Hunting Grizzly with a 30-30

[gutpile]

Who has hunted Grizzly with a 30-30 and killed one. Lets hear your story !
or you know of someone that has .

[Wade]

I never have killed anything with my 30-30, but I would bet that cartridge is guilty of killing more game than any other. just my opinion

[Fred1]

A 30 30 is probably the last caliber I would take on a grizzly hunt. But here is a good story told by my friends father. He (the father) was out checking his beaver traps. He was scrambling along a log jam heading for one of his traps when a grizzly jumped up on the same cotton wood log he was on. The bear stood up and gave him the "waz up little white boy". (big bear, small bear, who cares!?) Two real fast pops from his 30 30 in the bears chest and he turned to walk away. Says he figured if two didnt do it he was a dead man. He never looked back, just heard the bear hit the water and kept walking. Claims the bear was 40 feet away. He never went back for his traps...
I would have shit my socks...

[monasheemountainman]

haha good story. 40 feet away and a heart shot with a 30-30 would definitely do the trick

[mudduck]

clayton mack outta bella coola used one for bit as a backup gun for grizzly hunts

[BearSupreme]

Take your scoped gun and go for a neck shot. I dont care what you shoot them with, they wont go far with a severed spine.

[Moose Guide]

A Lady who lived at Gold Hill stood on the cabin porch and shot a charging grizz with her .30-30, her children were playing in the yard and she had to shoot over them! Her kids were just a little older than I am, this happened between 67 and 74.

[Salty]

Take your scoped gun and go for a neck shot. I dont care what you shoot them with, they wont go far with a severed spine.

I've seen two 375 H and H shells put into the upper vertebrae of a black bear. The first shot did hardly anything, after the second shot the bear died but not instantly. The actual spinal chord of an animal is a pretty tiny target, finger sized. I would't go with that plan.

[Rackmastr]

Take your scoped gun and go for a neck shot. I dont care what you shoot them with, they wont go far with a severed spine.

Cant say I've heard of many guys who reccomend shooting a grizz in the neck, but I guess if it works for you! Not something I'd personally do though.

How many grizz have you shot in the neck? I'd be curious of experiences and results.

[Everett]

Grandfather shot two Grizzly's with a .32 special one of them in Alaska.

[boxhitch]

30-30 USED to work on GBearas but sometime in the recent past the need for wsms and rums and souped up 45/70s was realized to deal with the new super bears.
Maybe the 30-30 will work on old bears still ? IDK

[BiG Boar]

I could see shooting one with a 30-30. But hunting a grizzly with one, that would be foolish. I mean if you really just want to prove something use a 22-250 or smaller. Or a bow.

[REMINGTON JIM]

Cant say I've heard of many guys who reccomend shooting a grizz in the neck, but I guess if it works for you! Not something I'd personally do though.

How many grizz have you shot in the neck? I'd be curious of experiences and results.

I have shoot and killed 2 now and i Would not recommend a NECK shot - to much loose skin there and a very small kill area - better to use a bigger caliber cartridge and bust him in the shoulders and put him down -then put a finisher shot in to him - to many BS stories with thuty -thutys and the like takin the big Bears ! :) JMHO RJ

[Bchunter3006]

Shoulder shots for me, or even the good old fashioned double lunger. Well constructed bullet + lungs = dead bear.

[gutpile]

You can take out both lungs and they can still do some distance .

[BCKyle]

30-30 USED to work on GBearas but sometime in the recent past the need for wsms and rums and souped up 45/70s was realized to deal with the new super bears.
Maybe the 30-30 will work on old bears still ? IDK

yeah but only if they're old and creaky! One in their prime, if it doesn't say magnum on it forget it. :D

...that said if I was hunting Grizz I'd probably crap myself regardless of cartridge. Seeing one charge a truck once made me not so interested in being outside the truck, armed or not. I just try to avoid 'em!

[1899]

I wonder if Part 2 had a grizzly in it...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xZsgwPlLM0

[mudduck]

if your really good with what you got use what you got

[BearSupreme]

Cant say I've heard of many guys who reccomend shooting a grizz in the neck, but I guess if it works for you! Not something I'd personally do though.

How many grizz have you shot in the neck? I'd be curious of experiences and results.

Never hunted a grizz yet, ive shot a couple black bears in the next and turned out great. If you miss the spine and hit the wind pipe or major arteries, they will be down reasonably soon. Plus with the shock wave of the bullet, you dont have to hit right on the spine, just close enough to disrupt the signals to the rest of the body.
What reasons do you think shooting a grizz in the neck wouldnt work? Ive seen videos of guys him them in the boiler room and they still charge or go for a while.
Id like to know because im putting in for a grizz next year and if theres a good reason not to neck shoot them, id like to know! lol

[hazardiz]

I shot mine with a 300WSM 165gr TTSX...hit him three times...one shoulder, one broad side, one spine...and he still moved damn fast with two legs...i pack a 45-70 in the bush...next griz I shoot i'm gonna use a 375H&H...

[recoil]

If people can kill a grizz with a bow then i have no question a 30-30 would also do the job, although neither are things i am in a hurry to try. A 30-30 has the same power at point blank range as a 300WSM has at 250 yards so as long as you are close and actually hit the bear in the vitals i would say dead bear for sure.

[srupp]

Never hunted a grizz yet, ive shot a couple black bears in the next and turned out great. If you miss the spine and hit the wind pipe or major arteries, they will be down reasonably soon. Plus with the shock wave of the bullet, you dont have to hit right on the spine, just close enough to disrupt the signals to the rest of the body.
What reasons do you think shooting a grizz in the neck wouldnt work? Ive seen videos of guys him them in the boiler room and they still charge or go for a while.
Id like to know because im putting in for a grizz next year and if theres a good reason not to neck shoot them, id like to know! lol

Glad you clarified that you have NOT shot a grizzly...they are completely different creatures than your 165# black bear..

neck shots are not recommended...spectacular if done correctly..however way too much room for error having the bear get away suffer and then die...if you havnt shot a G bear get some advice from those experienced in doing such. Not really the time to be giving advice ..bad advice at that... don't recommend any animal gets harvested with a neck shot.

my .02

Steven

[Caribou_lou]

Kind of like taking a .22mag deer hunting if you ask me. Sure it may work. Definitely not the weapon of choice!

[aggiehunter]

Clayton Mack used to let grizzlies lick PBJ off his lips too....

[Hunt-4-Life]

I met an older guy in the bush near Muncho Lake once, native guy who lived about 15-20 km of the highway in a cabin. He lived pretty much off the land there, I imagine he still does and I don't think he gets out to town much. He was carrying a 32 special "in case a bear come" he said, and wearing gum boots. He's managed to live a long life out there carrying a 32 special, but I would bet he doesn't set out to specifically hunt a G-bear with it either. I guess a 30-30 is better than a stick, just like gum boots are better than bare feet, but I don't think I would take either out to specifically hunt a grizzly. I've only seen a few, but I've seen enough to now not to dink around with them. Is it worth getting mauled to say that you shot one with a dinky gun?

[REMINGTON JIM]

I shot mine with a 300WSM 165gr TTSX...hit him three times...one shoulder, one broad side, one spine...and he still moved damn fast with two legs...i pack a 45-70 in the bush...next griz I shoot i'm gonna use a 375H&H...

YUP ! Mines loaded with 300 Gr Nosler Accubonds and the 45-70 with 525 gr Bear Tooth Pile Drivers ! :-D RJ

[Roughneck Country]

When I was in Alaska the guys up there said always said the same thing, shoot them twice even though you think the bear is dead after the first shot, and don't try for a fancy kill shot breakthem down by busting the front shoulder first then follow up with a vital shot. A bear can go a long way even with a double lung shot due to a reletivly slow heart beat it takes a little longer to bleed out I guess. I would say a neck shot is too risky especially at close range.

[hunter1947]

A person has to be Davey Crockett to center a 30-30 bullet in the hart especially if the bear is coming in like a train ,,you would not see me using a 30-30 on a big bear..

[BiG Boar]

Id like to know because im putting in for a grizz next year and if theres a good reason not to neck shoot them, id like to know! lol

There are plenty of reasons no to neck shoot a grizzly, and I think most here would say black bear too.

Sure a neck shot will work, so will a brain shot. But hunting dangerous game (grizzly is dangerous game, hunters have been killed after poor shots) is different than deer hunting. Bears do attack when they feel you are in their space. Following a poorly shot grizzly into thick cover is probably the most dangerous thing a person could ever do in their lives. It's not a joke.

So what is the best bet? High percentage shots. Think biggest target available. Incase your gun isn't on exactly for that bullet. Lung/shoulder shots are by far the biggest target and will gaurantee death if you poke it in the lungs with any sized bullet and enough time. Heck even the 22LR will kill an elephant eventually. Even if the bear makes thick cover with a hole in his lungs, he will be dead shortly after. That being said, if you can break a shoulder at the same time, that should slow him down enough to get in 1 or more follow up shots.

I too have neck shot a black bear, out of the 10 or so black bear kills I have seen. Unlike your experience, the guy I was with, at 60 yards, and a 7mm magnum, hit the jugular. Well, I have never seen so much blood. It was coming out of both sides like a garden hose! The bear layer down after about 10 yards and we went back to camp to get the quad to get him out of where he was. 35 minutes later we approached the dead bear. As we got to 10 feet, the dead zombie bear stood up. I kid you not. We had to give it 2 more bullets to put it Down for good. The blood loss was incredible, like nothing I had ever seen before.

