4ked Horns first bear.

[3sixbits]

4Ked Horn: This is where you find out that velocity with a handgun is not the answer and penetration is the answer. Pure wheel weights cast then sized, hardened and lastly lubed, after oven tempering in the Keith style is the answer. I have a 44mag. that has been my constant companion these 30 plus years. The loads I use are at .44 special velocity from the mag case. As a point of fact the .357 mag treated the same way will penetrate slightly better. I don't know why and I given up on speculation many years ago as to why. As to the bear drip, here goes. In your home town there has got to be a few fast food joints, you need to lay in a stock of used fryer grease. If you can find some bee herder and work a deal for cheap honey the poorer the better, you will be on your way to bear hunting bliss. What you will need beyond the bait is cheap to get your hands on and will produce good results for you. You need a empty steel drum that has not had any oil or oil products in it and enough chain or steel cable to secure it to a tree. The drum is secured to the tree rightside up a small hole is punched in the base (bottom), the contents is poured through the bung opening in the top. You will mix the deep fryer grease with the honey and let it drip from the barrel on to the uncleared ground under the barrel. This is where that trail camera will come in handy. You will need to keep your drip up until that majic moment. Yea, it's a lot of work, you've got to stay with it checking ever week, besides you will want to check on the trail camera anyway, to see whats been happening. Just remember by using a big drum you will always have room to add to the barrel each trip out. a shooting blind or a tree stand should be on your and your hunting pardners to do list for fall. You will have a great time doing this and you'll love the pic's of the bears going nuts and the fights over the drip. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Skinny Shooter]

No Fair skinny! You said chick in a bathing suit and I went crazy trying to view the pics and they finally came up but no chick no bathing suit! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif Just some guys holding a stinking bear! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

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Oops. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[4ked Horn]

No problem man. The car wreck I was in affected every part of my body except my right arm. The most noticable injuries are those to my legs. I am in pretty bad shape from the knees down and as a result I have to watch where I am walking literally. I can't step through the brush or even walk down a mountain trail without looking at where I will put my feet next. To do so almost always results in a fall or stumble. I have to walk slowly on dirt roads like the one leading me near the bait areas so I dont twist an anle and so I dont aggrivate other bugaboos related to my legs and feet. The first night I rushed into the spot because the neighbor said the bear was there just a half an hour before and I was almost unable to walk back out even after sitting for 3 hours.

Like I said, sending me into get a shot bear would be alot like sending in a guy in a wheelchair. If I was watching the brush and fell down someone could get shot and I would be bear food. As a result I corresponded with Ian about the propper way to shoot a bear from his vast experience and I also chose to go a bit overgunned. And as I said the boys with the dogs were only a phone call away so if my neighbor had any doubts as to his safety we had a definate plan to help retreive the bear.

I know it is easy to assume that a faceless person on a hunting forum is as fit as the next guy but every once in a while there is someone like me to throw a curveball.

No hard feelings. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

You never said how you liked the rest of the story. I hope you at least got a chuckle out of the part about my wife asking me if I wanted to hunt a bear.

 

[4ked Horn]

[ QUOTE ]
4Ked Horn: This is where you find out that velocity with a handgun is not the answer and penetration is the answer. Pure wheel weights cast then sized, hardened and lastly lubed, after oven tempering in the Keith style is the answer. I have a 44mag. that has been my constant companion these 30 plus years. The loads I use are at .44 special velocity from the mag case. As a point of fact the .357 mag treated the same way will penetrate slightly better. I don't know why and I given up on speculation many years ago as to why.

[/ QUOTE ]

The little I know about Elmer Keith is that he knew what he was doing and few improvements on his ideas have come to pass. I'm not sure which bullet style is his. Is it the lead semiwadcutter? What does oven tempering do for a lead bullet? I thought any hardness came from a variation in the adjuncts in the lead such as antimony or silver. Why would you load .44spl velocities if penetration is the key? Wouldn't increasing the velocity (and / or the hardness to match) increase penetration? Are you saying that the .357 loaded properly is a reasonable black bear sidearm? I hope so. Are you familliar with "lazercast" bullets? They are very hard lead cast bullets. Is there a bullet they make that you would reccomend for the .44 or the .357? (I will try to find a link for them momentarily.)

The drip sounds like a great idea except it is unlawful in Idaho to have any bait in the area more than one week in advance of the season. Pitty. It would otherwise be a great idea.

