Hunting has fed people since time immemorial, and those men who could bring home the largest and most dangerous trophy have always been considered the best. In the taiga, such a beast is a brown bear. This predator is very strong, hardy and strong on the wound, therefore it is able to kill its offender even with significant injuries. To protect themselves in the forest, every experienced hunter must know the slaughter places of the bear or where to aim.
Predator Characteristics
Males of a brown bear weigh about 400 kg, and females 250-300 kg. This beast is omnivorous and can eat berries, root crops, fresh prey or carrion with the same appetite. A feature of this predator is that from autumn to spring, it spends time in hibernation in its den. To do this, he preloads fat and vitaminizes, making his diet diverse. A bear catches fish well, especially when it spawns, turns stumps and anthills in search of nutritious foods, ravages bird nests and generally rarely disdains what nature itself presents to it. In autumn, when the forest becomes empty, the predator boldly goes to oats, closer to people, or to swamps. Only with the onset of frost does the beast hibernate in a previously prepared place. To do this, the bear covers the place with moss, needles or tree bark, so that in winter it will be as warm as possible in the den. This is especially important for females who bring offspring during the winter cold. In hunting, where to shoot a bear depends on the choice of weapons and the characteristics of the hunt itself. We’ll talk about this in more detail.
Weapon selection
In the bear hunt: where to shoot and how to fill up the beast - the main questions. Here you can not do without special weapons. Any automation will not do for this.
Experienced hunters give preference to the most trouble-free trunks, among them in order:
- shotgun;
- threaded;
- smoothbore;
- shutter;
- hunting rifles created on the basis of military.
To find the perfect weapon for hunting a bear, you should pay attention to the stopping effect. It is he who is important in the first place. Rifled trunks can stop the beast only when using special cartridges, so they can not always be effective.
Smoothbore guns are used by the bear cub quite often. This is largely due to their reliability and the special kinematics of the shot, which releases a bullet with a high stopping effect. This is due to the high impulse charge. Of course, the speed of a bullet from a rifled barrel is much higher, but the mass of the charge is much less. Based on this, it follows that their momentum is approximately the same, but the amazing ability of a smoothbore gun is higher.
Today, hunters can also purchase combined guns, which combine the advantages of smooth and rifled trunks. Such a weapon makes it easy to stop a predator during an attack and also get it when leaving.
Ammo selection
When choosing a rifled weapon, the caliber for a large beast should be at least 7.62 / 51, and best of all, 9.3 / 62. Bullets can be shell (able to pass into the tissue of a predator without destroying them) and semi-shell (with a high stopping effect, but with a communicative effect).
For smoothbore guns today a wide selection of expansive charges is offered.
You can also buy:
- tandem bullets;
- point charges;
- large buckshot and so on.
In any case, the 12-round cartridges pierce the slaughter places of the bear very well, moreover, such round charges have already been tested by many hunters. Their weight is 32 grams.
The basic rules of hunting
Before shooting a bear (slaughter places will be described below), you need to make sure of your experience and readiness for such a dangerous hunt. The stopping effect of a shot depends on many external factors, not just weapons.
Among them:
- Sight Accuracy. The slaughter places of the bear are found throughout the body, but getting into them can be very difficult.
- The bullet that passed right through will not stop the beast, but will only anger him. It is necessary to choose the right ammunition.
- To have the maximum advantage over the beast, you need to choose the position and distance to the predator at the time of the shot.
Safety regulations
To guarantee your safety while hunting, shooting a bear is generally not worth it. This is the main rule and only it can give a chance that the predator will not attack.
In other cases:
- the shot should be fired as close as possible;
- shoot better at the beast that does not see the hunter;
- you need to aim so that the predator falls immediately;
- maximum firing range 200 m;
- it is better to hunt where the animal cannot easily hide after an unsuccessful hit;
- you need to approach the carcass very carefully, it is advisable to make a control shot in the head or neck.
To succeed on the hunt, everyone should be ready to show maximum composure and be confident in their reaction. A wounded bear is a great danger to everyone around, so you can not let it go.
Tips of experienced hunters
So where better to shoot a bear? It all depends on his position as a hunter. Experienced teddy bears recommend shooting “at random” at the beast. To do this, the predator must stand back to the person or “bayonet”, which increases the area of damage to the nervous system with rifled weapons. In any case, the blow will be fatal, because the bullet will also hook other bear's slaughter places - internal organs.
If the animal is standing sideways, then it is better to shoot at the thigh bones. Of course, the beast and on its forepaws can go far and injure its offender, but the hunter will have time to reload and launch a control shot.
Fatal mistake
The slaughter places of the bear (in the photo in this case is the neck) are located mainly in places of accumulation of nerve endings. Many believe that having broken the spine of an animal, one can win with one shot, but often this ends very badly for a person. The fact is that the ridge of the bear has spinous processes. If you get into them, the beast will be paralyzed for several seconds, it falls. The hunter thinks that he failed the predator, but after a moment he jumps up and leaves the hunter no chance. The thing is that the defeat of these processes is not serious.
Major point
The slaughter places of the bear are not limited only to the nervous system. You can kill him 100% by falling into the belly, but death may not occur right away. It is best to aim at the diaphragm area, then the predator will pass a little. If the wound falls on the intestines or stomach, then it will be possible to find the carcass more than 10 kilometers from the place of hunting.
Most often, hunters use a shot “on the shoulder blades”. Such a blow almost never affects the beast's important organs and the bear leaves, and at the same speed as a healthy one. Most likely, the reason is that the bullet does not break the bone, but simply passes through it, causing minimal damage.
Comfortable position
Intuitively, predators select elevated positions for hunting. In this case, the bear’s most lethal places are completely invisible, and getting into the heart or spine is almost impossible. In such cases, hunters aim at the chest, and a beast with a similar wound can safely go long distances and possibly even survive.
