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Drillbit
06-02-2021, 09:50 PM
Took the boys out looking for a spring Bear.
The Kid has been wanting to shoot one since he shot his first deer last fall.

Santa brought a Xbolt 223 with a Leupold markAR and a case of 1000 rounds and dropped it under the tree, I was Shocked!!

It's a really nice rifle, so it's not surprising the case of ammo is getting pretty light. The Kid can ring all the gongs easy from the bench out to 550 at the range here, and is getting really good leaning on a post, and is now always trying to get better freehand.

So we went out to find a bear, he wanted a decent sized one, so that was good to hear we would get some chances at judging sizes.

First one we saw on the road was a nice bear. After deciding we'd let it go, we put the "350 sneak" on it. That's a prairie term of which there are 2 types of 350 sneak. We were doing the low speed version.
As the bear waddled along eating we'd slowly roll up the rd towards it. When it stopped, we'd stop.
I thought I did a pretty damn good 350sneak and was pretty proud of my skills till I realized the bear just didn't give a damn about my truck haha Drove right up to it.
https://i.imgur.com/Nyx3ESq.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/bfdLTWT.jpg

So that was the baseline. I had to find bigger than that.....
Found a few that were similar in size, found a few with cubs. It was pretty good, the boys had lots of action and chances to bail out of the truck and get ready and also to sneak up on a few using cover through logging blocks. And of course a few 350 sneaks.

Then we saw a nice one! Had the good waddle going on! But it was a long way off. 339yards.
The Kid said that was the one, so he set up with a good rest. We watched awhile made sure it was alone and was big enough. We were quite a bit higher than it so we set the turret to 300 and The Kid settled down in to shoot.

I saw the bullet hit and the bear jumped and tried to run. I could tell it was hit hard. It piled up on a tree and I told him to shoot again. He put some insurance into it and there it was, still on the tree. I never even had to move it to set it up for the pictures.
https://i.imgur.com/wyPH3AA.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/rIcgY86.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/VfFmuy4.jpg

Mark-R
06-02-2021, 10:00 PM
woah big bear alert!
Nice work boys!

Blacktail1
06-02-2021, 10:11 PM
Awesome. Good going you guys.

Huntingtyler123
06-02-2021, 10:13 PM
Awesome pics! Love the pit viper glasses!! Badass little man

RyoTHC
06-02-2021, 10:26 PM
Glad to see the kids putting down the big boys this year! Make sure you get him entered into one of the derby categories.. he’d probably kick some ass in the adult ones even.

whitlers
06-02-2021, 10:27 PM
Thats an excellent bear. Congrats!

mpotzold
06-02-2021, 10:36 PM
Congrats!
Just finished writing about black bear attacks. So one less bear to worry about!:razz:

3than
06-02-2021, 10:58 PM
Great bear. Congrats!

Knute
06-02-2021, 11:21 PM
congrats, nice Yogi!
on his socks too ;)

warnniklz
06-02-2021, 11:34 PM
NICE! Makes me want to go get one tomorrow.

RICKADY
06-03-2021, 07:46 AM
Great job, congrats to the young man,
Great job Dad for teaching the the young men

KodiakHntr
06-03-2021, 07:47 AM
NICE!

That is fantastic.

albravo2
06-03-2021, 07:49 AM
Way to get it done Drillbit!

Great bear. Congrats to your son.

Arctic Lake
06-03-2021, 08:03 AM
Congrats young fella !
Arctic Lake

Brew
06-03-2021, 08:04 AM
Nice bear at 339 with a 223. Great work. Shows how versatile that little 223 can be. What bullet did you use?

Gateholio
06-03-2021, 08:14 AM
Congrats! That is a great bear!

I've often said a .223 and a case of ammo for practice is the best way to become a good big game shooter! :)

Livewire322
06-03-2021, 09:19 AM
Congrats to Drillbit jr. on a dandy bear!

Drillbit
06-03-2021, 11:29 AM
Nice bear at 339 with a 223. Great work. Shows how versatile that little 223 can be. What bullet did you use?

Thanks everyone!

Used MSF 62grnSP. Tried them at 100 and they were same poi as 55fmjs. Tried them with the turret out to 550 and they all rang so I figured good enough

The bear was down lower than us quite a bit and quartered away. The bullets went in high at the back of the shoulder and down through the front. Not sure which one hit it first cause they were all in the same spot, but he only ran about 20feet and piled up with the first shot. When the insurance shots hit, he was already done and wasn't moving.

Drillbit
06-03-2021, 11:37 AM
Congrats! That is a great bear!

I've often said a .223 and a case of ammo for practice is the best way to become a good big game shooter! :)


Thanks!


Ya, he's for sure had lots of practice with it and is really good with it.

It's funny, I bought him a Finnlight 243 and put a Leupold ultralight on it. It's a beauty. He's scared of it and can't hit anything with it. Kicks too much for him to be confident I guess. Then I see other 10 year olds shooting 7mags just fine haha. Never know with kids

Anyways, I figured confidence was the way to go. He's only 12 and I don't want to turn him off hunting/shooting with a gun he's scared of.

KodiakHntr
06-03-2021, 11:49 AM
That is fantastic. Did you get exits with the 62's?

Nothing like giving kids some confidence when they are shooting and the ability to hit what they want. I started mine out with a 223 as well, definitely punches above it's weight class.

IronNoggin
06-03-2021, 11:58 AM
Congrats to your Young Gun!
That indeed is a VERY Fine Boar!

And a tip of the hat to the Old Man for bringing them up right!!

Cheers,
Nog

Drillbit
06-03-2021, 12:12 PM
That is fantastic. Did you get exits with the 62's?

Nothing like giving kids some confidence when they are shooting and the ability to hit what they want. I started mine out with a 223 as well, definitely punches above it's weight class.

No exits


The younger one wants a bear now too, so I guess I'm not done yet haha
We did have a pretty fun day with that one, saw lots of bears.

The last 2 afternoons were pretty slow. Best thing we saw was a HUGE old mule deer. It was really dark and grey and so big we weren't sure it was a deer till it turned bounced away. Huge thick velvet bases. It was a really old buck, too far away and gone too fast to get a picture.
Really neat to see

islandarcher
06-03-2021, 12:12 PM
that's awesome! I bought a .243 last year for a coyote/truck gun. Read lots of "experts" online saying its borderline, or too small for bear. This makes me want to go out tonight and have a look for one. Nice shooting :)

bottles
06-03-2021, 01:36 PM
Congrats to the young man! Great looking bear.

Rob Chipman
06-03-2021, 06:05 PM
That's a surprisingly little kid for such a good looking bear and....ringing the gongs at 550! Good work!

nature girl
06-03-2021, 06:33 PM
Very nice bear your son shot. Its nice to see kids out enjoying hunting and putting meat on the table.

Phila
06-03-2021, 08:39 PM
Great job, especially have to commend your son for carefully assessing the bears and then picking one.

LBM
06-03-2021, 08:55 PM
congrats to the young fella on a great looking bear.

Drillbit
06-03-2021, 09:00 PM
Thanks for all the great comments everyone!

MRP
06-03-2021, 09:24 PM
The right man and a good with his tools will get it done.
Don't take no guff from the super gunner must have a magnum crowd.
Rifle fit, practice, accuracy; done deal. Good job little drillbit. Big Bit too for teaching to drill straight.