 

[3sixbits]

Garret Ctgs. Read the info here. Their is just to much about metallurgy to type for this easy of a response. All the elements are present in wheel weights to get the hardness you need, the shape of the KEITH bullet is a semiwadcutter. Driving the bullet to fast will cause the bullet to fragment. The first brown bear shot with a .357mag. was killed in Alaska in the 1930's by Frank Wesson of SMITH&WESSON. The Questions you ask are good questions, they just take a ton of time to answer. There are links to cast bullet sites on the web that will give you all the answers you need, Yahoo has such a group. This cast bullet thing is as much a topic as long range hunting is. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[7Rumloader]

[ QUOTE ]
No Fair skinny! You said chick in a bathing suit and I went crazy trying to view the pics and they finally came up but no chick no bathing suit! Just some guys holding a stinking bear!


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Oops.

[/ QUOTE ]
It's alright skinny I got over it pretty quick after I saw 4keds nice bear!
Maybe next time.

 

[Kenster-Boy]

[ QUOTE ]
You never said how you liked the rest of the story. I hope you at least got a chuckle out of the part about my wife asking me if I wanted to hunt a bear.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh but I did! ROFL

I don't mean to diss ya but I just don't get the tickles that it sounds like you got from shooting a bear. But hey if EVERYONE only hunted one species then there probably wouldn't be many of em left. So I am glad that you get the enjoyment out of it that I lack. (different strokes for different folks)

GOOD JOB and nice shot on that sucker. I have however taken my share of the bears. My biggest accomplishment was the one that I shot at 15 yards with my compound bow! He looked at me when he growled and then ran off. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gifNow that was a rush. I mean after all black bears are supposed to be freindly right? HECK NO at least not when ya shove a stick through em there not.

But your bear was bigger than any one that I have shot /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif so congrats again!

 

[4ked Horn]

[ QUOTE ]
I just don't get the tickles that it sounds like you got from shooting a bear.

[/ QUOTE ]

Shooting a bear is more of a mental accomplishmet for me than a physical one. In my discussions with Ian and my neighbor I expressed that If I was told to go hunt a deer or an elk or a coyote or most other animals I would grab my gun and go hunt. But for some reason I had some weird apprehension about hunting a bear. Maybe its because I only seem to hear stories about bears like Ians that are charging when they are shot. I wanted to be VERY prepared and know precicely what I was shooting for and how to go about it correctly. It is actually a good thing that I missed the shoulder and the scapula and the spine. It certainly lets me know that a bear will anchor in short order with less than a "perfect" hit. One of the more noteable memories is that I felt no more fear when I saw the bear than I feel when encountering a coyote or a deer. I knew that I was undetected and I was able to focus more on getting a good shot. I was expecting things to be at least a little bit more intense.

If I had even seen a bear at 15 yards or had an experience like Ian my skull would have exploded. I'm sure that after I get a few bears like you and some of the others here I will have developed a better understanding of actual bear behavior than what I have read in books and magazines and the auora of "THE BEAR" will subside. As for now that first bear has me very very excited and I can feel my pulse elevate every time I talk or write about it.

 

[Kenster-Boy]

Well savor the flavor of the first one because that is as good as it gets! I hope you never loose the rush you get from taking one of them suckers. My best wishes to eating that bear, and hopefully many MANY more to come.

P.S. If you come across any GOOD recipies for bear feel free to send em to me! I don't have any good ones as of yet. I just can't get over the gamey stringeyness of em. But breakfast sausage is ALWAYS a good alternative for bear meat.

 

[Guest]

4kedhorn, congrats on a nice bear. It great to take your "first" anything. Its like losing your virginity...again and again.

Might even be better!

I remember my first deer (anterless whitetail yearling), my first fall turkey (nice 15-16 pounder), and my first spring turkey (Jake).


The feeling was amazing when I shot that little whitetail. Could have been a 14 pointer the way I felt.

But I'll tell you, spring turkey is like the first time every time.

They say that people try drugs and become hooked because they are always trying to re-capture the initial high. That is why I advocate getting youth involved with the outdoors. Get'em hooked on hunting & fishing. Let the thrill of shotting that buck, or tom, boar, bull, or whatever be the high they feel.

The other thing that makes hunts great is great hunting buddies!!! Sharing the moments makes them so much more memorable.

Congrats again!

 

[Nontypical]

4ked, awesome bear! Congratulations, it'll be great having that skull and rug around the house. Skulls are fascinating, and a big bear is about as cool as it gets!

I haven't been by in a while, fun to catch up a bit by seeing a nice success story by the 4ked at LRH

Cheers,

Nt

 

[4ked Horn]

Thanks Nontypical. Sorry I didn't respond earlier but the DSL connection was giving us a fit. No Email or LRH for 3 days.

I will post pictures of the huge teeth and the finished skull when I get it done so keep an eye on this thread.