Western States, I believe there are many cartridges more suitable than a .27-caliber, starting at .28-caliber. For me, those have been 7mm magnums – several in Remington and one in a Wby. A 150gr., .277″ at 2800 fps MV isn’t really that comparable with a 175gr at 3000 fps from a .284″ premium bullet.
The following bear was not a 400 pounder, but still a good specimen, and it was DRT from a 175gr Partition at 3000 fps from my 7mm Wby Magnum. Range was about the same as my friends at 65 yards.
If all a hunter has as a BG rifle is a .270 Win, and he/she has enough experience with it on BG, I’d not say “Get something else” for a bear hunt, but experience and physics says a 7 magnum is better! Frankly, I’d choose a .308 Win over a .270 Win if wanting a dedicated bear gun (see my blog of March 30 – “Ten Reasons Why The .308 Winchester is Better than a .270 Winchester”.)
<I’d recommend this hog gun in .308 Win as a dedicated “bait bear” rifle – especially for the handloader.
Going up from there are the .300 magnums – my favorite the .300 Winchester. It’s a well balanced cartridge for multiple purposes, accurate, and a 200gr Partition or AB at 3000 fps is more than a 175gr at 3000 from a 7 magnum.
These days my choices are mediums: .35 Whelen, 9.3 x 62, and .375 H&H. Lots of whomp there! And, of course, my favorite single-shot in .458 Winchester Magnum in my favorite rifle: the Ruger No.1H Tropical. Not, “What could I do with that?”, but “What could I NOT do with her?” Her name is “Grace”, full of beauty and wonder! I’ll be expounding on that when we get to P2 of “Why I (still) Promote The .458 Winchester Magnum”.
Previously, I’ve mentioned this only once: Since I saw my first Ruger No.1H in .458 Winchester Magnum on display behind glass, I coveted one. I was allowed to handle it, and it felt heavy. It took many years for me to own one, and it’s still heavy (10.25 lbs with the Nikon 2 – 7 x 32 mm scope), but every time I handle it, it seems ideal with such grace, beauty, power and multi-talented abilities. More later. . . .
Bear over bait hunts never gets boring for me. There’s an aura of surprises tinged with danger! No two experiences are the same! “What will the next one be?” – keeps me on edge and alert! Nothing else I’ve hunted does that for me, and I’m glad at this stage that I’ve not become a jaded hunter who has become bored with my rifles because I’ve too many of the same thing. Each is a special challenge. In regard to the .458, I’m often thinking of how a particular bullet and its load might work on bear. For lesser creatures, like wolf and coyote, the .35 Whelen gets my attention.
To me, in several ways, single-shots are more flexible in the use of handloads than magazine rifles. And, both my .458 and .35 Whelen are single-shot rifles. And I’ve noted that in older (or ancient) literature pertaining to African rifles for DG, that those which had to be loaded singularly by hand in oppening the breach were designated “single-shots” with the hyphen, not “single shot” as is common today. It’s my belief that “single shot” doesn’t give due respect in honor of the mechanism and overall impression of its historical contribution to refined weapons. I’ll continue to write “Single-Shot” with the hyphen! “I used a single shot from my M70 to bring down that elk”. Is that the same as saying, “I used my single-shot No.1 Ruger to bring down that elk.”?
Till the next . . .
Shalom
BOB MITCHELL