Being in the same plane with the beast, many hunters think about where it is better to shoot a bear? Slaughter places at the same time are in visual accessibility. Experienced hunters are advised to aim at the chest hillock, but as low as possible in order to catch a heart with a great chance. The shot is best done obliquely, in half-turn. If the animal does not immediately fall down, then the person will have a chance to shoot again from a closer distance, because the bear will go right at him. It is better to aim in the head or in the same place where the first bullet entered. The more cartridges will be released into the predator, the greater the chances of a hunter to win.
Den hunting
So where to shoot the bear? The slaughter places of the bear (in the photo above is the head) depend on its location to the person. In winter, hunting for a bear begins with finding his lair, in which hunting dogs help the man. To cope without their help and find a couch in the forest more often under snowdrifts and blockages of branches is very difficult. Den hunting should be carried out only by groups of people well-trained and disciplined, because at the slightest noise the beast can jump up and run.
The closer people can get to the bed, the greater the chance of getting into the slaughter places of a bear without a miss. In many respects, the situation depends on the behavior of the dog. An experienced dog always steps on the beast from the side of his head. You need to aim here between the ear and the eye, and if the predator jumped up, then under the shoulder blade or along the ridge. Just in case, you should definitely take a special knife with you to bear hunting.
Hunting in ambush
It is best to spend it during the day with a special storehouse. It is necessary to fix the tree seat so that the wind blows from oats and the bear cannot smell a person. Otherwise, it will not do. Some hunters are sure that it is better to choose a position on the ground by constructing a hut from coniferous branches that hide the human smell. To bait the beast, you can put a carcass of a cow or horse on its path. This is especially effective in the spring, when the bear is still hungry and will surely rush for food. The slaughter places of the bear are thus viewed depending on the selected position.
In fact, it’s more difficult to smell a person on the ground if the hunter builds the sheds correctly. To shelter your own smell, it must be fixed at a distance of 3-4 meters from the ground. It is very important that the boards do not creak, and the selected tree is thick enough to hold a person. The storehouse is fixed in the place from which the bait is best viewed: oats or the laid carcass of the animal.
After climbing the platform, you will have to sit for a very long time, and most importantly, motionless. In this case, smoking is strictly prohibited, because the beast instantly smells and will bypass this place. A hunter must not cough, sigh, and generally move, even if insects attack him. The bear is very sensitive and cautious.
Hunting in the swamps
The brown master of the taiga very often feeds on various root crops and berries in the swamps. Especially often, bears come here in spring and autumn to collect as many vitamins as possible before wintering or to restore strength after it. It is not difficult to find a place where the animal feeds: it leaves well-marked holes after digging up the rhizomes, as well as wool on the branches and scratches on the trees.
There is no point in arranging sit-ups in large swamps, since the animal can feed on very vast territories. Small swamps are ideal for this. For an ambush, the hunter needs to disguise himself and sit on a fallen tree or a pre-equipped storehouse on the nearest tree. Large areas are poorly visible from one point, so hunting is carried out by hiding behind the beast. To do this, experienced hunters slowly and silently move along the tracks of a predator, always being placed against the wind. When you see a bear, you need to determine the distance to it and try to get as close as possible so that the beast does not notice the hunter. As soon as the bear is alert, you need to stop, and continue to move only when he goes about his business.
For an accurate shot, it is better to hunt a rifle with an optical sight. Where to shoot a bear in a swamp? The side is best for this, but if the beast has not fallen, then shoot after it. If the bear rushes at the hunter, it is necessary to aim at the head in order to dump it for sure. In this case, the chest is a very risky place, because even with a broken heart a predator can safely run tens of meters and injure its offender.
In order to maximize the benefits of hunting, it is better to carry it out by a group of people. In such cases, partners can hedge and shoot a bear if he shoots at one of the participants.
When the beast has already fallen, it is very risky to approach it immediately, the bear may still be alive and hit the hunter hard. It is advisable to make a control shot from a distance, breaking the animal’s neck or brain. Dead carcass should lie relaxed with ears raised. If the ears are pressed, the predator is still alive and in agony.
Dog hunting
Horses have proven their best on a bear hunt, but another breed, even a mongrel, may be suitable. The main thing is to choose bold dogs, approaching a predator without fear. Young hunting dogs are tested for seriously wounded animals.
It is huskies that preference in bear hunting is given for their speed and agility. It is hard for a bear to catch such a dog, and it, in turn, can delay it until the owner arrives and put it on its hind legs. To do this, trained dogs bite the bear by the legs, quickly running back. The beast cannot catch the dog and crouches to close its legs from it.
At the same time, the question of where to shoot the bear is not very relevant. Almost all slaughter places of a bear are available in this case. The answer is obvious - to the head. Dogs give the hunter the opportunity to get as close to the beast as possible, so it’s easy to injure him directly in the most deadly place.
Hunting will be more successful if a person has several trained dogs for this. A well-organized flock will definitely not let the beast leave.
Finally
According to the advice of experienced bear cubs, it is best to hunt the beast in the fall. It was at this time that he had already walked up enough fat, meat was getting bigger, and his coat had molted and was valued dearly. In addition, the leaves are already falling on the trees, which means it becomes much easier to see the animal. In addition, the walking bear walks quite widely and hard, preparing for hibernation. This gives an additional advantage to dogs that will quickly find the beast and more easily keep it until the owner arrives.
Hunting for a bear is a very serious occupation, for which you need to prepare for more than one day. The bear is one of the most dangerous predators, capable of not only crippling a person, but also killing. Therefore, going to hunt for this beast, you must be as careful as possible. It is best to go with an experienced person who has repeatedly encountered a predator and knows how to defeat him.