Page 1 of 4 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 33

Thread: Bears: The death moan

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    6-09
    Posts
    1,217

    Bears: The death moan

    Some bears, when fatally hit, will emit a moan or bawl. What is your knowledge or experience with this?

    My story: I was a fairly seasoned hunter and had been on several bear hunts with my dad, but had never shot a bear. This year I decided to give it a try, and was hiking up my favourite power line, the same place I had harvested my first moose many years before. Back then it was open clear cuts, now it is an absolute jungle of birch, aspen, alder and willow with coniferous trees trying to make a go of it. I topped a rise and saw a good bear walking across the right of way. I realised my window of opportunity was short so I quickly set up for a shot before the bear got into the thick brush. My model 99 savage in .308 was a trusted gun for me so I fired, and the bear hunched up and then ran into the jungle. This all happened very quickly.

    As a mix of adrenaline and emotions flooded through me, a strange bawling sound came from the bush. Honestly, the thought fleetingly crossed my mind that I had shot a cow. I think there were three distinct howls. I gave it 20 mins and went to have a look.

    To make a long story short, I started looking in the wrong place and it took me 2 hours to find the bear when it had only gone about 10 yrds. But to be fair, that bush was THICK. Visibility of 6" thick. So 2 hours of nervously stumbling around in thick rhubarb after a bear. Maybe not the smartest thing on Earth, but a guy is feeling truly alive in those scenarios.

    I found the bear and enjoyed the meat and memories. Anybody else have a story to tell?

  2. Site Sponsor

  3. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    6-09
    Posts
    1,217

    Re: Bears: The death moan

    And do grizzlies do this?

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Region 3
    Posts
    57

    Re: Bears: The death moan

    Quote Originally Posted by two-feet View Post
    And do grizzlies do this?
    And rabbits and deer and coyotes...I think if you shot me I'd give a little "facka yuu"! Or an F-M-L.

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    6-09
    Posts
    1,217

    Re: Bears: The death moan

    Quote Originally Posted by Stillhunt View Post
    And rabbits and deer and coyotes...I think if you shot me I'd give a little "facka yuu"! Or an F-M-L.
    ha ha good. FML for sure

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    region 9
    Posts
    11,528

    Re: Bears: The death moan

    My first black bear harvested I saw eating grass by a roadside, I watched it for a while, took my time, could hear it munching away from a distance, and it couldn't hear me as I crept into position, threw out my bipod lags and got steady, boom - it went a short distance, and howled that horrible howl foronly a few seconds before dying..definitely a horrible sound, but they taste good and they're worth it..

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Posts
    1,275

    Re: Bears: The death moan

    Do you recall where you hit the bear....i would think if you double lunged him he would have trouble getting that out...in a pose to a heart shot where they still might have a few seconds to bitch and lots of air in the lungs to do so...but also have to factor in that like us....each bear is different...big grumpy old boar maybe bawl more then a panicked younger bear..or vise versa....just a few thoughts that I have had for the reason why some do and some don't....and like mentioned most animals do it but some can make a big noise like that then a bear.

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Horsefly BC
    Posts
    2,253

    Re: Bears: The death moan

    I have shot 3 in the last few years and none have made any sounds. They didn't go far either.
    The challenge of retirement is how to spend time without spending money.
    The worst day slinging lead is still better than the best day working.
    Look around is there someone you can introduce to shooting because that’s the only way we will buck the anti gun trend sweeping Canada! "tigrr 2006"


  9. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    6-09
    Posts
    1,217

    Re: Bears: The death moan

    The one I got that did the wailing was a double lung through and through.

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    region 9
    Posts
    11,528

    Re: Bears: The death moan

    ^^^same with mine...

  11. #10
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Langley
    Posts
    6,032

    Re: Bears: The death moan

    So far no moans or howls, just bang-flop. We have been lucky. None of our bears went anywhere. We did have one that tried to get moving with the use of its front paws but when dressing it, we found both lungs were shot and the spine was completely severed. Not sure how one bullet did that. We recovered the bullet and it looks in tact.

    I did hear something that sounded like an ongoing death moan in a tree line way up a steep slash. I have tried to describe it to a few people and some have said moose. To me it sounded like a Hollywood grizzly roar, every 10 seconds or so.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •