.22 and bears

I have a Win. Mod. 92, 22 long rifle now on its second barrel. It has killed more animals than any other firearm I own. It will put a 2,000 lb bull down with one well placed shot, same for cow, horse, sheep or North American Game animal. All you need to do is wait or work to get into position for the right shot.

Note: Always approach downed game from the uphill side!
 
I am by no means a gun or ammo expert. However my old man is a doctor and he has told me a story of a man shot in the head with a .22 and it did not break the skull! I believe this was from a substantial distance though. I can only imagine like others here that the bullet entered through a nasal passage or eye socket. And as a mathematician, I believe the rate at wich the bullet was traveling at such a close distance definately had a great deal to do with the leathality of the round. These guys were definately lucky to have made it out of this situation with their lives.
 
So if you have a decent size pistol like a 9mm or a .38, and it comes down to it with a bear, should you go for center mass or a head shot? I'm not a big hunter, I've only ever shot a few rabbits and squirrels, but with large game isn't the goal a heart shot?
 
I spent most of my early life in Chicago. This was a feature story in 1983. Ken Eto got shot, left in car in hotel parking lot. Woke up. Walked into the hotel to registration desk.

Shooters were severely chastised. :)


Ken Eto survived a mob hit back in 1983 when the bullets that were meant to kill him bounced off his head.

The failed assassination convinced Eto to cooperate with prosecutors. But now, more than 20 years after the botched hit, there is still a mystery surrounding the death of Ken Eto.

He was supposed to have died in an alleyway on February 10th, 1983, a few weeks before sentencing on gambling-related charges.

Outfit bosses, fearing Eto might spill mob secrets to avoid prison, ordered him killed. Hitman Jasper Campise and Cook County Deputy Sheriff John Gattuso were deployed to carry out the murder. But somehow, three .22 caliber bullets ricocheted off Eto's skull and he survived. A few months later, the bungling assassins were themselves killed.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news&id=4248109
 
Take a look at this photo this guy had to use four round of 7mm mag. in the head and chest to put this bear down. Take a good look at the size of this thing. I think 10 rounds of .22 in a brown bear would be like you getting stabbed with 10 needles it would just p#&@ you off.
 

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That bear was on Monster Quest:thumbup:
I would fill my pants no matter what kind of boomstick I was packing:eek::eek:



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I just purchased a Ruger Alaskan in .454 Casull and I would be hesitant of shooting a bear even with this round, but a .22.......that is just nuts.
 
This is just my opinion, so take however; but, I believe just about any North American animal can be killed with a .22. I may be wrong, but I believe a .22 will punch into the brain through an eye or ear hole just about any day of the week. No, I wouldn't want to have to shoot a large animal with a .22; but if that's what I had and needed to, I'd trust the weapon.
 
Those who summed it up , velocity, angle and size of the round hit it right on the nose , no pun :p

In today's world of macho type stuff , big knives , big guns , big vehicles we tend to forget about the small things in life , no pun :D

Like some of you my Grandparents from Arkansas used 22 exclusivly when hunting and it worked, they did not have the a choice because that was what they could afford , it did however put food on the table.

And yea... I would not want to have to depend on a 22 against a bear or any wild animal intent upon making me dinner but if it was what I had .... :)

Tostig


Interesting stories , thanks for sharing.
 
I feel the most important aspect is that we practice with what we carry. I have a 405 Winchester High Wall, I love it dearly but when you consider the cost of powder, bullets and the other aspects of big bores, I am lucky if I shoot it over 10 rounds a year. I shoot my 45 acp. 18 rounds a day, weather permitting. I shoot my 22 rimfires several thousand times a year. Just at targets at various ranges, I cannot tell you the yards but know instinctively how much front sight is needed at much further than the effective capability of the .22 rimfire.


I do know that some .22 rimfire cartridges vary greatly from some batches of ammo, I have known many duds from respected manufacturers. Also barrel length less than 12 inches reduces performance.

What I mean to emphasize is that we need to practice with what we carry, shoot at long and short distances and know the rifle and cartridge well. The .22 rimfire is not that expensive and a fun cartridge to shoot. When you buy a brick of ammo and find it reliable, go back to the store and buy another from the same lot and keep it for those 'special' occasions. I still have 1/2 a case of Remington standard velocity that will out shoot any new stuff I have tried. No one but me gets to use it!!

What ever cartridge and rifle pistol or revolver you pick get to know it well and it will not let you down.
 
No question that a .22 can kill, but since some have to throw stones at the competent, let's examine this apocryphal and dramatic tale.

Bear country. All they have (for some unknown reason) is a .22.

Amazingly, they camp RIGHT NEXT to a bear's den. Happens all the time.

Then they're around all day, no sign of bear or cubs.

3am, certainly the most active time for bears, the bear, after ignoring human by its cubs (how do we know that?) decides to rip the tent apart.

The kid, not the old man, with an unknown type .22, in pitch darkness, awakened from sleep and with the bear attacking his father (assuming a biting attack here), manages to shoot the bear in THE HEAD four times, while it's moving, the head being located directly above or at where the father is, since the father's being bitten.

More likely the kid shot the father in the head four times.

"Closed mind"? Yes to a certain extent. If you leave your mind too open, people will throw garbage into it.

People shoot bears, with whatever caliber, all the time, most times when the bear isn't even aware of thier presence. But when mounted, they always seem to be in an agressive pose.

Monkeys flying through sphincters comes to mind.............
 
I am a bowhunter, actually more of a bow shooter than a bowhunter. When I am home and the weather is nice, I shoot almost everyday, I am lucky enough to be able to shoot in my backyard. When I am shooting for group, which I rarely do, out of every few thousand arrows I shoot, I get what is called in the archery world, a robin hood. Which means that I shoot one arrow into the back of another. Most of the time both arrows are ruined, always the one that the second arrow is imbedded in. In 30 years of shooting a bow I have done this maybe 10 times, I have no idea how many thousands of arrows I have shot over that time period. Now 10 robin hoods proves without any shadow of a doubt that it is possible, I have several joined arrows hanging in my garage as more proof, however it is very unlikely, verging on impossible, to do it on purpose with any regularity.

IMO killing a free ranging bear with a 22, trying to do me harm, before said bear can inflict serious injuries, is on the same par as a called robin hood. A 22 will kill a bear, with out a doubt, if it is all I have and I feel my life is in danger I will use it, post haste, and hope for the best, it would never be my first choice. Chris
 
Freak accident? I don't know. Is a standard velocity .22 Caliber Long Rifle cartridge capable of killing a bear? Yes. I have killed several large animals weighing upwards of 800 pounds with nothing more than a .22. They were all domestic animals and obviously shot placement is critical. I certainly would never advocate anyone even attempting to kill a bear with a .22, but if the OP's story is true, I'll bet they were darn glad to have a firearm with them(even a "lowly" .22). Whether it was a freak accident or blind luck I firmly believe that a .22 would kill a bear.
 
Dboles ....... I am interested in the foot snares you used for bears. Were these special steel spring traps fitted with a cable noose? Or were they ordinary snares set in a cunning way?..... if so, I would love to read about how, exactly, you set a snare for bears like that.

I've never hunted bears and I've never seen a dead one close up. But I believe it is possible to kill one with a .22

I recall reading about a guy who shot a polar bear with his .22 ..... shooting repeatedly into the mouth.

I've shot many wild goats, several hogs and one large red deer with a .22 The red deer dropped like a sack of potatoes with just one shot to the head. I often use hollow subsonic ammo, and it performs well.

Naturally I'd recommend a bigger caliber for big animals, but a little .22 is capable of doing great things.
 
Coote
They were both.A seperate spring device was set on the ground with the snare set on top of that. With the snare cabled to a tree The spring device was basically just used to deliver the snare onto and up on the bears foot. The snare had a oneway lock on it All-snare and spring device were all as you put it cunningly set to fool the bear.Very effective but non-selective.Meaning that sometimes a person may catch a bear that had fur that wasnt prime and not worth much.Because of that legislation was enacted so that we could take them with a rifle,so that we could look the animal over for fur quality.After England stooped buying the Busby hats for soldiers harvesting bears has fallen out and they are no longer classed as a furbearer in this province.Which is a shame
Hope that explains for you
Dan'l
 
dawsonbob said:
Not trying to hijack the thread, merely curious. Are there any recorded cases of wolves actually attacking humans? I'm not talking about coyotes in packs, which we know will attack people, but wolves.

ETA: I just did a little quick research, and I guess there have been wolf attacks, but, in North America, at least, they're exceedingly rare. Here's a quick read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_attacks_on_humans
Click to expand...

Interesting read. I think my main concern is the safety of my dog, which is a common prey for wolves and for the occasional pack cast off. I almost hit a wolf last year as it was walking right down the main drag of our local university. This wasn't a rural area either. The only reason I could come up with for it being so deep into town was that the university's wildlife area has deer that are beyond what I would consider tame so that would make easy prey for a stray wolf.

Someone else made a good point about killing a bear instantly with a .22 and fataly wounding it. Again, every circumstance is different but while the .22 may be capable of killing anything, even a good heart/lung shot may not stop it quickly when it matters. The bowhunting example emphasises this again. I have shot deer with an arrow and they often run off and bleed out elsewhere.

Even though this isn't a .22 example, it shows just how tough some of those critters can be when it comes to survival. This isn't the arrowhead that killed the deer. The jaw actually healed and grew through the vent hole in the broadhead blade:

http://www.outdooroddities.com/2008/02/25/36/

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thanks for that full reply Dan'l. Sounds interesting.

Dang... it must have been exciting checking your trapline not knowing for sure what you might find.

Best wishes.... Coote.
 
Put this in the "lack of reference" for belief. Some 20 years ago in Guns and Ammo they ran an article about a man who "to prove it could be done" took most of the world's big game with a .22 lr. The two animals he did not try were the Rhino and Hippo. The article said there is no easy "path" into either animals brain and the Rhino was "protected" anyway. The article claimed he took elephant, cape buffalo, grizzle bear, lion, lepord, etc. None of the game were "record size". The article said he also had a back up guide with a .458 standing by him.
When I lived in Alaska (1984-1987) the wife of a Range at Denali NP killed two 800 lb grizzles trying to break into their cabin. As each one stuck his head inside their kitchen window she shot it behind the ear with a .22 short. I have seen the picture of the two dead bears laying in their yard.
A previous posting referred to the Eskimos using .22 lr for polar bears. I worked with the native alaskans for 4 years. They actually use .22 hornets and .223 (and snow mobiles to get away while the bear dies). In the cases I know of they were shotting grizzles as polar bears have been protected for some time in Alaska.
I have walked into a big coastal grizzle (not close). Having seen one in the woods and being a life long hunter and gun owner, I would want at least my 8 mm mag or if given the option a .416 (and a back up guide).
 
BlueyM said:
I thought my country Australia had the biggest range of scary wildlife, but after reading the above posts about bears and wolves, I stand corrected and in awe! :eek:
Click to expand...

a hunter friend of mine told me one of the greater threats in the aussie bush was packs of wild dogs!
 
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