But I learned a lesson that day on neck shots. That is don't take em if you have a more probable option like the lungs. Especially when you're dealing with something that has pointy teeth.

[Ron.C]

I've got lots of experinece with black bears but only hunted Griz once and didn't get one, so my observations/comments are based on that.

Seems like there's lots of stories about oldtimers using 30-30's for griz/Bbears. And there seems to be lots of stories about guys using very large caliber guns and needing multiple "well placed" shots to put a Griz down. I think each situation is unique in that the bears mood at the time of the shot plays as big of a role as anything else, including the gun you choose to use.
So I'm of the opinion that hunting with the biggest gun that you shoot well is the best way ahead for bears. Rediculous to be toting a cannon around thinking that sheer power will compensate for nerves and poor accuracy. But why use a 30-30 if you have a larger caliber that you shoot equally as well as the smaller 30-30? And if its a thrill you seek, then you simply need to try and stalk closer before taking your shot.
But regardless of what you are shooting it with, shoot for heart/lungs and if he runs, try to get another in him. If he goes down in sight, awesome. If not, then think like a bowhunter and give lots of time to lay down and die. Then give him a bit more just to be sure.

[porcupine]

The one time world record grizzly shot by Jack Turner at Lonesome lake was killed with a 30-30. But not everyone can shoot one through the eye as it's charging within 20 feet.

[j270wsm]

Spring of 2010 myself and a friend were both drawn for grizz. Both of us were shooting 300win mags, I was using handloaded 180partitions and Scott was using 200tsx. I took a low broadside shot at 269yds, the boar went 10-15yds and piled up. He ended up going 6'4. Scotts bear was shot broadside at 150yds and then charged straight down hill towards them. Scott and Cody(13yrs old and also shooting a 300win) starting shooting at the bear and ended up putting 8 holes in it before it dropped. Scotts bear was very close to the same size as mine.

As mentioned before, every bear and situation is different. Is the 30-30 big enough for grizz? Of course it is, but not recommended.

[BearSupreme]

There are plenty of reasons no to neck shoot a grizzly, and I think most here would say black bear too.

Sure a neck shot will work, so will a brain shot. But hunting dangerous game (grizzly is dangerous game, hunters have been killed after poor shots) is different than deer hunting. Bears do attack when they feel you are in their space. Following a poorly shot grizzly into thick cover is probably the most dangerous thing a person could ever do in their lives. It's not a joke.

So what is the best bet? High percentage shots. Think biggest target available. Incase your gun isn't on exactly for that bullet. Lung/shoulder shots are by far the biggest target and will gaurantee death if you poke it in the lungs with any sized bullet and enough time. Heck even the 22LR will kill an elephant eventually. Even if the bear makes thick cover with a hole in his lungs, he will be dead shortly after. That being said, if you can break a shoulder at the same time, that should slow him down enough to get in 1 or more follow up shots.

I too have neck shot a black bear, out of the 10 or so black bear kills I have seen. Unlike your experience, the guy I was with, at 60 yards, and a 7mm magnum, hit the jugular. Well, I have never seen so much blood. It was coming out of both sides like a garden hose! The bear layer down after about 10 yards and we went back to camp to get the quad to get him out of where he was. 35 minutes later we approached the dead bear. As we got to 10 feet, the dead zombie bear stood up. I kid you not. We had to give it 2 more bullets to put it Down for good. The blood loss was incredible, like nothing I had ever seen before.

But I learned a lesson that day on neck shots. That is don't take em if you have a more probable option like the lungs. Especially when you're dealing with something that has pointy teeth.

Thanks for the tips and telling me your experience. Ive neck shot a couple bears and a few deer and none of them moved an inch. Guess I got lucky?

[gutpile]

So would a 45-70 be ok on a grizzly up to a hundred yards ?

[revarchery]

Neck shots = Bad. Shoot just behind the front shoulder they will die every time, even with a 30-30. I would rather hunt with someone who is comfortable with a 30-30 than scared sh$@less of a 338 win mag. Accuracy suffers if you can't manage the recoil your rifle generates. Keep your ranges reasonable, shoot what you are comfortable with. When you shoot your bear you need to go get it and it might be waiting for you.
Shoot str8 and have fun.

[riflebuilder]

I have a friend that used to hunt Grizz for meat. The famiy was raised out in the bush and when they moved to BC from northern Ontario they just shot grizz like they did Black bears with thier 30-30's. Between him and his brothers they killed over 10 with the 30-30. Me I gave the bear a more sporting chance and used a 270. Mind you it was what i had in my hand when I was charged not that I was out huning Grizz.